NASCAR Cup Series driver Joey Logano. Peter Casey-USA TODAY Sports

Team Penske tops the charts in NASCAR Cup Series practice at Gateway

By Samuel Stubbs | Last updated Jun 1, 2024 10:45 AM ET

Team Penske seems to be the organization to beat early in the NASCAR weekend at Gateway.

All-Star Race winner Joey Logano topped the board in practice, while defending NASCAR Cup Series champion Ryan Blaney placed second in the session. While Austin Cindric was sixth on speed overall, he was second of all drivers on a 10-lap run and fourth on the board on 15-lap runs.

With Ford, and specifically Logano, struggling for much of the season, Gateway may be the most important race of the year so far for the two-time Cup Series champion and his manufacturer.

One big variable during NASCAR's trip to Gateway will be the weather. While rain could impact the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race on Saturday — it even briefly delayed Cup Series practice — the major difference in temperature and cloud cover between Saturday's practice and Sunday's race will certainly play a factor, as Logano pointed out.

"The track ... will be quite a bit slicker tomorrow," Logano said. "For practice today, not only is it cooler, but it's overcast, too. The track temp is going to be very cool, the track's going to be really, really fast. There's going to be more speed variance tomorrow. The track will be quite a bit slower and slicker."

@joeylogano comments on how the weather difference impacts practice ahead of a race on Sunday that will be drastically warmer. pic.twitter.com/unP2gnQCyi
— Samuel Stubbs (@SamMageeStubbs) June 1, 2024

Coca-Cola 600 winner Christopher Bell also commented on how the weather can change a race weekend, but he said things change more for the crew chief on top of the pit box rather than the driver.

"I'm sure it changes for Adam (Stevens)," Bell said. "I can't speak on the changes outside of that because that's not really my department. But certainly, the grip level that we have today is not going to be what we have tomorrow.

Christopher Bell comments on how the drastic difference in weather will affect the race weekend. pic.twitter.com/fh0CBnJu4R
— Samuel Stubbs (@SamMageeStubbs) June 1, 2024

Bell was eighth quickest in Saturday's practice session, while his Toyota teammates in Ty Gibbs, Tyler Reddick and Bubba Wallace placed third, fourth, and fifth, respectively.

One notable team that struggled was Hendrick Motorsports, with William Byron being the fastest Hendrick Chevy in 17th. His teammate, Chase Elliott, followed in 18th, while Alex Bowman and Kyle Larson followed in 22nd and 24th, respectively.

The Enjoy Illinois 300 will go green at 3:30 p.m. ET on Sunday, with coverage on FS1, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

Samuel Stubbs

Hailing from the same neck of the woods as NASCAR Hall of Famer Mark Martin, Samuel has been covering NASCAR for Yardbarker since February 2024. He has been a member of the National Motorsports Press Association (NMPA) since October of 2024. When he’s not writing about racing, Samuel covers Arkansas Razorback basketball for Yardbarker

More must-reads: