NASCAR takeaways: Ryan Blaney caps big Penske weekend in NASCAR, IndyCar

LONG POND, Pa. — Ryan Blaney climbed out of his race car following his second win of the 2024 season and the defending NASCAR Cup Series champion perhaps unintentionally put the other teams on notice.

"We are in a better spot at this time this year than where we were last year at this point," Blaney said after Sunday's victory at Pocono Raceway. "I feel like our speed is better. Our execution is great." 

And with that, the Team Penske driver definitively showed he is a viable threat to repeat as champion as five races remain in the regular season. Winning by 1.3 seconds at Pocono and leading a race-high 44 laps, Blaney benefitted from a pit strategy that put him out front at the right time to hold off the field. Speeding penalties late to Chase Elliott and Kyle Larson didn't hurt.

Blaney said he wasn't trying to make a statement to the rest of the field.

"They take it how they want it, but I just try to focus on our deal," Blaney said. "I try not to get too focused on everyone else's stuff. ... It's a big testament to [my team] of figuring out where we need to be better and figuring out the areas we needed to improve on from the start of year with this car and the new Ford nose."

It was a big weekend for Team Penske as not only did Blaney win the Cup race, but Penske drivers Scott McLaughlin and Will Power swept the IndyCar doubleheader weekend at Iowa. It gives the organization momentum going into next week's Cup race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, a track owned by team owner Roger Penske and where Penske driver Josef Newgarden won the Indy 500 in May.

"You definitely always want to make cool weekends," Blaney said. "We had the pleasure of sweeping last year at Indy 500 and the 600 [at Charlotte]. ... Now we have a