The NASCAR operation of the racing teamTeam Penske is a unit based inMooresville, North Carolina, US. The team fieldsFord Mustangs in theNASCAR Cup Series and has won a total of five drivers' championships and over 170 races over both Cup andXfinity series.

The team has also used the following names:

• Penske Racing South: formerly used to differentiate the NASCAR operation from its open-wheel and sports car racing operation that was based inReading, Pennsylvania; the name ceased to be used when the entire operation moved to North Carolina.
• Penske-Kranefuss Racing: used from 1998 until 2001 whenMichael Kranefuss, who had previously fielded a car withCarl Haas as a partner, merged his team with Penske's and broughtJeremy Mayfield, his driver, into the Penske fold in car No. 12. The partnership ended after 2001, but Penske continues to run car No. 12 to this day.
• Penske-Jasper Racing: used in 2004 and 2005. Roger Penske had been supplyingJasper Motorsports with engines for several years and bought a share of the team so he could run its No. 77 forBrendan Gaughan as part of the Penske team. The partnership dissolved after Penske gave up his stake in the team and fired Gaughan.

The team debuted in1972 atRiverside International Raceway.Mark Donohue was driving a factory-sponsored red-white-blueAmerican MotorsMatador. It was dubbed the "flying brick" by many noting its squarish aerodynamics. The car finished 39th after rear-end problems. The team ran part-time for a few years, fielding cars for several drivers including Donohue (won the 1973 Western 500 in the No. 16 Matador),Dave Marcis,Donnie Allison, andBobby Allison. The team went full-time withBobby Allison in 1976 with a new, more aerodynamic fastback coupe, finishing 4th in the points. In 1980, the team fielded two races forRusty Wallace, finishing 2nd in his first race at Atlanta. Penske sold his machinery to theElliott family in 1977 and got out of NASCAR.^[1]

The team did not run for eleven years, returning in1991 with Wallace at the wheel again, with Rusty moving hisMiller beer sponsorship to the new team from the recently suspended operations ofRaymond Beadle's Blue Max Racing team. Penske Racing South fieldedPontiacs from 1991 to1993, when it switch to full-worksFord in1994. In2003, the team switched to full-worksDaimlerChrysler-ownedDodge and thus earned factory support. In2008, Penske Racing won its firstDaytona 500 withRyan Newman. By2011, however, Penske was the only NASCAR Cup Series team running Dodges full-time as most of the former Dodge teams had either folded or switched to other manufacturers. OwnerRoger Penske announced on March 1, 2012, that the team would return to full-works Ford in2013. In addition, Penske would receive the engine package from Roush Yates Engines as well as the same treatment asRoush Fenway Racing,Wood Brothers Racing and the rest of Ford teams due to the Ford partnership.^[2] During the2012 season,Brad Keselowski brought home Penske's first Cup Series title.

In2014, the team changed their name branding from "Penske Racing" to "Team Penske" to match theirIndyCar name.^[3]

For the2016 season, Team Penske fielded the No. 2 for Keselowski and the No. 22 forJoey Logano. The team also started fielding cars to the historic NASCAR teamWood Brothers Racing. In2018, Team Penske added the No. 12 forRyan Blaney. That year, Logano won Penske its second Cup Series title.

Keselowski left Team Penske at the end of the2021 season to become driver-owner ofRFK Racing. He was replaced byAustin Cindric, who won the2022 Daytona 500. Joey Logano kicked off the first of three straight Cup Series championships that year, with Ryan Blaney winning in 2023 and Logano again in 2024.

Ryan Newman (2000–2001)

Penske's No. 02 team originally began running in theARCA RE/MAX Series in 2000 as the No. 27Ford sponsored byAlltel and driven byRyan Newman.^[8] Later in the year, the team made itsNASCAR Cup Series debut with Newman atPhoenix as the No. 02Alltel Ford, finishing 41st due to engine failure. In 2001, Newman split time betweenARCA, the NASCARBusch Series, and the NASCAR Cup Series.^[9][10] He drove in 15 Busch races and won atMichigan. In the Cup Series, he participated in seven events, and almost wonThe Winston Open before his engine expired in the closing laps. He put together two top-five finishes, which included a second-place finish at Kansas, and a pole in his abbreviated schedule.

