Ryan Blaney Gives Warning to NASCAR Field, Explains How Team Penske is Stronger This Year

Team Penske typically hits its peak and begins winning races in the latter half of the year. But in 2025, good results have been pouring in right from the outset. Joey Logano and Austin Cindric have already won a race each, and Ryan Blaney has also come incredibly close to a victory, leading him to confidently issue a warning to his competitors.

Speaking to the press ahead of the Kansas race, the 2023 Cup Series champion explained that the Ford Mustangs he and his teammates drove had a new nose in 2024. That, Blaney stated, was the reason they took some time to reach Victory Lane.

Now that Cindric, Logano, and Blaney are all familiar with their machines, they are performing better. “This year, we didn’t really have any changes to the car, so we were just kind of ahead of the game,” said Blaney.

“We’re just up to speed faster, with what we figured out during the summer last year that led to the end, and we’ve really just kind of refined that, what was working,” he added.

His words were vindicated by the leaderboard on Sunday.

Give Blaney a long run, and he can beat just about anybody. With 20 laps remaining, he was racing in fifth place, over five seconds behind Kyle Larson. He quietly moved up the order and finished in third place, less than a second behind Larson.

The climb proved that he could have won the race had there been another five laps. Nevertheless, the finish was an impressive result for him.

Blaney now has four top-five finishes in the last five races. But it wasn’t just him who made the Team Penske name proud at Kansas.

Logano and Cindric continue to impress for Team Penske

Had Blaney won on Sunday, it would have been three consecutive weekends of victory for Team Penske. Cindric set the ball rolling when he reached Victory Lane at the treacherous Talladega Superspeedway. Defending champion Logano picked up after him and won at the Texas Motor Speedway.

While a hat-trick didn’t come through at Kansas, all three drivers performed well. Logano joined Blaney in the top 10 by finishing in ninth place. Cindric was close behind in 11th.

As things stand, Blaney is fifth on the points table, Logano is in ninth place, and Cindric finds himself in P14. If Team Penske continues its norm of performing in the latter half of the season, one can only imagine how high this trio is going to be catapulted on the points table.