For a driver to win, his pit crew must excel; if not, no matter how good he is on track, things will be tough for him. These words may sound simple, but behind them lies the harsh reality of Ryan Blaney’s No. 12 Team Penske crew. This performance gap has not gone unnoticed, and NASCAR commentator Kevin Harvick has been vocal about the impact of these pit-road deficiencies on Blaney’s results. Harvick’s take on the situation sheds light on a deeper issue within the team’s performance.

Kevin Harvick sounds off on Team Penske’s pit crew struggles

Kevin Harvick didn’t seem to hold back while discussing issues that plagued Blaney’s crew. While this year has been great for Blaney, Penske have shown some glaring faults that have become difficult to ignore. A former driver himself, Harvick pointed that out on a recent episode of his podcast.

“Everything’s gonna be fine. And obviously they know that they have a good pit crew, but hasn’t been great,” said Harvick. “You know, from a speed start, speed point on pit road this year, their ranking has been awful, but they didn’t, they didn’t look like that team on Sunday.”

Stats certainly back Harvick’s statement. Blaney’s pit crew ranks 35th out of 36 teams in four-tire stop times in 2026, with an average of 12.89 seconds, far behind top-performing crews like Hendrick Motorsports and Joe Gibbs Racing.

This palpable talent difference between crews was also noticed by Harvick, who bluntly stated, “I still think the problem that they have is they’re just not as good as the Hendrick and the Gibbs pit crews.”

Although the crew has had a disappointing season, they showed great composure at Martinsville, and Harvick gave them flowers for their performance there.

“So in a situation like that where you have a team that is struggling and trying to get their footing, you know, back on the ground and get things headed back in the right direction, you just have to have a scenario where you don’t have any mistakes, a clean day, and just put that confidence back in everybody that you can do this,” Harvick said.

Hopefully, the performance of the crew improves, and they carry the momentum into future races. Blaney is currently second in driver standings, and only if he has their support will the driver be able to challenge Tyler Reddick and Denny Hamlin to secure the title.

The critical role of pit crew performance in NASCAR’s evolving championship race

Faster crews have always helped achieve better finishes. It was Hendrick Motorsports who pioneered modern pit crew training with Andy Papathanassiou in the early 90s. His efforts helped reduce four‑tire stop times from 18–19 seconds in the late 1990s to elite sub-14 performances.

In the 2024 Texas Motor Speedway race weekend, for example, Hendrick crews averaged 9.27- second four‑tire pit stops against Penske crews, who averaged 9.57 seconds, a whole 0.3-second performance gap with the second-best crew.

The value of quick pit stops has further increased with the new rules, where a race win has gone from 40 to 55 points, making it important for pit crews to cut down on time in the pits. No race can be taken lightly under the Chase Format. They will have to continue repeating their exploits from Martinsville, as that is the only way they can help Blaney get close to the title.