AdventHealth 400 – Kansas Speedway
Kansas City, KS – May 5, 2024
NASCAR TRACKS – KANSAS SPEEDWAY – NASCAR 101
AUSTIN CINDRIC No. 2 SNAP-ON FORD MUSTANG
START: 7TH STAGE ONE: 12TH STAGE TWO: 18TH FINISH: 37TH POINTS: 20TH
RACE RUNDOWN: Austin Cindric, driver of the No. 2 Snap-on Tools Ford Mustang, was credited with a 37th-place finish after an unfortunate early retirement in Sunday’s AdventHealth 400 at Kansas Speedway. Cindric jetted off from the seventh position and hovered around the top 10 for the duration of Stage 1, finishing 12th as he endured a tight condition. Crew chief Brian Wilson called the 25-year-old driver to pit road for the second time for a service of four tires, fuel and an air pressure adjustment under the Stage break. Cindric restarted 11th on Lap 89 when the race resumed but dropped to 18th after a hectic restart. He returned to the attention of the Snap-on crew on Lap 117 under green for a four-tire stop and finished Stage 2 in the 16th position. Pleased with the handling improvements, Cindric told the team over the radio that the car was the best it had been all day. After another trip down pit road, he restarted 14th for the third and final Stage. Calamity struck with just under 85 laps to go, heavily damaging the No. 2 Ford Mustang and forcing its retirement.
CINDRIC’S THOUGHTS: “A lot of cars there trying to overdrive the corner to try to get in front of one another. The 22 slid up on the 20, the 20 slid up on the 11 and I was the first thing to hit before the wall. I tried to back out when I saw the situation the 11 was getting put in. It is just racing. Nobody I can really be frustrated with. It is unfortunate. I felt we had a really solid run going, nothing overly spectacular but I thought the guys did a really good job all weekend and executed a great race up until that point.”
RYAN BLANEY No. 12 MENARDS/CARDELL CABINETRY FORD MUSTANG
START: 26TH STAGE ONE: 16TH STAGE TWO: 18TH FINISH: 12TH POINTS: 6TH
RACE RUNDOWN: Ryan Blaney secured a 12th-place finish Sunday night at Kansas Speedway in the No. 12 Menards/Cardell Cabinetry Ford Mustang. Following a lengthy delay to the start of the race due to rain, Blaney made up ten spots in the first 20 laps prior to the start of green flag pit stops on lap 32 as three 12 team’s adjustments worked on the balance in the early going. Despite reporting a tight-handling condition on the ensuing run, Blaney came away with a 16th-place finish in Stage 1. Blaney continued to fight the tight condition at the start of the second segment but maintained pace as he searched around for grip on the track. After cycling to 16th in the running order following green flag stops that included an adjustment to free him up, Blaney raced to an 18th-place result in Stage 2. The final stage featured several cautions as the restarts produced three and four-wide racing, allowing the 12-team to go off-sequence with their strategy, but a caution with under 70 laps to go brought all the lead lap cars to pit road prior to the final run of the night. Blaney began his charge through the field and made his way into the top-10 with 32 laps to go before a single-car incident with seven laps to go set up one final round of stops prior to the overtime restart. Crew chief Jonathan Hassler made the call for right side tires only, gaining Blaney five spots on pit road before he lined up on the inside of row three to take the green flag. Blaney held his line in the inside lane but was unable to carry the momentum off of turn two before taking the checkered flag 12th.
BLANEY’S THOUGHTS: “Proud of the effort from everyone on the 12 group tonight – [crew chief] Jonathan [Hassler] made a great call at the end there to get us in the first few rows for the final restart. We just fought the balance all day and couldn’t make up enough track position early on. We’ll take what we can from it and shift our focus to Darlington.”
JOEY LOGANO No. 22 SHELL-PENNZOIL FORD MUSTANG
START: 11TH STAGE ONE: 21ST STAGE TWO: 21ST FINISH: 34TH POINTS: 17TH
RACE RUNDOWN: Joey Logano was involved in a late-race incident Sunday night at Kansas Speedway, resulting in a 34th-place finish for the Shell-Pennzoil Ford Mustang. After a nearly three-hour rain delay, Logano took the green flag from 11th before issues with front turn saw the Shell-Pennzoil Ford settle into 15th in the running order during the opening run. During the first green flag pit cycle, Logano hit pit road with the second wave of cars on lap 33 for four tires and a round of adjustments before crossing the line 21st in Stage 1. Logano struggled with a lack of rear grip and a loose Ford Mustang on exit of the corners during the second segment, but the balance began to neutralize over the course of the run in a 21st-place showing in Stage 2. A trio of cautions to begin the final stage stemming from three and four-wide racing on the restarts tightened up the field as Logano was scored 15th coming to the green flag with 70 laps to go, but the No. 22 Shell-Pennzoil Ford broke loose off the exit of turn four on the opening lap of the restart, sending Logano sliding into the infield to bring out the yellow. With both rear tires down, Logano was towed to the 22 team’s pit stall for four fresh tires before rejoining the field in 35th, two laps down before taking the checkered flag 34th Sunday night.
LOGANO’S THOUGHTS: “Tough end to the night for our 22 team, for sure. I liked the direction we were going with our balance but we just lacked pace on the longer runs. We got ourselves towards the front there late but, unfortunately, lost all that momentum in one corner and that was it for us.”
The NASCAR Cup Series heads to Darlington Raceway for the Goodyear 400 on Sunday, May 12. Coverage begins at 3:00 p.m. ET on FS1, MRN, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.