Part-time (2004, 2007)

In 2004, Penske occasionally ran a fourth car numbered 06, sponsored byMobil 1.Craftsman Truck Series driverTravis Kvapil attempted four races, failing to qualify at Darlington, with a best finish of 21st at Martinsville. He would replaceBrendan Gaughan in the 77 in 2005.Chad Blount also ran the car at Talladega, finishing 41st.

The No. 06 returned in 2007 withSam Hornish Jr. in preparation for moving full-time in the 77 the next year. The No. 06 was sponsored byPenske Truck Rental andMobil 1 Hornish Jr. attempted eight races, but only qualified for the final two races of the season, with a best finish of 30th at Phoenix.

Origins with Blue Max Racing (1983–1990)

The No. 2 car's history can be traced back to the late 1970s with M. C. Anderson andBenny Parsons.Bobby Allison drove two and a half seasons for Penske, winning four races for the team with a best standing of 4th.Cale Yarborough drove the 27 Valvoline car in 1981 and 1982 respectively. In 1983, the team switched hands toRaymond Beadle and Blue Max Racing withTim Richmond driving. The team picked upRusty Wallace in 1986 and won a Championship in1989. In 1990, the team barely made it through the season with the help of Roger Penske funding the team to keep going. By late-1990, the team was purchased as a base for Roger's new team. During the offseason, the team changed numbers from 27 to 2 (Wallace's old racing number) and kept theMiller Sponsorship.

Rusty Wallace (1991–2005)

The No. 2 team has not seen many changes since its debut under the Penske banner at the1991 Daytona 500, where it finished 27th after a crash late in the race. Wallace drove the car from 1991 to 2005, with some form of Miller Beer as the primary sponsor of the team. Wallace moved to Penske from Blue Max Racing, which suspended operations after 1990. The team in its first year won two races and finished 10th in points. In 1992, Wallace won one race and finished 13th in points. Things then turned around for him and Penske, winning 25 races over the next four years, despite never winning the championship.

The team switched fromPontiac toFord in 1994.^[11] The season finale atAtlanta Motor Speedway and the entire1996 season saw a small change when the popular Miller Genuine Draft paint scheme was replaced with a red, blue and yellow splashed scheme that advertised the Miller brand. After winning five races that season, Wallace donned the blue and white colors ofMiller Lite in 1997. After winning one race a piece over the next three years, he put together four wins and won nineBud poles in 2000, the highest total of his career. In 2002, he failed to win races, marking the first year since 1985 that he was winless throughout a season. After that year, the team switched manufacturers from Ford toDodge. In 2004, Wallace announced the 2005 season would be his last in the Cup Series, citing his son's racing career and wanting to concentrate on hisBusch Series team,Rusty Wallace Racing, for the departure. During that season, Wallace returned to victory lane for the first time since 2001 atMartinsville, one of his historically strong racetracks. Although he would not win a race during his final season, Wallace qualified for theChase for the Nextel Cup and finished eighth in series points.

Kurt Busch (2006–2010)

To replace the retiring Wallace, Penske tabbed2004 Nextel Cup ChampionKurt Busch. However, this caused a problem with Busch's then-current team,Roush Racing, as he was still under contract for the2006 season. The situation was resolved thanks in part to the resolution of another disputed contract with Roush. Roush Racing signedJamie McMurray to drive their No. 6 car for the 2006 season but his previous team owner,Chip Ganassi, would not let him drive for Roush. Eventually, an agreement was struck where McMurray was released from his team to replace Busch in the No. 97 car (which was then renumbered to 26), therefore freeing up Busch to drive the No. 2 car. He quickly brought the team back to victory lane by winning in hisfifth start with the team atBristol, his only win of2006. The No. 2 team finished 16th in the season points. Busch won six additional races with the No. 2 car, his last being the2010 Coca-Cola 600. He qualified for the Chase three times, with a best finish of fourth in the final standings in2009.

