NASCAR operations of Team Penske

The NASCAR operation of the racing team Team Penske is a unit based in Mooresville, North Carolina, USA. The team fields Ford Mustangs in the NASCAR Cup Series and the Xfinity Series and has won a total of four drivers' championships and over 170 races combined over both series.

The team has also used the following names:

• Penske Racing South: formerly used to differentiate the NASCAR operation from its open-wheel and sports car racing operation that was based in Reading, Pennsylvania; the name ceased to be used when the entire operation moved to North Carolina.
• Penske-Kranefuss Racing: used from 1998 until 2001 when Michael Kranefuss, who had previously fielded a car with Carl Haas as a partner, merged his team with Penske's and brought Jeremy Mayfield, his driver, into the Penske fold in car #12. The partnership ended after 2001, but Penske continues to run car #12 to this day.
• Penske-Jasper Racing: used in 2004 and 2005. Roger Penske had been supplying Jasper Motorsports with engines for several years and bought a share of the team so he could run its #77 for Brendan Gaughan as part of the Penske team. The partnership dissolved after Penske gave up his stake in the team and fired Gaughan.

Background[]

The team debuted in 1972 at Riverside International Raceway. Mark Donohue was driving a factory-sponsored red-white-blue American Motors Matador. It was dubbed the "flying brick" by many noting its squarish aerodynamics. The car finished 39th after rear-end problems. The team ran part-time for a few years, fielding cars for several drivers including Donohue (won the 1973 Western 500 in the #16 Matador), Dave Marcis, Donnie Allison, and Bobby Allison. The team went full-time with Bobby Allison in 1976 with a new, more aerodynamic fastback coupe, finishing 4th in the points. In 1980, the team fielded two races for Rusty Wallace, finishing 2nd in his first race at Atlanta. Penske sold his machinery to the Elliott family in 1977 and got out of NASCAR.^[1]

The team did not run for eleven years, returning in 1991 with Wallace at the wheel again, with Rusty moving his Miller beer dollars to the new team from the recently suspended operations of Raymond Beadle's Blue Max Racing team. Early in 2008, Roger Penske and Penske Racing won the 2008 Daytona 500 with Ryan Newman, the first time Penske has won a restrictor plate race, winning with a 1–2 finish.

In 2003, Penske switched from fielding Fords to Dodges. By 2011, however, Penske was the only NASCAR team running Dodges full-time as most of the former Dodge teams had either folded or switched to other brands such as Chevrolet, Ford, or Toyota. Owner Roger Penske announced on March 1, 2012, that the team would return to Ford in 2013.^[2]

In 2012, with Dodge, Brad Keselowski brought home Penske's first Sprint Cup title.

In 2014, the team changed their name branding from "Penske Racing" to "Team Penske" to match their IndyCar name.^[3]

For the 2016 season, Team Penske fielded the No. 2 Miller Lite Ford Fusion for Keselowski and the No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Ford Fusion for Joey Logano. The team also supplies cars to the historic NASCAR team, Wood Brothers Racing, who fields Penske development driver Ryan Blaney on a full-time basis.

In 2018, the team fielded the No. 2 Ford Fusion full-time for Brad Keselowski, the No. 22 Ford Fusion full-time for Joey Logano, and the No. 12 Ford Fusion full-time for Ryan Blaney in the NASCAR Cup Series, as well as the No. 22 Ford Mustang full-time for part-time drivers Brad Keselowski, Joey Logano, Ryan Blaney, and Paul Menard, and full-time driver Austin Cindric, and the No. 12 Ford Mustang part-time for full-time driver Austin Cindric in the NASCAR Xfinity Series. Cindric split his full-time 2018 schedule between the 22 and 12 for Team Penske, and the 60 of Roush Fenway Racing, before being signed by Penske for the full 2019 Xfinity Series season in the No. 22 car. Joey Logano won the Cup Series championship, giving Penske his second Cup title as an owner.

Cup Series[]

Car No. 2 history[]

Origins with Blue Max Racing (1983–1990)

The No. 2 car's history can be traced back to the late 1970s with M. C. Anderson and Benny Parsons. Bobby Allison drove two and a half seasons for Penske, winning four races for the team with a best standing of 4th. Cale Yarborough drove the 27 Valvoline car in 1981 and 1982 respectively. In 1983, the team switched hands to Raymond Beadle and Blue Max Racing with Tim Richmond driving. The team picked up Rusty Wallace in 1986 and won a Championship in 1989. In 1990, the team barely made it through the season with the help of Roger Penske funding the team to keep going. By late 1990, the team was purchased as a base for Roger's new team. During the offseason, the team changed numbers from 27 to 2 (Wallace's old racing number) and kept the Miller Sponsorship.

Rusty Wallace (1991–2005)

The No. 2 team has not seen many changes since its debut under the Penske banner at the 1991 Daytona 500, where it finished 27th after a crash late in the race. Wallace drove the car from 1991 to 2005, with some form of Miller Beer as the primary sponsor of the team. Wallace moved to Penske from Blue Max Racing, which suspended operations after 1990. The team in its first year won two races and finished 10th in points. In 1992, Wallace won one race and finished 13th in points. Things then turned around for him and Penske, winning 25 races over the next four years, despite never winning the championship.

The team switched from Pontiac to Ford in 1994.^[4] The season finale at Atlanta Motor Speedway and the entire 1996 season saw a small change when the popular Miller Genuine Draft paint scheme was replaced with a red, blue and yellow splashed scheme that advertised the Miller brand. After winning five races that season, Wallace donned the blue and white colors of Miller Lite in 1997. After winning one race a piece over the next three years, he put together four wins and won nine Bud poles in 2000, the highest total of his career. In 2002, he failed to win races, marking the first year since 1985 that he was winless throughout a season. After that year, the team switched manufacturers from Ford to Dodge. In 2004, Wallace announced the 2005 season would be his last in the Cup Series, citing his son's racing career and wanting to concentrate on his Busch Series team, Rusty Wallace Racing, for the departure. During that season, Wallace returned to victory lane for the first time since 2001 at Martinsville, one of his historically strong racetracks. Although he would not win a race during his final season, Wallace qualified for the Chase for the Nextel Cup and finished eighth in series points.

Kurt Busch (2006–2010)

To replace the retiring Wallace, Penske tabbed 2004 Nextel Cup Champion Kurt Busch. However, this caused a problem with Busch's then-current team, Roush Racing, as he was still under contract for the 2006 season. The situation was resolved thanks in part to the resolution of another disputed contract with Roush. Roush Racing signed Jamie McMurray to drive their No. 6 car for the 2006 season but his previous team owner, Chip Ganassi, would not let him drive for Roush. Eventually, an agreement was struck where McMurray was released from his team to replace Busch in the No. 97 car (which was then renumbered to 26), therefore freeing up Busch to drive the No. 2 car. He quickly brought the team back to victory lane by winning in his fifth start with the team at Bristol, his only win of 2006. The No. 2 team finished 16th in the season points. Busch won six additional races with the No. 2 car, his last being the 2010 Coca-Cola 600. He qualified for the Chase three times, with a best finish of fourth in the final standings in 2009.

Brad Keselowski (2011–2021)

In 2011, the No. 2 team swapped numbers with the No. 12 team of Brad Keselowski, which secured Keselowski's run with the No. 2 team's points. Jay Guy was replaced by Nationwide Series crew chief Paul Wolfe as the team's crew chief. The No. 2 team with Keselowski and Wolfe initially struggled for the first half of the season, although they won a fuel-mileage race at Kansas. The team's performance started to improve dramatically after Keselowski injured his leg during a testing crash at Road Atlanta. Keselowski and Wolfe grabbed two more wins at Pocono and at Bristol and rallied to make the 2011 Chase field. However, the final 10 races would be an up and down affair for the team, and they were knocked out of contention after finishing 18th at Phoenix. Nonetheless, Keselowski managed a fifth-place finish in points, a dramatic turnaround from his 2010 performance.

2012 would be Keselowski's breakout season, as he won five races at Bristol, Talladega, Kentucky, Chicagoland, and Dover, with the last two being his first Chase wins. He would ultimately win Team Penske its first Sprint Cup title after a close battle with Jimmie Johnson. This would also be the final year of Dodge in the Cup series.

With Dodge's departure, Team Penske switched back to Ford in the 2013 season. Compared to his 2012 championship run, Keselowski's 2013 season was a step back, as he opened the season with four top-fives but struggled with consistency from there and eventually missed the Chase altogether. He would win a single race, at Charlotte in October, and rallied to finish fourteenth in points, the highest rank outside the Chase field (due to the Richmond scandal that resulted in Jeff Gordon getting an additional Chase berth).

Keselowski recovered quickly in 2014, winning the third race of the year at Las Vegas after Dale Earnhardt Jr. ran out of gas on the final lap. He later dominated and won Kentucky to become the first two-time winner at the track, and dominated the July race at Loudon and the September race at Richmond as well, to secure the top seed in the reformatted Chase for the Sprint Cup. Keselowski then won back-to-back for the first time in his career in the first Chase race at Chicagoland, to secure an immediate transfer into the Contender round of the new Chase. After suffering a blown tire at Kansas and tussling with Matt Kenseth and Denny Hamlin at Charlotte, Keselowski went to Talladega needing to win to make the Eliminator round, which he ultimately did after outbattling Ryan Newman on the final lap. However, he suffered a mechanical failure that caused him to wreck at Martinsville, and subsequently tangled with Gordon at Texas, which led to a post-race brawl that became one of the highlights of the season. Keselowski would ultimately be eliminated from the Chase after Phoenix, and finished fifth in the final points, with his six wins being a career-high.

