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Team Penske drivers Ryan Blaney and Joey Logano could snap Ford's winless streak in Talladega this weekend, believes Fast Talk host Alexis Erickson.
Coming on the heels of a dominant 2023 season which saw them win NASCAR's all three national series, Ford's 2024 campaign has been a far cry from last year. The manufacturing team is yet to win a single NASCAR race across all three series so far, whereas Toyota and Chevrolet continue to dominate the season with Joe Gibbs Racing and Hendrick Motorsports emerging as heavyweight teams.
However, the upcoming GEICO 500 NASCAR Cup Series race at Talladega Superspeedway might finally be the venue for Ford to return to winning ways, according to experts. Alexis Erickson, host of PRN's Fast Talk podcast, shared her opinions on the matter, tipping reigning champion Ryan Blaney or his Team Penske teammate Joey Logano as the favorite for Sunday's race.
"Wisdom would say that this is a weekend where you could potentially see that Chevy/Toyota dominance may be snapped by Ford," she said. "Because we have in the past seen them be really strong on the superspeedways. Ryan Blaney is somebody who needs a win and could potentially get it this weekend."
Meanwhile, legendary commentator Jeff Hammond chose 23XI Racing's Bubba Wallace as one of the prime candidates to contend for victory in Talladega. He said:
"I think a guy we don't need to overlook, who has been running extremely well lately and has been good on superspeedways, is Bubba Wallace. He and his team, I think they've come a long way in a short time, and they could be poised to upset something at Talladega."
Ryan Blaney previews his Talladega weekend
Ahead of the weekend, Ryan Blaney expressed confidence in Ford's performance on superspeedways. He told NBC:
"The speedways have been pretty good for the Fords for a while. Ever since I’ve been in the Cup Series I feel like we’ve always been super strong and really been able to compete and try to control the race."
The Team Penske driver added:
"That’s one thing we’ve always talked about is how can we control the race, whether it’s with our numbers in the Ford camp, the strategy, how can we just control the first handful of rows."
Ryan Blaney won the NASCAR Cup Series championship for the first time in 2023. Despite his lack of victories this season, the reigning champion has displayed consistency. With four top-5 finishes in nine races, Blaney finds himself in seventh position in the Cup Series standings with 278 points to his name.