Brad Keselowski (2011–2021)

In2011, the No. 2 team swapped numbers with the No. 12 team ofBrad Keselowski, which secured Keselowski's run with the No. 2 team's points. Jay Guy was replaced by Nationwide Series crew chiefPaul Wolfe as the team's crew chief. The No. 2 team with Keselowski and Wolfe initially struggled for the first half of the season, although they won a fuel-mileage race atKansas. The team's performance started to improve dramatically after Keselowski injured his leg during a testing crash atRoad Atlanta. Keselowski and Wolfe grabbed two more wins atPocono and at Bristol and rallied to make the 2011 Chase field. However, the final 10 races would be an up and down affair for the team, and they were knocked out of contention after finishing 18th atPhoenix. Nonetheless, Keselowski managed a fifth-place finish in points, a dramatic turnaround from his 2010 performance.

2012 would be Keselowski's breakout season, as he won five races at Bristol,Talladega,Kentucky,Chicagoland, andDover, with the last two being his first Chase wins. He would ultimately win Team Penske its first Sprint Cup title after a close battle withJimmie Johnson. This would also be the final year of Dodge in the Cup series.

With Dodge's departure, Team Penske switched back to Ford in the2013 season. Compared to his 2012 championship run, Keselowski's 2013 season was a step back, as he opened the season with four top-fives but struggled with consistency from there and eventually missed the Chase altogether. He would win a single race, at Charlotte in October, and rallied to finish fourteenth in points, the highest rank outside the Chase field (due to theRichmond scandal that resulted inJeff Gordon getting an additional Chase berth).

Keselowski recovered quickly in 2014, winning the third race of the year atLas Vegas afterDale Earnhardt Jr. ran out of gas on the final lap. He later dominated and won Kentucky to become the first two-time winner at the track, and dominated the July race atLoudon and the September race atRichmond as well, to secure the top seed in the reformatted Chase for the Sprint Cup. Keselowski then won back-to-back for the first time in his career in the first Chase race at Chicagoland, to secure an immediate transfer into the Contender round of the new Chase. After suffering a blown tire at Kansas and tussling withMatt Kenseth andDenny Hamlin at Charlotte, Keselowski went to Talladega needing to win to make the Eliminator round, which he ultimately did after outbattlingRyan Newman on the final lap. However, he suffered a mechanical failure that caused him to wreck atMartinsville, and subsequently tangled with Gordon atTexas, which led to a post-race brawl that became one of the highlights of the season. Keselowski would ultimately be eliminated from the Chase after Phoenix, and finished fifth in the final points, with his six wins being a career-high.

Keselowski won his first race of 2015 atCalifornia after taking advantage of two late cautions to run down the dominant car of ex-teammate Kurt Busch. This would prove to be the only win of his season, but Keselowski once again advanced to the Eliminator Round of the Chase before suffering another wreck at Martinsville, and after leading the majority of the Texas race only to be passed byJimmie Johnson with six laps to go, Keselowski was once again eliminated from championship contention after Phoenix.

Keselowski got back to his winning ways in 2016, breaking through at Las Vegas for the second time in three seasons. He also scored his third win in theGEICO 500 at Talladega, then found his first Daytona win in the Coke Zero 400, followed by his third career win at Kentucky.

Keselowski got his first win in 2017 afterKevin Harvick had trouble in the pits atAtlanta Motor Speedway. He was leading at Las Vegas when something broke in the car with two to go. He hung on for fifth. He remained consistent, winning theSTP 500 for his first Martinsville win. He continued to be consistent until a strange crash early in theCoca-Cola 600, when a piece of metal fromJeffrey Earnhardt piercedChase Elliott's grill and went into his engine, causing a mass oil leak and fire. Brad slid in the oil, right to Elliott's rear end. Keselowski would go on to make the playoffs for the sixth time in his Cup series career and score an additional win in the wreck infested Alabama 500 at the Talladega Superspeedway and have the dominant car at Martinsville before a late-race caution and contact with Chase Elliott took him out of contention for the win and he would finish fourth. Keselowski made the final round at Homestead-Miami speedway finished seventh in the race and fourth in the final standings to champion Martin Truex Jr.

