Although Joey Logano has three NASCAR Cup Series championships to his name, he has only captured one of the sport’s four crown jewel races, the Daytona 500 in 2015. The Brickyard 400 remains on his radar, and this weekend will present another shot at checking it off his list.
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Logano has openly admitted that, because of Roger Penske’s connection to Indianapolis Motor Speedway, winning the Brickyard 400 would mean even more to him than his Daytona triumph. And now, even his teammate, Ryan Blaney, seems to share that sentiment.
In January 2020, Penske Corporation, owned by Roger Penske, acquired the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, the IndyCar Series, and IMS Productions.
For Logano, the track ownership has added more significance to winning the Brickyard 400 race, but he maintains that the race’s prestige speaks for itself.
In his view, the enticement of Indianapolis transcends ownership; every driver dreams of joining the history books as a winner at the Brickyard, whether in IndyCar or NASCAR.
Blaney, the reigning 2023 NASCAR Cup Series champion, echoed that mindset. Looking ahead to the race on his boss’s hallowed ground, he admitted, “Honestly, like the next one that I really want to win even more than the 500 right now is I want to win Indie like the Brickyard (400) when we go there here later this year.”
“Driving for Roger Pensky, him owning the place, all the history behind that place. That’s like top of my list. To be able to share that with him would be really special,” he added.
Blaney’s track record at Indianapolis suggests he could be in the mix. In seven starts, he holds an average finish of 17.7 and secured his first top-five last year, finishing P3 after starting P7, giving him the momentum and confidence he’d require on the upcoming Sunday.
Entering the weekend, Blaney sits seventh in the driver standings with one win, seven top fives, and nine top 10s in 21 regular-season starts, giving him a legitimate shot at delivering Penske another Brickyard win after Brad Keselowski bagged it for Penske in 2018, driving the #2 Ford for the team.
