The 2024 season was a victorious one for Team Penske. They enjoyed a remarkable year, highlighted by securing a third consecutive NASCAR Cup Series championship. It also included winning a historic 20th Indianapolis 500 and claiming sports car titles in both the WEC and IMSA championships. With the talent of 3x champion Joey Logano, 2023 champion Ryan Blaney, and the wisdom of Roger Penske, it’s no surprise they are one of the top teams in NASCAR today.

However, making such big strides forward without having any solid strategy at hand is not quite possible. ‘Captain’ Roger Penske opens up in detail about the methods that they follow to achieve such consistent success. With three consecutive championships including a 1-2 finish in 2024, Penske is heading toward domination only seen by the likes of Rick Hendrick’s Hendrick Motorsports.

Roger Penske believes in training leaders right from scratch 

The entire team has to be at the center of success. Sure, racing skills and strategies are an integral part of the team, however, it is not racing alone that helps Team Penske achieve goals. One of the major things that has worked in favor of the team is getting visionary leaders who have been with the team from scratch. Roger Penske embodies this mentality.

The team has been a perfect amalgamation of stars and training them right from the beginning. For example, Paul Wolfe, the current crew chief of 2024 Champion Joey Logano, has been a part since 2010. He has made his way up the ladder by first joining the team as a driver. Since the time he joined Team Penske, Wolfe has contributed to two championships, 36 team victories, and 21 pole positions. 

Speaking of how the team has been training its top position holders from scratch, Roger Penske said, “What I try to do is provide them with what they need to be champions. We’re not always up like this. Sure, we want to win more. We want to win properly. I think when you race in this league with the teams we have here and you see the execution — you’ve got to give Mike Nelson and Travis Geisler and Paul Wolfe and the people who have been…. And we grew them. We didn’t put them in from the top in the funnel, they came up through the bottom, every one of them. So they have that domain knowledge, which makes it so important, and they work as one team”. 

Mike Nelson joined the team back in the year 1998 and that too as an engineer for the team. He is currently functioning as the president of NASCAR Operations, a role that allows him to smoothen the functionalities of the team. Even Travis Geisler is one such name that has been etched in the history of Team Penske for quite some time now. Geisler is currently the competition director for the team and yet he had his share of traveling up the charts. He started as a crew chief and then made his way up to his current position. 

The team led by the 87-year-old has come close to dominating like its rivals Hendrick Motorsports. Rick Hendrick’s team is a strong competitor for Team Penske. With 14 title wins for the NASCAR Cup Series till now, it houses some of the best drivers and used to exercise undisputed supremacy over the sport. However, given the kind of tactics that Team Penske has adopted over the years, it has led them to 4 championship trophies and consecutive ones from 2022. This is a feat that Hendrick Motorsports achieved last in 2020-2021, with Elliott and Larson going back-to-back. Now that Penske has pipped them with 3 in a row, the pressure is on HMS.

Team Penske has been quite vocal about how particular it is about its team members and how training from the initial days is of crucial importance for the team. We always credit drivers like Ryan Blaney and Joey Logano for their performance, but the entire team and its operations enable them to perform at their best. 

When Joey Logano opened up about the ‘Penske Perfect’ mentality 

Joey Logano, the star driver for the team has been quite vocal about how the mentality of the team has been crucial for him to achieve the very best. In fact, he spoke about the ‘Penske Perfect’ culture that has been the crux of the team’s optimal functioning. Accrediting his victory to the kind of mentality that is fostered in the team, Logano shared with Kenny Wallace how his strive for success comes from the team itself. 

He said, “That comes from Roger,” Logano said. “He’s never said that to me, but you know that when you walk in the door is that these guys are trying to be better than everybody. Alright, cool, I want to be on that team. I want to be on the winning team. It’s just what it is there. It works”. 

Logano faced criticism for his championship in 2024 as most of his wins came in the playoffs, with average regular season performances. The win-and-in playoff format was credit for Logano’s success but he defended his team’s honor after winning the title. “We figured out how to do it the best and figured out how to win. It’s what our team has been able to do for the last three years… if the rules were the old way, we would play it out differently, wouldn’t we?”

Team Penske’s success has coincided with the introduction of the Next-Gen car as they are yet to lose a championship in it. Much of this success can be attributed to Roger Penske’s commitment to excellence and the winning culture he has instilled within the organization. Do you think Team Penske can defend their championship in 2025?