Breaking It Down: Team Penske makes major statement at NASCAR All-Star Race
In a battle amongst NASCAR’s top talents and teams, Team Penske made a major statement with its dominant performance in the NASCAR All-Star Race at Texas Motor Speedway on Sunday night.
The team’s three entries of Ryan Blaney, Austin Cindric, and Joey Logano finished an impressive first, third, and fourth, coming just shy of what would have been the first-ever 1-2-3 finish for a team in All-Star Race history.
Blaney was the ringleader of the dominance, leading a race-high 84 laps (including the last 54 laps), on the way to his first career All-Star Race win. Cindric, meanwhile, also had a strong showing as he led seven laps and won the second stage in his first career appearance in the All-Star event.
Finally, rounding out the Penske trio of drivers was the elder statesman (well, since Brad Keselowski left after last season), namely Joey Logano, who put an exclamation point on the team’s performance with a respectable fourth-place finish.
Team Penske exemplified the importance of teamwork to perfection throughout the whole race as each driver secured a top starting position for the final stage in their own unique way.
After a savvy call by crew chief Jeremey Bullins to stay out on old tires, Cindric got the track position he needed to run with the leaders. When leader Kyle Busch’s tire went flat late in stage two, Cindric took over the top spot and rode it to a stage victory. With Busch’s retirement from the race due to a crash, the stage win secured Cindric the pole position in the ever-so-important final stage of the race.
Following Cindric’s stage win, Team Penske’s No. 22 team pit crew locked their driver, Logano, into the third and final of the guaranteed restart positions for the final stage by winning the Pit Stop Competition. The team earned the win by having the fastest four-tire pit stop during the stage two break and took home a $100,000 reward to go along with the valuable track position they got for their driver.
With two drivers already locked into the top spots for the final stage, it was Blaney’s time to shine. His car soon proved it was the class of the field as he took the lead early on in stage three and never looked back. He cruised to the stage three win, which locked him into the second starting position and secured a Penske 1-2-3 restart to kick off the final stage.
Blaney ran away from the field in the final stage as neither his teammates nor Denny Hamlin, who was on fresher tires, could catch up to Blaney.
But just as he was about to cross the line for the win and a million dollars, controversy struck. NASCAR called a caution for Ricky Stenhouse Jr.’s car scraping the wall on the white flag lap and within an instant, the No. 12 team’s triumph turned to panic.
Due to some confusion stemming from the alternate rules NASCAR implements in the All-Star Race, Blaney had pulled his window net down thinking he won the race. Unbeknownst to him, and unlike points-paying races when a race can finish under a yellow caution, the All-Star Race must end under green flag conditions, according to the rules package, which left Blaney struggling to put his window net back up and unsure if he could hold the field off on the restart.
Yet, even in the face of adversity, the synergy of Team Penske still prevailed to secure the victory. Blaney managed to get his window net up just high enough to meet NASCAR’s satisfaction and retained the lead for the final restart. From there, Cindric came in to ensure Blaney got the win he deserved. Cindric timed the restart perfectly and gave Blaney a huge push that had him clear of second place before he even entered turn one.
From there, the rest is history. With his window net hanging on by a thread and his teammates closely in tow behind him, Blaney secured the victory and put a cap on one of the greatest team performances NASCAR fans have seen in awhile.
Between Cindric’s great strategy from his crew chief, Logano’s speedy pit crew, Blaney’s perfectly prepared car that came out of the hauler blazing fast, and the teamwork on the track, every member of Team Penke came together to put on a rare display of excellence all across the board.
What makes this performance so special is the fact that every individual aspect that goes into a race team rose to the occasion for Team Penske this weekend and showed how each cog can play such an important role.
The performance came as a much needed boost for the team on Sunday, as well. With Penske’s storied Indycar program only putting one of its three drivers into the fast twelve in Indy 500 qualifying, the strong showing from their NASCAR organization could provide some momentum going into the biggest weekend in motorsports next week, with the Indy 500 and NASCAR's longest race of the season, the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
Owner Roger Penske has built a legacy as one of the greatest team owners in motorsports through his dedication to execution and his hunger for success. Sunday’s All-Star Race is a perfect example of the tight ship that Penske runs and how it has paid off for him and his team time and time again throughout the organization’s existence.
Even in an exhibition race, every member of the Penske teams was performing at their highest level and it speaks volumes about the culture that Roger creates.
Now, with a strong run under their belts, it’s time to see if the team can translate it into more wins as the Cup Series heads into its grueling summer stretch.