Information By: DREW TAYLOR / TEAM PENSKE – SPEEDWAY, IN
Brickyard 400 Presented by PPG: Indianapolis Motor Speedway
Indianapolis, IN – July 21, 2024
AUSTIN CINDRIC No. 2 DISCOUNT TIRE FORD MUSTANG
START: 38TH STAGE ONE: 37TH STAGE TWO: 27TH FINISH: 7TH POINTS: 19TH
RACE RUNDOWN: Austin Cindric drove to a solid seventh-place finish at the iconic Indianapolis Motor Speedway Sunday afternoon as the NASCAR Cup Series made its much-anticipated return to the 2.5-mile oval layout. The No. 2 Discount Tire Ford Mustang took the green flag from the rear of the field after sustaining damage during Saturday’s qualifying session that needed to be addressed with repairs. Once the 400-mile race fired off, Cindric provided a balance update 10 laps in, reporting that the car was a little on the tight side. He made his first trip down pit road on Lap 36 for four tires, fuel and an air pressure adjustment, but was docked for speeding, forcing him to serve a pass-through penalty. After finishing 37th, one lap down, at the end of Stage 1 and unable to take the wave around, the former NASCAR Xfinity Series champion returned to pit road for service and adjustments to help him get down into the corners better. In the second segment, through multiple cautions, Cindric was able to rejoin the lead lap as he continued to be challenged by a tight race car. He ultimately finished 27th in Stage 2, and the No. 2 team opted to stay out at the break, gaining 14 positions ahead of the restart. As fuel strategy discussions came into play and various incidents took place late in the Brickyard 400, Cindric steadily inched forward to close out the weekend with a strong seventh-place result.
CINDRIC’S THOUGHTS: “I did my race team zero favors today with qualifying as poorly as I did putting it in the wall and then speeding on the first pit stop. Good rally by everybody. I felt like our Discount Tire Ford Mustang Dark Horse was quick today, we just had to get it in the right place on the race track. We saved fuel and [crew chief] Brian [Wilson] did the right things with strategy and we earned a good result because of it. I wish it would have gone green there at the end because I think I would have gotten a few more spots with the fuel situation. Overall, a nice reward going into a little break here.”
RYAN BLANEY No. 12 MENARDS/ATLAS FORD MUSTANG
START: 7TH STAGE ONE: 3RD STAGE TWO: 4TH FINISH: 3RD POINTS: 5TH
RACE RUNDOWN: Ryan Blaney and the No. 12 Menards/Atlas team nearly played their strategy to perfection Sunday in the Cup Series’ return to the oval at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, ultimately settling for a third-place finish. The result marks the 12-team’s sixth top-10 in the last seven races while Blaney notched his first-career top-five at Indianapolis in his seventh Cup Series start on the 2.5-mile oval. Blaney worked his way into the top-five in the first 20 laps before crew chief Jonathan Hassler made the call to split the opening stage in half by calling the Menards/Atlas Ford to pit road on lap 27 for right side tires and fuel. Once the green flag pit cycle was complete with just under 10 to go in the segment, Blaney made his way back to through the field to cross the line third at the conclusion of Stage 1. With varying strategies taking place throughout the field, Blaney restarted the second stage from 17th, but another two-tire call from Hassler following the caution on lap 68 vaulted Blaney to eighth in the running order. Blaney continued his charge forward in the closing laps of Stage 2, making his way back inside the top-five on lap 87 en route to a fourth-place finish in the second 50-lap segment. After a four-tire stop at the final stage break, Blaney lined up 22nd to take the green flag when he was forced to the top of a three-wide battle into turn one, resulting in contact to the left rear that unraveled a multi-car incident but left Blaney largely unscathed. With cosmetic damage the only detriment to Blaney in the incident, he hit pit road for fuel only as the 12-team packed it full in order to make it to the end without another stop. A caution on lap 125 in the middle of the green flag cycle saw Blaney jump to fourth on the leaderboard before the green flag came back out with 30 laps to go. Despite saving fuel over the course of the final run, Blaney found himself running second to the No. 6 who had pitted for fuel earlier in the cycle. Hassler made the call to Blaney that he was cleared to run hard with 12 laps to go as the No. 5 began to make his charge to the leaders. Blaney continued to close the gap to the No. 6 as the trio battled for the lead coming to two to go when the caution flag flew, setting up a green-white-checkered finish. After choosing the outside of row one for the first overtime attempt, the No. 6 – on the inside of row one – decided to peel off onto pit road behind the pace car as he ran out of fuel coming to green, allowing the No. 5 to move up to the front row alongside Blaney. A multi-car incident behind the leaders in turn one of the restart prompted a lengthy red flag as Blaney prepared to race for the win from the outside of row one once again. After taking the green, Blaney battled side-by-side with the No. 5 but ultimately was shuffled to third in the running order by the time they made their way out of turn two before the caution came out on the final lap, culminating in a third-place finish.