Keselowski won his first race of 2015 at California after taking advantage of two late cautions to run down the dominant car of ex-teammate Kurt Busch. This would prove to be the only win of his season, but Keselowski once again advanced to the Eliminator Round of the Chase before suffering another wreck at Martinsville, and after leading the majority of the Texas race only to be passed by Jimmie Johnson with six laps to go, Keselowski was once again eliminated from championship contention after Phoenix.

Keselowski got back to his winning ways in 2016, breaking through at Las Vegas for the second time in three seasons. He also scored his third win in the GEICO 500 at Talladega, then found his first Daytona win in the Coke Zero 400, followed by his third career win at Kentucky.

Keselowski got his first win in 2017 after Kevin Harvick had trouble in the pits at Atlanta Motor Speedway. He was leading at Las Vegas when something broke in the car with two to go. He hung on for fifth. He remained consistent, winning the STP 500 for his first Martinsville win. He continued to be consistent until a strange crash early in the Coca-Cola 600, when a piece of metal from Jeffrey Earnhardt pierced Chase Elliott's grill and went into his engine, causing a mass oil leak and fire. Brad slid in the oil, right to Elliott's rear end. Keselowski would go on to make the playoffs for the sixth time in his Cup series career and score an additional win in the wreck infested Alabama 500 at the Talladega Superspeedway and have the dominant car at Martinsville before a late-race caution and contact with Chase Elliott took him out of contention for the win and he would finish 4th. Keselowski made the final round at Homestead-Miami speedway finished 7th in the race and 4th in the final standings to champion Martin Truex Jr.

In 2018, Keselowski scored three wins in a row at Darlington, Indianapolis, and Las Vegas, but his run at the Playoffs was marred by bad finishes at the Charlotte Roval, Talladega, and Dover, resulting in his elimination from the Round of 12. Keselowski finished the season eighth in points.

Keselowski started the 2019 season with a 12th-place finish at the Daytona 500. A week later, he won at Atlanta; this gave him his 60th overall win with Team Penske and the first MENCS win for the new Ford Mustang GT. Keselowski also scored wins at Martinsville and Kansas and finished eighth in points for the second consecutive year.

Keselowski rebounded in 2020. He scored three wins and finished third in points after the regular season. In the second race of the playoffs, he scored his fourth win of the season at Richmond and made the final four but would lose the championship to Chase Elliott.

Austin Cindric (2022–)

On July 15, 2021, it was confirmed that Keselowski would not be returning to Team Penske in 2022 (revealing on July 20th that he had accepted a driver and co-owner role at Roush-Fenway Racing). The same day that Keselowski's departure was officially confirmed by Penske, Austin Cindric (who was originally going to drive for Wood Brothers Racing in 2022) was announced as Keselowski's replacement.

Car No. 2 results[]

