2019 NASCAR Preview: Team Penske
Photo Credit: Forbes
The last team in The Sports Chief NASCAR season preview will be Team Penske. Roger Penske is a well-known business man and he has been involved in the motorsports world since 1966. The NASCAR section of Team Penske started in 1972 at Riverside International Raceway with Mark Donahue behind the wheel. Many of NASCAR’s greats have driven for Roger Penske such as, Bobby and Donnie Allison, Rusty Wallace, and Indy Car great Mario Andretti. With most of their success being in the Indy Car series, Team Penske has still won 109 races in the NASCAR Cup Series. In 2012 “The Captain” earned his first championship as a NASCAR team owner. As far as motorsports go, Team Penske has one of the largest racing arsenal in the world. With a strong performance (championship) in the 2018, I look for Penske to continue its relevance in the top-tier of NASCAR.
#2 Brad Keselowski
Photo Credit: Yahoo! Sports
With the most experience on Team Penske, Brad Keselowski is the team leader. He won Roger Penske his first title in 2012 driving a Dodge and is the most consistent driver in NASCAR. Brad has finished in the top-10 of 49% of his starts at the Cup level. Dale Earnhardt Jr was the first to give Brad a shot in NASCAR, as he drove for JR Motorpsorts in the Xfinity series. There he won a few races and made a name for himself. He is famous for numerous feuds with Denny Hamlin and Kyle Busch. He also won at Talladega in 2009 driving for James Finch, “turning” Carl Edwards on the last lap. Keselowski had a relatively quiet year last year finishing 8thin points and despite getting 20 top-10’s, it never seemed like he was going to win the championship. He did win 3 races in a row though at Darlington, Indy, and Las Vegas. I still expect a strong season from Brad, and I have him getting 4 wins, 14 top-5’s and 23 top-10’s.
#22 Joey Logano
Photo Credit: Motorsport.com
The 2018 champion once known as “Sliced Bread” finally broke through. His driving style is much like Keselowski’s, as he finishes in the top-10 49% of the time as well. Penske has always had drivers who are controversial, and there may not be a more controversial guy than Logano. Many fans were outraged with him spinning Truex at Martinsville to get in the final 4, and in general most fans despise him. He has an aura about him, kind of like Jeff Gordon had. Logano is known as this young kid, who came up with hype, and when he got here in the Xfinity Series, he pretty well whooped everyone’s butts. Logano was originally a Joe Gibbs driver, and once he made the switch to Penske, he turned into a dominant driver. Now 29 years-old, I feel like Logano will be at the top for many years to come. Now that he has 10 years of Cup experience, he will be one of the seasoned veterans in the sport very soon (if he isn’t already). In 2019, Logano will get 3 wins, 16 top-5’s and 25 top-10’s.
#12 Ryan Blaney
Photo Credit: USA Today
The younger driver for Team Penske is Ryan Blaney. With a polarizing personality, Blaney is slowly gaining the love from NASCAR fans alike. The laid-back son of former NASCAR driver Dave Blaney, has a well-known podcast called “Glass Case of Emotion”, and is one of the best at interacting with the fans. As far as likeability, he probably takes the title on Team Penske (among fans). The Wood Brothers gave Blaney his first shot at Cup competition and he proved them correct by winning at Pocono. He is the innagural winner of the Charlotte Roval and frankly a 24-year-old phenom. Driving with two champions, he has some of the best resources at his disposal, and I feel confident his performance will reflect that. I believe he will take a big leap in terms of on-track production and Blaney will get 2 wins, 13 top-5’s and 19 top-10’s.
AustYn
References: racing reference, wiki, Jayski