When “The Captain” Roger Penske raises the black flag on performance, heads typically roll. NASCAR’s most meticulous team owner, whose personal inspection of equipment with white gloves has become legendary in racing circles, has once again demonstrated his uncompromising standards by axing Skip Flores, front tire changer for defending champion Ryan Blaney and co-host of ‘Stacking Pennies’ with Corey LaJoie.

The timing speaks volumes about Penske’s championship expectations. Just nine races into defending their title, with Blaney sitting sixth in points despite leading the series with 92 stage points, Team Penske has already pulled the trigger on a significant personnel change. While Blaney’s No. 12 Ford Mustang has shown impressive speed, particularly in traffic at challenging tracks like Darlington, late-race pit stops have repeatedly undermined their efforts to return to victory lane.

The first tremors of change emerged during NASCAR’s rare off-weekend, with FOX Sports’ Bob Pockrass breaking the news on social media: “Ryan Blaney crew has struggled so Penske makes change for Talladega: Keiston France in at front changer, replaces Skip Flores (who also co-hosts Stacking Pennies podcast). France was on Penske crew for Zane Smith. The 38 roster not filed yet so TBA if Flores there.”

The pit crew statistics tell the story behind Roger Penske’s decision. While Blaney sits sixth in championship standings with three top-five finishes and has led 197 laps this season, his pit crew’s average performance ranks a disappointing 25th in the series. The disparity became particularly glaring at Darlington’s Goodyear 400, where Blaney himself acknowledged post-race: “Pit road, we got to work on a little bit.” Despite a car capable of winning, Blaney finished fifth after a slow pit stop during a critical sequence.

Keiston France, who takes over the front-changer position beginning at Talladega Superspeedway’s Jack Link 500 on April 27, moves from the Penske-supplied crew for Front Row Motorsports’ No. 38 team and driver Zane Smith. The change represents a significant mid-season shakeup for a championship-winning crew, with Flores reportedly being reassigned to Smith’s team. Despite Bristol showing improvement with an eighth-place pit crew rating—substantially better than their season average—Penske clearly felt more immediate action was necessary to correct course.

The move underscores the razor-thin margins in modern NASCAR competition, where a half-second lost on pit road can mean the difference between hoisting a trophy and watching someone else celebrate. “When the 12-car is hooked up, it has long run speed and maneuvers in traffic unlike anyone else,” noted motorsports journalist Jonathan Howard shortly before the announcement, adding that pit crew performance increasingly determines outcomes with “pit stops dipping down into the mid-8 seconds.”

This latest personnel change follows a pattern established throughout Roger Penske’s six-decade motorsports career, where uncompromising standards have created both championships and casualties. In 2017, Penske made similar mid-season adjustments to Joey Logano’s crew that eventually contributed to the team’s 2018 championship run.

As Hendrick Motorsports demonstrated recently by swapping Kyle Larson’s struggling crew with members from Spire Motorsports’ Hendrick-supported team, these relationships provide championship-caliber teams with additional options to address performance gaps. For Blaney, a superspeedway ace with multiple Talladega victories already on his resume, the timing couldn’t be better heading into NASCAR’s most unpredictable track. With France now wearing the No. 12 colors on pit road, Roger Penske has made it clear that “fine” isn’t sufficient when championships hang in the balance.

Talladega’s Timely Rule Change Could Benefit Blaney’s Championship Defense

As Ryan Blaney and his newly reconfigured pit crew prepare for Talladega Superspeedway, NASCAR has quietly implemented another policy change that could prove pivotal for the defending champion’s success. Just days before the Jack Link’s 500, NASCAR updated its Damaged Vehicle Policy (DVP), now allowing teams to replace diffuser flaps—critical aerodynamic components located under the rear of the car—during crash repairs. FOX Sports’ Bob Pockrass broke the news on social media, noting the significant shift from previous regulations that often forced otherwise repairable cars out of competition due to diffuser damage.

The timing couldn’t be more fortuitous for Blaney, whose superspeedway prowess has made him a pre-race favorite according to former champion Kevin Harvick, who stated plainly on his Happy Hour podcast, “I will take Blaney.” With three Talladega victories already on his resume and Team Penske’s historically strong superspeedway program, Blaney stands to benefit from a rule allowing more cars to return to competition after the inevitable multi-car incidents. The policy update represents NASCAR’s ongoing response to controversial DVP applications last season, including incidents with Josh Berry at Kansas and Blaney himself at Watkins Glen when both drivers were eliminated after flat tires prevented them from returning to pit road.

This DVP modification follows NASCAR’s earlier 2025 change allowing teams to make repairs in the garage area rather than facing automatic disqualification—a response to the chaotic Talladega race last fall that saw Chase Elliott controversially allowed to continue after being towed to the garage following a 25-car pileup. For Keiston France, the newly appointed front-tire changer on Blaney’s crew, the pressure intensifies knowing that Talladega’s crash-fest environment may require multiple rapid repairs throughout the day, potentially under the DVP clock’s unforgiving countdown. As Penske’s personnel shift meets NASCAR’s policy adjustment, the combination creates both opportunity and unprecedented pressure for a championship team seeking to regain its winning form at one of racing’s most unpredictable venues.