{"id":467058,"date":"2026-02-11T02:08:09","date_gmt":"2026-02-11T02:08:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/467058\/"},"modified":"2026-02-11T02:08:09","modified_gmt":"2026-02-11T02:08:09","slug":"nascar-insider-expresses-joey-logano-concerns-points-to-gulf-between-ryan-blaney-and-rest-of-penske","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/467058\/","title":{"rendered":"NASCAR insider expresses Joey Logano concerns, points to ‘gulf’ between Ryan Blaney and rest of Penske"},"content":{"rendered":"

NASCAR<\/a> is entering a new era with the return of \u201cThe Chase\u201d championship format this season. Insiders believe Joey Logano<\/a> is surprisingly well-equipped to adapt, but lingering concerns remain about whether the No. 22 Team Penske Ford team can consistently contend at the sport\u2019s highest level.<\/p>\n

Those concerns were laid out in the latest episode of The Teardown<\/a>. There, Jeff Gluck and Jordan Bianchi evaluated Penske\u2019s internal performance gap, and what it all means for Logano entering 2026.<\/p>\n

First, Gluck said Logano and crew chief Paul Wolfe are likely to handle the revised postseason better than many expect. He noted their strength has always been in preparation and maximizing results, even when outright speed is lacking.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think Logano will do a better job adjusting to this new format than people realize,\u201d Gluck said<\/a>. \u201cThey\u2019ll go to work. They\u2019ll maximize what they can.\u201d<\/p>\n

Still, Gluck stopped short of calling Logano a championship favorite, or even one of the top options. While he expects the No. 22 to be higher in the standings than critics anticipate, he believes Penske must elevate its overall consistency to the level of Hendrick Motorsports and Joe Gibbs Racing to seriously challenge for titles.<\/p>\n

Bianchi agreed, pointing to what he described as a \u201cgulf\u201d inside the Penske organization, particularly when it comes to Ryan Blaney\u2019s<\/a> No. 12 team and the rest of the stable.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s such a disconnect between what the No. 12 team is able to do most weeks and what their teammates are able to do,\u201d Bianchi said. \u201cWhy does that gulf exist? Who knows?\u201d<\/p>\n

While Bianchi expects Logano to win a race or two and make the playoffs without issue, he\u2019s skeptical about his sustained dominance. Logano\u2019s recent average finishes, 15.3 in 2025, 17.1 in 2024 and 14.9 in 2023, reflect a driver who grinds out results rather than overwhelms the field.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s not going to cut it,\u201d Bianchi said bluntly. \u201cYou need to be top five and top 10 on a regular basis,\u201d which Logano hasn\u2019t achieved.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Alas, that critique comes despite Logano\u2019s r\u00e9sum\u00e9. The 35-year-old finished seventh in the 2025 standings despite just one win and has placed in the top 10 of the final standings seven times in the past eight seasons.\u00a0<\/p>\n

He captured his most recent championship in 2024. Now, he enters 2026 chasing a fourth career title under a new playoff structure that rewards season-long consistency over elimination rounds.<\/p>\n

Still, Logano has made it clear that format changes don\u2019t concern him. Only one thing does.<\/p>\n

\u201cJust tell me the rules,\u201d Logano previously said. \u201cAnd then we gotta go figure out a way to win.\u201d<\/p>\n

With 37 career wins, a Daytona 500 victory and 609 Cup Series starts, Logano\u2019s pedigree is unquestioned. But as insiders see it, the challenge in 2026 won\u2019t be adaptability; it will be whether Penske can close the internal and organizational gaps needed to turn reliability into true contention for the No. 22 team.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"NASCAR is entering a new era with the return of \u201cThe Chase\u201d championship format this season. Insiders believe…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":467059,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[446],"tags":[49,48,634,82],"class_list":["post-467058","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nascar","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-nascar","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/467058","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=467058"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/467058\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/467059"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=467058"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=467058"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=467058"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}