With championship streak at stake, Team Penske ready: ‘We know what we have to do’

MARTINSVILLE, Va. -- Team Penske is on the verge of missing the Championship 4 for the first time since 2021 -- the same team that has won every championship under the Next Gen banner since 2022. Defending champ Joey Logano sits 38 points beneath the cutline, with teammate Ryan Blaney 47 points out. The duo is in must-win mode entering Sunday's Xfinity 500 at Martinsville Speedway (2 p.m. ET, NBC, Peacock, HBO Max, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). MORE: Playoff standings | Martinsville schedule Both title winners and veterans of the sport, both enter Sunday's 500-lapper focused on the task at hand. "You just have to understand what needs to be done this weekend," Blaney said Saturday. "You can't control anything that happened last week. It's in the past. It's done. It's how do we go into this weekend? We know what we have to do, and just go try to be 100% of what this 12 group can be. And I'd say that's all I've ever asked of people in our group, is just give your best effort through the weekend. Just put up all of yourself. And if it's enough, that's awesome, and we were able to do it. If not, at least you know you did everything you could and nothing was left on the table, and you hold your heads high, win or lose." Logano enters as the reigning champion of the NASCAR Cup Series with one more chance to advance and defend his crown. The driver of the No. 22 Ford certainly feels the pressure attached to the moment -- but he's channeling that to his benefit. "It affects some people negatively, sure," Logano said of the pressure. "But to me, I've found ways to make it affect me in a positive way, where it just helps me find a little bit more. It gives me a little extra motivation. It's a little fire, right? Those things are all good things. Some people might overdo it. Some people might do it to where they make mistakes. You see that throughout the playoffs all the time, the way the pressure affects everyone -- teams, not just drivers, but teams all the way through. Crew members, the whole nine, everybody. I mean, that's why I always say I love this format so much because it puts everyone in this crazy, really challenging position." Blaney has won each of the past two fall races at Martinsville to lock his way into the Championship 4. With that kind of track record, the No. 12 team is seen as a major favorite heading into the Round of 8 finale all over again. But after last week's race at Talladega Superspeedway, the 2023 champion cautioned it's simply not that easy. His crew chief, Jonathan Hassler, concurs. "I agree entirely with what Ryan says about that," Hassler said in a Wednesday teleconference. "Yes, we won there twice. It’s certainly not easy to do. It doesn’t come on its own. We don’t bring the same setup from the spring. It only comes with a lot of hard work, and the only way we’re gonna do it again is to bear down and work hard, have a good car, and make sure we’re in the picture at the end of the race. "We have to focus on the fact and approach the race as if we haven’t done it before. We have to go and do it again." RELATED: Logano on stakes: 'It's a test of your morals' Hassler said Blaney has a specific feel he seeks at Martinsville, with an approach that allows him to pass, something he typically addresses in practice. "Just a lot of previous notes (and) history," Blaney said ahead of Saturday's session. "I just try to have that feel. And hey, if I'm this way in practice, I need to be prepared for the track to take this little step in this certain direction, and let's guard against that -- or let's work towards that. I need double what I think I need at the time. So a lot of track history and experience definitely helps that out, and you hope you hit it right." Few teams have the reputation of working in sync the way Team Penske does. There are no setup secrets between the teams of Blaney, Logano, Austin Cindric and Wood Brothers Racing's Josh Berry. Logano has one win in his Martinsville starts, but has finished inside the top 10 in each of his last 12 appearances. What has he gleaned from Blaney's recent run of success at the 0.526-mile short track? "The majority of the last 10 races here or so have been really solid," Logano said of Blaney's Martinsville prowess. "So yeah, we naturally look at that and say, 'OK, what can I apply as a driver?' Obviously, we see setup stuff of what they're doing and those type of things, but yeah, he's got a couple traits that are pretty apparent that he's really good at. And trying to fight your natural instincts to drive like someone, that's hard to do, right? I mean, it's asking a basketball player to shoot a different style, right? Like, this is how I do it. I've done this for years. And now you've got to try something different. "That's hard to do, but it doesn't mean you can't do it. It's just that you've got to try to buy into it, understand why and try to apply certain things like that." In practice, Logano posted the 30th-fastest lap with Blaney 31st. "I think it had decent short-run speed. Our long-run speed was a little off," Logano told truTV during qualifying. "I think we can dial that in and get a little bit closer, but I think we’re in the game here.” Their long-run speed was marginally better, with Blaney ranked 12th in 30-lap averages of the 25 drivers who ran 30 consecutive laps, and Logano 14th in 30-lap averages. Blaney acknowledged the impact of Goodyear's new, softer left-side tire for this weekend that he observed in practice, but he remains optimistic for Sunday's Xfinity 500. "I feel like left-rear conservation is going to be a really big deal (Sunday)," Blaney told truTV. "I know a lot of guys were kind of killing left-rear tires and things like that. That's good, though, with fall-off and things like that. We'll see how it is tomorrow. But I feel like I'm decent speed-wise. I feel like we can really work on the car in a good direction to get better and be a little bit more in the game." Logano will start fourth, while Blaney will start 31st on Sunday.