Memorial Day weekend is usually a celebration of speed, pride, and precision in the racing world. But in 2025, it turned into a nightmare for Roger Penske and Co. Team Penske, a titan in both IndyCar and NASCAR, saw its world shaken at the Indianapolis 500. A triumphant race turned into a scandal when officials caught two of Penske’s biggest stars, Josef Newgarden and Will Power, using illegal car modifications. The fallout hit fast and hard—officials dismissed Penske’s top brass, issued fines, and triggered swirling questions about the Series’ integrity.
Fans and critics alike wondered: Was the mighty Roger Penske’s legacy cracking? As if the IndyCar storm wasn’t enough, Penske’s troubles bled into NASCAR just hours later. At the Coca-Cola 600, one of NASCAR’s crown jewels, none of his three drivers managed to crack the top 15. Joey Logano, the reigning Cup Series champ, finished 17th. Austin Cindric, after early promise, faded to 31st due to car damage, and Ryan Blaney’s night ended in a wreck, finishing a distant 38th. It was the worst combined team result for Penske at Charlotte in recent memory.
“It’s a bit of a shame. I thought we had a solid run going,” said Cindric post-race. Blaney was equally disappointed: “It was one of those things. We were in the wrong place at the wrong time.” Given the backdrop of the Indy 500 controversy and the poor NASCAR results, fans quickly began crafting their own theories. Some believed Penske had ordered his NASCAR drivers to go easy to avoid further scrutiny. But Joey Logano wasn’t having it. The defending champ pushed back against the noise, calling the rumors “easy conclusions.”
Joey Logano takes on critics!
Team Penske came into the Coca-Cola 600 looking to bounce back. But instead of redemption, they found only disappointment. Joey Logano started 16th and struggled with balance through the night, never finding the speed he needed. He finished 17th, his car was only marginally competitive. Some did raise questions on his late race antics, which might have played a role in William Byron losing the race. But that was it, nothing more.
But to some, it looked suspicious, especially after the Indy 500 embarrassment. Now, almost a week later, Joey Logano had fired back at all the critics.“I think we missed a lot of things last week. Some of them were pretty obvious… We just missed it on setup. We missed it on a couple of pieces, and I’ll own a lot of that, too, that we should have recognized it sooner over the weekend. So, just missed it, and obviously the timing of that, it’s easy to draw conclusions pretty quickly,” he said, pointing to the bad optics of a bad weekend following a major scandal. But performance-wise, it just wasn’t their day. Logano’s car struggled for grip early, and despite adjustments, he never had the balance he needed to compete up front.
There was speculation by some that Roger Penske told his NASCAR teams to back it down or make sure not to cross any lines given what happened at Indianapolis. But Joey Logano said the timing was just a coincidence with all three cars missing it last weekend in the Coke 600: pic.twitter.com/nVrLfshMob
— Kelly Crandall (@KellyCrandall) May 31, 2025
The stats back up his defence. This wasn’t a team cruising or coasting. Logano clawed back onto the lead lap late and fought for every position he could. “It was a grind-it-out day,” he said. The No. 22 Ford never looked like a winning car, but the team never quit. Even with last week’s stumble, Team Penske has shown flashes of fire this year. Logano and Cindric both have wins. Cindric sits 15th in points, Logano holds ninth, and Blaney, despite multiple DNFs, is seventh.
But those numbers are deceiving. The team isn’t contending for wins. They’re surviving. And for a group known for strength and consistency, that’s a sign of something missing. Meanwhile, Logano knows something deeper needs to change. He’s defending his team from critics, but he’s also turning the spotlight on NASCAR itself. For him, the issue isn’t effort or execution, it’s power.
Logano demands more horsepower!
Joey Logano isn’t just looking inward. He wants NASCAR to look at the bigger picture, starting with horsepower. In his eyes, the current 670-hp setup isn’t cutting it. “I don’t think it’s going to be game-changing, but I do think it’s the right way,” Logano said. But a small bump? He’s not interested. “If we’re adding back to 950 hp, I’m going to answer differently. If we’re talking about adding 60-70 hp… ehh,” he added.
The problem, according to Logano and others, is that the Next Gen car has flattened the field. Fewer passing options. Less throttle control. It’s become more about setup than skill. Bubba Wallace agreed, saying, “That’s what we want. These cars are so close now. Horsepower brings you back to the old-school feel. Just puts it back in the drivers’ hands.” The solution isn’t a tweak, it’s a leap. “We need big moves here,” Wallace added, calling for at least 750 hp.
Well, Elton Sawyer has got everyone’s hopes up as they are clearly working out a plan to bump the engine power. Parity racing was supposed to make the racing more competitive, but in reality, it has become an execution game. With live SMT data and similar race setups, racing has become predictable and boring. While a bump to 750 HP might not be a huge leap, it is a step in the right direction.
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