MOORESVILLE, N.C. — There isn’t much left in racing that team owner Roger Penske hasn’t accomplished since Team Penske was created in 1966.
Last year was a first as Will Power won the 2022 NTT IndyCar Series Championship and Joey Logano claimed the NASCAR Cup Series Championship — the only time in Team Penske history both major championships were in the same season.
If Ryan Blaney wins the NASCAR Cup Series Championship in Sunday’s Championship Race at Phoenix Raceway, it would give Team Penske an accomplishment it has achieved just once before.
It was in 2018 and Power won the Indianapolis 500 and Logano won the NASCAR Cup Series championship. That is the only time Penske has won the Indianapolis 500 and the NASCAR Cup Series title in the same season.
Josef Newgarden won the 107th Indianapolis 500 for Team Penske earlier this year.
“It really would be another hallmark in the tradition of the company,” Team Penske Vice Chairman Walt Czarnecki responded to a question posed by SPEED SPORT. “Of course, last year Joey won the championship and Will Power won the IndyCar championship. That was quite an achievement.
“To do this, we didn’t win the IndyCar championship, but the Indianapolis 500 is, as I said, quite an achievement. This would be a big deal, for sure.”
Blaney arrived in Phoenix confident he can win the NASCAR Cup Series Championship Sunday. He was calm and relaxed as he explained why at Thursday’s NASCAR Championship Media Day.
“I think what we’ve been doing the last three weeks, we’re plenty capable of winning the championship,” Blaney said. “The execution we’ve had has been pretty remarkable. I feel like we had the best speed and best races out of anybody in the Round of 8. You just hope to keep doing that. Our group can.
“This group is definitely poised to do it. We had a good shot at it last year. I think we learned from what kept us from winning a championship last year and have been able to apply it this year.
“We just have to go do our job Sunday.”
It’s the same strategy and execution from last year, when Logano arrived at Phoenix at the peak of his game and won the race and his second NASCAR Cup Series Championship.
Blaney has been rising ever since the playoffs began and the 29-year-old son of former racer Dave Blaney is on the verge of delivering Team Penske its fourth NASCAR Cup Series championship and a record-extending 44th overall national championship in all forms of racing.
“You make a good observation — that the 12 car team has been on an upward trajectory for these last 10 or 11 races, certainly since the playoffs began,” Czarnecki told SPEED SPORT. “You’re right, things are coalescing. Ryan had a good start to the season. I think he was eighth at Daytona, second at Phoenix in the spring, good run at Talladega in the spring, finished third. Went through a little of a bumpy patch. Things started to come together as we got towards the end of regular season and the playoffs.
“As I said, I think things are coming together well and we’re going to be utilizing all of our assets to ensure that momentum continues.”
So, how did all of this happen at just the right time?
“Yeah, that’s a good question,” Blaney replied. “You’re always trying to find things that you can do that make you better, whether they’re speed on the track, whether they’re at the race shop, preparation, things as a driver. You just hope all those things come together at some point, and they all complement each other.
“I think that’s what’s going on right now, is everything is playing off of each other, everyone is doing their job really well right now and their confidence is high. All those things have kind of culminated into this moment, this weekend.
“It’s one of those things that, like, you try and try to do every year, but it’s hard to do. It’s hard to get all those pieces together where everyone is running on all cylinders. Our group is definitely firing on all cylinders right now.
“I’m proud of them for that, for sure.”
Blaney has enjoyed success at the one-mile Phoenix Raceway. Although he has yet to win at race on the desert short oval, he has finished fourth, fourth, second and second in his last four starts, respectively.
In 15 career starts, Blaney has six top-five, and 10 top-10 finishes at Phoenix.
Good At Phoenix
“This track fits what we do in this car especially,” Blaney explained. “Even in years past we’ve been strong here in the older generation car. But especially this Next Gen car, we’ve been really strong. We had a great shot to win this thing in the fall last year. Had a good shot to win it in the spring this year. Hopefully you can bring that same speed and build on what you learned.
“Whatever we do at our shop just kind of fits this place. I feel like we’ve always done a really good job no matter what size track. If two different ends of the speedway are very different, we do a good job of making both pretty good.
“I look at Texas, I look at Gateway, here is similar to that. We just do a good job at it, of figuring out what we need to be travel-wise, setup-wise.
“It just fits our thought process. That’s pretty nice. Hopefully we can finally win one here. We’ve been close a couple times.”
The difference between success and failure may be mental.
“I think a lot of it is,” the driver said. “It’s like how do you handle the pressure of the moment, right? I’ve always said, if someone tells there’s no pressure in these moments, they’re lying, right?
“There’s always pressure in these moments. This is what you do, this is what you live for, this is your livelihood. There are hundreds of people back at the race shop that rely on you. It’s there.
“It’s how do you accept the pressure and use it for your benefit with your group. I feel like mental toughness is very important, especially throughout the race. Throughout this week, throughout the race, there’s going to come a time where not everything is going to go perfect. You’re not going to be leading the whole race compared to these other three guys. You’re going to have to figure out a way to get back to the front.
I think how you process that is super important. There’s a big part of that.”
Translation: Don’t panic.
“That’s with any situation, right?” Blaney replied. “You panic, you lose focus, you kind of become scatterbrained. It’s a big part of trying to stay calm and focused on the overall task. That’s, like, the biggest thing.
“Don’t get caught up in one little thing that’s going on, just try to focus on the end result.”
Czarnecki’s message is, don’t underestimate Blaney.
“Not by any stretch,” Czarnecki responded. “I spoke to one of your media colleagues here several weeks ago. He asked what I thought Blaney’s assessment would be, what would Blaney’s chances be.
“I said, ‘Don’t count him out.’
“Here we are at Phoenix. Don’t count him out.”