Team Penske Is Roaring to Life as We Close in on the 2026 Chase
Team Penske has roared to life late in the 2026 season. The Penske Fords have gone from forgotten and unlucky to dominant in the past two weeks. Joey Logano dominated in the Cup Series return to North Wilkesboro, and Ryan Blaney led almost 200 laps in a race victory at Atlanta. Austin Cindric is currently inside the Chase in 16th. With five races before the Chase begins, NASCAR’s top Ford team is getting hot at the right time.
The 2023 Cup Series Champion is the top car on the team by far. Blaney has two wins at Phoenix and Atlanta and is one of the three drivers locked into the Chase. He is in the final round of NASCAR’s in-season tournament, facing off against Todd Gilliland. The three-time Cup Series Champion was off to a terrible start to the season, to the point where some thought that his performance could signal the end of his career. Logano silenced the doubters on Sunday at North Wilkesboro. The 2015 Daytona 500 Champ led 323 laps, won stage two, and snapped his 46-race-long winless streak. Cindric has yet to find a win in 2026, but he is currently in the Chase field. The driver of the two machine could find his way to victory lane at New Hampshire or Daytona.
Blaney is one to watch to compete for the Cup Series Championship. Since 2023, the son of Dave Blaney has six wins in August or later, the most out of any driver. The rest of the 2026 schedule fits his style well once again, with superspeedways in Daytona and Talladega, flat tracks like New Hampshire, Martinsville, and Gateway, and Phoenix, where he won in March. If the 32-year-old keeps up his hot streak into the fall, he will most likely challenge the Toyotas of Denny Hamlin and Tyler Reddick for the 2026 Cup Series Championship.
Early in the season, the Penske cars were searching for answers and struggling to adapt to the new points format. As we approach the Chase, the Fords of Blaney, Logano, and Cindric appear to have figured something out. Team Penske has won three out of the four Cup Series Championships with the Next Gen car so far. If the team continues this run in 2026, they could increase their resume in the Next Gen to have four out of five Championships.