Year	Driver	No.	Make	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31	32	33	34	35	36	Owners	Pts
1991	Rusty Wallace	2	Pontiac	DAY 27	RCH 4	CAR 28	ATL 10	DAR 5	BRI 1	NWS 32	MAR 21	TAL 26	CLT 22	DOV 9	SON 3*	POC 31	MCH 17	DAY 12	POC 1	TAL 6	GLN 4	MCH 3	BRI 32	DAR 32	RCH 3	DOV 25	MAR 7	NWS 6	CLT 27	CAR 11	PHO 5	ATL 34								10th	3582
1992				DAY 31	CAR 26	RCH 17	ATL 15	DAR 11	BRI 9	NWS 2	MAR 31	TAL 11	CLT 18	DOV 3	SON 7	POC 24	MCH 37	DAY 9	POC 18	TAL 11	GLN 6	MCH 21	BRI 10	DAR 9	RCH 1*	DOV 16	MAR 2*	NWS 4	CLT 37	CAR 21	PHO 28*	ATL 6								13th	3556
1993				DAY 32	CAR 1*	RCH 2	ATL 3	DAR 5	BRI 1*	NWS 1	MAR 1*	TAL 6	SON 38	CLT 29	DOV 21	POC 39	MCH 5	DAY 18	NHA 1	POC 2	TAL 17	GLN 19	MCH 6	BRI 2*	DAR 3	RCH 1*	DOV 1*	MAR 2	NWS 1*	CLT 4	CAR 1*	PHO 19	ATL 1*							2nd	4446
1994			Ford	DAY 41	CAR 1*	RCH 2	ATL 24	DAR 33	BRI 7	NWS 2	MAR 1*	TAL 33	SON 5	CLT 2*	DOV 1	POC 1*	MCH 1*	DAY 26	NHA 3	POC 9	TAL 42	IND 4	GLN 17	MCH 4	BRI 1	DAR 7	RCH 4	DOV 1	MAR 1*	NWS 4	CLT 37	CAR 35	PHO 17	ATL 32						3rd	4207
1995				DAY 34	CAR 24	RCH 3*	ATL 10	DAR 23	BRI 2	NWS 4	MAR 1*	TAL 20	SON 20	CLT 34	DOV 9	POC 17	MCH 3	DAY 27	NHA 6	POC 16*	TAL 30	IND 2	GLN 26	MCH 5	BRI 21	DAR 3	RCH 1*	DOV 3	MAR 3	NWS 2	CLT 9	CAR 2	PHO 4	ATL 3						5th	4240
1996				DAY 16	CAR 22	RCH 7	ATL 36	DAR 4	BRI 5	NWS 33	MAR 1	TAL 30	SON 1*	CLT 34	DOV 7	POC 31	MCH 1	DAY 31	NHA 7	POC 1	TAL 10	IND 7	GLN 33	MCH 39	BRI 1*	DAR 38	RCH 6	DOV 2	MAR 36	NWS 10	CLT 8	CAR 8	PHO 40	ATL 10						7th	3717
1997				DAY 41	CAR 6	RCH 1	ATL 31	DAR 6	TEX 37	BRI 2*	MAR 5	SON 40	TAL 37	CLT 2	DOV 39	POC 22	MCH 29	CAL 14	DAY 6	NHA 3	POC 37	IND 38	GLN 3	MCH 13	BRI 12	DAR 43	RCH 5	NHA 21	DOV 16	MAR 15*	CLT 12	TAL 10	CAR 18	PHO 2*	ATL 32					9th	3598
1998				DAY 5	CAR 2	LVS 3	ATL 4	DAR 3	BRI 33*	TEX 12	MAR 6	TAL 12	CAL 34	CLT 2	DOV 18	RCH 3	MCH 17	POC 42	SON 5	NHA 4	POC 6	IND 8	GLN 4	MCH 23	BRI 3	NHA 8	DAR 7	RCH 7	DOV 5	MAR 28	CLT 26	TAL 27	DAY 5	PHO 1*	CAR 3	ATL 20				4th	4501
1999				DAY 8*	CAR 10	LVS 9	ATL 35	DAR 33	TEX 4	BRI 1*	MAR 7*	TAL 41	CAL 11	RCH 5	CLT 31	DOV 6	MCH 12	POC 43	SON 4	DAY 11*	NHA 42	POC 18	IND 8	GLN 3	MCH 16	BRI 18	DAR 8	RCH 14	NHA 6*	DOV 32	MAR 4	CLT 8	TAL 11	CAR 5	PHO 32	HOM 12	ATL 13			8th	4155
2000				DAY 4	CAR 11	LVS 15	ATL 32	DAR 16	BRI 1	TEX 4	MAR 10*	TAL 41	CAL 8	RCH 5*	CLT 8	DOV 14	MCH 7	POC 10*	SON 26	DAY 3	NHA 15	POC 1	IND 2*	GLN 34	MCH 1*	BRI 1*	DAR 30	RCH 34	NHA 5	DOV 8	MAR 23	CLT 21	TAL 8	CAR 5	PHO 4	HOM 15	ATL 7			7th	4544
2001				DAY 3	CAR 7	LVS 43	ATL 12	DAR 10	BRI 7	TEX 12	MAR 13	TAL 13	CAL 1*	RCH 3*	CLT 14	DOV 21	MCH 41	POC 16	SON 5	DAY 7	CHI 13	NHA 43	POC 6	IND 4	GLN 43	MCH 17	BRI 5	DAR 22	RCH 5*	DOV 11	KAN 4*	CLT 7	MAR 15	TAL 16	PHO 15	CAR 24	HOM 12	ATL 12	NHA 18	7th	4481
2002				DAY 18	CAR 8	LVS 11	ATL 6	DAR 7	BRI 9	TEX 11	MAR 16	TAL 8	CAL 8	RCH 25	CLT 10	DOV 17	POC 9	MCH 7	SON 27	DAY 2	CHI 25	NHA 4	POC 40	IND 2	GLN 17	MCH 24	BRI 2	DAR 22	RCH 15	NHA 19	DOV 15	KAN 3	TAL 13	CLT 5	MAR 9	ATL 17	CAR 27	PHO 2	HOM 14	7th	4574
2003			Dodge	DAY 25	CAR 6*	LVS 40	ATL 15	DAR 16	BRI 14	TEX 14	TAL 37	MAR 8	CAL 3*	RCH 10	CLT 12	DOV 6	POC 16	MCH 12	SON 8	DAY 28	CHI 32	NHA 17	POC 11	IND 10	GLN 37	MCH 38	BRI 43	DAR 36	RCH 5	NHA 6	DOV 10	TAL 9	KAN 9	CLT 13	MAR 29	ATL 19	PHO 33	CAR 23	HOM 23	14th	3950
2004				DAY 29	CAR 7	LVS 10	ATL 35	DAR 29	BRI 2	TEX 5	MAR 1	TAL 33	CAL 35	RCH 16	CLT 10	DOV 13	POC 32	MCH 22	SON 28	DAY 27	CHI 11	NHA 30	POC 17	IND 13	GLN 25	MCH 36	BRI 26	CAL 10	RCH 10	NHA 14	DOV 13	TAL 26	KAN 18	CLT 31	MAR 10	ATL 11	PHO 7	DAR 18	HOM 8	16th	3960
2005				DAY 10	CAL 10	LVS 12	ATL 27	BRI 13*	MAR 5	TEX 10	PHO 36	TAL 22	DAR 12	RCH 19	CLT 10	DOV 5	POC 11	MCH 10	SON 4	DAY 4	CHI 12	NHA 8	POC 2	IND 25	GLN 6	MCH 13	BRI 5	CAL 15	RCH 5	NHA 6	DOV 3	TAL 25	KAN 7	CLT 24	MAR 19	ATL 37	TEX 22	PHO 29	HOM 13	8th	6140
2006	Kurt Busch			DAY 38	CAL 16	LVS 16	ATL 37	BRI 1	MAR 11	TEX 34	PHO 24	TAL 7	RCH 29	DAR 19	CLT 39	DOV 16	POC 2	MCH 9	SON 5	DAY 3	CHI 8	NHA 38	POC 2	IND 12	GLN 19	MCH 40	BRI 37	CAL 27	RCH 27	NHA 19	DOV 4	KAN 25	TAL 3	CLT 32	MAR 27	ATL 14	TEX 8	PHO 8	HOM 43	16th	3900
2007				DAY 41	CAL 7	LVS 26	ATL 11	BRI 29	MAR 12	TEX 11	PHO 18	TAL 3	RCH 5	DAR 12	CLT 32	DOV 42	POC 16	MCH 25	SON 22	NHA 21	DAY 3	CHI 6	IND 11	POC 1	GLN 11	MCH 1	BRI 6	CAL 9	RCH 9	NHA 25	DOV 29	KAN 11	TAL 7	CLT 26	MAR 21	ATL 8	TEX 8	PHO 12	HOM 2	7th	6231
2008				DAY 2	CAL 13	LVS 38	ATL 11	BRI 12	MAR 33	TEX 23	PHO 23	TAL 39	RCH 42	DAR 12	CLT 16	DOV 20	POC 8	MCH 21	SON 32	NHA 1	DAY 4	CHI 28	IND 40	POC 38	GLN 10	MCH 36	BRI 15	CAL 39	RCH 10	NHA 6	DOV 34	KAN 30	TAL 21	CLT 3	MAR 36	ATL 6	TEX 41	PHO 2	HOM 43	18th	3635
2009				DAY 10	CAL 5	LVS 23	ATL 1	BRI 11	MAR 18	TEX 8	PHO 3	TAL 6	RCH 12	DAR 16	CLT 34	DOV 5	POC 37	MCH 8	SON 15	NHA 3	DAY 5	CHI 17	IND 27	POC 9	GLN 7	MCH 36	BRI 7	ATL 38	RCH 2	NHA 6	DOV 5	KAN 11	CAL 8	CLT 10	MAR 17	TAL 30	TEX 1	PHO 6	HOM 4	4th	6446
2010				DAY 23	CAL 6	LVS 35	ATL 1	BRI 3	MAR 23	PHO 35	TEX 4	TAL 8	RCH 18	DAR 3	DOV 19	CLT 1	POC 6	MCH 3	SON 32	NHA 3	DAY 7	CHI 26	IND 10	POC 33	GLN 2	MCH 40	BRI 9	ATL 6	RCH 18	NHA 13	DOV 4	KAN 13	CAL 21	CLT 30	MAR 16	TAL 30	TEX 24	PHO 9	HOM 18	11th	6142
2011	Brad Keselowski			DAY 29	PHO 15	LVS 26	BRI 18	CAL 26	MAR 19	TEX 18	TAL 33	RCH 26	DAR 3	DOV 13	CLT 19	KAN 1	POC 23	MCH 25	SON 10	DAY 15	KEN 7	NHA 35	IND 9	POC 1	GLN 2	MCH 3	BRI 1	ATL 6	RCH 12	CHI 6	NHA 2	DOV 20	KAN 3	CLT 16	TAL 4	MAR 17	TEX 24	PHO 18	HOM 20	5th	2319
2012				DAY 32	PHO 5	LVS 32	BRI 1*	CAL 18	MAR 9	TEX 36	KAN 11	RCH 9	TAL 1	DAR 15	CLT 5	DOV 12	POC 18	MCH 13	SON 12	KEN 1	DAY 8	NHA 5	IND 9	POC 4	GLN 2	MCH 2	BRI 30	ATL 3	RCH 7	CHI 1	NHA 6	DOV 1	TAL 7	CLT 11*	KAN 8	MAR 6	TEX 2	PHO 6	HOM 15	1st	2400
2013			Ford	DAY 4	PHO 4	LVS 3	BRI 3	CAL 23	MAR 6	TEX 9	KAN 6	RCH 33	TAL 15	DAR 32	CLT 35	DOV 5	POC 16	MCH 12	SON 21	KEN 33	DAY 21	NHA 4	IND 21	POC 6	GLN 2	MCH 12	BRI 30	ATL 35	RCH 17*	CHI 7	NHA 11	DOV 37	KAN 17	CLT 1	TAL 29	MAR 4	TEX 6	PHO 11	HOM 6	14th	1041
2014				DAY 3	PHO 3	LVS 1*	BRI 14	CAL 26	MAR 38	TEX 15	DAR 17	RCH 4	TAL 38	KAN 13	CLT 10	DOV 2	POC 2*	MCH 3	SON 22	KEN 1*	DAY 18	NHA 1*	IND 12	POC 23	GLN 35	MCH 8	BRI 2	ATL 39	RCH 1*	CHI 1	NHA 7	DOV 2	KAN 36	CLT 16	TAL 1	MAR 31	TEX 3	PHO 4	HOM 3	5th	2361
2015				DAY 41	ATL 9	LVS 7	PHO 6	CAL 1	MAR 2	TEX 5	BRI 35	RCH 17	TAL 22	KAN 7	CLT 7	DOV 12	POC 17	MCH 6	SON 19	DAY 29	KEN 6	NHA 2*	IND 10	POC 2	GLN 7	MCH 9	BRI 6	DAR 2*	RCH 8	CHI 8	NHA 12	DOV 16	CLT 9	KAN 9	TAL 4	MAR 32	TEX 2*	PHO 9	HOM 3*	7th	2347
2016				DAY 20	ATL 9	LVS 1	PHO 29	CAL 9	MAR 5	TEX 18	BRI 18	RCH 11	TAL 1*	KAN 10	DOV 6	CLT 5	POC 3	MCH 4	SON 15	DAY 1*	KEN 1	NHA 15	IND 17	POC 2	GLN 3*	BRI 33	MCH 3	DAR 9	RCH 4	CHI 5	NHA 4	DOV 4	CLT 7	KAN 38	TAL 38*	MAR 2	TEX 14	PHO 14	HOM 35	12th	2267
2017				DAY 27	ATL 1	LVS 5	PHO 5	CAL 2	MAR 1	TEX 6	BRI 34	RCH 2	TAL 7	KAN 2	CLT 39	DOV 38	POC 5	MCH 16	SON 3	DAY 31*	KEN 39	NHA 9	IND 2	POC 5	GLN 15	MCH 17*	BRI 29	DAR 15	RCH 11	CHI 6	NHA 4	DOV 10	CLT 15	TAL 1	KAN 13	MAR 4	TEX 5	PHO 16	HOM 7	4th	5030
2018				DAY 32	ATL 2	LVS 6	PHO 15	CAL 4	MAR 10	TEX 33	BRI 23	RCH 8	TAL 33	DOV 6	KAN 14	CLT 4	POC 5	MCH 6	SON 13	CHI 9	DAY 36	KEN 3	NHA 32	POC 38	GLN 17	MCH 2	BRI 16	DAR 1	IND 1	LVS 1	RCH 9	CLT 31	DOV 14	TAL 27	KAN 6	MAR 5	TEX 12	PHO 2	HOM 5	8th	2343
2019				DAY 12	ATL 1	LVS 2	PHO 19	CAL 3	MAR 1*	TEX 36	BRI 18	RCH 7	TAL 13	DOV 12	KAN 1	CLT 19	POC 2	MCH 6	SON 18	CHI 5	DAY 39	KEN 20	NHA 10	POC 8	GLN 9	MCH 19	BRI 3	DAR 5	IND 38	LVS 3	RCH 4	CLT 5	DOV 11	TAL 25	KAN 19	MAR 3	TEX 39	PHO 10	HOM 18	8th	2318
2020				DAY 36	LVS 7	CAL 5	PHO 11	DAR 13	DAR 4	CLT 1	CLT 7	BRI 1	ATL 9	MAR 3	HOM 10	TAL 19	POC 9	POC 11	IND 4	KEN 9	TEX 9	KAN 2	NHA 1*	MCH 2	MCH 39	DAY 13	DOV 9	DOV 8	DAY 10	DAR 11	RCH 1*	BRI 34	LVS 13	TAL 18	CLT 18	KAN 4	TEX 6	MAR 4	PHO 2	2nd	5035
2021				DAY 13	DAY 5	HOM 16	LVS 2	PHO 4	ATL 28	BRI 11	MAR 33	RCH 14	TAL 1	KAN 3	DAR 24	DOV 16	COA 19	CLT 11	SON 15	NSH 23	POC 10	POC 3	ROA 13	ATL 10	NHA 3	GLN 35	IND 24	MCH 9	DAY 33	DAR 7	RCH 13	BRI 6	LVS 7	TAL 2	CLT 20	TEX 4	KAN 17	MAR 3	PHO 10	6th	2354
2022	Austin Cindric			DAY	CAL	LVS	PHO	ATL	COA	RCH	MAR	BRI	TAL	DOV	DAR	KAN		GTW	SON	NSH	ROA	ATL	NHA	POC	IND	MCH	RCH	GLN	DAY	DAR	KAN	BRI	TEX	TAL	CLT	LVS	HOM	MAR	PHO	-*	-*

