HMS legend raises question on ‘time to get concerned’ about Team Penske: “I don’t know how to grade”
Hendrick Motorsports legend Steve Letarte touched upon the situation of Team Penske and stated that it was time to get concerned about the team's state of affairs. Speaking about it in the Inside The Race podcast, he pointed out how Ryan Blaney and Joey Logano faced issues in the ongoing Cup Series season, and as a result, Team Penske failed to match the likes of Hendrick Motorsports or Joe Gibbs Racing.
Team Penske, the team that started as the defending champions with Joey Logano and Ryan Blaney, failed to live up to their name. So much so that the most successful Cup Series team in recent times (back-to-back winners in 2022, 2023, and 2024) failed to take a victory in the first nine races of the season.
However, Hendrick Motorsports claimed three wins through William Byron and Kyle Larson, and Joe Gibbs Racing won five races through Christopher Bell and Denny Hamlin. Compared to them, Logano, the defending champion, and Blaney, the runner-up driver last year, seemed bleak.
"When do you get concerned like when do you say 'duh we've seen this every year', I mean we got Josh Berry to win a race, right so the #12 (Ryan Blaney) has speed, like the #12 has been consistently good. I mean they have some bad luck," Letarte said in the podcast.
"The #22 (Joey Logano) is more of a, I wanna say it's a speed issue but man when he's good, he's really good, and they will be out with strategy, and fuel mileage race more wins than perhaps any team. So, I don't know how to grade Team Penske," he further added.
Blaney's best race finish came at Atlanta Motor Speedway when he came home in fourth place. His teammate Joey Logano's best race finish was eighth at the Martinsville Speedway. The third Team Penske driver, Austin Cindric's sixth-place finish at Las Vegas Motor Speedway was his best race result.
Interestingly, Team Penske showed a similar pattern in 2024, where they were winless in the first 14 races. Then, Austin Cindric won the 15th race, and together with Blaney and Logano, Roger Penske's team went on to win seven more races that season.
Team Penske's Joey Logano let his feelings known after a 'tough day' at Bristol
Following the eighth Cup Series race of the ongoing season, the Food City 500 at the Bristol Motor Speedway, Joey Logano shared his thoughts and reflected upon the 'tough day' Team Penske drivers had at the track.
He said in the post-race interview:
"Tough day for overall for us with having to fight for track position all day. The long runs didn't fall in our favor and forced us to take a shot with the wave around at the end of Stage 2. We'll reset in the off-week and look ahead to Talladega."
Joey Logano came home in 24th place and was the worst-placed driver on that particular day. His teammate, Ryan Blaney, finished the race in fifth place, and Austin Cindric took the checkered flag in 17th place. Hendrick Motorsports' Kyle Larson won the race, ahead of Joe Gibbs Racing drivers Denny Hamlin and Ty Gibbs.