The Great American Getaway 400: Pocono Raceway
Pocono, PA – July 14, 2024
NASCAR TRACKS – POCONO RACEWAY – NASCAR 101
AUSTIN CINDRIC No. 2 MENARDS/RICHMOND FORD MUSTANG
START: 20TH STAGE ONE: 35TH STAGE TWO: 31ST FINISH: 18TH POINTS: 19TH
RACE RUNDOWN: Austin Cindric and the No. 2 Menards/Richmond team registered an 18th-place finish in Sunday’s Great American Getaway 400 at Pocono Raceway. Cindric started the 400-mile race from the 20th position and battled a tight-handling Ford Mustang through the start of the race. When the first caution flew on Lap 14, the No. 2 team elected to stay out, lining up 12th for the restart. With three laps remaining in the opening stint, the Team Penske driver visited pit road for a four-tire service stop, resulting in a 35th place finish in Stage 1 as varying strategies played out across the teams. Cindric, a former winner at Pocono in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, fired off 22nd for the start of the second segment, but continued to fight a tight condition inside the Menards/Richmond machine. Cindric remained on-track when a caution for the No. 1 slowed the field on Lap 52, cycling to the top-five for the ensuing restart as many cars opted to pit. The 25-year-old driver returned to the attention of his crew on pit road with less than 25 laps to go in Stage 2, ultimately finishing 31st. Still facing a less-than-ideal tightness, Cindric stayed out at the break, positioning himself sixth for the restart. Despite losing track position as those with newer tires charged forward, Cindric capitalized on some late race incidents to regain spots, resulting in an 18th-place finish.
CINDRIC’S THOUGHTS: “I think we made some good calls strategy-wise to put together the race. Just unfortunately, every time we didn’t need a caution, we got a caution. So I’m proud of the effort, but we kind of had to reset ourselves a few times throughout the day and kind of just had to play it straight-up from the tail at the end of the race to get inside the top 20 there. Overall, it was a decent weekend for the Menards/Richmond Ford Mustang, but I’m happy for the 12 boys. We’ll take what we learned and hopefully apply to Indy next weekend.”
RYAN BLANEY No. 12 WABASH FORD MUSTANG
START: 8TH STAGE ONE: 29TH STAGE TWO: 27TH FINISH: 1ST POINTS: 7TH
RACE RUNDOWN: Ryan Blaney led a race-high 44 laps to earn his second win of the 2024 season Sunday at Pocono Raceway, marking his second victory in the last five races. Team Penske has now won four of the last seven NASCAR Cup Series (NCS) races while Blaney’s win Sunday serves as Team Penske’s first at Pocono since 2011. Blaney now has three career multi-win seasons to his credit – all coming in the last four years – after picking up his 12th-career Cup Series victory. The win also marks Blaney’s second NCS triumph at the 2.5-mile track after taking his first-career checkered flag in 2017 while driving for Wood Brothers Racing. After starting eighth Sunday, the Wabash Ford Mustang showed top-five speed from the drop of the green flag. Crew chief Jonathan Hassler put the 12 team’s strategy in motion early on, bringing Blaney to pit road in the closing laps of each of the first two stages to set him up for the final run of the afternoon. Following Stage 2, Blaney stayed out under caution and lined up on the outside of row two to take the green for the final segment. Blaney wheeled the Wabash Ford up to second in the running order during the opening laps of the run, but a tight-handling condition initially kept him from chasing down the leader. The caution flag flew with 45 laps to go as the field hit pit road for the final time as Hassler made the call for right side tires only, allowing Blaney to exit second. However, a pit road speeding penalty issued to the No. 5 turned the lead over to Blaney as he chose to restart from the outside of row one with 40 laps remaining. A trio of cautions over the span of 12 laps continued to bring the field back together despite Blaney clearing the inside lane out of turn one on each restart. Ultimately, the field took the green for the final time with 23 laps to go as Blaney once again powered around the inside row off the exit of turn one and worked to stretch his advantage as the laps ticked off. The No. 48 closed in on the Blaney’s bumper during the opening laps of the run, but his long-run speed prevailed as the Wabash Ford steadily increased the gap on the field. After stretching his lead out to over two seconds, Blaney took the checkered flag to claim the 12 team’s second win of the season.
BLANEY’S THOUGHTS: “I think things are just kind of falling into place for us. I feel like we have gotten to a great place on speed in the last two months, especially. I feel like we honestly had a couple races slip away from us which I thought we had a good shot at winning. It was nice to stick to the plan today and our plan was to have track position at the end. I knew our car was fast enough. I am super proud of the whole 12 team. The Wabash Ford Mustang was amazing. I appreciate Menards, BODYARMOR, the Wurth Group, Advance Auto Parts, DEX Imaging and everyone that makes this possible. It is so cool to win here again. I think we are in a better spot at this time this year than where we were last year at this point. I feel like our speed is better. Our execution is great. We are doing everything as a 12 group the best that we can. We have had some other unforeseen circumstances that have hindered some finishes and possible wins. I am so proud of this Team Penske group. All the men and women at the race shop, they work their butts off to try to get better and deal with the drivers when they say we need to get a lot better. I appreciate them and Roush Yates Engines and all the work they do and continue to do.”
JOEY LOGANO No. 22 SHELL-PENNZOIL FORD MUSTANG
START: 10TH STAGE ONE: 7TH STAGE TWO: 9TH FINISH: 5TH POINTS: 14TH
RACE RUNDOWN: Joey Logano wheeled the Shell-Pennzoil Ford Mustang to a fifth-place finish Sunday at Pocono Raceway, marking his fourth top-five finish of the season. Logano battled a loose-handling condition throughout the 30-lap opening stage but rallied to come away with a seventh-place finish in Stage 1. After opting to stay out during the stage break, Logano assumed the lead and restarted the second segment from the outside of row one but was shuffled out of line in turn one before settling into 10th in the running order. Despite reporting a tight condition while in traffic, Logano began to make his way back up through the field in the closing laps of Stage 2 as the No. 22 team altered its strategy to go opposite of the leaders who hit pit road prior to the end of the stage. Ultimately, Logano notched a ninth-place finish in the second segment before a four tire stop under caution prior to the start of the final stage saw Logano line up 12th to take the green flag. After making his way back into the top-10, a caution with 45 laps to go prompted crew chief Paul Wolfe to make the call for right side tires only when pit road opened while several speeding penalties ahead vaulted Logano to fourth in the running order before going back green. Three cautions over the next 12 laps aided the 22 team’s fuel strategy as Logano shifted his focus to making it to the end without the need for an additional stop as he lined up fourth with 23 laps to go. Logano went on to maintain top-five pace the rest of the way before taking the checkered flag fifth.
LOGANO’S THOUGHTS: “Overall, a top-five, you have to be somewhat happy with that. We had speed there toward the end of the race and I think we could have run in the top two. I don’t know if we could have been better than Ryan [Blaney] or not, but it just took us too long to get the balance right. Once we got the track position and the balance close, I about wrecked it on the restart. Those spots there kind of ultimately cost us a chance to win it, but overall I am proud of the speed that we brought to a track like this. It makes me look forward to Indy a little bit more where we have some long straightaways again and it seemed like our car was decent on the straightaways this time.”
The NASCAR Cup Series makes its return to the oval at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Sunday, July 21. Coverage of the Brickyard 400 begins at 2:30 p.m. ET on NBC, IMS Radio Network, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.
