NASCAR star Ryan Blaney gets new pit crew member after Team Penske disasters

Team Penske has made a much called-for change to Ryan Blaney's No. 12 team this week.

Blaney's pit crew has been borderline disastrous in the 2026 season, losing him more than ten places per race on average, and the team has switched jackman ahead of this weekend's race at Kansas.

Patrick Gray will move from Josh Berry's team to Blaney's, with Landon Honeycutt going in the opposite direction. Berry's Wood Brothers Racing team, notably, has a technical alliance with Penske.

EDITOR'S NOTE: Since this article was published, Team Penske has confirmed Patrick Gray will miss this weekend's race due to personal reasons. Graham Stoddard will instead be on jackman duties for the No. 12 team this weekend.

Blaney has lost 86 places on pit road through the first eight races of the season, 30 more than any other driver after a series of muffed stops – including some more mistakes at Bristol.

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Blaney crew chief: They did a great job

Blaney's crew chief Jonathan Hassler defended the group after the race in comments to NASCAR.com, backing his team to keep improving and cut out their costly mistakes.

“I think they did a great job,” he said. "We had a couple mistakes again, but they stuck with it. All of those guys are capable and we’ve stuck with them, and when everything was on the line the most, they followed through.

"The guys have a lot of potential. They have the ability. We’ve had some bumps in the road, some of which isn’t necessarily those guys or any one person; just kind of getting the whole group and the car and the team kind of in sync.”

NASCAR figures call out Blaney crew

Kyle Larson called out the No. 12 crew's struggles after Sunday's race, noting that Blaney had the best car but his crew 'kept putting him behind all day'.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. also dedicated some time to the issue on the Dale Jr Download this week, saying: "Ryan Blaney looked like one of the best cars all day long, but he is struggling on pit road. They lost 86 spots on pit road this season. He was asked about it the other week, says the guys need reps. He feels like when the playoffs come around they'll be ready to rock."

He cited loyalty, 'right or wrong', as the likely reason the team hasn't made a change in personnel on the crew, but added: "Upper management absolutely needs to tackle this situation.

"There are people who it's their job to make sure that pit crew is badass. It isn't Blaney's job! He might be able to go into this person's office and say 'fix my pit crew, damnit'. If the pit crew's an issue, it might need a little attention."