NASCAR
2025 NASCAR Cup Series Playoff Preview: Team Penske & Wood Brothers Racing
Three-time defending Cup champions Team Penske look for an unprecedented four-peat in 2025. Playoff representation is Penske Perfect, having all three of their Mustangs plus the Wood Brothers in the field of 16. Amazingly, they are the only Fords to make the Playoff cut for 2025. The Penske powerhouse are responsible for five wins across their four cars so far this year. Penske’s Playoff game plan has remained largely unchanged over the last three seasons, and is perfect in taking home the Bill France Cup. ‘The Captain’ Roger Penske is only NASCAR’s third owner ever to win three-straight Cup titles. Can any of his 2025 contenders deliver him to even rarer air with a fourth consecutive Cup?
Ryan Blaney – 2,026 points
The most recent Cup Series winner, Saturday saw Ryan Blaney go from 13th to the lead in Daytona’s closing laps. 2023’s Cup champion ended the regular season second in points, poised very well for a Playoff run. Being second after 26 weeks is a great testament to the 12 team, given their dismal record of seven DNFs. Not only is Blaney the 2023 Cup winner, he was also a very close runner-up last year. Blaney believes the 12 team has the speed, confidence, and execution to make it to Phoenix for a third-straight year.
“One thing I’ve been really happy about this year as opposed to last year or the year before that when it took us a little while to get going,” Blaney said. “Early in the year and through the early summer, our pace was just really not where it needed to be. That was with some car changes and stuff like that. It just took us awhile to get our arms around it. But this year I’ve been really happy with our pace all year. I feel like we’ve had super fast cars, been executing really well, and we’ve been continuing to get better on our execution and stuff like that. Just mentally tough guys. We’ve had a bunch of DNFs, but don’t really let it get to you. Just continue to go do your job very well the weeks after. It’s a cool group to be like that, so this group is very mentally tough.”
“You’ve got to get [to Phoenix] first. It’s a gauntlet to get there. Everyone thinks it’s easy to get to Phoenix and you go win Phoenix. You’ve got to go through nine weeks of hell to get there. It’s tough, but I do think it’s nice to have all three of our cars and the 21 car in. So it’s just ‘how do we execute week in and week out through the rounds?’ ‘How do you minimize your mistakes and don’t put yourself in a hole?’ I do like where our group is at, our company as a whole, with pace and people and things like that and just preparation. Then you hope you can execute when the day comes, try to just take it one race at a time. That’s all you can do.”
Out of all Penske drivers, Blaney is positioned the best for a possible run at the 2025 Cup. Seeded fourth thanks to his timely Daytona win, Blaney will start out with a 20-point cushion above the cut line. This bit of a gap allows team 12 a bit of breathing room should any mistake happen over the next three weeks. The Playoffs likewise open at two of Blaney’s best recent tracks: Darlington and Gateway. The postseason schedule plays to their favor once again, making the 12 a favorite for Phoenix.
Austin Cindric – 2,008 points
Superspeedway ace Austin Cindric flexed his muscles with a clutch Talladega victory in April. Taking home this checkered flag put driver 2 into his third postseason. This also kicked off a five-week stretch that saw all three Penske cars find victory lane. Cindric’s team definitely elevated their game and came to life in the Playoffs last year. Little is stopping a repeat of this performance now in 2025.
“I think the challenges are similar for most as far as the execution,” Cindric said. “That’s at a premium. I think the field is as competitive as it has ever been. I don’t see anything but the necessity for execution being what dominates the grid and who advances and who doesn’t for the first two rounds.”
“Strength-wise, I don’t feel like I have any motivation or reason to change my approach just because it’s the Playoffs. I think our group has our process really well dialed in, especially this year compared to last. I think that mentality for execution is gonna be incredibly important. Weaknesses, look, it’s a difficult series, but I don’t think there’s a standout weakness. Other than have we gone out and dominated races this year? No, but I don’t think there’s a consistent favorite either, so I think it’s up for anyone.”
“I said it last year and I’ll say it again this year. Making the Playoffs is my only goal for the season and anything after that is a bonus. Compared to maybe years past, I don’t even know. But maybe in 2022 this probably applied as well, the criteria for making the Playoffs is winning a race or being one of the 16 best in the series. Well, we’re top 16 in points and we won a race. So I definitely feel as though we have everything to play for.”
