By: Kelly Crandall July 31, 2018 2:43 PM As the concept for Joey Logano’s paint scheme for throwback weekend at Darlington Raceway began to take shape, he couldn’t help but think one thing.“About time,” Logano said with a laugh when speaking to RACER about the scheme.

Logano got to see the completed car for the first time Tuesday morning ahead of its official unveiling to the NASCAR world. The Team Penske driver will drive a No. 22 Pennzoil Ford reminiscent of the car former Pennzoil driver Steve Park drove during his tenure at Dale Earnhardt Inc.

It is a paint scheme that representatives from Pennzoil admit fans have repeatedly asked to see on the track.

“To me, when I think of a Pennzoil car the Steve Park car always comes to my mind because I watched it growing up,” Logano said. “Being a New England guy and Steve being a New England guy, I always thought it made sense and I never really understood why we didn’t do it, but it is really cool to see that with the 22 on the side. It just makes sense.

“It’s going to be a cool-looking car. We had Steve here, and it was cool to see his face and his wife’s face when they saw the car. It’s a special thing to see their face. I said we’ve got to put his name on the car!”

Park (above, with Logano) ran a similar design from 1998 through early 2003 when he left DEI and moved over to Richard Childress Racing. Logano’s scheme for the Sept. 2 Bojangles’ Southern 500 will celebrate the ’98 version of the car, which was the year Park began driving it.

“I was maybe eight, nine, 10 years old, so as a racer I knew nothing about what I was looking at,” Logano said of his memories of Park’s career. “I knew that he was in a Cup car and that automatically makes you a badass is pretty much what I knew. And like I said, him being up north you see this car when you’d go to get an oil change or to your local repair shop or just a lot of times in my dad’s garage. You’d always see Steve Park hero cards or Pennzoil calendars that had this car on it.”

While running this scheme at Darlington is perfect for throwback weekend, it also has an unfortunate tie to an unforgettable moment in Park’s career.In 2001, Park was competing in what is now the Xfinity Series race when a freak accident derailed his career. Under caution, Park’s car spun to the left and was hit in the driver’s side door by Larry Foyt, who was making his way past the field to regain position.

The accident was the result of the steering wheel coming off in Park’s hands. He had tugged on the wheel to make sure it was set right. “It was due to my mistake,” Park said in a 2010 interview with ESPN.

Among his injuries, Park suffered brain damage. But he did return to run 32 of the 36 races in 2002, then 35 of 36 in 2003. After that, Park competed mostly in the Truck Series before running two more Cup Series races between 2010 and 2011.On the positive side, the timing of Tuesday’s unveiling was fitting because Park’s first career Cup Series win came at Watkins Glen in 2000. The Cup Series races at the Glen this weekend.

Park won twice in the Pennzoil car. His second victory was a memorable and emotional feat at Rockingham Speedway the week after Dale Earnhardt’s death in February 2001.Logano has never won at Darlington, but he has four top-10 finishes in nine starts with 85 laps led. A fourth-place finish in 2015 is Logano’s career best at the track.

When he’s behind the wheel, the special event weekend becomes just another race, and Logano says he won’t feel any additional pressure to put the car in victory lane. However, he would like to do it for specific reasons.“Just thinking about how neat it would be to be in victory lane with Steve Park and all of us there,” Logano said. “I said [to everyone] how cool would it be in victory lane if you put a 1 on the door to have a cool picture? Where else can you run a paint scheme that has been made iconic by somebody else and have the chance to win with it and that guy in victory lane with you? It doesn’t happen. That’s cool.

“It’s cool that only happens once a year and it should happen once a year. Darlington is the perfect racetrack for throwback weekend, and the way the teams and sponsors have wrapped their hands around it, what a home run and great idea.“I wouldn’t mind racing [this] every weekend. I think the black looks really cool and the yellow is like a bumblebee, but it’s neat.”

