Penske Trio Aiming To Put It All Together In Cup Chase

Austin Cindric (left), Joey Logano (center) and Ryan Blaney (right). (Matthew Thacker/Nigel Kinrade Photography)

By Justin Glenn & Christian Wilson, SWN Staff Writers

MOORESVILLE, N.C. (Sept. 4, 2026) – Team Penske put the NASCAR Cup Series field on notice to end the regular season. The once ‘one-step-behind’ powerhouse found their perennial speed over the summer, and now has a serious shot to contend for a title during the Chase.

Since the May 24 Coca-Cola 600, four wins, 16 top 10s and 1,029 laps led have been spread across the three-car stable.  

Now, the organization will turn to the 77th Cook Out Southern 500 Chase opener at Darlington (S.C.) Raceway, hoping to keep the recent fire stoked. After the points reset, Ryan Blaney is seeded second, 25 points out of the lead, while Joey Logano is ninth and Austin Cindric is 15th. 

All are chasing points leader Denny Hamlin and a host of Toyotas looking to claim the Bill France Cup at Homestead-Miami (Fla.) Speedway on Nov. 8.

In preparation for the 10-week stretch, Penske made a pit crew swap Tuesday between Ryan Blaney and Austin Cindric’s teams. 

It came as a surprise to most, but Blaney wasn’t about to throw any verbal haymakers at his now-former crew, which had struggled mightily on pit lane most of the season.

“I felt very strongly about going into the Chase even before [the crew swap] because I think our team has done a good job of figuring out speed, how to get better on pit road and overcoming adversity,” said Blaney.

“I felt great about [my original crew] before everything – even for Sunday – so I still feel really good [after the change],” Blaney added. “It’s one of those things that on the personal side you create relationships with a lot of those guys.” 

Blaney acknowledged how emotions are involved in crew swaps, but understood it’s a business. With him being 25 points back of the championship lead, Cindric’s pit crew — ranking 10th in the league, with just three mistakes all year and two-tenths quicker on a four-tire change than the original No. 12 crew —  made the most sense in the eyes of Penske competition directors.  

Blaney’s crew ranked 32nd and shuffled three different lineups across six months.  

‘Hey, this is the best way we have to win Roger Penske a championship,’ so you welcome those guys in with open arms,” said Blaney, of embracing change. “‘Hey, welcome to the team. You’re on the [No.] 12 group now. How do we all operate as a group?’ No matter which way it went I felt good.”

Blaney did not ask for a pit crew change, nor did Cindric, but both maintain the understanding of maximizing potential.  

“It’s understandable from the team’s perspective. Racing is still a business. Obviously [Blaney] has a great shot to win a championship,” Cindric told FOX Sports Wednesday during Cup Series Chase Media Day in Charlotte, N.C. “It’s also not necessarily something I have to like. We’ve gotten ourselves this far, and we want to see it through. 

“But at the same time, we’re ready to go out and crush it for the next 10 weeks with the team that we have, and I don’t see any reason why we can’t.” 

A narrative in NASCAR media is that the 2026 season will come down to “Blaney versus the Toyotas.” Team Penske feels differently. The company believes they can be as good on mile-and-a-half tracks this fall, just like their short flat oval program. 

Statistically strong tracks on the Chase slate for Penske are World Wide Technology Raceway Sept. 13, Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway Sept. 19, Phoenix Raceway Oct. 18, Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway Oct. 25, and Martinsville (Va.) Speedway Nov. 1. Between the drivers, all have run well or won these events. 

Penske is arguably being written off on the intermediate tracks of Darlington, Kansas Speedway Sept. 27, Las Vegas (Nev.) Motor Speedway Oct. 4, Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway Oct. 11, and Homestead-Miami, with the masses assuming the high speeds will cater to Toyota and Chevrolet. 

Blaney disagrees with that blanket assessment.

“We have the opportunity to perform well at every track. Mile-and-a-halves are a place where we know we have to continue to improve, and I feel like we’ve made steps from Chicagoland [in July],” said Blaney. “Indianapolis isn’t a mile-and-a-half, but it’s a bigger track and [Logano] had a heck of a run [third], so that really shows me that we’ve made a step in the right direction. All of the other places we’ve had really good runs, but you can’t rely on that.”

Blaney said improvement is a must at all places, regardless of whether it’s a driver’s best track or not. Things change as the calendar begins to cycle, not guaranteeing total domination. 

Taking Darlington into perspective, none of the trio’s numbers at ‘The Track Too Tough to Tame’ jump off the paper. All have average finishes between 15th and 17th place. Blaney just captured his best finish in seven starts of third on March 22.    

Logano infamously won the 2022 spring race by moving William Byron out of the way, but in 2026 finished 33rd and three laps down. And Cindric just captured a track-best fifth place this spring, so scoring points will be huge if the race-winning pace isn’t there. 

Joey Logano's No. 22 Ford is serviced on pit road at Darlington Raceway. (Christian Wilson/SWN photo)

Throughout the season, Blaney led the league with 214 stage points, Logano had 148 and Cindric 113. The merit of points will decide the fate of who becomes a champion, no longer just wins. 

Points were the reason Logano made a huge comeback from 20th place to ninth in the standings this summer. All it takes is execution. That’s what made Logano a three-time champion and earned Blaney the 2023 crown, and both know it.

“You can come back from a long way in a pretty quick time, and that’s one thing with this points format that we haven’t really explored yet,” said Logano. “There’s been two cars that have done that. [Chase Briscoe] and we’ve done it, so with that in mind, I feel optimistic about where we are in points, but there’s no reward until we get to Miami.” 

The marathon continues Saturday afternoon for the group with a 50-minute practice session, then qualifying on TruTV beginning at 4 p.m. ET. 

“It’s just a matter of who can put the best 10 (races) together and someone is gonna do that,” said Blaney. “Hopefully, we’re one of them that can do it.”

Coverage of the 77th Cook Out Southern 500 from Darlington is slated for Sunday, Sept. 6 at 5 p.m. ET on USA, the Motor Racing Network, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, channel 90.