In2018, Keselowski scored three wins in a row atDarlington,Indianapolis, andLas Vegas, but his run at the Playoffs was marred by bad finishes at theCharlotte Roval,Talladega, andDover, resulting in his elimination from the Round of 12. Keselowski finished the season eighth in points.

Keselowski started the2019 season with a twelfth place finish at theDaytona 500. A week later, he won atAtlanta; this gave him his sixtieth overall win with Team Penske and the first MENCS win for the newFord Mustang GT. Keselowski also scored wins atMartinsville andKansas and finished eighth in points for the second consecutive year.

Keselowski rebounded in2020. He scored three wins and finished third in points after the regular season. In the second race of the playoffs, he scored his fourth win of the season atRichmond and made the final four but would lose the championship toChase Elliott.

In2021, Keslowski won only once at thespring Talladega race but made still made it to the round of 8 although he would miss the final four after finishing third atMartinsville. He would finish sixth in points.

Austin Cindric (2022–present)

On July 15, 2021, it was confirmed that Keselowski would not be returning to Team Penske in 2022 (revealing on July 20 that he had accepted a driver and co-owner role atRoush-Fenway Racing). The same day that Keselowski's departure was officially confirmed by Penske,Austin Cindric (who was originally going to drive forWood Brothers Racing in 2022) was announced as Keselowski's replacement, asHarrison Burton would pilot the 21. Cindric won the Daytona 500 in his first full time start in the Cup Series with Penske. On July 20, crew chiefJeremy Bullins was suspended for four races due to a tire and wheel loss during the2022 Ambetter 301 atLoudon.^[12] Cindric was eliminated in the Round of 12 after finishing 21st at theCharlotte Roval.^[13] He finished the season 12th in the points standings and won theNASCAR Rookie of the Year honors.^[14]

Cindric struggled during the2023 season, scoring only three top-ten finishes and failing to make the playoffs. His highest finish of the season was fifth place at thefall Talladega race.

Cindric started the2024 season with a 22nd place finish at the2024 Daytona 500. He scored his second career win atGateway afterChristopher Bell lost an engine andRyan Blaney ran out of gas, breaking an 85-race winless streak.^[15]

Cindric started the2025 season with an eighth place finish at the2025 Daytona 500. Following theCOTA race, he was docked 50 driver points and finedUS$50,000 for right-rear hookingTy Dillon.^[16] Cindric scored his first win of the season atTalladega after beatingRyan Preece by 0.022 to the finish line.^[17]

Kranefuss-Haas Racing (1994–1997)

The current 12 car started out in 1994 atMichigan as the No. 07Ford driven byRobby Gordon and owned by German-American businessman and former Ford executiveMichael Kranefuss along withNewman/Haas Racing co-principalCarl Haas. The car started and finished 38th after Gordon crashed on lap seventy. After another start withGeoff Brabham at theBrickyard 400, the team— known as Kranefuss-Haas Racing— went full-time in 1995 withJohn Andretti driving theKmart/Little Caesars-sponsored No. 37 Ford. Andretti won the pole at theMountain Dew Southern 500 and finished eighteenth in the points. The team struggled in 1996 and Kranefuss decided to replace Andretti withJeremy Mayfield in what amounted to a driver swap between Kranefuss-Haas andCale Yarborough's team as Andretti replaced Mayfield in Yarborough's No. 98. The team picked up co-sponsorship fromRoyal Crown Cola for the following season and improved to be thirteenth in the points in 1997, but it was obvious the team wouldn't succeed if it only fielded one team. At the end of the season, Kranefuss and Haas dissolved the partnership and the Kmart sponsorship moved over toTravis Carter's team, which became Haas–Carter Motorsports and the Little Caesars sponsorship left the team.