By: RACER Staff | September 16, 2018 6:11 PM Brad Keselowski’s win Sunday in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs opener was the 500th for Team Penske.“What an incredible finish in Las Vegas and an amazing way to earn Team Penske’s 500th victory,” Roger Penske said. “Great job by Brad (Keselowski) and the No. 2 Autotrader Ford team to start the Playoffs with a win and a great finish by all three of our cars today.“Thanks to everyone throughout our organization for their hard work and all their dedication for helping us reach this special milestone of 500 wins.”Team Penske won the very first race it entered — the 1966 Daytona 24-hour sports car race – and has won with 50 different drivers across 14 separate racing series in 52 years of racing. In addition to 500 wins, the organization has produced 573 pole positions and 32 championships across open-wheel, stock car and sports cars.“Winning 500 races as an organization is such an incredible accomplishment,” Keselowski said. “Roger Penske was already in an elite category and this milestone only enhances that. I’m thrilled for Roger and everyone at Team Penske and I’m incredibly proud to drive for him.”The 500th Penske win came during a banner year for the group, which saw Keselowski give the organization its first Brickyard 400 win and included a sweep of the month of May at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, where Will Power won both the IndyCar Grand Prix and the Indy 500.“It’s pretty cool that Team Penske has reached that many wins and it is quite a milestone,” said Will Power, who finished third Sunday at Sonoma. “I’m so fortunate to be one of the drivers to be a part of this team’s incredible history and am honored to be able to contribute to that number. The team has so many talented people between engineers, mechanics, fabricators and the list goes on and on.“There are lot of wins still in the team’s future, and I know myself and my team can’t wait to help add to the growing number again.”

By: Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service September 16, 2018 4:18 PM In a war of attrition that caused a multitude of problems for the majority of Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Playoff contenders, Brad Keselowski emerged unscathed with his third straight victory in the series and the 500th triumph for Team Penske in all forms of racing combined.Sunday’s South Point 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, the playoff opener for NASCAR’s foremost series, went to overtime, lasting five laps longer than the scheduled 267. But Keselowski held the top spot through three tension-laden restarts to beat runner-up Kyle Larson to the finish line by 1.276 seconds on the final two-lap shootout.Results StandingsWith his third victory of the season, his third at Las Vegas and the 27th of his career, Keselowski guaranteed himself a spot in the second round of the playoffs.“Team Penske — 500 wins today,” Keselowski said. “It’s a huge day for the Captain (team owner Roger Penske). I expect he’s watching (from the IndyCar season finale at Sonoma Raceway). Hey, boss!

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“To start off the playoffs with a win is really strong. I know it’s three in a row and all that great stuff, but it’s really a testament to this team. … We weren’t as fast as the 78 car (third-place finisher Martin Truex Jr.), but we nailed the pit stops and the restarts.” Most of the 16 playoff contenders just got nailed — and decisively.Kevin Harvick, the series leader in victories with seven this year, blew a tire on Lap 148 and rocketed into the Turn 1 wall. Pole winner Erik Jones, running behind Harvick, couldn’t avoid the wreck and plowed into Harvick’s Ford. Both cars were eliminated, with Harvick finishing 39th and Jones 40th.In a similar incident in Turn 4 on Lap 212, Chase Elliott was collected against the outside wall when Jamie McMurray’s Chevrolet turned sideways in front of him. Elliott fell out of the race in 36th place.Denny Hamlin’s spin off Turn 4 on Lap 247 caused the ninth caution and subsequent restart that allowed Keselowski to take the lead from Larson, who had passed the No. 2 Team Penske Ford on Lap 245 and had the long-run speed to win the race, had the event stayed incident-free to the finish.Jimmie Johnson showed some of his best speed of the season, but his No. 48 Chevrolet sustained heavy damage in a Lap 257 accident that also involved playoff drivers Clint Bowyer, Alex Bowman and Kurt Busch. Johnson, a seven-time series champion, finished 22nd, two laps down, one position behind Busch and one ahead of Bowyer.Bowman came home 19th and currently occupies the 12th position in the standings, with the playoff field set to be cut from 16 drivers to 12 two races hence at Charlotte.Kyle Busch survived contact with the outside wall, a spin through the infield grass and damage to the front of his No. 18 Toyota to finish seventh.Truex, who won the first stage, took the series lead by two points over Kyle Busch. Keselowski is 18 points back in third place, with Harvick 27 points behind in fourth, thanks to the 50 Playoff points he accumulated during the regular season. The four drivers currently on the outside when it comes to advancing to the next round are Johnson, Elliott, Jones and Hamlin.

