Nobody had Joey Logano winning his 3rd Cup Series title on our bingo cards, but hey, it still happened, and it sent the media into a frenzy. Some called it controversial, others called it a historic feat accomplished amidst the new elimination format. Whatever the case might be, Roger Penske and his talented team of people sure did manage to write their name in stone, and well, how does America honor this achievement? With the POTUS standing next to the group with a thumbs up and a massive grin!!

White House FTW: Margo Martin took to X to share an image of President Donald Trump alongside Penske and the NASCAR, INDY, and IMSA Champions. Jeff Gluck had the perfect reaction to the entire celebration. “Joey Logano and Ryan Blaney meeting Charles Schwab in the Oval Office while President Trump talks about the stock market is not something I would have had on my Bingo card,” Gluck shared while reposting a clip of President Trump introducing Charles Schwab to the group.

Apart from NASCAR stars like Joey Logano and Ryan Blaney, other champions from the Team Penske camp also made an appearance. This included defending Indy 500 winner Josef Newgarden and the Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona winners – Nick Tandy, Felipe Nasr, and Laurens Vanthoor. The fun part of this visit to the White House was that all the driver also brought their respective rides from the racetrack.

“This is just the celebration of racing. It’s a celebration of Roger and his great success and his life and these incredible champions who really do what very few people could do… These are the greatest champions in the world, and it’s an honor to have you all.” President Trump said to the contingent of Penske drivers.

Interestingly, this was Logano’s second visit to the White House, the first one came in 2019 when he won his first championship and President Trump was in the office for the first time. Not to forget, Roger Penske holds the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest award outside of the Congressional Medal of Honor. Trump, who had made an appearance this year at the Daytona 500, also expressed his wish to be at the Indianapolis 500 race, “I’ll have to get there… maybe this year, with you.” In response, Penske replied by saying he has an “open invitation.”

NASCAR has always been popular among US Presidents. This tradition was started back in 1984 when Ronald Reagan attended the Daytona Fall race, where he was rooting for Richard Petty. And now, Donald Trump is ensuring that he keeps this bond stronger than ever with his involvement and appreciation of NASCAR champions. Although both Logano and Blaney enjoyed a special visit, they will need to gear up for this weekend’s race at Bristol Motor Speedway.

Is Team Penske’s NASCAR spark starting to fade?

Although Josh Berry was able to take the No. 21 car back into victory lane at Kansas Speedway for Wood Brothers, Penske drivers haven’t been able to fire off well to start the new season. Ryan Blaney, in particular, had a streak of three DNFs and troubles with his engine on the No. 12 car. Meanwhile, Joey Logano’s best finish in the eight starts has been a single top 10 finish, which came at Martinsville.

Blaney has had his run-ins with bad luck. He had the best shot to win the race at Homestead, but an engine failure derailed his late race run. Even when his engine stayed true to him at Darlington Raceway, the infamous late race caution was there to spoil his race after taking the lead against Tyler Reddick. On the other hand, Austin Cindric has lost his cool on a couple of occasions at COTA and Martinsville.

We know that Team Penske drivers are notorious for flipping the switch during the knockout stages. But with rival teams like JGR and Hendrick Motorsports racking wins, they could concede their Next Gen era domination. It has to be noted that both JGR and HMS have two of their star drivers already locked in the playoffs. So, there is pressure on the Penske drivers to come up with the goods in the coming weeks.