10 months agoRyan Blaney delivered Team Penske its second consecutive NASCAR Cup Series championship at the Phoenix championship race in 2023, but that means very little when it comes to projecting his 2024 performance. Ford is debuting its new Mustang Dark Horse for 2024 and this chassis appears to be sleeker and more aerodynamic than the previous Mustang. In recent history, when a manufacturer debuts a new chassis in NASCAR, that manufacturer tends to have faster cars so many people speculate that both Ford and Toyota will be faster than Chevrolet in 2024 since those manufacturers are introducing new bodies while Chevy is not. Ford is hurt by the fact that their driver lineup is significantly worse than Chevys and Toyotas, but Blaney is currently their best driver, having drastically outperformed his teammate, Joey Logano, in 2023. The Fords generally seemed slow last year except on short ovals and drafting tracks yet Penske's recent decision to go all in on Phoenix has paid great dividends for them. In all likelihood, the Fords should probably be faster on a week-by-week basis and Blaney will likely be more consistent than he was in 2023. However, it stands to reason that most of the other top-notch teams have likely noticed Penske's success in giving up speed elsewhere in exchange for speed at Phoenix and will respond accordingly, which also means Blaney is probably less likely to win the title than he was last year even though his performance will likely be better overall.--Sean Wrona - RotoBaller