Car No. 12 history[]

Kranefuss-Haas Racing (1994–1997)

The current 12 car started out in 1994 at Michigan as the No. 07 Ford driven by Robby Gordon and owned by German-American businessman and former Ford executive Michael Kranefuss along with Newman/Haas Racing co-principal Carl Haas. The car started and finished 38th after Gordon crashed on lap 70. After another start with Geoff Brabham at the Brickyard 400, the team— known as Kranefuss-Haas Racing— went full-time in 1995 with John Andretti driving the Kmart/Little Caesars-sponsored No. 37 Ford. Andretti won the pole at the Mountain Dew Southern 500 and finished 18th in the points. The team struggled in 1996 and Kranefuss decided to replace Andretti with Jeremy Mayfield in what amounted to a driver swap between Kranefuss-Haas and Cale Yarborough's team as Andretti replaced Mayfield in Yarborough's No. 98. The team picked up co-sponsorship from Royal Crown Cola for the following season and improved to be 13th in the points in 1997, but it was obvious the team wouldn't succeed if it only fielded one team. At the end of the season, Kranefuss and Haas dissolved the partnership and the Kmart sponsorship moved over to Travis Carter's team, which became Haas-Carter Motorsports and the Little Caesars sponsorship left the team.

Jeremy Mayfield (1998–2001)

In 1998, Kranefuss and Penske Racing announced a merger, with Mayfield coming aboard to drive the No. 12 Mobil 1-sponsored Ford Taurus as a teammate to Rusty Wallace. The move turned out to be a success, and Mayfield became the next big star. He won the pole at Texas, and at one point in the season, found himself in the points lead. Mayfield won his first race at the 1998 Pocono 500 in June and his breakout year ended with a seventh-place finish in the points. He struggled in 1999 with no wins and an 11th-place finish in the standings. In 2000, he won at California and Pocono. Midway through the season, Kranefuss sold his share of the team to Penske. Mayfield then suffered a concussion while practicing for the Brickyard 400. He missed two races recuperating from his injury and finished 24th in points. In 2001, Mayfield posted seven top-ten finishes but was fired following the race at Kansas. Rusty Wallace's younger brother Mike Wallace took over and came close to winning at Phoenix before settling for second place to Jeff Burton.

Ryan Newman (2002–2008)

Ryan Newman and his Alltel team took over the No. 12 car in 2002, although Mobil 1 stayed on as primary sponsor for several races per season. In his rookie year, Newman waged a spirited battle with Jimmie Johnson for NASCAR Rookie of the Year honors. Newman won The Winston, and the fall event at New Hampshire, as well as six poles. Although he did not win as many races as Johnson (one versus Johnson's three) and finished behind him in the points (sixth place, seven points behind fifth-place Johnson), he finished ahead of Johnson to win the Rookie of the Year honors. After the switch to Dodge in 2003, Newman won eight races and eleven poles and finished sixth in points.

In 2004, Newman won twice, earned nine pole positions, qualified for the inaugural Chase for the Nextel Cup, and finished seventh in points. Newman finished 2005 with eight pole positions, but only one win. He qualified for the Chase for the Cup for the second year in a row and ended up sixth in the final standings. He failed to win a race and missed the Chase in both 2006 and 2007. However, he found himself back in the winner's circle early in 2008, taking victory in the 50th running of the 2008 Daytona 500 (the No. 2 of Kurt Busch finished second) to open the season, claiming Penske's first Daytona 500 win. Following the Daytona 500, the team struggled and Newman announced during the summer that he would leave to drive the No. 39 Chevrolet for Stewart-Haas Racing.

David Stremme (2009)

The No. 12 car lost its sponsor in 2009 as Cellco Partners, a joint venture of Verizon and Vodafone, closed the deal to purchase Alltel in January 2009, thus voiding the terms of the grandfather clause that allowed the No. 12 car to run with a sponsor that is a direct competitor to that NASCAR series' sponsor, Sprint Corporation. The team announced that they would move the Wireless sponsorship to the IndyCar Series and the NASCAR Nationwide Series and renamed the team to Verizon Championship Racing, a reference to Verizon Wireless' Penske-wide marketing through both its IndyCar and NASCAR sponsorships, complete with its heritage of champions (especially on Vodafone's side, as it was a sponsor of Scuderia Ferrari). Penske hired David Stremme to race the car in a largely unbranded fashion for 2009, but he did not produce results and was fired toward the end of the season.

Brad Keselowski (2009–2010)

Brad Keselowski, who had recently signed with Penske when he was unable to procure a seat at Hendrick Motorsports, took over the car toward the end of the 2009 season. He then ran the No. 12 full-time in 2010 unsponsored, although FloTV and AAA sponsored several races. Keselowski moved to the No. 2 car following the season to replace Kurt Busch, who moved to the new No. 22.

Part-time and hiatus (2011–2017)

The No. 12 did not run any races in 2011. In 2012, Sam Hornish Jr. drove the No. 12 at Kansas in April with SKF sponsorship. The No. 12 was also scheduled to run at the October Talladega race with Hornish, but after the termination of A. J. Allmendinger from the No. 22, Hornish replaced him full-time. Hornish's SKF sponsorship was transferred to the No. 22 for this race.

In 2013, Hornish again qualified at Kansas but crashed out of the race in a multi-car wreck. He attempted the fall Talladega race but failed to make the race after qualifying was rained out.^[5]

With Hornish leaving for Joe Gibbs Racing, the part-time No. 12 was split by various Penske drivers in 2014. SKF sponsored three races, with Ryan Blaney at Kansas in April and Talladega in October, and Juan Pablo Montoya at Michigan in June. Montoya also drove the No. 12 in the Brickyard 400 with sponsorship from Penske Truck Leasing.^[6]

Ryan Blaney (2018–present)

In June 2017, Penske implied that Blaney would soon drive a third Ford for Penske Racing. This was later confirmed a month later when they announced that Blaney would drive the No. 12 car in 2018, with Paul Menard replacing him in the No. 21 Wood Brothers Racing car, continuing the technical alliance that the two teams have. Team Penske purchased the No. 12's charter from Roush Fenway Racing, which had been leased to JTG Daugherty Racing a year prior.^[7] Blaney started the 2018 season with a seventh-place finish at the Daytona 500 and stayed consistent with five top-fives and eleven top-10s before qualifying in the Playoffs. He scored his first win with Team Penske at the inaugural Charlotte Roval race after Jimmie Johnson and Martin Truex Jr. spun out before the finish line. Following the Kansas race, Blaney was eliminated from the Round of 12 of the Playoffs. He finished the season 10th in points.

Blaney continued to stay consistent enough to make his third straight Playoff appearance (two with Team Penske). He won at Talladega to advance to the Round of 8 of the Playoffs.

Car No. 12 results[]

