2024 Season in Review: Team Penske

The 2024 season was a unique one for Joey Logano and the No. 22 team. While Logano did win his third Cup Series championship, the path to the title was far from smooth. Starting right away in Daytona, much of Logano’s early season was filled with good runs that eventually got bitten by the bad luck bug. 

Following a pole in the 2024 Daytona 500, Logano recorded four finishes outside the Top 20 in the seasons first five races. This pattern would continue through a good portion of the season until race nineteen in Nashville, where he would score his first win of the year. This was followed by wins in Atlanta, Las Vegas, and the finale in Phoenix. The roller coaster of finishes however kept the 22 car in a very tight spot throughout the playoffs…until a major penalty to Alex Bowman’s 48 team would replace Bowman with Logano late into the playoffs.

Logano’s team took advantage of their new playoff placement and wound up in the Round of 4 heading into Phoenix. Starting second, Logano would have a strong race and score a fairly dominant win, which secured Logano his third series championship along with it.

2025 Outlook: Penske’s 22 team appears to be returning just as they were in 2024, which makes Logano an odds on favorite to repeat. Consistency throughout the season will need to turn around though, as Logano did come dangerously close to not making the final four this past season with several out of place finishes.

Ryan Blaney / #12 Menards Ford

Crew Chief: Jonathan Hassler

2024 Season Grade: A-

In many ways, Ryan Blaney and his No. 12 Penske team had an inverted season compared to teammate Logano. As the season kicked off, Blaney’s Ford would be a frequent presence towards the front of field. Collecting three Top 5 finishes in the season’s first five races, the team seemed to establish themselves as a threat for the championship. What followed (as with many playoff contenders in 2024) would be an up an down season, which kept Blaney also locked in a tight race for a playoff spot the entire season.

Amazingly, Blaney did not pick up his first win until race seventeen in Iowa, this was also followed by wins in Pocono and Martinsville. The current playoff format however cut Blaney off from the top spot with a 2nd place finish in Phoenix, despite Blaney’s numbers being stronger. 2024 would end with Blaney scoring three wins, an average finish of 15.2, and a substantial seven DNFs. 

2025 Outlook: Much like Logano, Blaney and the 12 team will be returning in full for 2025. There is not much reason to think that Blaney will not be a contender again this upcoming season, but they will need to improve on the seven DNFs collected if they want to have a more solid performance.

Austin Cindric / #2 Discount Tire-Menards Ford

Crew Chief: Brian Wilson

2024 Season Grade: C+

Austin Cindric entered his third season in Penske’s No. 2 Ford with high hopes for a strong 2024 season. While Cindric and crew did have a considerably better season than in 2023, the numbers just did not quite stack up to his Penske teammates. Following a 22nd place finish in the Daytona 500, Cindric would collect a 4th in Atlanta. Things would take a turn after however, as the No. 2 team would struggle to finish in the Top 10 until Gateway. Cindric would go on to score his second career win in Gateway, leading 53 laps and earning an early playoff spot

Gateway was the season’s lone highlight though, as the 2 team would slip right back to roller coaster finishes while teetering on playoff elimination weekly. Unfortunately, Cindric and crew would eventually be eliminated from the playoffs, finishing the season 11th in the final standings. A success to be considered though, is Cindric only collected four DNFs all season, compared to Blaney’s seven.

2025 Outlook: 2025 will be Cindric’s fourth full season behind the wheel of the 2 car, which will naturally place higher expectations on the team. While Cindric did have a dramatic improvement from 2023, he was still eliminated from the playoffs fairly early on in 2024. An upset win at a track such as Iowa or Gateway again cannot be ruled out, but results at other tracks will need to improve if the team wants to be considered a contender.