Five of the race’s 12 cautions came in the last 40 laps, as the accidents took their toll on one playoff driver after another.“I didn’t think it was ever going to end,” said Keselowski, the third driver to win three consecutive races this season, joining Harvick and Kyle Busch. “I was worried about running out of gas there at the end.”Team Penske drivers Joey Logano and Ryan Blaney ran fourth and fifth, respectively. Aric Almirola finished sixth and playoff driver Austin Dillon came home 11th after starting from the rear of the field because of unapproved adjustments to the body of his car.“Brad clearly found a horseshoe,” said Truex, the defending series champion. “Three races in a row he’s won, and he has not had the best car.“Obviously, he hasn’t led the most laps in any of those races, and he showed up at the end with good pit stops and good short run speed. I think, clearly, it’s pretty obvious how it worked out. He’s hot right now. He’s on a streak. That’s the way it goes.”The NASCAR Playoffs continue at Richmond Raceway for Saturday’s Federated Auto Parts 400 (7:30 p.m. ET, NBCSN, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio), the second race in the three-race opening round before the field shrinks from 16 drivers to 12.

By: NASCAR Wire Service September 10, 2018 2:44 PM It’s been a historic two weeks for Brad Keselowski. The No. 2 Ford driver executed a hard-nosed pass of Denny Hamlin with two laps remaining in Monday’s rain-delayed Big Machine Vodka 400 at the Brickyard to win his first race at prestigious Indianapolis Motor Speedway, one week after visiting Victory Lane in the crown-jewel Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway.Keselowski earned Team Penske its first Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series win at the track to go with the storied organization’s 17 Indianapolis 500 trophies – including one this May.The 34-year-old Michigan native finished runner-up in this race last year and positioned himself to one-up the effort thanks to a late-race pit strategy call by his crew chief Paul Wolfe. On a restart with three laps remaining, the 2012 Cup champion muscled by Hamlin on fresher tires. He beat runner-up Erik Jones – who later maneuvered around Hamlin – to the start-finish line by 0.904 seconds.Results

