Cook Out Southern 500: Darlington Raceway
Darlington, S.C. – September 1, 2024
AUSTIN CINDRIC No. 2 DISCOUNT TIRE FORD MUSTANG
START: 11TH STAGE ONE: 32ND STAGE TWO: 26TH FINISH: 13TH POINTS: 10TH
RACE RUNDOWN: Austin Cindric and the No. 2 Discount Tire team rallied to a solid 13th-place in Sunday’s Cook Out Southern 500 at the historic Darlington Raceway after battling off the lead lap for much of the event. Cindric started a strong 11th after narrowly missing out on advancing to the final round of qualifying in Saturday’s time trials. The Team Penske driver fought a tight car from the start, making his first visit to pit road on Lap 37 for four tires, fuel and an adjustment. On Lap 71, the No. 2 was docked for an uncontrolled tire penalty, swiping away valuable track position. After finishing 32nd in the opening Stage, Cindric returned to pit road for fresh tires, fuel and additional adjustments to aid the car. The 2020 NASCAR Xfinity Series champion remained focused on the task at hand, returning to the lead lap, but slotted in 26th when Stage 2 concluded in a relatively uneventful second segment. In the third and final portion of the crown jewel event, Cindric was able to take the wave around on Lap 314, gaining a lap back. When the sixth caution of the day slowed the competition with less than 35 laps to go, Cindric was in the free pass position, jolting him back to the lead lap. As the chaos intensified in the regular season finale, Cindric was able to press forward, gaining momentum in the running order. The driver of the No. 2 ultimately recorded a 13th-place finish, demonstrating his never-give-up attitude.
CINDRIC’S THOUGHTS: “From our first pit stop to our last one, it was definitely an adventure. I feel like I used that word a lot throughout the regular season. But yeah, having to come down for the uncontrolled tire penalty put us two laps down for pretty much the majority of the race. The first chance we got to do the wave we got it, and then they got to wrecking and we drove up to the lucky dog spot and got the lucky dog, leading us to a decent finish. Track position was important, and I’m happy we were able to get a solid result. It was definitely an entire race of not giving up.“
RYAN BLANEY No. 12 MENARDS/RICHMOND FORD MUSTANG
START: 7TH STAGE ONE: 37TH STAGE TWO: 37TH FINISH: 37TH POINTS: 5TH
RACE RUNDOWN: Ryan Blaney’s run in the NASCAR Cup Series regular season finale came to a very early end Sunday night at Darlington as the No. 12 Menards/Richmond Ford Mustang was involved in an incident on lap three of the Southern 500. Blaney was running up by the wall in turns one and two when the No. 19 broke loose underneath the No. 24 and slid up into outside wall, collecting the Menards/Richmond Ford in the process. Despite the 37th-place finish, Blaney enters the Cup Series Playoffs fifth in the standings while defending the 2023 championship title.
BLANEY’S THOUGHTS: “It looked like [Martin Truex Jr.] got loose and I thought he was going to spin to the bottom, so I kind of gassed up, and right as I got to his outside his car kind of hooked up and shot right into me. Unfortunate timing on lap three. It stinks we didn’t get to race at all but we’ll go on to next week.”
JOEY LOGANO No. 22 SHELL-PENNZOIL FORD MUSTANG
START: 23RD STAGE ONE: 15TH STAGE TWO: 15TH FINISH: 8TH POINTS: 9TH
RACE RUNDOWN: Joey Logano posted his 11th-career top-10 finish at Darlington Raceway in Sunday night’s Southern 500 with an eight-place result. The No. 22 Shell-Pennzoil Ford worked its way through the field in the opening stage of the regular season finale as Logano battled some early handling issues before coming away with a 15th-place finish in Stage 1. Following a four tire stop and a round of adjustments prior to the restart, Logano began to gain track position and charged into the top-10 early in the run. The 22-crew continued to go to work on the balance during a pair of green flag pit stops in Stage 2 as Logano came away with another 15th-place effort in the second segment. With just over 50 laps to go and teams needing one more pit stop to make it to the end, a trio of cautions saw varying strategies unfold as Logano was brought to pit road – the opposite call of the leaders ahead – in an effort to gain ground on those with older tires. Logano ultimately made his way up to ninth prior to the final restart with 17 laps remaining before taking the checkered flag eighth on the night. Logano enters the Cup Series Playoffs ninth in the standings following the points reset.
LOGANO’S THOUGHTS: “Starting where we were, our goal was to pick them off one or two at a time and methodically move our way through the field. We were doing that. We got ourselves into the top-10 and looking pretty good. We had some issues on pit road – I’m not sure exactly what happened – but we cleaned it back up for the end there and got a top-10 out of it, at least. Not quite what we wanted with the Shell-Pennzoil Mustang but at least we recovered and got something decent out of it. We’ll move on to the playoffs and give it a run for our money and see if we can get down to the championship four.”
The NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs opens the Round of 16 at Atlanta Motor Speedway on Sunday, September 8. Coverage of the Quaker State 400 begins at 3 p.m. ET on USA, PRN, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.
