For much of their history in the Cup Series, Team Penske has relied on a stable of steady, solid veteran drivers. Entering this season, however, Penske decided to change things up a bit by introducing a young driver to the Captain’s stable.
For the first time since Ryan Newman in 2002 (Sam Hornish Jr. ran as a rookie under the Penske banner in 2008, but was already an IndyCar champion with a wealth of experience by the time he made the move to stock cars) Team Penske put a true rookie in one of their cars for 2022, promoting Austin Cindric from the Xfinity Series to the big show in Cup. The idea was for Cindric to grow and develop in his first full Cup season, with veteran teammates Joey Logano and Ryan Blaney helping to shepherd their young teammate along.
As he nears the halfway point of his rookie year, Cindric is beginning to catch up to his teammates and ride a wave of elevated Penske performance. With two wins by Joey Logano in the last four races and an All-Star win for Ryan Blaney, Team Penske has arguably become the hottest overall organization in NASCAR. That’s reflected in this week’s NASCAR Power Rankings.
Other drivers who gained spots included Aric Almirola (+6), Kurt Busch (+4), and Erik Jones (+4). Meanwhile, among the drivers falling back after Gateway were William Byron (-4), Kevin Harvick (-4), Daniel Suarez (-4), and Bubba Wallace (-5).
Here’s a look at our updated rankings in their entirety: