NASCAR Cup Series

DW: 'Penske Perfect' still rings true in Sprint Cup garage

Published Sep. 22, 2014 9:45 a.m. ET

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Darrell Waltrip

There has been a saying in the garage area for decades now that when you did something exceptionally well it was "Penske Perfect." That was a tribute to the way the Roger Penske runs his organizations and his race teams. Roger runs a tight ship across the board, no matter what it is, and things are done a certain way with standards set extremely high.

While in the past some might have questioned the things they do, I know these last three years I don't question a thing that they do. If you look at the No. 2 and the No. 22, it is crystal clear both teams have their act together. Drivers Brad Keselowski and Joey Logano have now won four out of the last five races. After Joey's win Sunday at Loudon, both cars are now advancing to the next round of the Chase.

It's incredible what these two drivers and teams are doing this season. Brad has been the hottest car on the circuit as of late. Joey's been right there too, as he has been all season, and now he has a win under his belt in the Chase. Brad has five wins this season and now Joey has four. Brad is leading the Chase and now after Sunday, Joey has moved into second place in the Chase points. That was Team Penske's 87th Sprint Cup Series win and their ninth win of 2014.

Brad sat on the pole and was bad fast in practice, but Sunday did not turn out as well as they had hoped. Sure, they did lead the second-most laps at 78 laps, but I think some of their tire strategy, plus getting spun forced them into "catch up" mode most of the day and the best Brad could muster was a seventh-place finish.

After Joey Logano winning, I think the second biggest storyline coming out of that race Sunday has to be all the cautions. Goodness gracious, we only had two cautions in the first 170 laps of that race Sunday. Then it was like they had to make up for those long green flag runs with caution after caution after caution. We had, no kidding, 13 cautions in the last 133 laps. It just seemed like we'd run five laps and have a caution. Then we would run five more laps and have another caution, and on and on. It actually got kind of bizarre really.

Kurt Busch got into some contact and he blew a tire. Jeff Gordon was working his way back through the field with four fresh tires, then cut a tire down and into the fence Jeff went. That's the thing about Loudon. We all know that is a tight little race track that has always been hard to pass on. There simply isn't a lot of room for leaning on each other without the result of someone having a tire cut down, and we saw that again Sunday.

What we also saw on Sunday was a lot of action on pit road. Dale Earnhardt Jr. had to pit for a loose wheel. Denny Hamlin had trouble getting fuel in his car and that put him in a hole. Kyle Busch had a lot of damage to his car, but his No. 18 crew patched it up the best they could and Kyle hung on for an eighth-place finish. Matt Kenseth and Paul Menard got together and spun out, and Matt had damage. It was just amazing all the things that happened at the end of that race.

Speaking of amazing, how can anyone not be amazed at what young Kyle Larson continues to do in his rookie year in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series? It's just fascinating to watch what he and the team are accomplishing this year. Sunday's second-place finish matched his career-best finish at Auto Club Speedway in March. Kyle has now finished in the top three of both races at Loudon this year.

When the season started and Austin Dillon rolled into Daytona in February bringing back the No. 3 to the Cup Series, and right out of the box set on the Daytona pole, a lot of folks felt he was going to be the dominant rookie this year. As the season has rolled on, Kyle has proven he is top dog so far. Kyle has 13 top 10 finishes and seven top fives. Austin, on the other hand, has only been able to put three top 10s and one top five on the board so far.

So, it is just really impressive what this young kid is doing. Remember, Kyle is really young and it's not like he has a ton of experience in stock cars, let alone NASCAR Sprint Cup cars. However, every week, just like the last two weeks, there Kyle is right up front battling the veterans for the win. No wonder Jeff Gordon thinks Kyle Larson is one of the best drivers he's ever seen. Ironically, Kyle's idol growing up was none other than Jeff Gordon.

I was also impressed by the job the No. 48 car did this past weekend. They didn't have the fastest car by any means. Jimmie fought hard and came home fifth on Sunday. It also jumped him four spots into fourth in the Chase points. That was Jimmie's fifth top 10 in the last six races. So even though they don't have the dominate car as in past Chases, I think this weekend going to Dover will tell us a lot about the No. 48.

Jimmie is the king of Dover. He's won there nine times. He dominated and won there earlier this year. Jimmie has been almost bullet-proof these last few years at Dover. We all know that Jimmie can win at any track on any Sunday, but I think Dover is his real shot to make a statement to the garage area that he will still be a factor in the 2014 Chase.

I don't know that a lot of us gave Aric Almirola much of a chance in this Chase. His win at Daytona in July came from in a rain-shortened race. He's only had seven top 10's and two top five finishes this season. Unfortunately, the thing that has really held them back has been seven DNF's. That was the most painful at Chicago with a blown engine. He rebounded nicely Sunday with a sixth-place finish. Unfortunately the clock is ticking on the No. 43 team. They are still in last place of the 16 Chase drivers, but they are only 10 points behind 12th-place Ryan Newman, so Sunday at Dover is going to be "make or break" time for that camp if they want to keep any Chase dreams alive.

I think this Chase is living up to everything we have wanted it to. Kevin Harvick continues to have one of the fastest cars in practice, qualifying and the race. He leads a ton of laps, but for whatever reason he simply can't close the deal and get the win. He is third in the Chase points and will definitely move on to the next round but that team has got to find a way to win.

I still see the 2014 NASCAR Sprint Cup champion coming from the group of Brad, Joey, Jeff or Kevin. Sure, there is still a lot of racing to go and as I mentioned earlier, Dover is the "house Jimmie Johnson built" so Sunday is a big ol' statement race for that No. 48 car in my book.

We have so many great storylines to follow with only eight races remaining in 2014. Will Jimmie win his record-tying seventh championship? Will his teammate, Jeff Gordon, finally get his "Drive for Five" championship? Will Dale Jr., who is easily having his best season in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, be able to win his first championship? Speaking of firsts, will young Kyle Larson be able to get his first win in one of these last eight races in his first season in the Cup Series? You have Kevin Harvick who has been fast every week, who is trying to win his first championship with his new crew chief and new team in 2014.

Don't forget about Brad Keselowski by any means. He was our 2012 champion that stumbled in 2013 and never got a chance to defend his title because they didn't even make the 2013 Chase. Brad is driving like someone with a chip on his shoulder because 2013 was an embarrassment to Brad and he is out to redeem himself by winning his second championship in three years.

This new Chase format is ramping up the action with these elimination rounds. It's all about winning. Don't forget that with this new format come Sunday Nov. 16, yes only eight short weeks from now at Homestead, Fla., it will come down to four drivers, one race and at the end of the day, a new champion. 

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