2023 season preview: Team Penske

Editor’s Note: Today’s Team Penske preview completes NASCAR.com’s countdown of team previews for the 2023 Cup Series season, ranked in reverse order of best finish in last year’s owner standings. TEAM PENSKE Manufacturer: Ford Engine: Roush Yates Engines Driver-crew chief pairings: Austin Cindric-Jeremy Bullins (No. 2), Ryan Blaney-Jonathan Hassler (No. 12), Joey Logano-Paul Wolfe (No. 22) Team outlook: Overall, the organization that brought home the Cup Series drivers' and owners' championships returns with its core lineup unchanged, a measure of continuity that may bolster its case for a stronger 2023 campaign. Logano became a two-time champ and carried the ball as a four-time winner, and all three drivers qualified for the Cup Series Playoffs. Blaney and Cindric were less-frequent visitors to Victory Lane, but each brought home big prizes -- Cindric in the season-opening Daytona 500 and Blaney as a $1 million All-Star Race winner. Finding more win-column consistency across the board rates as a chief goal for Team Penske in the season ahead, but there seem to be no major trouble areas to clean up for one of the series' biggest chart-toppers in multiple performance categories. AUSTIN CINDRIC, NO. 2 FORD Experience: One full-time season in the NASCAR Cup Series. 2022 stats: 12th in final standings; 1 win, 5 top fives, 9 top 10s 2023 championship odds (BetMGM): 50-1 RELATED: Cindric, Cup Series' top rookie Outlook: Cindric cashed in on Sunoco Rookie of the Year honors last season, establishing himself as the front-runner just one race in. Claiming a Daytona 500 ring counts as the best first-season kick-off imaginable, and Cindric made that his ticket to the postseason in his first year as Brad Keselowski's replacement with the No. 2 team. His first pole position came just one race later, but only four more top-five finishes followed that initial victory, and he went 0-for-10 in top 10s during the playoff stretch. The 24-year-old driver remains a work in progress, still fairly early in his development even with four years of seasoning as a standout in the Xfinity Series. So far, he's proven to be an adept superspeedway racer, and his talent for road courses should come through as more of those events appear on the schedule. "Obviously, last year, a great building block to what I want to make a career in the Cup Series," Cindric said during a Goodyear tire test last month at Circuit of The Americas. "So, for me, it's finding what the next level of that is, finding the next level in myself and the people around me and being able to elevate. Obviously, I work with a group of people and in a building that are championship-caliber. Joey's proved that. It's great to be surrounded by guys like Joey and Ryan, that I feel like have different strengths in different areas and able to learn from them and compare myself and push each other. I think we've got a great group, so yeah, trying to find a way to get myself to that level." RYAN BLANEY, NO. 12 FORD Experience: Seven full-time seasons in the NASCAR Cup Series. 2022 stats: 8th in final standings; 0 wins, 12 top fives, 17 top 10s 2023 championship odds (BetMGM): 10-1 RELATED: Ryan Blaney 2022 season in review  Outlook: Blaney's 2022 campaign was marked by statistical oddities. He led the Cup Series in stage wins (9), ranked fifth in laps led (636) and finished the regular season third in the points standings. On the flip side, Blaney went winless for the first time in five years -- claiming only the exhibition All-Star Race among his triumphs -- and squeaked into the postseason field by snagging the final spot in the 16-driver grid. He enters his second season paired with crew chief Jonathan Hassler ready to shake the win-column goose egg, building on the solid consistency by closing the deal. He finished up 2022 strong with finishes of third (Martinsville) and second (Phoenix) to wrap the season. "Definitely after the year we had last year of kind of missed opportunities and not having the best of years and things like that, not winning, it feels like it makes you more motivated than ever," Blaney said before the Busch Light Clash. "Really, how our season ended I would say motivates me the most, even without the wins in the regular season or things like that, I messed up two of the races in the Round of 8, and it kept us from getting to Phoenix, and we had a car that could contend at Phoenix, for sure. That kind of stinks and you look back at that, and you’re disappointed in yourself when you’re the one who kind of inflicts both of those mistakes. I think everyone is motivated and I feel like, as a driver, as you get older your mindset is trying not to dwell on those things too hard and just learn from them and move on and realize you’re gonna have good years and bad years and try to figure out a way to come off the bad years and turn them into good years and take the positives out of it and apply it. I think that’s kind of what fuels our team.” JOEY LOGANO, NO. 22 FORD Experience: 14 full-time seasons in the NASCAR Cup Series. 2022 stats: Series champion; 4 wins, 11 top fives, 17 top 10s 2023 championship odds (BetMGM): 10-1 RELATED: Joey Logano 2022 season in review  Outlook: The veteran of the Team Penske lineup would be hard-pressed to improve upon a title-winning march through the playoffs, where his impeccable timing in winning the Round of 8 opener led to a wealth of confidence for the Phoenix finale. Logano has 11 consecutive years of scoring at least one win, a streak that should continue in 2023. Crew chief Paul Wolfe returns for his fourth year with the No. 22 team, but his contract is up at the end of the season. NASCAR hasn't had a back-to-back Cup Series champion since Jimmie Johnson ended his five-peat run in 2010. The 32-year-old Logano seems primed to contend for another crown, with plenty of racing years seemingly in front of him and no signs of losing his edge. "I know I’m not anywhere near the end of my career because I can’t wait to get back in a race car," Logano said before the Busch Light Clash. "That’s kind of, to me, the telltale sign of where you’re at, and I was very excited about just getting back out here and racing again." RELATED: Opening championship odds | 2023 schedule

NASCAR.com 2023 team previews schedule

Jan. 23: Non-chartered and teams outside the top 30 Jan. 24: Spire Motorsports Jan. 25: Wood Brothers Racing Jan. 26: JTG Daugherty Racing Jan. 27: Front Row Motorsports Jan. 30: Kaulig Racing Jan. 31: RFK Racing Feb. 1: Legacy Motor Club Feb. 2: Richard Childress Racing Feb. 7: 23XI Racing Feb. 8: Stewart-Haas Racing Feb. 9: Joe Gibbs Racing Feb. 10: Hendrick Motorsports Feb. 13: Trackhouse Racing Feb. 14: Team Penske