Year	Driver	No.	Make	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31	32	33	34	35	36	Owners	Pts
1998	Jeremy Mayfield	12	Ford	DAY 3	CAR 14	LVS 5	ATL 3	DAR 4	BRI 12	TEX 23*	MAR 7	TAL 13	CAL 2	CLT 19	DOV 5	RCH 6	MCH 5	POC 1*	SON 18	NHA 30	POC 18	IND 42	GLN 31	MCH 7	BRI 8	NHA 20	DAR 5	RCH 22	DOV 3	MAR 23	CLT 25	TAL 5	DAY 4	PHO 42	CAR 29	ATL 15				7th	4157
1999				DAY 20	CAR 5	LVS 17	ATL 36	DAR 2	TEX 5	BRI 27	MAR 41	TAL 15	CAL 7	RCH 24	CLT 10	DOV 9	MCH 17	POC 9	SON 7	DAY 25	NHA 28	POC 35	IND 29	GLN 34	MCH 18	BRI 32	DAR 3	RCH 25	NHA 36	DOV 22	MAR 15	CLT 6	TAL 16	CAR 9	PHO 41	HOM 13	ATL 3			11th	3743
2000				DAY 11	CAR 7	LVS 17	ATL 28	DAR 34	BRI 4	TEX 6	MAR 7	TAL 14	CAL 1	RCH 36	CLT 6	DOV 37	MCH 41*	POC 1	SON 33	DAY 43	NHA 8	POC 10			MCH 13	BRI 35	DAR 41*	RCH 39	NHA 40	DOV 35	MAR 38	CLT 2	TAL 42	CAR 29*	PHO 2	HOM 2	ATL 41			20th	3287
	Kyle Petty																						IND 32
	Tom Hubert																							GLN 33
2001	Jeremy Mayfield			DAY 9	CAR 38	LVS 42	ATL 38	DAR 3	BRI 3	TEX 22	MAR 30	TAL 35	CAL 5	RCH 36	CLT 10	DOV 34	MCH 4	POC 36	SON 39	DAY 17	CHI 32	NHA 39	POC 18	IND 18	GLN 3	MCH 13	BRI 16	DAR 13	RCH 29	DOV 42	KAN 36									19th	3488
	Mike Wallace																															CLT 34	MAR 8	TAL 18	PHO 2	CAR 32	HOM 26	ATL 13	NHA 33
2002	Ryan Newman			DAY 7	CAR 14	LVS 4	ATL 10	DAR 5	BRI 37	TEX 40	MAR 41	TAL 43	CAL 14	RCH 2	CLT 41	DOV 4	POC 32	MCH 3	SON 9	DAY 27	CHI 5*	NHA 5	POC 5	IND 4	GLN 2	MCH 31	BRI 36	DAR 2	RCH 2*	NHA 1*	DOV 8	KAN 2	TAL 7	CLT 8	MAR 15	ATL 10	CAR 23	PHO 18	HOM 6	6th	4593
2003			Dodge	DAY 43	CAR 14	LVS 7	ATL 10	DAR 14	BRI 22	TEX 1	TAL 39	MAR 38	CAL 42	RCH 39	CLT 5	DOV 1*	POC 5	MCH 41	SON 5	DAY 22	CHI 1	NHA 4	POC 1*	IND 11	GLN 9	MCH 1	BRI 6	DAR 23*	RCH 1	NHA 9	DOV 1	TAL 4	KAN 1	CLT 2	MAR 5	ATL 29	PHO 3	CAR 5	HOM 37	6th	4711
2004				DAY 31	CAR 6	LVS 27	ATL 5	DAR 3	BRI 7	TEX 39	MAR 5	TAL 11	CAL 3	RCH 9	CLT 35	DOV 24	POC 30	MCH 1	SON 14	DAY 12	CHI 34	NHA 3*	POC 13	IND 31	GLN 26	MCH 14	BRI 2	CAL 5	RCH 20	NHA 33	DOV 1*	TAL 16	KAN 33	CLT 14	MAR 3	ATL 17	PHO 2	DAR 34	HOM 30	7th	6180
2005				DAY 20	CAL 9	LVS 9	ATL 14	BRI 30	MAR 4	TEX 16	PHO 14	TAL 39	DAR 5	RCH 3	CLT 5	DOV 8	POC 34	MCH 15	SON 9	DAY 14	CHI 29	NHA 7	POC 5	IND 34	GLN 30	MCH 12	BRI 39	CAL 18	RCH 12	NHA 1	DOV 5	TAL 4	KAN 23	CLT 7	MAR 10	ATL 23	TEX 25	PHO 12	HOM 7	6th	6359
2006				DAY 3	CAL 20	LVS 43	ATL 18	BRI 9	MAR 18	TEX 40	PHO 39	TAL 33	RCH 8	DAR 6	CLT 35	DOV 14	POC 11	MCH 15	SON 2	DAY 11	CHI 36	NHA 39	POC 18	IND 13	GLN 8	MCH 25	BRI 8	CAL 33	RCH 20	NHA 12	DOV 24	KAN 24	TAL 13	CLT 27	MAR 13	ATL 30	TEX 34	PHO 15	HOM 23	18th	3748
2007				DAY 38	CAL 12	LVS 8	ATL 23	BRI 39	MAR 14	TEX 32	PHO 38	TAL 9	RCH 6	DAR 4	CLT 39	DOV 2	POC 2	MCH 37	SON 20	NHA 10	DAY 14	CHI 8	IND 42	POC 7	GLN 13	MCH 16	BRI 7	CAL 39	RCH 11	NHA 9	DOV 28	KAN 43	TAL 5	CLT 28	MAR 2	ATL 37	TEX 5	PHO 5	HOM 18	13th	4046
2008				DAY 1	CAL 10	LVS 14	ATL 14	BRI 33	MAR 19	TEX 4	PHO 43	TAL 8	RCH 6	DAR 37	CLT 21	DOV 14	POC 18	MCH 42	SON 7	NHA 15	DAY 36	CHI 10	IND 13	POC 14	GLN 26	MCH 21	BRI 6	CAL 16	RCH 33	NHA 36	DOV 13	KAN 16	TAL 43	CLT 21	MAR 23	ATL 16	TEX 28	PHO 34	HOM 21	17th	3735
2009	David Stremme			DAY 33	CAL 13	LVS 18	ATL 23	BRI 19	MAR 22	TEX 14	PHO 18	TAL 31	RCH 38	DAR 24	CLT 22	DOV 31	POC 34	MCH 38	SON 39	NHA 28	DAY 35	CHI 26	IND 16	POC 32	GLN 26	MCH 13	BRI 20	ATL 14	RCH 26	NHA 28	DOV 29	KAN 25	CAL 16	CLT 19	MAR 33	TAL 22				31st	3117
	Brad Keselowski																																				TEX 35	PHO 37	HOM 25
2010				DAY 36	CAL 21	LVS 26	ATL 36	BRI 13	MAR 12	PHO 16	TEX 14	TAL 34	RCH 14	DAR 12	DOV 18	CLT 20	POC 21	MCH 27	SON 35	NHA 26	DAY 30	CHI 18	IND 19	POC 20	GLN 20	MCH 34	BRI 19	ATL 25	RCH 15	NHA 18	DOV 22	KAN 23	CAL 26	CLT 27	MAR 10	TAL 10	TEX 33	PHO 42	HOM 13	25th	3485
2012	Sam Hornish Jr.			DAY	PHO	LVS	BRI	CAL	MAR	TEX	KAN 19	RCH	TAL	DAR	CLT	DOV	POC	MCH	SON	KEN	DAY	NHA	IND	POC	GLN	MCH	BRI	ATL	RCH	CHI	NHA	DOV	TAL	CHA	KAN	MAR	TEX	PHO	HOM	48th	25
2013			Ford	DAY	PHO	LVS	BRI	CAL	MAR	TEX	KAN 37	RCH	TAL	DAR	CLT	DOV	POC	MCH	SON	KEN	DAY	NHA	IND	POC	GLN	MCH	BRI	ATL	RCH	CHI	NHA	DOV	KAN	CLT	TAL DNQ	MAR	TEX	PHO	HOM	68th	7
2014	Ryan Blaney			DAY	PHO	LVS	BRI	CAL	MAR	TEX	DAR	RCH	TAL	KAN 27	CLT	DOV	POC																		TAL 22	MAR	TEX	PHO	HOM	48th	87
	Juan Pablo Montoya																	MCH 18	SON	KEN	DAY	NHA	IND 23	POC	GLN	MCH	BRI	ATL	RCH	CHI	NHA	DOV	KAN	CLT
2018	Ryan Blaney			DAY 7*	ATL 12	LVS 5	PHO 16	CAL 8	MAR 3	TEX 5	BRI 35	RCH 22	TAL 18	DOV 8	KAN 37	CLT 36	POC 6	MCH 8	SON 34	CHI 18	DAY 40	KEN 2	NHA 7	POC 12	GLN 12	MCH 5	BRI 7*	DAR 15	IND 11	LVS 5	RCH 19	CLT 1	DOV 11	TAL 29	KAN 7	MAR 20	TEX 2	PHO 34	HOM 17	10th	2298
2019				DAY 31	ATL 22	LVS 22	PHO 3	CAL 5	MAR 4	TEX 37	BRI 4*	RCH 25	TAL 15	DOV 15	KAN 32	CLT 13	POC 12	MCH 9	SON 3	CHI 6	DAY 36	KEN 13	NHA 4	POC 10	GLN 5	MCH 24	BRI 10	DAR 13	IND 7	LVS 5	RCH 17	CLT 8	DOV 35	TAL 1*	KAN 21	MAR 5	TEX 8	PHO 3	HOM 11	7th	2339
2020				DAY 2	LVS 11	CAL 19	PHO 37	DAR 16	DAR 21	CLT 3	CLT 3	BRI 40	ATL 4	MAR 2	HOM 3	TAL 1*	POC 12	POC 22	IND 32	KEN 6	TEX 7*	KAN 20	NHA 20	MCH 4	MCH 38	DAY 31	DOV 14	DOV 12	DAY 6	DAR 24	RCH 19	BRI 13	LVS 7	TAL 25	CLT 5	KAN 7	TEX 4	MAR 2	PHO 6	9th	2336
2021				DAY 30	DAY 15	HOM 29	LVS 5	PHO 10	ATL 1	BRI 8	MAR 11	RCH 11	TAL 9	KAN 21	DAR 8	DOV 12	COA 17	CLT 13	SON 10	NSH 37	POC 5	POC 6	ROA 20	ATL 5	NHA 5	GLN 14	IND 2	MCH 1	DAY 1	DAR 22	RCH 10	BRI 4	LVS 5	TAL 15	CLT 9	TEX 6	KAN 37	MAR 11	PHO 4	7th	2350

Car No. 22 history[]

Ryan Newman (2000–2001)

Penske's No. 22 team originally began running in the ARCA RE/MAX Series in 2000 as the No. 27 Ford sponsored by Alltel and driven by Ryan Newman.^[8] Later in the year, the team made its NASCAR Cup Series debut with Newman at Phoenix as the No. 02 Alltel Ford, finishing 41st due to engine failure. In 2001, Newman split time between ARCA, the NASCAR Busch Series, and the NASCAR Cup Series.^[9][10] He drove in 15 Busch races and won at Michigan. In the Cup Series, he participated in seven events, and almost won The Winston Open before his engine expired in the closing laps. He put together two top-five finishes, which included a second-place finish at Kansas, and a pole in his abbreviated schedule.

Brendan Gaughan (2004)

In 2004, Penske merged one of their teams with Jasper Motorsports, owned by Doug Bawel. As per the merger, Penske took 51% ownership of the #77 with Bawel as listed owner, and Brendan Gaughan was hired as the driver. The car was renumbered to No. 77, with Kodak sponsoring. Gaughan had four top-ten finishes and finished 28th in points in his rookie year, coming close to a victory at Watkins Glen in the summer of 2004. Although Gaughan impressed many as a rookie, Penske stunned the racing world by dismissing him at the season's end. Bawel would later say in an October 2019 interview that it was because Penske was not satisfied with Gaughan's progress in the sport.(33)

Travis Kvapil (2005)

Gaughan was immediately replaced by Travis Kvapil in 2005. Kodak continued to sponsor the team, though Mobil 1 came on to sponsor one race. Kvapil had two top-tens and finished 33rd in points. The No. 77 team shut down for the next two years due to a lack of sponsorship.

