DAYTONA 500 – Daytona International Speedway
Daytona Beach, Fla. – February 16, 2025
AUSTIN CINDRIC No. 2 DISCOUNT TIRE FORD MUSTANG
START: 2ND STAGE 1: 24TH STAGE 2: 2ND FINISH: 8TH POINTS: 3RD
RACE RUNDOWN: Austin Cindric’s bid for a second DAYTONA 500 victory ended with an eighth-place finish after a dramatic final-lap shakeup took him out of contention for the win. Cindric was a force throughout Speedweeks in the Discount Tire Ford Mustang, securing a front-row starting spot for his fifth run in the Great American Race and winning Duel 2. After just 11 laps, inclement weather brought out a red flag that lasted more than three hours. Just as the field prepared to go back green, another round of rain arrived, delaying the action for an additional 20 minutes. Once racing resumed, Cindric restarted third but found himself shuffled back in the draft, ending Stage 1 in 24th. The second segment saw the 26-year-old climb back into contention, taking the lead outright on Lap 106 with teammate Ryan Blaney close behind. The Team Penske duo controlled the front of the pack in a single-file formation until Blaney edged ahead just before the Stage break, leaving Cindric to finish second in Stage 2. Content with the balance of his car, he lined up third for the start of the final segment. A caution for debris on Lap 161 prompted pit stops, and efficient work by the No. 2 crew sent Cindric back on track as the race leader. Over the final 10 laps, he remained in the thick of the battle, jockeying for control of the field as the intensity ramped up. In a chaotic final-lap shuffle, Cindric was forced out of the lead and ultimately crossed the line in eighth place—a strong result, but one that didn’t reflect the winning potential he displayed throughout the night. He led a total of 59 laps.
CINDRIC’S THOUGHTS: “I’m clearly disappointed. I mean, you take the white and you’re in the lead. I wish we had a better chance to bring that home for everyone at Discount Tire and Team Penske and Ford Performance. It was just an exceptional effort all the way through Speedweeks. There’s definitely a lot to review there, trying to figure out when I need to actually be leading, so just frustrating to be that close.”
RYAN BLANEY No. 12 MENARDS/PEAK FORD MUSTANG
START: 16TH STAGE 1: 3RD STAGE 2: 1ST FINISH: 7TH POINTS: 1ST
RACE RUNDOWN: Ryan Blaney wheeled the No. 12 Menards/Peak Ford Mustang to a seventh-place finish in Sunday’s 67th running of the DAYTONA 500 and led 23 laps in the top-10 effort. Following a three-plus hour rain delay just 11 laps into the afternoon, Blaney worked his way through the pack over the course of the first stage before finding success in the top lane to come away with a third-place finish in the opening segment. Blaney powered his way to the front of the field during the opening run of Stage 2 as the field battled three-wide behind him before ultimately clearing himself off of turn four to narrowly pick up the stage win over teammate Austin Cindric. After winning the race off pit road, Blaney continued to control the race out front as the field took the green with 62 laps to go. With 15 laps to go and the intensity of the three-wide battles heightening, Blaney was collected in a multi-car incident on the backstretch that resulted in damage to the nose and right rear, but after multiple trips to pit road under caution for repairs, the No. 12 team was able to keep Blaney on the lead lap for the final run of the night. After restarting at the tail of the field, Blaney made his way through a pair of incidents in the closing laps to work back into the top-10 and salvage the night with a seventh-place result.
BLANEY’S THOUGHTS: “I thought Austin [Cindric] and I were in a good position. We had control of the race for a while. The middle kind of came a little bit but I felt like we were still going to have a shot. It was just people pushing hard at the end of this thing and sometimes it just doesn’t work. Unfortunately, we were part of the wreck, but fortunate that we didn’t have night-ending damage. Austin and I did a good job. I thought we timed the strategy perfect of he and I being out front together the last run of the race and just lost a couple of us there.”
JOEY LOGANO No. 22 SHELL-PENNZOIL FORD MUSTANG
START: 10TH STAGE 1: 1ST STAGE 2: 8TH FINISH: 35TH POINTS: 17TH
RACE RUNDOWN: Joey Logano and the No. 22 Shell-Pennzoil team had their share of ups and downs during Sunday’s 67th running of the DAYTONA 500 as a late-race incident resulted in a 35th-place finish despite Logano leading 43 laps on the day. Following a rain delay that lasted just over three hours after completing the first 11 laps, Logano charged his way to the front and led 38 of the 65 laps in the opening segment to pick up the first stage win of the season. After taking the green flag from the outside of row one for Stage 2, Logano experienced a mechanical issue that required him to come down pit road under caution as the No. 22 team went under the hood to assess. Logano went down a lap in the process and was noticeably off the pace when returning on track, but another caution allowed the team to continue work on pit road while receiving the free pass to rejoin the lead lap. Once Logano was back up to speed, he charged his way back through the field to post an eighth-place finish in Stage 2. The 22 crew went under the hood one final time during the stage caution – relegating Logano to the tail end of the field for the ensuing restart – but once again found himself back in contention with under 20 laps remaining. Logano’s battle to the front of the field was halted with 15 to go as contact with the No. 47 on the backstretch set off a multi-car incident that ultimately brought an end to the 22 team’s night in a 35th-place finish.
LOGANO’S THOUGHTS: “From my perspective, I felt like to win the race I had to get to the second row in my line there. I was in third and needed to get to second. I saw the opportunity to drop down and get underneath [Ricky Stenhouse Jr.] and have [Noah Gragson], another Ford, behind me. Then [Stenhouse Jr.] threw a late block there. I checked up for it and it looked like he was going to go back up and grab the top lane so I went back in to try and close the gap again but he kept coming down. I am checking up but at that point the checkup has already happened behind me and everybody is all over each other. I can’t get out of it and then we made contact. It is unfortunate. We had a good Shell-Pennzoil Mustang. We had a good car but just couldn’t get it done.”
The NASCAR Cup Series will make its way to Atlanta Motor Speedway next with on-track action kicking off Saturday, February 22 at 11:30 a.m. ET on Prime Video. The race broadcast will be live on Sunday, February 23 at 3 p.m. ET on FOX.
