Addition of Blaney will add depth to Team Penske

Ryan Blaney
LOUDON, NH - JULY 15: Ryan Blaney, driver of the #21 Motorcraft/Quick Lane Tire & Auto Center Ford, prepares to practice for the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Overton's 301 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway on July 15, 2017 in Loudon, New Hampshire. (Photo by Sean Gardner/Getty Images)

LONG POND, Pa. – In a heavy news week for Team Penske, 2012 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series champion Brad Keselowski inked a long-term contract extension, and the organization announced the addition of a third Cup team with driver Ryan Blaney for 2018.

Given the current embargo against discretionary testing in NASCAR’s top-three divisions, Keselowski believes the addition of Blaney’s No. 12 Ford will be a positive.

“Hopefully, it means more depth,” Keselowski said on Saturday. “More ability to extend resources engineering where you can make the car faster. The biggest battle that we have right now in motorsports is aerodynamics. The teams keep pushing aerodynamics further and further to improve that. It’s just really the time and energy that you can spend on it.

“The more people you have, the more revenue you have, the more that you can work in those areas with engineering tools or experiments to get better. There’s a lot of hope with respect to that. It’s not just aerodynamics. It also carries over to the engine side with Roush Yates Engines and a number of other categories of depth, whether it be pit crews or shop mechanics, fabricators and beyond.

“Assuming that it’s pulled off and executed in the right way at those levels it should be a gain for everybody at Team Penske.”

Greg Engle
About Greg Engle 7421 Articles
Greg is a published award winning sportswriter who spent 23 years combined active and active reserve military service, much of that in and around the Special Operations community. Greg is the author of "The Nuts and Bolts of NASCAR: The Definitive Viewers' Guide to Big-Time Stock Car Auto Racing" and has been published in major publications across the country including the Los Angeles Times, the Cleveland Plain Dealer and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. He was also a contributor to Chicken Soup for the NASCAR Soul, published in 2010, and the Christmas edition in 2016. He wrote as the NASCAR, Formula 1, Auto Reviews and National Veterans Affairs Examiner for Examiner.com and has appeared on Fox News. He holds a BS degree in communications, a Masters degree in psychology and is currently a PhD candidate majoring in psychology. He is currently the weekend Motorsports Editor for Autoweek.