Sam Hornish Jr. (2008–2010)

In late 2007, Penske Racing announced that the No. 77 team would return to racing with Mobil 1 as a sponsor and that Sam Hornish Jr., one of Penske's IndyCar series drivers, would switch to NASCAR full-time and drive the car in 2008. The team underwent a points swap with Kurt Busch's No. 2 car to guarantee Hornish a spot in the first five races while allowing Busch to qualify automatically if necessary with his Past Champion's Provisional starts.

The team did the same in 2009 as Bill Davis (formerly of Bill Davis Racing) sold the owner points from his No. 22 Toyota to Penske, which guaranteed Hornish a spot in the first five races of the season. Hornish's performance improved enough this year that the No. 77 ended the year in the top 35 in owner points.

Kurt Busch (2011)

With the departure of Mobil 1 to Stewart Haas Racing for the 2011 season, Shell and Pennzoil came over to Penske and sponsored the newly renumbered No. 22 Cup car in 2011 with Kurt Busch (who had previously driven the team's No. 2). The No. 22 shared the Shell sponsorship with Penske's IndyCar driver Hélio Castroneves. The team won two races at Sonoma and Dover and made the Chase, but poor finishes during the Chase left Busch 11th in points. Busch and Penske Racing agreed to mutually part December 5, 2011.^[11] though there was strong speculation that he was fired for an incident involving reporter Jerry Punch that was caught on amateur video.

Allmendinger and Hornish Jr. (2012)

On December 21, 2011, A. J. Allmendinger was announced as the driver for the 2012 season, moving over from Richard Petty Motorsports. He would team up with newly promoted crew chief Todd Gordon after the departure of Steve Addington to Stewart-Haas Racing.^[12] Allmendinger got off to a slow start to the season but took advantage of a late wreck among the leaders to finish second at Martinsville. After he failed a drug test before the July Daytona race, he was removed from the car. Penske Nationwide series driver Sam Hornish, Jr. was named as the replacement for the remainder of the season.^[13] Hornish challenged for a win at Watkins Glen, and ended up finishing fifth. After failing to record another top-10 finish, Penske removed him from the car at the season's end.

Joey Logano (2013–present)

On September 4, 2012, Joey Logano was announced as Hornish's replacement in the No. 22 car in 2013.^[14] Logano became the fourth driver of the No. 22 in three years, but had a successful 2013 season, making the Chase, and returned in 2014, becoming the first driver to return to the No. 22 car for more than a single season. Logano won five races in 2014, two more than in his entire previous career, and made the Championship round of the revamped Chase, only to suffer pit road miscues at Homestead that relegated him to fourth in the standings.

Logano then began the 2015 season by winning the Daytona 500. He then won five further races, including repeat wins in the Bristol Night Race and the Kansas Chase race, part of a streak of three wins in a row that allowed him to sweep the Contender round of the 2015 Chase. However, a feud with Matt Kenseth derailed Logano's season when Kenseth wrecked him out of the lead at Martinsville; heavy damage from a blown tire the next week at Texas and his failure to win at Phoenix resulted in Logano's elimination from the Chase.

Logano's 2016 season saw him making it back to Homestead, this time with three wins (Michigan, Talladega, Phoenix) with a shot to win the title. Logano was able to get past a late-race incident with Carl Edwards and finished second in the standings behind Jimmie Johnson.

Logano's 2017 run was a disappointment. He won the spring Richmond race, but the victory was encumbered after his car was revealed to have a rear suspension issue during post-race inspection. This was followed by a string of disappointing finishes, which resulted in Logano missing the Playoffs and finishing 17th in the standings.

The 2018 season saw the No. 22 returning to competitive form, winning the spring Talladega race and securing the team in the Playoffs. A win at the fall Martinsville race locked Logano in the Championship 4. Logano won the 2018 Ford EcoBoost 400 and became the 2018 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Champion.

For the 2019 season, Logano scored wins at the Gander RV Duel 2 at Daytona and at Las Vegas. At Martinsville, Hamlin collided with Logano on turn four, squeezing Logano into the outside wall and causing him to lose a tire and spin out two laps later. Despite the damage, Logano finished eighth. After the race, Logano and Hamlin discussed the incident before Logano slapped Hamlin's right shoulder, sparking a fight between the two.^[15] NASCAR suspended Dave Nichols Jr., the No. 22 team's tire technician, for one race for pulling Hamlin down to the ground during the altercation.^[16] Logano would be eliminated from the playoffs after the Round of 8.

Logano and the 22 would start the 2020 season with a win in the 1st Daytona duel qualifying race but a crash would end his Daytona 500 with a 26th place finish. He won the next race at Las Vegas and followed that up with another win in Phoenix. He was leading at the end of the race at Bristol but was involved in a crash with Chase Elliott. Logano would go winless for the rest of the regular season but would lock his spot in the Championship 4. He would finish the season in 3rd.

Car No. 22 results[]

