68TH DAYTONA 500
Daytona Beach, Florida – February 15, 2026
AUSTIN CINDRIC No. 2 DISCOUNT TIRE FORD MUSTANG DARK HORSE
START: 36TH STAGE 1: 2ND STAGE 2: 34TH FINISH: 34TH POINTS: 29TH
RACE RUNDOWN: Austin Cindric finished 34th in Sunday’s DAYTONA 500 after an early front-running effort was derailed by damage sustained in a mid-race incident. Cindric and the No. 2 Discount Tire Ford Mustang Dark Horse rolled off 36th but wasted little time charging forward. After pitting for a splash of fuel under the first caution on Lap 5, he restarted 15th on Lap 12 and methodically worked his way into contention. Cindric closed Stage 1 in second place and reported the car was “a touch on the free side” before the team made adjustments with four tires and fuel. Back under green on Lap 72, Cindric powered to the race lead and continued to show strong pace. Following another splash of fuel under caution on Lap 85, he restarted fifth on Lap 92 and quickly surged back to the top spot. As the lanes shuffled and momentum shifted, he remained a steady presence inside the top 10. On Lap 123, Cindric was collected in an incident that resulted in heavy right-side damage. The team worked on pit road to make repairs before sending him back out with 65 laps remaining. Despite the effort, the damage proved too significant to overcome, and Cindric ultimately crossed the line 34th when the checkered flag flew.
CINDRIC’S THOUGHTS: “I’m proud of everyone on this No. 2 team. We had a fast Discount Tire Ford all week and put ourselves in position up front. We were able to lead a couple laps and score some stage points. It’s unfortunate how it ended, but we’ll take what we learned and get ready for Atlanta.”
RYAN BLANEY No. 12 MENARDS/PEAK FORD MUSTANG DARK HORSE
START: 5TH STAGE 1: 3RD STAGE 2: 2ND FINISH: 27TH POINTS: 10TH
RACE RUNDOWN: Ryan Blaney logged a pair of top-five stage finishes in the 68th running of the Daytona 500 Sunday afternoon but was involved in a multi-car incident on the final lap, relegating the No. 12 Menards/Peak Ford Mustang Dark Horse to a 27th-place finish. After starting from the inside of row three, the No. 12 team was able to take advantage of an early caution to stretch their fuel mileage to the end of the opening stage while a majority of the field was forced to pit prior to the end of the segment on lap 65, resulting in a third-place effort. Following the first four tire stop of the day, Blaney assumed the lead prior to the start of Stage 2 after several teams opted to top off on fuel before taking the green. While running third on lap 124, a stack up between the leaders set off a 17-car incident in the tri-oval, but Blaney was able to get by with minimal nose damage as Stage 2 came to an end under caution with the Menards/Peak Ford scored second. The No. 12 team had an extended stop on pit road to assess the damage prior to the restart, relegating Blaney to 22nd in the running order as he took the green with 66 laps remaining. The field formed three-wide to begin the run as Blaney found himself trapped seventh in line in the top lane, but began to cycle his way forward as the final green flag pit cycle began with 20 laps to go. Crew chief Jonathan Hassler called Blaney to pit road with 12 to go and got back up to speed as the lead pack reached him entering turn three. Despite losing a bit of track position in the process, a caution with nine laps remaining reset the field for one final restart with four to go. Blaney took the green from 18th in the running order as he began his final opportunity to charge to the front, but ultimately was collected in a multi-car wreck at the entrance to turn one on the white flag lap as he was unable to make it back around to take the checkered.
BLANEY’S THOUGHTS: “We were up front a lot early. Not at the end, unfortunately. We spent some time fixing our car after the Stage 2 caution and started in the back and then just kind of got trapped. We never really jumped anything on the pit stop and didn’t go anywhere on the final restart, then got caught up in the wreck into [turn] one. Really good day for the most part, and then at the end just couldn’t get back to the front.”
JOEY LOGANO No. 22 SHELL-PENNZOIL FORD MUSTANG DARK HORSE
START: 3RD STAGE 1: 29TH STAGE 2: 9TH FINISH: 3RD POINTS: 2ND
RACE RUNDOWN: Joey Logano and No. 22 Shell-Pennzoil Ford Mustang Dark Horse team were in contention for the win in the closing laps of Sunday’s 68th running of the Daytona 500 and came away with a third-place finish despite being involved in a multi-car incident as the leaders took the checkered flag. After taking the green flag from the inside of row two, Logano made his way to the front of the field by lap 12, marking the 10th-consective Daytona 500 he’s led a lap and 15th-straight race at Daytona overall. As Logano worked the top and bottom lanes over the course of the run, he was called to pit road for two seconds of fuel on lap 56 in order to make it to the end of the first segment, resulting in a 29th-place finish in Stage 1. Following a four tire stop between stages and topping off on fuel once more prior to the restart, Logano took the green from 30th in the running order and began to search for a lane that could propel him forward. Logano had worked his way into the top-15 when a 17-car incident unraveled ahead of him in the tri-oval, resulting in contact to the nose and right-side door. The caution marked the end of Stage 2, allowing the No. 22 team to make a pair of extended stops on pit road to make repairs without losing a lap in the process. After taking the restart from the back half of the field, a three-wide pack formed to begin the run as the final green flag pit cycle loomed as the laps ticked off. Logano cycled to the front of the field with 12 laps remaining when crew chief Paul Wolfe called the Shell-Pennzoil Ford to pit road for fuel only as Logano blended into the lead pack by the time it reached turn three. A caution with nine laps to go reset the field for one final restart as Logano lined up to take the green from row seven with four laps remaining and immediately made his charge to the front, vaulting to third with the lead in sight. After a multi-car incident began to take place at the front of the field shortly after taking the white flag, Logano found himself part of a six-car breakaway down the backstretch and appeared to lose momentum in turn three but a strong run in the tri-oval brought him back into the fold. As the pack approached the start-finish line, another collision occurred as Logano was hit in the rear bumper and then clipped in the right front, sending him sliding into the outside wall while taking the checkered flag scored third.
LOGANO’S THOUGHTS: “The whole race just didn’t really go as well as I would have hoped. In the first stage, when everyone stayed out and made it, we didn’t go for that. So, we lost points there. And it kind of still set us back. You know, we had a hard time just getting back up there. We had a great pit cycle, but no one was great with us. So, we lost all the position we gained on pit road when I got swallowed up by the field. And then made a great move at the end, got three wide on top, got to the front. I had an opportunity to get underneath the Spire cars. It felt like it was the right move, I made it, and the car was just slow at the end. I think the damage I got from the wreck earlier hurt it more than I expected when I put it back out in the wind which made me go back a little bit.”
The NASCAR Cup Series heads to Atlanta for the Autotrader 400 on Sunday, February 22. Live coverage begins at 3:00 p.m. ET on FOX and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.
