Team Penske NASCAR XFINITY Series Race Report
Track: Dover International Speedway
Race: OneMain Financial 200
Date: May 5, 2018
No. 22 Menards/Richmond Ford Mustang – Austin Cindric
Start: 7th
Stage 1: 6th
Stage 2: 3rd
Finish: 9th
Status: Running
Laps Completed: 200/200
Laps Led: 0
Owner Point Standings (behind first): 3rd (-13)
Driver Point Standings (behind first): 12th (-182)
Notes:
Austin Cindric was in position to score a top-five finish Saturday afternoon at Dover International Speedway but was foiled by a loose-handling his No. 22 Menards/Richmond Ford Mustang.
Cindric made contact while battling for position late in the 200-lap race which relegated him to a ninth-place finish in the OneMain Financial 200.
Cindric qualified his No. 22 Mustang in the seventh position during time trials session and ran solidly among the top-10 before scoring a sixth-place finish in Stage 1.
During the stage break, crew chief Brian Wilson made the call for a four-tire stop without any chassis adjustments. Both Wilson and Cindric felt confident about the handling of the 22 Ford heading into the second stage as the track took on more rubber.
The decision proved correct during Stage 2. Cindric radioed that his Mustang was handling better and he ran lap times comparable to the leaders. He finished third when the stage concluded on lap 90. He made a four-tire stop during the second stage break and restarted 11th when the race went green on lap 98.
During the following green flag run, Cindric sliced his way through traffic and back into the top-five. He was racing Tyler Reddick for position with less than 30 laps to go when the two made contact at the exit of Turn 4. Cindric made a nifty save to keep his car off the wall but the contact manipulated the handling of his Mustang. From there until the race concluded, Cindric wrestled a very loose car during the final laps of the race.
Cindric held on to score a ninth-place finish, his fourth top-10 finish of the season. His solid finish also moved him up to 12th-place in the NXS driver standings. The 22 team remains third in Owner’ points, just 13 markers out of first.
Quote: “We needed some long runs. This Menards/Richmond Ford Mustang has been awesome every time that I’ve been in it and I’d like to thank everyone at Team Penske for letting me run these last four races. We had a great long run car. We were probably a little too free and didn’t have enough grip on restarts. I felt like we had a top-five car and should have had a top-five day, but got caught up there late in the race and got some damage and had to nurse it home. Today was a good points day for everyone at Team Penske and more experience for me to learn when I come back here in the playoffs.”