Year	Driver	No.	Make	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31	32	33	34	35	36	Owners	Pts
2000	Ryan Newman	02	Ford	DAY	CAR	LVS	ATL	DAR	BRI	TEX	MAR	TAL	CAL	RCH	CLT	DOV	MCH	POC	SON	DAY	NHA	POC	IND	GLN	MCH	BRI	DAR	RCH	NHA	DOV	MAR	CLT	TAL	CAR	PHO 41	HOM	ATL			70th	40
2001				DAY	CAR	LVS 33	ATL	DAR	BRI	TEX	MAR	TAL	CAL	RCH	CLT 43	DOV	MCH 5	POC	SON	DAY	CHI	NHA	POC	IND 31	GLN	MCH	BRI	DAR	RCH	DOV	KAN 2	CLT 19	MAR	TAL	PHO 40	CAR	HOM	ATL	NHA	49th	497
2004	Brendan Gaughan	77	Dodge	DAY 19	CAR 20	LVS 22	ATL 33	DAR 27	BRI 20	TEX 38	MAR 17	TAL 13	CAL 6	RCH 34	CLT 33	DOV 27	POC 39	MCH 16	SON 26	DAY 36	CHI 30	NHA 22	POC 28	IND 35	GLN 34	MCH 33	BRI 35	CAL 42	RCH 27	NHA 30	DOV 22	TAL 4	KAN 10	CLT 23	MAR 34	ATL 18	PHO 30	DAR 27	HOM 6	28th	3165
2005	Travis Kvapil			DAY 19	CAL 24	LVS 26	ATL 42	BRI 7	MAR 27	TEX 30	PHO 40	TAL 18	DAR 35	RCH 22	CLT 32	DOV 17	POC 17	MCH 26	SON 21	DAY 23	CHI 43	NHA 27	POC 38	IND 37	GLN 40	MCH 38	BRI 19	CAL 33	RCH 11	NHA 41	DOV 21	TAL 16	KAN 22	CLT 17	MAR 21	ATL 26	TEX 24	PHO 10	HOM 32	33rd	3077
2008	Sam Hornish Jr.			DAY 15	CAL 43	LVS 41	ATL 25	BRI 29	MAR 28	TEX 32	PHO 20	TAL 35	RCH 23	DAR 38	CLT 13	DOV 18	POC 42	MCH 22	SON 31	NHA 39	DAY 29	CHI 37	IND 21	POC 26	GLN 32	MCH 22	BRI 37	CAL 31	RCH 38	NHA 30	DOV 42	KAN 33	TAL DNQ	CLT 22	MAR 34	ATL 24	TEX 23	PHO 33	HOM DNQ	35th	2523
2009				DAY 32	CAL 23	LVS 16	ATL 37	BRI 31	MAR 34	TEX 17	PHO 9	TAL 34	RCH 6	DAR 30	CLT 16	DOV 13	POC 10	MCH 29	SON 38	NHA 8	DAY 32	CHI 38	IND 37	POC 4	GLN 35	MCH 5	BRI 35	ATL 35	RCH 8	NHA 37	DOV 26	KAN 18	CAL 12	CLT 40	MAR 36	TAL 40	TEX 40	PHO 17	HOM 21	28th	3203
2010				DAY 37	CAL 16	LVS 28	ATL 28	BRI 32	MAR 13	PHO 18	TEX 19	TAL 24	RCH 36	DAR 31	DOV 34	CLT 17	POC 11	MCH 26	SON 36	NHA 23	DAY 21	CHI 24	IND 30	POC 11	GLN 14	MCH 32	BRI 25	ATL 30	RCH 28	NHA 10	DOV 36	KAN 36	CAL 15	CLT 40	MAR 25	TAL 15	TEX 18	PHO 32	HOM 24	29th	3214
2011	Kurt Busch	22		DAY 5	PHO 8	LVS 9	BRI 7	CAL 17	MAR 16	TEX 10	TAL 18	RCH 22	DAR 27	DOV 14	CLT 4	KAN 9	POC 2	MCH 11	SON 1	DAY 14	KEN 9	NHA 10	IND 21	POC 3	GLN 38	MCH 34	BRI 17	ATL 4	RCH 5	CHI 6	NHA 22	DOV 1	KAN 13	CLT 13	TAL 36	MAR 14	TEX 30	PHO 22	HOM 34	11th	2262
2012	A.J. Allmendinger			DAY 34	PHO 18	LVS 37	BRI 17	CAL 15	MAR 2	TEX 15	KAN 32	RCH 16	TAL 15	DAR 33	CLT 33	DOV 16	POC 31	MCH 19	SON 9	KEN 9																				24th	717
	Sam Hornish Jr.																				DAY 33	NHA 22	IND 16	POC 19	GLN 5	MCH 12	BRI 34	ATL 11	RCH 11	CHI 11	NHA 21	DOV 25	TAL 24	CLT 15	KAN 26	MAR 13	TEX 17	PHO 31	HOM 22
2013	Joey Logano		Ford	DAY 19	PHO 26	LVS 12	BRI 17	CAL 3	MAR 23	TEX 5	KAN 39	RCH 3	TAL 35	DAR 22	CLT 5	DOV 7	POC 10	MCH 9	SON 11	KEN 4	DAY 40	NHA 40	IND 8	POC 7	GLN 7	MCH 1*	BRI 5	ATL 2*	RCH 22	CHI 37	NHA 14	DOV 3	KAN 4	CLT 18	TAL 16	MAR 14	TEX 3	PHO 9	HOM 8	8th	2323
2014				DAY 11	PHO 4	LVS 4	BRI 20	CAL 39	MAR 4	TEX 1*	DAR 35	RCH 1	TAL 32	KAN 4	CLT 12	DOV 8	POC 40	MCH 10	SON 16	KEN 9	DAY 17	NHA 40	IND 5	POC 3	GLN 6	MCH 3*	BRI 1	ATL 14	RCH 6	CHI 4	NHA 1	DOV 4	KAN 1*	CLT 4	TAL 11	MAR 5	TEX 12	PHO 6	HOM 16	4th	5028
2015				DAY 1	ATL 4	LVS 10	PHO 8	CAL 7	MAR 3	TEX 4	BRI 40	RCH 5	TAL 33	KAN 5	CLT 13	DOV 11	POC 4	MCH 5	SON 5	DAY 22	KEN 2	NHA 4	IND 2	POC 20*	GLN 1	MCH 7	BRI 1	DAR 4	RCH 3	CHI 6	NHA 3	DOV 10	CLT 1*	KAN 1	TAL 1	MAR 37*	TEX 40	PHO 3	HOM 4	6th	2360
2016				DAY 6	ATL 12	LVS 2	PHO 18	CAL 4	MAR 11	TEX 3	BRI 10	RCH 8	TAL 25	KAN 38	DOV 22	CLT 9	POC 5	MCH 1*	SON 3	DAY 4	KEN 39	NHA 3	IND 7	POC 37*	GLN 2	BRI 10	MCH 10	DAR 5	RCH 10	CHI 2	NHA 11	DOV 6	CLT 36	KAN 3	TAL 1	MAR 9	TEX 2*	PHO 1	HOM 4	2nd	5037
2017				DAY 6	ATL 6	LVS 4	PHO 31	CAL 5	MAR 4	TEX 3	BRI 5	RCH 1	TAL 32	KAN 37	CLT 21	DOV 25	POC 23	MCH 3	SON 12	DAY 35	KEN 8	NHA 37	IND 4	POC 27	GLN 24	MCH 28	BRI 13	DAR 18	RCH 2	CHI 7	NHA 10	DOV 15	CLT 26	TAL 4*	KAN 21	MAR 24	TEX 7	PHO 12	HOM 6	17th	930
2018				DAY 4	ATL 6	LVS 7	PHO 19	CAL 5	MAR 6	TEX 6	BRI 9	RCH 4	TAL 1*	DOV 13	KAN 3	CLT 22	POC 9	MCH 7	SON 19	CHI 8	DAY 39	KEN 10	NHA 9	POC 26	GLN 37	MCH 10	BRI 4	DAR 2	IND 13	LVS 4	RCH 14	CLT 10	DOV 3	TAL 5	KAN 8*	MAR 1*	TEX 3	PHO 37	HOM 1*	1st	5040
2019				DAY 4	ATL 23	LVS 1	PHO 10	CAL 2	MAR 19	TEX 17	BRI 3	RCH 2	TAL 4	DOV 7	KAN 15	CLT 2	POC 7	MCH 1*	SON 23	CHI 3	DAY 25	KEN 7	NHA 9	POC 13	GLN 23	MCH 17	BRI 16	DAR 14	IND 2	LVS 9*	RCH 11	CLT 10	DOV 34	TAL 11	KAN 17	MAR 8	TEX 4	PHO 9	HOM 5	5th	2380
2020				DAY 26	LVS 1	CAL 12	PHO 1	DAR 18	DAR 6	CLT 13	CLT 6	BRI 21	ATL 10	MAR 4*	HOM 27	TAL 17	POC 36	POC 24	IND 10	KEN 15	TEX 3	KAN 35	NHA 4	MCH 8	MCH 5	DAY 9	DOV 8	DOV 6	DAY 27*	DAR 3	RCH 3	BRI 11	LVS 14	TAL 26*	CLT 2	KAN 1	TEX 10	MAR 3	PHO 3	3rd	5034
2021				DAY 12	DAY 2	HOM 25	LVS 9	PHO 2*	ATL 15	BRI 1	MAR 6	RCH 3	TAL 39	KAN 17	DAR 13	DOV 5	COA 3	CLT 17	SON 4	NSH 10	POC 7	POC 10	ROA 15	ATL 19	NHA 4	GLN 22	IND 34	MCH 33	DAY 23*	DAR 8	RCH 5	BRI 11	LVS 11	TAL 3	CLT 7	TEX 30	KAN 9	MAR 10	PHO 11	8th	2336

Car No. 33 history[]

In 2004, Penske occasionally ran a fourth car numbered 06, sponsored by Mobil 1. Craftsman Truck Series driver Travis Kvapil attempted four races, failing to qualify at Darlington, with a best finish of 21st at Martinsville. He would replace Brendan Gaughan in the 77 in 2005. Chad Blount also ran the car at Talladega, finishing 41st.

The No. 06 returned in 2007 with Sam Hornish, Jr. in preparation for moving full-time in the 77 the next year. The No. 06 was sponsored by Penske Truck Rental and Mobil 1 Hornish, Jr. attempted eight races, but only qualified for the final two races of the season, with a best finish of 30th at Phoenix.

In October 2020, Team Penske announced that Austin Cindric would begin racing in the Cup Series in 2021 on a part-time basis before moving to a full-time ride with Team Penske, driving the 2 car in 2022.^[17] As part of his limited 2021 schedule, he entered the Daytona 500 in a fourth Penske entry with the No. 33 and sponsorship from Verizon 5G.^[18]

Car No. 33 results[]

Year	Driver	No.	Make	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31	32	33	34	35	36	Owners	Pts
2004	Chad Blount	06	Dodge	DAY	CAR	LVS	ATL	DAR	BRI	TEX	MAR	TAL	CAL	RCH	CLT	DOV	POC	MCH	SON	DAY	CHI	NHA	POC	IND	GLN	MCH	BRI	CAL	RCH	NHA	DOV	TAL 41	KAN	CLT						63rd	213
	Travis Kvapil																																		MAR 21	ATL 32	PHO	DAR DNQ	HOM 39
2007	Sam Hornish Jr.			DAY	CAL	LVS	ATL	BRI	MAR	TEX	PHO	TAL	RCH	DAR	CLT	DOV	POC	MCH	SON	NHA	DAY	CHI	IND	POC	GLN	MCH	BRI	CAL	RCH	NHA DNQ	DOV DNQ	KAN	TAL DNQ	CLT DNQ	MAR DNQ	ATL DNQ	TEX	PHO 30	HOM 37	62nd	125
2021	Austin Cindric	33	Ford	DAY 15	DAY	HOM	LVS	PHO	ATL 22	BRI	MAR	RCH 28	TAL	KAN 22	DAR	DOV	COA 25	CLT	SON	NSH	POC	POC	ROA 38	ATL	NHA	GLN	IND 9	MCH	DAY	DAR	RCH	BRI	LVS	TAL	CLT	TEX	KAN	MAR	PHO	39th	121

Xfinity Series[]

Penske's first entry in the now Xfinity Series was in 1997, with Cup driver Rusty Wallace at Auto Club Speedway. Wallace started 37th and finished 21st in his Miller Lite Ford.

Car No. 02 / 39 / 48 history[]

Penske Racing's next foray into the Busch Series was in 2001. Ryan Newman drove 15 races in the 02 Alltel Ford in preparation for moving up to the NASCAR Cup Series the next year. "Rocket Man" Newman had 6 poles and only two starts outside the top 5. Newman had eight top 10s including a win at Michigan International Speedway, and would finish 28th in points despite running less than half the season.

In 2005, Penske returned to the second-tier series with Ryan Newman. Newman drove an Alltel/Mobil 1/Sony Dodge numbered 39, his sprint car number whose digits coincidentally add up to the number 12 he used in the Cup Series. He ran only 9 of 25 races but had four poles and six victories. In 2006, Newman and Kurt Busch shared the ride. Busch ran seven races and won twice; Newman's best finish was 2nd in six starts. IndyCar Champion Sam Hornish, Jr. began racing the No. 39 in the last two races of the year, crashing out of both races. Newman also ran a 02 car at Watkins Glen, finishing 41st after an engine failure.

The only race for the 39 in 2007 was at Watkins Glen International, where Kurt Busch started on the pole and finished 3rd.

In 2013, Penske ran a third team part-time, numbered 48. Joey Logano ran the car at Watkins Glen with Discount Tire as the sponsor,^[19] starting 3rd and finishing 21st. Ryan Blaney then ran the car at Phoenix with AutoZone, finishing 10th.^[20] Brad Keselowski ran the car at Homestead with Discount Tire, winning the race.^[21]

Car No. 12 history[]

Sam Hornish Jr. (2007–2008)

The 12 car debuted in 2007, running 20 total races. Kurt Busch ran 3 races with Penske Truck Rental, with a best finish of 4th at Las Vegas. Sam Hornish Jr. ran 9 races but had no top 10s and four crashes. Ryan Newman ran 8 races with Kodak and Alltel, with a best finish of 3rd at Richmond.

