The Once-Dominant Joey Logano-Brad Keselowski Penske Duo Needs a Victory Revival

During the 2014 season, it seemed like Brad Keselowski and Joey Logano were front and center virtually every week, either for their wins or strong finishes.

From Keselowski finishing third to Dale Earnhardt Jr. in the Daytona 500 to Logano being one of the four finalists in the championship-deciding race at Homestead-Miami Speedway, Team Penske was in the news practically every race and every week.

But there was also conflict that seeped into the news. While Logano had a noted run-in with septuagenarian Morgan Shepherd, Keselowski got into well-publicized scrapes with Matt Kenseth and Jeff Gordon, among others.

Yet through it all, Roger Penske’s two Sprint Cup teams were constantly talked about and rarely forgotten.

The 2015 season, however, has been almost the complete opposite. Team Penske isn’t necessarily forgotten, but it certainly hasn’t been the big and bold presence it was in 2014.

Last season, Keselowski led the Sprint Cup Series with six wins, while teammate Logano had five. That means between the two of them they combined for nearly one-third of the 36 race wins in 2014.

Thus far this season, each driver has just one win. Logano captured the season-opening Daytona 500, while Keselowski won at Fontana in March.

Logano has been at least able to run with the ball much more regularly since Daytona. He enters this weekend’s action at Kentucky Speedway in fourth place (he was third coming into Sunday’s race at Daytona and spent much of the first half of the season either in first or second place).

Keselowski, on the other hand, has been an enigma. Instead of being one of the drivers who is always a threat to win any race he competes in, he has unquestionably struggled in 2015, particularly of late.

In his last 10 starts, he has failed to finish in the top 10 seven times, including his 29th-place showing at Daytona International Speedway on Sunday.

He also admittedly triggered a multi-car wreck during Friday’s practice at Daytona that forced 10 drivers—himself included—to go to backup cars for the Coke Zero 400.

Still, Keselowski enters Saturday night’s race at Kentucky in decent shape in the standings, ranked seventh. And with his Fontana win, he’s all but a lock to be in the Chase this season.

By comparison, Keselowski was ranked fourth at this time last season after the first 17 races.

One thing of note about Keselowski that is significantly different in 2015 than last season is his consistency—or lack thereof.

In addition to his Fontana win, the Michigan native has just two other top-five finishes to date this season. By comparison, he earned 17 top fives last season.

But there is still optimism in the Team Penske camp. Four of Keselowski’s six wins last season came after the 17th race.

Ditto for Logano. His final three wins in 2014 came after the 23rd race. Plus, he has been carrying the baton of consistency for Team Penske with nine top fives already (compared to 16 for all of 2014). He also has a career-high four pole positions—and we’re just reaching the halfway point of the season.

If there’s one thing that both he and Keselowski need to get things turned in the right direction—or at least to get back to the way things were last season—the solution is pretty simple.

“I think we need more speed right now,” Logano told FoxSports.com's Tom Jensen recently. “As far as execution, we’re better than where we were last year. We’ve got more top fives, more top 10s than where we were at this point last year. I feel like they’re a little harder earned, though. I don’t feel like we have the speed yet.”

But while others—particularly Team Penske fans—may think something else other than speed is also off or missing, Logano takes a glass half-full approach.

“We’re making the most out of every situation we’ve got, which is something to be proud of,” he said, per Jensen. “The team’s in great shape.”

But a few more wins for both himself and his teammate would sure help make things in even greater shape, especially once the Chase begins.

Follow me on Twitter @JerryBonkowski.