One thing about Team Penske is that they deliver when it matters the most. Last year, Joey Logano took his No. 22 car to Victory Lane and claimed his third Cup Series title. What is more, Ryan Blaney, though he missed out on his second Cup title, managed a runner-up finish at the season finale. With the current playoffs nearing the penultimate race, rival teams are struggling to match their pace. And now Ross Chastain has dropped the hammer on Team Penske’s dominance in the playoffs.

Speaking to Frontstretch, Ross Chastain didn’t shy away from accepting the facts: “I know they had a lot of grip in New Hampshire, so no telling what happens in a month and a half when we get to Phoenix. But they’ve been fast there as well, and they kicked our butts in New Hampshire.”

At New Hampshire Motor Speedway, Penske owned their rivals. Ryan Blaney lifted the lobster in victory, while Joey Logano ended up finishing fourth in the 36-car field. And the performance lived up to the expectations. Logano, who started from the pole, led 147 laps and won stage two, while Ryan Blaney led 116 laps overall and closed the win. Together, they led 90% of the laps!

By contrast, Ross Chastain began in P8 after qualifying. His race was more of a slog; he dropped outside the top 10 in the early stages before rallying in the final run to finish ninth. And more importantly, as Ross Chastain admits that Team Penske has been fast, it is the race at Phoenix that the rivals should worry about.

The duo of Joey Logano and Ryan Blaney has given Penske three straight championships and four of the last seven. Only Hendrick Motorsports in 2020 and 2021 and Joe Gibbs Racing in 2019 have broken through Penske’s recent dominance. With the final playoff races at Las Vegas, Talladega, Martinsville, and the Championship 4 showdown at Phoenix looming, these tracks are the last major tests for challengers trying to keep pace with Team Penske’s powerhouse performance. And now HMS’s Jeff Gordon concedes Penske’s dominance in the championship race.

Moreover, even NASCAR veteran Denny Hamlin got real about why Penske’s leaving JGR in the dust. With JGR sweeping up the Round of 16 and Hamlin qualifying second for the Hollywood Casino 400, this could be his moment to rewrite the Penske dominance, but the finale at Phoenix may be a tough one to crack with Team Penske in the picture.

Ross Chastain aims to defend his Kansas title despite poor qualifying

Ross Chastain heads back to Kansas Speedway this Sunday, aiming to add another victory to his résumé, building on his memorable 2024 Kansas win with Trackhouse Racing. Confidence in his team’s performance on intermediate tracks, Chastain is focused on conquering the 1.5-mile.

In a recent press release, Chastain said, “I feel our intermediate program is the strongest for the No. 1 car out of the different types of tracks. I think if we can replicate how we ran at Kansas last year and Charlotte this year, that we’ll have a strong shot to win or definitely run inside the top-five. We haven’t been able to do that at all of the mile-and-a-half tracks this year, though. The little bit of a question mark going into Kansas is if we can replicate those races.” 

Last season, he thrilled NASCAR fans by seizing the lead from Martin Truex Jr. on the final restart at lap 248 and narrowly holding off William Byron by 0.388 seconds to claim the checkered flag. That victory marked his first of the 2024 season, his debut win in Kansas, and his fifth NASCAR Cup Series triumph overall.

However, Chastain qualified 9th for this weekend’s race. Moreover, Chastain now ranks ninth in the playoff picture with a 12-point deficit on the cutoff line. With Charlotte coming up, his teammate, Daniel Suarez, has warned the garage about the playoff shakeup. This puts Chastain in a must-win situation. This weekend, ‘The Watermelon Man’ faces an uphill battle to navigate through the field and recapture the magic that brought him victory last year.