TEAM PENSKE
SPRINT CUP DRIVER LINEUP: Joey Logano (Todd Gordon), Brad Keselowski (Paul Wolfe).
XFINITY DRIVER LINEUP: Joey Logano, Brad Keselowski and Ryan Blaney will once again share duties in the No. 22 Ford (new crew chief for the team is Brian Wilson).
CHANGES: Minimal changes for 2016. Wilson replaces Greg Erwin, who returns to his former role as team manager of Team Penske’s Xfinity Series program.
DID YOU KNOW: Even though its first and only Xfinity Series driver’s championship came in 2010 with Brad Keselowski, Team Penske has won the last three Xfinity Series owner championships by using a triumvirate of drivers (Keselowski, Logano and Blaney). … Even though it has been racing in NASCAR for 32 years, Team Penske as a whole is celebrating its 50th year of racing in 2016.
EXPECTATIONS: Logano looks to finish what he started with his breakout season in 2015. He’s definitely one of the top championship contenders for 2016. Keselowski looks to get back on the winning track, having visited Victory Lane just once in 2015 after six wins in 2014.
WHAT THEY SAID:
-- “I will be at the races as long as I can stand up and that is for one reason, to win. When you look at the group of guys to my right you can see the quality and what they have given to our team and we are looking for 2016 to be a great year with continuity across all aspects of your team.” -- Team owner Roger Penske.
-- “If we are not beating down the door to get another championship, we are at least knocking very loudly and we will continue to do so with the continuity that we’ve had for many years to come.” -- Brad Keselowski, driver of the No. 2 Team Penske Ford Fusion.
-- “When I go back and look at all the photos, drivers, cars and successes we’ve had, it is amazing. The only disappointment is it’s 50 years and I know there’s not another 50 (for me). That’s the only thing that bothers me. But I guess we all get to the checkered flag at some time.” – Roger Penske in a recent story in the Detroit Free Press.
-- “Where does (Penske) rank? Unquestionably No. 1. Unquestionably. What everybody needs to remember is that racing in this country and what it is today, without Roger Penske’s involvement, starting in the mid-‘60s, it wouldn’t be where it is today. … Roger set the bar in so many areas of the sport and continues to raise the bar. There’s never a race that happens that hasn’t got Roger Penske’s fingerprints all over it. He raises your game whenever you compete against him.” – Fellow racing team owner Chip Ganassi on Roger Penske in a recent Detroit Free Press story.
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