The team returned return on a limited basis in 2008, with Hornish driving most of the races early in the season. Hornish attempted 10 races (failing to qualify for two) with fewer DNFs and a best finish of 11th at Darlington. ARCA Champion Justin Allgaier ran four races later in the year, with an 11th-place finish at Phoenix.

Justin Allgaier (2008–2010)

In 2009, Justin Allgaier moved into the car full-time. After Verizon, taking on the sponsorship responsibilities of Alltel, was barred from sponsoring the No. 12 Cup car under terms of the Viceroy Rule – preventing competition with title sponsor Sprint NEXTEL – the company moved their sponsorship to the Nationwide Series.^[22] Allgaier was involved in a close rookie battle with Michael McDowell and Scott Lagasse Jr., but eventually won the 2009 Rookie of the Year, scoring 12 top 10s en route to a 6th-place points finish. Allgaier and Verizon returned for 2010. Justin took his first career victory in the fourth race of the season at Bristol Motor Speedway. The team had an impressive 20 top 10s and finished 4th in points.

Sam Hornish Jr. (2011–2013)

Due to Verizon's departure from NASCAR for Penske's IndyCar team, the No. 12 team scaled back to a limited schedule in 2011, prompting Allgaier to move to Turner Motorsports. Sam Hornish Jr., recently losing his Cup ride with Penske, took over the car on a limited basis with Alliance Truck Parts sponsoring his effort. Hornish won his first Nationwide Series race at Phoenix, a track where he had had success in IndyCar. Alex Tagliani drove the No. 12 in Montreal with sponsorship from Hot Wheels.

Hornish returned for the full season in 2012, with expanded sponsorship from Alliance Truck Parts. Hornish had arguably his strongest season in stock cars to date after struggles in past Sprint Cup and Nationwide endeavors, scoring 10 top 5s and 22 top 10s en route to a fourth-place points finish.

Hornish returned to the car in 2013, and scored his second NASCAR victory at Las Vegas. He was a strong contender for the drivers' title, earning 4 poles, 16 top 5s, and 25 top 10s, but ultimately finished second to Austin Dillon in the final points standings, despite Dillon not winning a race. Hornish was left without a full-time ride, as longtime owner Roger Penske did not have any opportunities for his former champion, though he did say Hornish deserved another opportunity at NASCAR's top level.^[23] Sponsors Alliance Truck Parts, Würth, and Detroit Genuine Parts would move up to sponsor Brad Keselowski's Sprint Cup car in 2014.^[24]

Part Time (2014–2020)

In 2014, after Hornish left for Joe Gibbs Racing, Team Penske narrowed down their Nationwide Series fleet to one full-time ride – the No. 22 team –leaving the No. 12 as a part-time ride. Ryan Blaney ran four races in the car, with Joey Logano running a single race at Watkins Glen, with sponsorship from Snap-on Tools and Western Star Trucks. Logano would win the pole with a new track record, and go on to win the race.

In 2016, Ryan Blaney drove the No. 12 in May at Charlotte and again in July at Kentucky. Joey Logano then drove the No. 12 at Watkins Glen in August and again at Charlotte in October, winning both races. Snap-On Tools was the primary sponsor for all the races except the October Charlotte race, where PPG Industries was the primary sponsor.

On August 12, 2016, Team Penske announced that the No. 12 would return to full-time competition for the 2017 season. However, after sponsorship failed to materialize, the car competed in only five races, with Logano winning at Las Vegas and Blaney winning the summer Charlotte race.

In 2018, Austin Cindric raced at 8 Xfinity Series races with the No. 12, claiming top 5 finishes at all but one, and Keselowski drove the car once.

Penske let Keselowski, Logano, Paul Menard and Ryan Blaney drive the No. 12 two times each in 2019, collecting four top 5 finishes.

In the 2020 Xfinity Series season, Keselowski drove the car at Phoenix.

Car No. 22 history[]

In 2009, Penske developmental driver Parker Kligerman made his debut at Kansas Speedway, winning the pole, leading 7 laps, and finishing a respectable 16th. Parker also attempted the season finale at Homestead, but failed to qualify, running the No. 42 car instead.

Brad Keselowski (2010–2011)

For 2010, Penske Racing ran two full-time Nationwide series cars with Discount Tire and Ruby Tuesday coming on board to sponsor Brad Keselowski in the No. 22. They continued to use Dodge engines, despite Dodge cutting their Nationwide support. On November 6, 2010, Brad Keselowski and the No. 22 Discount Tire/Ruby Tuesday Nationwide team secured the NASCAR Nationwide driver championship by finishing 3rd at Texas Motor Speedway. By holding an insurmountable 465-point lead over Carl Edwards with two races left in the season, the No. 22 team delivered Roger Penske's first NASCAR title of any kind.

For the 2011 season, Penske continued to run the No. 22 full-time with Brad Keselowski. In August, Keselowski suffered a hard crash while testing at Road Atlanta. He was replaced in the No. 22 by Hornish Jr., Kurt Busch, and Parker Kligerman. Formula 1 Champion Jacques Villeneuve drove the No. 22 at the road courses. The No. 22 team scored five wins with Keselowski and another with Busch at Watkins Glen.

Multiple Drivers (2012–2018)

In 2012, Keselowski was scheduled to split the 22 ride, with Parker Kligerman running between 5 and 7 races. However, after only running three races with the team, Kligerman was replaced in both the Nationwide Series and his Truck Series ride at BKR with fellow up-and-coming driver Ryan Blaney, who ran the standalone oval races.^[25] Villeneuve was named to drive at Road America and Montreal for the team.^[26]

In 2013, Brad Keselowski and Ryan Blaney were scheduled to share the No. 22, joined by new Penske driver Joey Logano. In June, former Penske Cup driver A. J. Allmendinger signed on to run two races in the 22, at the road courses Road America and Mid-Ohio.^[27] Allmendinger won the pole at Road America,^[28] then proceeded to win the race, his first career Nationwide win, after leading 29 laps.^[29] Allmendinger then won at Mid-Ohio after starting second and leading 73 of 94 laps.^[30] Ryan Blaney then won his first career race at Kentucky Speedway, after leading 96 of the final 100 laps of the race.^[31] The team won the Nationwide Owners' Championship on the strength of twelve total race victories among the four drivers. This was the first Nationwide Owners title for Team Penske.^[21]

In 2014, the No. 22 car was shared by Joey Logano, Brad Keselowski, Ryan Blaney, and Alex Tagliani in hopes of defending the Nationwide Owners' Championship. Michael McDowell ran the car at Kentucky in September, the fifth driver to run the car in 2014.^[32] The No. 22 team beat the No. 54 JGR team once again for the owner's title. They again beat the No. 54 team for the owner's title in 2015, before going winless in 2016. In 2017 Brad Keselowski brought the 22 back to victory lane at Pocono after a last-lap pass on Kyle Larson. Keselowski won another race at the fall Richmond race and Ryan Blaney won the fall Dover race. The 22 won the owners championship again at Homestead with Sam Hornish Jr. driving the car to a second-place finish.

The No. 22 team is known for its competition for the Nationwide Owner's Championship with the equally strong Joe Gibbs Racing and their No. 18 and No. 20 teams.

Austin Cindric (2019–2021)

For the 2019 season, Austin Cindric was announced as the full-time driver of the No. 22 with sponsorship from MoneyLion. On July 11, 2019, crew chief Brian Wilson was suspended for one race after the car scheduled to race at Kentucky was discovered to have an illegal body modification. The L1-level penalty also resulted in a deduction of 10 points for the team and Cindric, and a $10,000 fine.^[33] Cindric scored two wins and 14 top 5s, but had a poor race at Kansas and could not advance to the Championship 4.

In 2020, Cindric became the ninth different driver to win three consecutive races in series history by winning back-to-back races at Kentucky as well as Texas where he had initially finished in 2nd-place until race-winner Kyle Busch was disqualified for failing post-race inspection. Cindric went on to make the Championship 4 and win his 1st Xfinity Championship while at the same time winning the race at Phoenix Raceway in Overtime.^[34]

Car No. 26 history[]

In an alliance with K-Automotive Racing (owned by Brad Keselowski's brother Brian), Penske fielded the 26 car in select races in 2010, primarily Car of Tomorrow races. Nineteen-year-old Parker Kligerman debuted in the car at Daytona with Discount Tire, starting on the outside pole and finishing 13th.^[35] His next race was Montreal, where he scored a strong 8th-place finish. He then finished 15th at Richmond. At Charlotte in October, Kligerman qualified 8th, but crashed after only 3 laps and finished last.^[36] Sam Hornish Jr. ran the season finale in the 26, finishing 21st.

Car No. 39 history[]

For 2005, Ryan Newman raced in nine races. In the last seven he competed in, he won the first five, came in sixteenth at Texas, then won the season finale at Homestead finishing thirty-fourth in the points standings. He also got a pair of third-place finishes before those six wins. In 2006, Kurt Busch and Newman drove a limited schedule in a Penske No. 39 for Busch, and an Alltel No. 39 for Newman. Though Newman got a highest finish of second at Auto Club, Busch ended up notching two wins at Texas and Watkins Glen. In the other five races he competed in, he came in the top five in all but one, finishing twenty-first at Michigan before finishing thirty-ninth in points. The No. 39 has not run since the 2006 season.

Notes[]

33. Interview with Jasper Motorsports team owner Doug Bawel #MMDoug55, MovieMakerDoug55 - YouTube.com, Retrieved from https://youtube/HevqyGxcKCo

External links[]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Penske Racing.

• Official website
• IndyCar Team Page