Cindric’s regular season results may not be much to write home about. The 2 ended week 26 totaling a win, two top-fives, five top-10s, and 313 laps led. Penske has shown year in and year out their strength for flat short ovals, of which the Playoffs have several. Race two of the opening round at Gateway may be Cindric’s time in the spotlight again, as the most recent St. Louis winner. Four top-10s in the Playoffs last year also had the 2 on the precipice for the Round of 8, if not for a Talladega wreck. It may be very easy to overlook the proverbial third Penske car ranked tenth in points. If Team Penske has taught us anything in the Next Gen era, never count any of their Mustangs out of the Playoffs. Cindric has the ability, talent, and skill to be cunning, calculated, and an upset threat over the next 10 weeks.
Joey Logano – 2,007 points
If a defending Cup champion can possibly be inconspicuous, that is Joey Logano so far in 2025. Seeing victory lane once so far this season at Texas in May, the 22 team’s been hit or miss since. Logano’s first 26 weeks have yielded a win, three top-fives, seven top-10s, and 385 laps led. These stats are very deceiving, however, as they almost exactly mirror his 2024 regular season numbers. Odd numbered year or not, Logano was adamant that his team should not be left out of championship conversations.
“I only game plan one week at a time,” Logano said. “I know this week I’d like to win. If not, I’d like to leave with over 20 points over the cut line. That’s what I know. I think we’ve kind of ruined the under the radar thing at this point, which is fine. It’s just kind of a unique position for us to be in. I think if you look at our stats, people would say you’re under the radar. But I think they look at the whole body of work over the last 10 years and they’d say, ‘Well, I don’t think they’re under the radar that much.’ It’s a very unique spot to be in. I think we have a really solid race team in the Playoffs. That’s why I look forward to this part of the year every year.”
“Honestly the years I felt like we should have won the championship we didn’t. So I think the key lesson of all that is you’re never out of it. Until you are out, you are not out. Even last year when I thought I was out I was not out. It’s a very interesting 10 weeks that’s gonna come at us and it’s unpredictable. I don’t know how exactly it’s gonna play out. Nobody knows. That’s why the plan is one week at a time. Because you just don’t know what the next race is gonna bring at you. So you handle what’s ahead of you and you just take it one week at a time. You handle today. Tomorrow will take care of itself. It’s no different than what our parents taught us. It’s the same stuff.”
Logano enters his 12th Playoffs as the 12th seed, currently the last man above the cut line by one point. Before anyone writes off Logano for his lackluster stats, his championship-winning postseason a year ago started as the ninth seed. As long as Logano has Playoff life, a chance is there at a fourth Cup title for the 22. Do not be surprised to see this team rattle off a win in the opening Playoff round. This would only further punctuate their apparent annual championship playbook.
Josh Berry – 2,006 points
2025’s only first-time Cup winner so far, Josh Berry secured his berth back at Las Vegas in March. Since then, however, it’s been a far more trying time for the Wood Brothers Racing No. 21. Berry’s only seen three top-10s in the last 21 races. Two of those came in the last two weeks, though. It appears as if this team is getting in a Playoff mindset and are looking to contend. Berry defined what a successful maiden Playoff outing would look like for the 21 team over the next 10 weeks.
“That’s hard to say,” Berry said. “Obviously, our biggest goal was to definitely make the playoffs and accomplish my first career win, which we were able to do. Going into this, I mean, it’s hard to say. We want to advance through the Round of 12 and hopefully the Round of 8. I think those are very possible if we execute and we do the things we know that we can. But I think just more than anything we just want to be competitive. We want to be in the mix. If we lose by one point here or there, obviously it will sting. But we want to be in the mix and I think with how these tracks line up, we’re more than capable of that.”
“I feel like our strengths going into this deal are basically every oval track. Looking back throughout this season, there were different races where maybe we didn’t get the finishes that we deserved or the little things here or there that held that back. I think generally more often that not we had speed at a lot of these places. That’s gonna be important when we get into these Playoffs and just executing smooth races, making it to the end and seeing what happens. I think weakness probably for us would be the Roval. But we’ve got to get there before we worry about that.”
Berry does start out below the cut line in 13th, but only one point behind Logano and five back of eighth. In short, the battle to advance into the Round of 12 is ultra tight with nobody out of it yet. Berry has recent standout runs at Darlington and Bristol, giving this team ample chance to move onward. The short track ace may upset a few favorites on upcoming bullrings.
In order to be the best, 12 other contenders will have to find a way to beat the best from Team Penske. NASCAR’s Next Gen era remains undefeated in Penske taking home the hardware. They now have a 25% shot at going four-for-four. At least one track in each round suits their recent flat oval dominance. As a result, expect to see a few Penske cars make waves as the Playoffs go onward.
Written by Peter Stratta
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Photo Credits to Chris Graythen, Sean Gardner, and James Gilbert/Getty Images
