It was supposed to be their season, a season of complete dominance. A season in which Team Penske, which is known for their championship pedigree and spot-on strategy calls, will continue where it left off the last season, at the top. Instead, the start of the 2025 season has been anything but; it has been a season of frustration, bad luck, and missed opportunities.

Three-time NASCAR champion and title defender Joey Logano entered this season with high hopes, hoping to carry the momentum of winning last season into this season. He fluffed his lines trying to fill the hole in the draft during the Daytona 500, which resulted in a DNF. And what followed next was a streak of sub-par performances with top 15 finishes; it’s not something you’d expect from the No. 22 Penske team. 

“Frustrating is the one word that comes to mind…I think I’ve left the race track every single weekend mad at something. That’s part of racing sometimes,” said Logano when talking about his 2025 season so far. Although it may look like everything is going downhill for the #22 team, one statistic in particular might just cheer them up. After six race weekends, Joey Logano is the driver with the most laps led (247).

Although the No. 22 Ford has led the race and bagged stage points, they haven’t been up there with the likes of William Byron or Christopher Bell to contend for wins. But, given that Penske have cracked the code in how to approach the playoffs, Logano isn’t losing his sleep over the lack of good results, early in the season.

“I still feel strong about our team. It’s still the championship-winning team. I feel great about that. And as a team, we’ve done great at leading laps. We’ve been towards the front, we’re tied for seventh in points, which shows we’ve scored a lot of stage points. So even though the finishes aren’t there, we’ve been able to run up front enough to score the stage points and to be able to be in contention.” Logano said.

Lady luck hasn’t been too kind to his teammate, Ryan Blaney, as well. Despite leading race-high 124 laps at Homestead, an engine failure saw him end his day on a DNF. This was the second engine related trouble for the No. 12 team, and they haven’t been able to cross the finish three races in a row. Meanwhile, we have Josh Berry from Wood Brothers Racing, who has already locked himself into the playoff with a win to his name in Vegas.

Well, speaking of stage points, we saw how tricky it is to assess how well a team is performing based on results. Take Christopher Bell as an example. After snagging three wins in a row after Phoenix, he wasn’t the one leading the points tally. It was William Byron who had better stage points and held the first place, so numbers this early in the season aren’t enough to predict how a team will perform for the rest of the season.

But given that Penske drivers have a reputation of delivering the goods in the playoffs, fans had different opinions on Logano’s small victory.

Fans are divided over Team Penske and its season so far

The reactions from the fans on Team Penske’s situation have been both insightful and entertaining. With the string of bad luck so far this season, some fans blamed this on a supernatural happening, with one fan commenting, “The demon they signed their soul to for the championship last year has come to collect,” Well this is a direct jab at Penske’s for their slow start in the Gen 7 era and bursting into life in the knockouts. Interestingly, Logano’s last year’s numbers were more concerning. The first four races out of six saw him finish 22nd or worse, but in 2025, he has had four top 15 finishes.

While this fan took the humorous approach to Logano’s situation, his ardent supporters still believed in the reigning champion. “Just wait until Phoenix when he [Logano] contends for another championship,” The argument surrounding the playoff format is genuine and one that needs an overhaul. But for the time being, Penske has found the secret sauce to succeed in the Gen 7 car, and Logano just might turn on his afterburners when he is in a do-or-die situation.

“He leads but doesn’t get the finishes. Then once he does get finishes he deserves, people will say he’s the undeserving champ,” a fan commented, pointing out and calling out the people who have been critical of Logano and his championship win last season. He only had 6 top-5 finishes before his win in the championship finale. But now that he’s leading the laps and being consistent about his approach, his good work will be sidelined.

Putting aside what happened last season, one thing is for sure, the start of this season has not been a good one for Team Penske, with stats backing it up. In the latest lap leader chart issued by NASCAR, Team Penske drivers Logano, Cindric, and Blaney occupy the top 3 places in the table with all three combined leading more laps than the next 6 drivers combined. “Pretty wild. The top 3 (Team Penske) have a combined 1 top 5 finish in 18 starts this season,” as one fan pointed out. The most shocking thing is that the drivers behind have 6 wins this season compared to none of the Penske drivers.

While most fans were focused on the performance of Team Penske and its drivers, one fan was quick to point out another name in the list. “Bubba having more laps led than former champions like Larson and Busch is not something I expected to see on this fine Tuesday morning,” commented one fan, showing his disbelief at the presence of Bubba Wallace in the list over the NASCAR champions Kyle Busch and Kyle Larson. While Busch may be dealing with his winless streak, Larson did manage to get his number 5 Hendrick Motorsports car into the victory lane.

It will be interesting to see if the script of the last three years repeats in 2025, or will this inconsistency plague Team Penske in the longer run?