In the next-generation era, Team Penske is without a doubt the most dominant team. Three consecutive titles in three years. Ryan Blaney took first place in 2023, Joey Logano in 2022, and 2024. The squad seemed to have trouble on superspeedways, despite having fast cars. Penske was leading the field going into the Daytona 500, but they lost. The following race was place at the Superspeedway as well. At Atlanta Motor Speedway, however, the team failed once more. Is there a trend here, then? Well, the pattern is evident because they have been so dominating overall. The Mustang struggles to compete on the drafting courses for whatever reason. Additionally, recent research indicates that Team Penske is the most reliable.
Does the issue stem from Ford or Penske?
Joey Logano started the Daytona 500 at P10, while Austin Cindric started in P2. Additionally, Team Penske appeared to be in control for the majority of the race. Despite Joey Logano’s vehicle issues, Ryan Blaney swiftly moved up in the lineup and Cindric remained in the lead. Blaney even won the second stage. Additionally, it appeared that the Penke drivers would have a successful day as the races came to a close. Logano is in fifth place, Blaney is in fourth, and Cindric is in the lead. However, Logano nudged Ricky Stenhouse Jr. in an attempt to punch a hole, and he went into Blaney. They were forced to the field’s rear. However, there was still hope.
On the last lap, Austin Cindric was ahead of Cole Custer, who attempted to go three wide and destroyed Cindric and Denny Hamlin. William Byron eventually took the checkered flag while he was in ninth place. In Atlanta, the situation was the same. Despite having the speed, Team Penske was unable to complete the task. Each of the three began in the top five. Logano in P4, Cindric in P2, and Blaney in the lead. However, what about the finishes? Cindric crashed out of the race, Logano finished in P12, while Blaney finished in P4. Additionally, it appears like Ford is having issues here. At Atlanta, nine of the top ten vehicles following qualifying were Fords. However, by the time the race was over, Blaney’s vehicle was the only one that made it to top 10.
Perhaps it has to do with the Mustang’s long-term speed. due to the vehicle’s speed and the fact that Ford drivers lead the most laps on Superspeedways. Penske is in charge of Team. However, the finishes appear to be an issue. Take a look at this data: In the Next Gen era, 4,266 laps have been completed at drafting courses, with Team Penske leading 1,206 of those laps (28.27%!). Just Joey Logano has led by 12.5%. Blaney was at 7% and Cindric was at about 9%. Additionally, half of the drivers in this group are Ford employees. Prior to the previous season, Michael McDowell was also operating a Ford (Front Row Motorsports), but he is currently with Chevy (Spire Motorsports).
Thus, perhaps there is some problem with the Mustang. More races and more finishes would reveal the bigger picture. And here’s what the Penske drivers had to say after leading most laps of the series so far.
Following the race in Atlanta, Penske drivers
The three Penske drivers have led 334 of the 467 laps that have been completed so far in all of the Cup races. That is about 72% of all laps. They haven’t won any races, though. Although Cindric acknowledged that Ford was the fastest vehicle in Atlanta, he expressed disappointment with the outcome, saying, “It was unfortunate.” We had the greatest cars here this weekend as a team, as Fords. We positioned ourselves to win the race, but we lost because we were tired and got into the fence. It’s unfortunate. I feel like we’ve had the car to beat for the past two weeks, but we haven’t done it and it is disappointing .
Logano also sort of reiterated what Cindric had said. In the latter stages of the race, even he found it difficult to come back up. “It was difficult the entire day.” When we were in front, we had excellent control over our incredibly fast vehicle. It was dominance when we had a few Fords up front, and I didn’t handle well enough when I got in the back. We simply lost too much money back there, and I was unable to climb back up. The car was fast, but we simply needed more steering because every time I got a gap, the handling was simply not good enough to get back up there.
At last, Blaney came to Penske’s and Ford’s rescue. After being spun, he was the only one who recovered. “It was a little bit of a struggle getting to the front after I lost some track position in the first and second stage, and then we got spun when I finally got track position by (Hocevar), and we were able to make it back up and run forward, so it was an up and down day, that’s for sure,” said the stage 2 winner, who also acknowledged that it was difficult to get back in front after he dropped back. I’m glad we were able to get well. Hopefully, the issue will be resolved before the next Superspeedway race.
