Würth 400 – Dover Motor Speedway
Dover, DE – April 28, 2024
NASCAR TRACKS – DOVER MOTOR SPEEDWAY – NASCAR 101
AUSTIN CINDRIC No. 2 MENARDS/QUAKER STATE FORD MUSTANG
START: 11TH STAGE ONE: 19TH STAGE TWO: 20TH FINISH: 15TH POINTS: 19TH
RACE RUNDOWN: Austin Cindric, driver of the No. 2 Menards/Quaker State Ford Mustang, rallied back to net a 15th-place finish in Sunday’s Würth 400 at Dover Motor Speedway. Cindric, an admirer of the high-speed, one-mile concrete oval, fired off from the 11th position after barely missing out on advancing to the final round in Saturday’s time trials. Just under 35 laps into the race, Cindric informed the team that the car was free on entry and tight on exit and shortly after made his first trip to pit road under caution on lap 39 for four tires, fuel and adjustments. When the flags flew signifying the conclusion of Stage 1 following the opening 120 laps, Cindric crossed the line 19th and returned to pit road for additional adjustments to help provide stability and overall grip. The 25-year-old driver restarted 17th and reported that the car was getting loose 30 laps into the run. After completing a green-flag stop on lap 182, Cindric cycled to the 20th position and remained there as Stage 2 ended. The 2020 NASCAR Xfinity Series champion restarted 19th and avoided a multi-car incident with 72 laps to go. When the field returned green, the No. 2 was scored 15th and powered through to the finish 15th, marking his best finish since Atlanta.
CINDRIC’S THOUGHTS: “I’m proud to have a result that is representative of the hard work our team has put in. I feel like we’ve struggled to finish these deals out the last month or so, the speed that we’ve shown, so I’m proud of that. Fifteenth is solid, but we still have more progress to make. The guys called a great race. We made good adjustments and it feels nice to execute one. We just need to keep moving forward.”
RYAN BLANEY No. 12 WÜRTH FORD MUSTANG
START: 2ND STAGE ONE: 4TH STAGE TWO: 8TH FINISH: 7TH POINTS: 7TH
RACE RUNDOWN: Ryan Blaney wheeled the No. 12 Würth Ford Mustang to his fifth top-10 finish of the season Sunday at Dover, coming away with a seventh-place result. After starting on the front row for the 400-mile event, Blaney settled into second before making the pass for the lead on lap 34 before the first caution of the day came out five laps later. The 12 team ripped off a fast, four-tire stop under yellow to win the race off pit road, allowing Blaney to restart from the inside of row one with 73 laps remaining in Stage 1. Blaney paced the field for a majority of the ensuing run before the Würth Ford began to build tight as he fell to fourth in the running order with 20 laps left in the segment. The caution flag flew with three to go in the stage as Blaney was credited with a fourth-place finish in Stage 1. Following a four tire stop and a round of adjustments during the stage break, Blaney settled into fourth for the initial run of Stage 2 before the green flag pit cycle began. The tight-handling condition persisted after the trip to pit road, but Blaney battled to an eighth-place finish in Stage 2. The opening run of the final stage saw Blaney settle into sixth on the leaderboard as the tight condition at the start began to work its way to the free side before the leaders hit pit road with 80 laps to go for scheduled green flag stops. Shortly after Blaney made his way off pit road, the caution flag flew for a single-car incident that trapped him a lap down but the free pass brought him back on the lead lap and scored ninth in the order. Blaney continued to battle inside the top-10 over the course of the final run before ultimately taking the checkered flag seventh. Blaney’s 47 laps led marked a career-high at Dover in his 14th-career Cup Series start at the one-mile oval.
BLANEY’S THOUGHTS: “I still thought we had, like, fourth to seventh-place potential all day, so I’m proud of the effort by everybody on this team for sticking with it. I really wanted to win one for Würth. It’s a big race for those guys and they’re a great partner for us, but we just missed out. Hopefully, we can get a redemption shot next year if they do this again, but I appreciate the effort. It was a long day. To run 400 laps around this place is tough and working on it all day, the 12 boys stuck with it so I appreciate their effort and we’ll go to Kansas next week.”
JOEY LOGANO No. 22 SHELL-PENNZOIL FORD MUSTANG
START: 13TH STAGE ONE: 20TH STAGE TWO: 18TH FINISH: 16TH POINTS: 13TH
RACE RUNDOWN: Joey Logano drove the No. 22 Shell-Pennzoil Ford Mustang to a 16th-place finish in Sunday afternoon’s Würth 400 at Dover. Logano battled a tight-handling condition after starting the 400-mile event from 13th, resulting in a 20th-place finish in the opening stage. Following a four-tire stop and a round of adjustments at the stage break, Logano settled into 20th during the first green flag run of Stage 2 before he was called to pit road on lap 184 around the halfway point of the segment. The Shell-Pennzoil Ford fired off tight for the final run of the stage as Logano battled to an 18th-place finish in Stage 2. After restarting the final stage from 18th, Logano continued to battle in traffic around the one-mile concrete oval before the green flag pit cycle began around 80 laps to go. Following a four-tire stop under green, Logano was making his way off pit road when the caution flag flew for a single-car incident on the backstretch, trapping the No. 22 team a lap down. After taking the wave-around to rejoin the lead lap, Logano avoided a multi-car incident coming off the exit of turn two on the ensuing restart as he was able to get checked up in time and allowing the 22 team to make another round of adjustments under caution. The ensuing restart proved to be the final one of the afternoon as Logano took the checkered flag 16th.
LOGANO’S THOUGHTS: “We dealt with some handling issues early on and continued working on it throughout the day but we couldn’t regain the track position that we lost during that first run. Proud of the effort from this Shell-Pennzoil team for keeping at it all day long and we’ll see what we have for Kansas.”
The NASCAR Cup Series heads to the Sunflower State next weekend for the AdventHealth 400 on Sunday, May 5 at Kansas Speedway. Coverage begins at 3:00 p.m. ET on FS1, MRN, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.
