Kevin Harvick Sends Strong Team Penske Warning Despite “Miserable Start” to 2025

Just it has been for every season since the start of the Next-Gen era, Ford giants Team Penske Racing has redeemed themselves by showcasing solid pace and gets into the playoffs with the most positive momentum. 2014 Cup champion Kevin Harvick highlighted this factor in the latest episode of the Happy Hour podcast.

Joey Logano won the 2022 title by peaking at the right time in the playoffs, followed by Ryan Blaney in 2023. Last year, the No:22 Ford driver Logano produced another clutch run to secure his third career Bill France Cup. This year it’s the No:12 Mustang driver that is coming in with the most momentum, after he won the regular season finale, Coke 400, from P13 with two laps left.

Kevin Harvick, who has witnessed Roger Penske’s drivers’ impressive runs both as a competitor and as a fan, sees this as the sign of another strong performance. He believes they playoff schedule is really suited for the racers to produce another solid run and the momentum on their side, following resurgence increase their chances. If they get to championship-4, beating Penske cars at Phoenix is a massive task.

Here we go again — Penske winning the race before the playoffs. I look at those playoffs and the way they line up out there is just good for Penske. … They’ve run better the last month.

Kevin Harvick said on Happy Hour podcast.

Once Ryan Blaney got over the miserable start they had to the start of the season, the veteran racer was a contender in almost every race and if not for the 7 DNFs he had, they would have had multiple wins in the bag. The same goes for Logano and to a limited extend Austin Cindric. They have won at Daytona and have the momentum on their side.

Blaney’s been solid all year, and he brought it up today on the interview — they had a miserable start to the season. So, the fact they got back up to second in the standings and were able to win their second race at Daytona, shows you the speed.

Kevin Harvick added.

Chase Elliott indirectly backs Kevin Harvick’s claim win Ryan Blaney admission

During the media session ahead of the playoffs, 2020 Cup champion Chase Elliott put forward some points that validates the comments from Kevin Harvick. He analyzed the victory from the No:12 Ford team and admitted that he was not surprised considering the star driver has been the best superspeedway racer alongside Denny Hamlin over the last ten years.

I mean, look at Saturday night. You know, Ryan was, you know, he’s been probably the best – between him and Denny, I would say, they’ve been the best plate racers since I’ve been in Cup. Really, hands down, every year. So, that didn’t surprise me.

Chase Elliott said.

Further talking about Blaney, he pointed out that the Penske driver has been having the most dominant quiet season in the Cup and they missed out on multiple wins due to close calls. If he had won, the whole narrative around their chances would have changed.

I don’t think that really surprised anyone. But I think from Ryan in particular, he’s probably had the most quiet, dominant year of anyone I’ve ever seen in the Cup Series. I mean, this guy probably could have won five or six races by now, very easily.

Chase Elliott added.

The comments from the No:9 Chevy driver show how high he rates his close friend Blaney and how some in the community might have overlooked the No:12 team till the victory. It would be interesting to see how everything is going to playout for Penske and Ryan Blaney in the coming ten races.

Also Read: Kevin Harvick Blames 23XI Racing’s Expansion for Tyler Reddick’s Underwhelming Form