Team Penske Tag

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor Over the past three weeks, Ryan Blaney hasn’t finished better than 18th, but on Saturday night at Kentucky, that all changed with a strong runner-up performance for the Team Penske driver. “It’s a positive, that’s for sure,” said Blaney.  “I thought we were in a good spot there restarting fourth and Martin struggled a little bit the first couple laps and I thought I could get by him, but just couldn’t quite get a run on him.  His car came in and mine kind of fadedRead More

By Seth Eggert, Staff Writer SPARTA, Ky. – The right strategy on pit road earned Brad Keselowski a top-five finish at Kentucky Speedway. The 2012 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Champion had not been running inside the top-10 at Kentucky Speedway prior to Paul Wolfe’s call. At the end of Stage 2, Keselowski and Wolfe elected to take two tires, moving the No. 2 Discount Tire Ford Fusion into the lead. He held off eventual race winner Martin Truex, Jr. on the restart, dueling the defending Champion for nearly 40Read More

By Aaron Bearden, Open Wheel Editor NEWTON, Iowa —  With Josef Newgarden out front and dominating, the Verizon IndyCar Series’ annual trip to Iowa Speedway looked like 2016 all over again through 250 laps. Newgarden looked poised to win his second-straight race, in similarly dominant fashion to June’s Road America romp. Instead he ended the race outside of the podium. Newgarden led a race-high 229 laps in Sunday’s Iowa Corn 300, lapping as high as fifth on the field through a caution-free opening 139 laps. The Tennessean trapped points rivals Scott Dixon and Alexander RossiRead More

By Aaron Bearden, Open Wheel Editor NEWTON, Iowa — Will Power’s string of impressive qualifying efforts continued at Iowa Speedway. Power laid down a 17.611-second lap to take the Verizon P1 Award and the right to lead the field to green in Sunday’s Iowa Corn 300. The result was the Australian’s third-career Iowa pole, his second in a row at the track and second overall in 2018. The run continued a streak of qualifying excellence for the 2014 Verizon IndyCar Series champion. In 11 races, Power has qualified inside of the topRead More

By Aaron Bearden, Open Wheel Editor NEWTON, Iowa — Josef Newgarden entered this weekend’s trip to Iowa finish with a win and an average finish of 2.75 in his last four Iowa Speedway starts. If Saturday’s opening practice is any indication, the defending Verizon IndyCar Series champion is in a good position to keep that streak of success going. Newgarden laid down a 17.519-second circuit that averaged 183.711 mph to lead Saturday’s opening practice for the Iowa Corn 300. The Tennessean is searching for his second-straight victory after ending a streak of mediocrityRead More

By Aaron Bearden, Open Wheel Editor ELKHART LAKE, Wisconsin — Josef Newgarden was forced to keep challengers at bay throughout a caution-free 55 laps at Road America. He did so with ease. Newgarden surged to the early lead from pole and held the top spot through varying pit strategies to win Sunday’s Kohler Grand Prix. The victory was Newgarden’s 10th-career Verizon IndyCar Series win, and his third triumph of 2018. It also served as a healthy dose of redemption for the Tennessean after falling just short of victory at Road America in 2017.Read More

By Aaron Bearden, Open Wheel Editor Josef Newgarden will lead the Verizon IndyCar Series field to green in Sunday’s Kohler Grand Prix at Road America. Newgarden survived to the Fast Six and bested Team Penske teammate Will Power with a time of 1:42.2026 to claim the Verizon P1 Award in IndyCar qualifying from Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin. The result was Newgarden’s third pole of 2018, giving him more poles this season than in his six prior years of IndyCar competition combined. “It’s nice when you have the car to do it,” Newgarden said afterward.Read More

By Brian Eberly, Contributing Writer NEWTON, Iowa — Austin Cindric turned a lap at 131.409 mph in the final round of knockout qualifying to put the No. 22 Team Penske Ford on the pole for Sunday’s Iowa 250 presented by Enogen at Iowa Speedway. It was the first pole of Cindric’s NASCAR XFINITY Series career in his 15th start. Daniel Hemric, Brandon Jones, Elliott Sadler and Cole Custer rounded out the top-five. Hemric starts from the outside of the front row for the second week in a row in the No.Read More

By David Morgan, IndyCar Contributor FORT WORTH, Texas – Will Power had it all heading into Texas, with an Indianapolis 500 win in his pocket and the IndyCar Series points lead, but both his race and his spot atop the standings went up in sparks after a late race crash on the 1.5-mile oval. Starting the day up front along with his Team Penske teammates, Power parlayed a third-place start into a strong run in the race, consistently finding himself in the top-five for the majority of the event. Running sixthRead More

By Holly Cain, NASCAR Wire Service BROOKLYN, Mich. – Fourteen races into the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series season, Brad Keselowski concedes he’s frustrated he hasn’t hoisted a winner’s trophy yet. By the time he arrived at his hometown track, Michigan International Speedway, last summer he had already won twice and would win again in the Fall Talladega race. That the 2012 Cup champion hasn’t won on his home state high banks surprises him as much as his many hometown fans. But after a good tire test here last month,Read More