BLANEY’S THOUGHTS: “It was hard fought. I thought we had a really good shot to win today. I appreciate Menards and Atlas and Ford and the 12 group for putting us in position. Our car was fast and I thought we had really good strategy. We were the front guy of having to save a little bit of gas but I thought we put ourselves in a great spot. I knew [Brad Keselowski] was probably going to run out if it went green. We came to the restart and I couldn’t believe they stayed out. There was no way they were going to make it. So I obviously chose the top because he might run out in the restart zone. And he winds up coming to the green so he gets to go to pit road and [Kyle Larson] gets promoted. Luck of the day right there I guess. I don’t even know what to get mad about. I am mad about losing this race because I thought we were in the perfect position. Once I lost control of the race, obviously I would have been on the bottom, but I thought [Keselowski] would run out in the restart zone or on the back straightaway. It stinks to lose it that way. I appreciate the effort. I hate we don’t get to celebrate with Mr. Penske and with everyone from Penske here. That stings a lot. We just have to keep going, that is all we can do.”
JOEY LOGANO No. 22 SHELL-PENNZOIL FORD MUSTANG
START: 12TH STAGE ONE: 14TH STAGE TWO: 32ND FINISH: 34TH POINTS: 15TH
RACE RUNDOWN: Joey Logano was collected in a multi-car incident in the opening laps of the final stage Sunday at Indianapolis Motor Speedway to bring his day to an abrupt end, culminating in a 34th-place finish. The 22 team was the top car among those on the same strategy Sunday afternoon, as crew chief Paul Wolfe opted to run long during the opening stage while others split the stage in half. Once Logano worked his way up to fourth in the running order during the green flag pit cycle, Wolfe called the Shell-Pennzoil Ford to pit road on lap 38 for a four tire stop and a round of adjustments. Logano made his way back to 14th in the running order by the end of Stage 1, but the choice to run long allowed him to stay out during the stage break and restart from the outside of row two. Following a pair of cautions and a call for right side tires only under yellow, Logano charged his way back into the top-five by lap 85 before Wolfe called him to pit road with four to go in the stage in order to need only one more stop for fuel to make it to the checkered flag and flip their track position before the start of the final stage. Logano managed to come off pit road in front of the leader and avoided going a lap down prior to the end of Stage 2, resulting in a 32nd-place finish in the segment. About half the field hit pit road during the stage break as teams continued to vary their strategies to set themselves up for the final run of the afternoon as Logano lined up 16th to take the green flag. Following a caution on lap 105, Logano lined up 13th and a multi-car incident unraveled in the row behind him on the entry of turn one, sending the No. 84 into Logano’s left rear quarter panel and sending him head-on into the outside wall, bringing an end to the No. 22 team’s day before they had a chance to see their strategy play out.
LOGANO’S THOUGHTS: “It seems like they were three wide a couple of rows behind me and the wreck caught me, unfortunately. It looks like [Carson] Hocevar sent it down the center and just kind of stuffed it in there late. Unfortunately it caught up to me. He right reared Jimmie [Johnson] into my left rear and nosed our Shell-Pennzoil Mustang into the wall. It is a bummer. You come here to Indy once a year and all you dream of is kissing the bricks. My team gave me a great race car and we were the leader of our strategy and that is kind of all you can hope for, to get to the lead of your strategy. And we were going to have a shorter pit stop and we were going to try to gain some spots the restart as a lot of guys were staying out. We could have a shorter stop than them and that is when we were going to cycle back up to the front, hopefully, but we never got to see it through.”
The NASCAR Cup Series takes a two-week break before returning to action on Sunday, August 11 for the Cook Out 400 at Richmond Raceway. Coverage begins at 6 p.m. ET on USA, MRN, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.