Jeremy Mayfield (1998–2001)

In 1998, Kranefuss and Penske Racing announced a merger, with Mayfield coming aboard to drive the No. 12Mobil 1-sponsoredFord Taurus as a teammate to Rusty Wallace. The move turned out to be a success, and Mayfield became the next big star. He won the pole atTexas, and at one point in the season, found himself in the points lead. Mayfield won his first race at the1998 Pocono 500 in June and his breakout year ended with a seventh-place finish in the points. He struggled in 1999 with no wins and an 11th-place finish in the standings. In 2000, he won atCalifornia andPocono. Midway through the season, Kranefuss sold his share of the team to Penske. Mayfield then suffered a concussion while practicing for theBrickyard 400. He missed two races recuperating from his injury and finished 24th in points. In 2001, Mayfield posted seven top-ten finishes but was fired following the race atKansas. Rusty Wallace's younger brotherMike Wallace took over and came close to winning atPhoenix before settling for second place toJeff Burton.

Ryan Newman (2002–2008)

Ryan Newman and hisAlltel team took over the No. 12 car in 2002, although Mobil 1 stayed on as primary sponsor for several races per season. In his rookie year, Newman waged a spirited battle withJimmie Johnson forNASCAR Rookie of the Year honors. Newman wonThe Winston, and the fall event atNew Hampshire, as well as six poles. Although he did not win as many races as Johnson (one versus Johnson's three) and finished behind him in the points (sixth place, seven points behind fifth-place Johnson), he finished ahead of Johnson to win the Rookie of the Year honors. After the switch toDodge in 2003, Newman won eight races and eleven poles and finished sixth in points.

In 2004, Newman won twice, earned nine pole positions, qualified for the inauguralChase for the Nextel Cup, and finished seventh in points. Newman finished 2005 with eight pole positions, but only one win. He qualified for the Chase for the Cup for the second year in a row and ended up sixth in the final standings. He failed to win a race and missed the Chase in both 2006 and 2007. However, he found himself back in the winner's circle early in 2008, taking victory in the 50th running of the2008 Daytona 500 (the No. 2 of Kurt Busch finished second) to open the season, claiming Penske's first Daytona 500 win. Following the Daytona 500, the team struggled and Newman announced during the summer that he would leave to drive the No. 39Chevrolet forStewart–Haas Racing.

David Stremme (2009)

The No. 12 car lost its sponsor in 2009 as Cellco Partners, a joint venture ofVerizon andVodafone, closed the deal to purchase Alltel in January 2009, thus voiding the terms of the grandfather clause that allowed the No. 12 car to run with a sponsor that is a direct competitor to that NASCAR series' sponsor,Sprint Corporation. The team announced that they would move the Wireless sponsorship to theIndyCar Series and theNASCAR Nationwide Series and renamed the team to Verizon Championship Racing, a reference to Verizon Wireless' Penske-wide marketing through both its IndyCar and NASCAR sponsorships, complete with its heritage of champions (especially on Vodafone's side, as it was a sponsor ofScuderia Ferrari). Penske hiredDavid Stremme to race the car in a largely unbranded fashion for 2009, but he did not produce results and was fired toward the end of the season.

Brad Keselowski (2009–2010)

Brad Keselowski, who had recently signed with Penske when he was unable to procure a seat atHendrick Motorsports, took over the car toward the end of the 2009 season. He then ran the No. 12 full-time in 2010 unsponsored, although FloTV andAAA sponsored several races. Keselowski moved to the No. 2 car following the season to replace Kurt Busch, who moved to the new No. 22.

Part-time and hiatus (2011–2017)

The No. 12 did not run any races in 2011. In 2012,Sam Hornish Jr. drove the No. 12 at Kansas in April withSKF sponsorship. The No. 12 was also scheduled to run at the October Talladega race with Hornish, but after the termination ofA. J. Allmendinger from the No. 22, Hornish replaced him full-time. Hornish's SKF sponsorship was transferred to the No. 22 for this race.