PointsHamlin finished third, while Kevin Harvick and Clint Bowyer rounded out the top five. Hamlin and Bowyer – who raced for the lead much of the final stage – each led a race-high 37 laps.The race marked the end of the regular season with points leader Kyle Busch – who finished eighth Monday – officially collecting the regular-season championship. He and seven-race winner Harvick top the points standings as the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series begins its 10-week playoff run this Sunday at Las Vegas Motor Speedway (3 p.m. ET, NBCSN).“We had a lot of ups and downs, mostly downs but fought our way back,’’ the six-race winner and two-time Indy winner Busch said just before receiving the regular-season trophy. “In the grand scheme of things it was a pretty good day considering we get to go home with some hardware.”The third member of the sport’s “Big 3” this season is four-race winner Martin Truex Jr. The reigning Monster Energy NASCAR Cup champion goes into the playoffs ranked third, although he only completed 41 laps at Indy, his No. 78 Furniture Row Toyota officially finishing last in the 40-car field having to retire early with a brake problem.With the two wins, Keselowski jumps into fourth place in the Playoff standings just ahead of the season’s other two-time winner Bowyer.Jimmie Johnson and Hendrick Motorsports teammate Alex Bowman were the only two drivers that hadn’t secured a playoff berth before the drop of the Indy green flag, but both advanced to the 16-driver field with 16th- and 33rd-place efforts at Indy.“We raced up into the top 10 a couple times, we just didn’t have the speed to run up front,’’ said Johnson, driver of the No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet.“We’ll go home and work hard and be ready for Las Vegas. I’m just proud I’ve made every playoff since NASCAR started them. …we have a lot of experience and I think our experience in pressure-packed situations will help us.”There were plenty of pressure-packed situations in Monday’s race, including two at the end of the day unraveling the chances of a couple of front-runners.Ryan Blaney, who ran among the lead pack most of the day, missed his pit stall on the final stop and ended up 11th in his Team Penske Ford. And former series champion Matt Kenseth, who seemed to revitalize the No. 6 Roush Fenway Racing Ford operation this weekend, had pit problems as well on the final stop with the car falling off the jack.Still it was a positive day for the team. Kenseth led five laps and scored the first stage win of the season for the No. 6 Ford, capturing the Stage 2 checkered flag just ahead of Chase Elliott and Jones. His 12th-place effort was a season best for him and a promising sign for Roush Fenway Racing.Three former Brickyard winners – Jamie McMurray, Paul Menard and Ryan Newman – kept the closing laps suspenseful as well. Because they came into the race ranked outside the playoffs’ top 16, a win would’ve eliminated Bowman from the postseason. They finished seventh, ninth and 10th respectively. Keselowski’s win was the first for Ford Motor Company at Indianapolis since 1999.

By: Kelly Crandall | October 5, 2018 1:48 PM Confidence has been growing within the Team Penske organization about contending for the championship, and Joey Logano would love to be the driver to knock a favorite out the playoffs or beat them for the title.“How cool would it be to be that story?” Logano remarked on Friday. “That storyline is awesome. To be that underdog at that point because I think anyone outside the Big 3 is an underdog, and to be one of those cars that makes that happen and get into that Championship 4, that’s the goal right now.”The ‘Big 3’ consists of Kyle Busch, Kevin Harvick and defending champion Martin Truex Jr., who have won a majority of the races this year. As such, those three drivers have dominated the headlines, and any one of the three is considered a good bet to take the championship come Homestead.

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But at Team Penske, things have been trending upward.Brad Keselowski won three straight races at Darlington, Indianapolis and Las Vegas (also the playoff opener). Logano followed him across the finish line at Darlington, and all three Penske drivers finished in the top five at Las Vegas. Ryan Blaney then won a dramatic elimination race last weekend in Charlotte.Speaking of Logano, he has a 9.3 average finish through the first three races of the playoffs and has finished in the top 10 in five of the last seven races, going back to the regular season.“We can change our goals to win the championship once we get there, but we have to make it to the Championship 4 first,” said Logano. “It’s gonna be a tough road ahead of us. We are fighting from behind the eight-ball compared to most, but we still have a decent amount of playoff points that we’re able to work with and get ourselves through, and all it takes is a win, and that changes everything. That’s all it takes.“One weekend can change this whole thing up, so I think for me as a driver, and as a team, we need to stay positive about that because are you the underdog? Probably. Is it hard fighting from behind? Yes, but one weekend changes everything and changes that whole piece and that whole view. So, we need to keep that in our mind that even though we haven’t won as many races this year as we’d like to, that anything can change really, really quick and your whole season could have a big turnaround, and you’ll be sitting here saying something completely different a few weeks later down the road.”Logano has never won at Dover, where the Round of 12 begins this weekend with the Gander Outdoors 400. His most recent top-10 finish at the track was in the fall of 2016.However, Logano has three wins at Talladega Superspeedway and two at Kansas Speedway, the next two races in the round. Logano will go to Talladega as the most recent winner having scored what is so far his only win this season at the superspeedway in April.