2020 preview: Team Penske

2020 will be the 37th year Roger Penske fields cars in the NASCAR Cup Series.

The organization has won 117 races in NASCAR’s premier series along with two titles (Brad Keselowski in 2012 and Joey Logano in 2018).

2020 will be the third straight season Team Penske fields the same driver lineup for its three-car organization.

No. 2 Brad Keselowski
The 2012 series champion will embark on his 11th season with Team Penske and his 10th season piloting the No. 2 car for the three-car organization.

In 2019, Keselowski earned three wins, 12 top-five finishes and 20 top-10 finishes in 36 races, finishing out the season eighth overall in driver standings.

OUTLOOK
Team Penske announced last month Keselowski will work with crew chief Jeremy Bullins in 2020, who previously worked with teammate Ryan Blaney.

Paul Wolfe, Keselowski’s previous crew chief, had worked with the driver since 2011. Wolfe will now work with teammate Ryan Blaney.

The 35-year-old driver has scored three or more wins in each of the last four seasons in the series and has won at least one race per season since 2011.

In addition, Keselowski has qualified for the NASCAR Playoffs in eight of the last nine years. The last time he missed the playoffs was in 2013.

The 30-time winner in the series will enter 2020 with a 24-race winless streak. His last points-awarding win was the Kansas race in May of last year.

No. 12 Ryan Blaney
Ryan Blaney is coming off of his best season in the Cup Series in many statistical categories.

Finishing seventh in overall points last year, Blaney will be competing in his third season in the No. 12 Ford Mustang and his fifth full-time season in NASCAR’s premier series.

2019 saw the driver post 11 top-five finishes, 18 top-10 finishes and an average finish of 13.7, all career highs in those categories.

OUTLOOK
This season, Blaney will be working with crew chief Todd Gordon, as Team Penske announced crew chief shakeups among its three-car Cup Series organization.

Blaney’s previous crew chief, Jeremy Bullins, will now work with Brad Keselowski. Bullins had been paired with Blaney for all his prior 162 Cup Series starts.

Blaney, 26, has won at least one Cup Series race in each of the previous three seasons, qualifying for the post-season in each of the last three years.

Blaney will enter the season on a five-race losing streak, having his most recent victory come at Talladega Superspeedway in October of 2019.

No. 22 Joey Logano
Logano will be entering his 12th full-time season in the NASCAR Cup Series in 2020 and eighth with Team Penske.

The Connecticut-native finished 2019 with two wins, 12 top-five finishes, 21 top-10 finishes and fifth overall in driver standings.

OUTLOOK
The 2018 series champion will not have the crew chief he won the title with atop the pit box in 2020.

Paul Wolfe, Brad Keselowski’s former crew chief, will be working with Logano, the team announced in January.

Todd Gordon, who had worked with Logano since he joined the organization in 2013, will now be working with Ryan Blaney.

Logano has won at least one race per season since 2012.

With the exception of 2017, Logano has qualified for the post-season every year he has driven for Roger Penske.

Logano will start the year with a 21-race winless streak. His most recent victory came in the June race at Michigan International Speedway.

SOURCES
Racing-Reference.info