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As Team Penske chases its fourth DAYTONA 500 victory and third consecutive NASCAR Cup Series championship, we caught up with crew chiefs Brian Wilson [Austin Cindric], Jonathan Hassler [Ryan Blaney] and Paul Wolfe [Joey Logano] prior to this weekend’s event to preview the upcoming season.

Catch the 66th running of the DAYTONA 500 Sunday, February 18 on FOX.

Brian Wilson, Crew Chief, No. 2 Ford Mustang

Q: Austin Cindric and you have had so much success together in the past. How does it feel to start with a clean slate this season?

A: Heading into 2024, the focus is on trying to come out of the gate strong and put ourselves into a really strong points position. Having a clean slate and fresh start with Austin to really sit back in the off-season and focus on the things we want to do and the way we want to operate. It also gave us an opportunity to see how Joey [Logano] and Ryan [Blaney] operated. Being able to lean on those guys and evaluate how we want to be competitive in the Cup Series is a great resource to have.

Q: Austin’s sophomore season had its ups and downs. Where do you believe he can make his biggest strides this year?

A: There were certainly some ups and downs last year. If you look at recent history, it is not unusual for a driver in their sophomore season to struggle. A lot of times in year three and four their competitiveness starts to hit its stride. Austin is going to have the notebook and history to take that step forward. For him, it is a big part of his weekly routine to figure out what he needs in practice, qualifying and the race. As a team, the focus has been finding what he needs in the car, so he is confident in what he has for that weekend.

Q: Currently, you have 49 wins as a crew member at Team Penske. What will it mean to score win No. 50 as crew chief of the No. 2 car?

A: That means I have been around a long time. I have been surrounded by really good teammates and drivers. Being able to stand in victory lane 49 times in Team Penske prepared cars is something of which I am really proud. My first win in the Cup Series came with the No. 2 car in 2006. My first Cup Championship was 2012 with the No. 2 car. To get that milestone win with the No. 2 car would almost be poetic.

Jonathan Hassler, Crew Chief, No. 12 Ford Mustang

Q: Title defenses are no easy task. How will the No. 12 team avoid a post-championship slump?

A: We’ll avoid a post-championship slump by continuing the approach and philosophy we had all last season. By continuing to look at ourselves in the mirror each week - whether it’s a poor or good finish – we’ll continue to improve every week and hold ourselves accountable.

Q: Heading into your third season paired with Ryan, what is the biggest change or improvement you have seen in him from 2022 to today?

A: I think if you look back at the 2022 season, we had speed at a lot of races but just were not able to close out with the speed we started with. Last year, we were able to finish races a lot better and [Ryan] has put in a lot of work to figure out how to close out races.

Q: What does the 'next step' look like for the No. 12 team and how do you plan to attack the 2024 season?

A: 2023 was certainly up and down but we found ways to improve and I hope in 2024 to not have those downs and be a force to be reckoned with each week.

Paul Wolfe, Crew Chief, No. 22 Ford Mustang

Q: The championship title defense had its challenges in 2023. What are some key learnings heading into this season?

A: It was a challenging year for us and certainly not what we expected or strived for. As a whole, there’s things we did really well as a team and ended the season strong, especially on pit road. With an experienced group like we have, execution and getting the most out of a particular day is key. Certainly, at times we did not have the speed and we are focused on what we needed to do to get [Joey] comfortable in the car. The changes to the [Ford] Mustang with the Dark Horse will help with that, but we have to work on the car to get that feel as well.

Q: Being one of two current crew chiefs with multiple titles, how do you keep the fire going each year?

A: Working at a place like Team Penske where the expectation and drive to be successful is in the atmosphere. Theres a lot of guys on this team that push each other, along with Joey being one of the leaders, we all try and pull in the same direction. Ultimately that is why we got into racing, we like to go out and compete and be the best. We try to keep guys like that on the team and keep us all motivated.

Q: How excited are you to race the new Ford Mustang Dark Horse? Where do you see the biggest improvements with the new car?

A: We are very excited. We feel like the Ford aero group has done a nice job of developing this car with feedback from all the Ford teams. On paper and in the wind tunnel the numbers look good and we are encouraged by that – but until we start running at different style race tracks, we will not really know what we have. We work hard to maximize the box that we work in based on the NASCAR rules. Hopefully, it will give us a little more speed and open up our opportunities for more wins in the future.