In 2013, Hornish again qualified at Kansas but crashed out of the race in a multi-car wreck. He attempted the fall Talladega race but failed to make the race after qualifying was rained out.^[18]

With Hornish leaving forJoe Gibbs Racing, the part-time No. 12 was split by various Penske drivers in 2014. SKF sponsored three races, withRyan Blaney at Kansas in April and Talladega in October, andJuan Pablo Montoya at Michigan in June. Montoya also drove the No. 12 in the Brickyard 400 with sponsorship fromPenske Truck Leasing.^[19]

Ryan Blaney (2018–present)

In June 2017, Penske implied that Blaney would soon drive a third Ford for Penske Racing. This was later confirmed a month later when they announced that Blaney would drive the No. 12 car in 2018, withPaul Menard replacing him in the No. 21Wood Brothers Racing car, continuing the technical alliance that the two teams have. Team Penske purchased the No. 12's charter fromRoush Fenway Racing, which had been leased toJTG Daugherty Racing a year prior.^[20]

Blaney started the2018 season with a seventh-place finish at theDaytona 500 and stayed consistent with five top-fives and eleven top-tens before qualifying in the Playoffs. He scored his first win with Team Penske at theinaugural Charlotte Roval race after Jimmie Johnson andMartin Truex Jr. spun out before the finish line. Following theKansas race, Blaney was eliminated after the Round of 12 of the Playoffs and finished the season tenth in points.

In2019, Blaney finished 31st at the2019 Daytona 500. Despite not scoring a win during the regular season, he stayed consistent with seven top-fives and twelve top-ten finishes to make the Playoffs. He won atTalladega, but was eliminated after the Round of 8 and finished the season seventh in points.

The2020 season started for Blaney with a second-place finish at the2020 Daytona 500, which saw him dueling withRyan Newman on the final turn until late contact caused Newman to go airborne and collide withCorey LaJoie; Newman sustained injuries that sidelined him for three months. Blaney won once again atTalladega and scored eight top-fives and 11 top-10s to make his third Playoff appearance with Team Penske. He was eliminated after the Round of 16 and finished ninth in points.

In2021, Blaney finished 30th at the2021 Daytona 500. He scored wins atAtlanta,Michigan, and theDaytona night race, along with seven top-fives and 14 top-10 finishes to once again make the Playoffs. Blaney was eliminated after the Round of 8 and finished the season seventh in points.

Blaney started the2022 season with a fourth place finish at the2022 Daytona 500. Despite scoring no wins in the first 13 races, he stayed consistent with four top-fives and six top-10 finishes. He also won the2022 NASCAR All-Star Race.^[21] Despite being involved in a multi-car crash on lap 31 of the regular season finale at theDaytona night race, Blaney rallied to finish 15th after avoidingThe Big One to clinch the 16th and final Playoff spot of the season, beatingMartin Truex Jr. by three points. Blaney was eliminated following the Round of 8 after finishing third atMartinsville.^[22] Despite being winless, he finished the season eighth in the points standings.^[23]

Blaney started the2023 season with an eighth place finish at the2023 Daytona 500. He broke a 59-race drought by winning the2023 Coca-Cola 600.^[24] During the playoffs, Blaney scored his second win of the season atTalladega.^[25] He finished sixth atLas Vegas, but was disqualified after post-race inspection discovered a left-front damper that did not meet specifications; as a result, Blaney dropped to last-place and the bottom of the Round of 8 cutoff line.^[26] NASCAR later rescinded the penalty and restored Blaney's points after an issue was found with the damper template.^[27] Blaney won atMartinsville to make the Championship 4.^[28] He finished second atPhoenix to win the 2023 championship.^[29]

Blaney started the2024 season with a 30th place DNF at the2024 Daytona 500. AtAtlanta, he was leading the last lap but ultimately finished in second and came 0.003 seconds short of beatingDaniel Suárez in a three-wide photo finish between him, Suárez, andKyle Busch.^[30] Blaney once again fell short of a victory atGateway after running out of fuel on the last lap; his teammateAustin Cindric ended up winning the race. On June 16, He scored his first win of the season at the inauguralIowa race.^[31] A month later, he won atPocono.^[32] During the playoffs, Blaney won atMartinsville to make the Championship 4 for a second year in a row, but lost to teammate Joey Logano.^[33]

Blaney started the2025 season with a seventh place finish at the2025 Daytona 500. He scored his first win of the season atNashville.^[34] He ended the regular season with a win at theDaytona summer race, edging outDaniel Suárez by 0.031 seconds.^[35] During the playoffs, he won atNew Hampshire.^[36] Despite being eliminated at the conclusion of the Round of 8, Blaney finished the season with a win atPhoenix and sixth in the points standings.^[37]