PENNZOIL 400 – LAS VEGAS MOTOR SPEEDWAY
Las Vegas, Nev. – March 3, 2024
NASCAR TRACKS – LAS VEGAS MOTOR SPEEDWAY – NASCAR 101
AUSTIN CINDRIC No. 2 DISCOUNT TIRE FORD MUSTANG
START: 3RD STAGE ONE: 9TH STAGE TWO: 32ND FINISH: 29TH POINTS: 11TH
RACE RUNDOWN: Austin Cindric, driver of the No. 2 Discount Tire Ford Mustang, finished 29th in Sunday’s Pennzoil 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Cindric fired off from the third position after posting strong times in Saturday’s qualifying sessions. Under the first caution of the race on Lap 11, Cindric informed the Discount Tire team of a slightly tight condition and headed to pit road for four tires, fuel and an air pressure adjustment. He restarted ninth, but another caution on Lap 27 allowed the Team Penske driver to return to pit road for further adjustments. When the flags flew to conclude Stage 1, Cindric was scored in the ninth position. Under the Stage break, crew chief Brian Wilson called the driver in for another service stop with adjustments targeted to aid the right front and Cindric took the green flag from the 10th position for the incoming restart to kick off Stage 2. Unfortunately during a green flag pit stop on Lap 119, the No. 2 Ford Mustang was flagged for speeding and issued a pass-through penalty, erasing Cindric’s track position. A significant vibration plagued the Discount Tire machine following the pit stop, but Cindric powered through and was eventually able to take the wave-around to rejoin the lead lap. After crossing the line 32nd to end Stage 2, Cindric returned to pit lane for fresh tires and air pressure adjustments, lining up 27th for the restart. Cindric battled a loose condition after tagging the wall in the final stretch, but pushed through to the checkered flag.
CINDRIC’S THOUGHTS: “It was good to get stage points at the beginning of the race. I definitely hurt us with the speeding penalty which lost all our track position and had to fight to get back on the lead lap – that one is on me. We had a set of tires that had a really bad vibration that took me out of contention for another stint. We had speed in our Discount Tire Ford Mustang, just did not execute the best today on my part.”
RYAN BLANEY No. 12 MENARDS/PENNZOIL FORD MUSTANG
START: 15TH STAGE ONE: 11TH STAGE TWO: 4TH FINISH: 3RD POINTS: 2ND
RACE RUNDOWN: Ryan Blaney and the No. 12 Menards/Pennzoil team battled to a third-place finish Sunday at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, marking his sixth-career top-five at the 1.5-mile oval and second in as many weeks. Blaney displayed strong long-run speed throughout the 400-mile event and fought back from 20th in the running order to secure an 11th-place finish in Stage 1. Following a four-tire stop with a round of adjustments to give Blaney more front turn, he lined up 12th on the ensuing restart and vaulted up to sixth in the running order on the opening lap of Stage 2 with a massive run out of turn four using the outside lane. As the long-run speed began to settle in, Blaney made his way up to fourth before the start of the green flag pit cycle. An efficient, four-tire stop from the No. 12 team on lap 118 cycled Blaney to third in the running order before coming away with a fourth-place finish in the second stage. Blaney continued to display top-five speed in the final stage and was running third at the time of the final caution with 33 laps to go. Crew chief Jonathan Hassler called for another round of adjustments to tighten up the No. 12 Ford Mustang during the four-tire stop under yellow before Blaney lined up fourth for the final restart with 28 laps remaining. After restarting from the outside of row two, Blaney worked his way up to third in the running order in the closing laps to secure a top-five result.
BLANEY’S THOUGHTS: “Worked really hard all day and got better through the race I thought, so that was positive, and probably ended the best we were. So that’s always good. Something good to look forward to and hopefully just continue to work on. So proud of the Menards/Pennzoil Ford Mustang team. The No. 12 guys did a good job all weekend. Hopefully, we learned for next week, so that’s all you can ask for.”
JOEY LOGANO No. 22 PENNZOIL FORD MUSTANG
START: 1ST STAGE ONE: 13TH STAGE TWO: 9TH FINISH: 9TH POINTS: 24TH
RACE RUNDOWN: Joey Logano led the field to green in the No. 22 Pennzoil Ford Mustang Sunday afternoon at Las Vegas Motor Speedway and battled through handling issues on the opening run of the 400-mile event, shuffling him outside the top-10 during the opening run. The No. 22 team dialed in several adjustments on pit road in the early going, but a vibration that came on in the closing laps of Stage 1 relegated Logano to a 13th-place finish in the opening segment. Logano raced his way back into the top-10 following the green-flag pit cycle in Stage 2 despite a loose-handling condition in traffic but held his own through the green-and-white checkered flag on lap 165 to pick up a ninth-place finish in Stage 2. Logano continued to keep top-10 pace in the final stage and was scored seventh when the caution flew with 33 laps to go. One final four-tire stop with a round of adjustments set Logano up to restart from the inside of row three with 28 laps to go before ultimately coming away with a ninth-place finish – marking his 13th-career top-10 finish in 22 starts at Las Vegas.
LOGANO’S THOUGHTS: “We fired off a little bit off and lost a lot of track position in the first stage. We got our balance to where it was close, but only in the long run. Once we got seven laps into a run we were able to run top-three times. Unfortunately we lost too many spots on the restarts. We executed well on pit road and our No. 22 team did a good job. We just didn’t fire off fast enough or have good enough restarts.”
The NASCAR Cup Series closes out the West Coast swing at Phoenix Raceway for the Shriners Children’s 500 on Sunday, March 10. Coverage begins at 3:30 p.m. ET on FOX, MRN, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.
