DuraMax Texas Grand Prix
Austin, Texas – March 1, 2026
AUSTIN CINDRIC No. 2 DISCOUNT TIRE FORD MUSTANG DARK HORSE
START: 28TH STAGE 1: 12TH STAGE 2: 21ST FINISH: 32ND POINTS: 31ST
RACE RUNDOWN: Austin Cindric battled through a strategy-filled afternoon at the Texas Grand Prix at Circuit of the Americas, ultimately finishing 32nd after starting 28th in the No. 2 Discount Tire Ford Mustang Dark Horse. In Stage 1, Cindric steadily worked his way forward from his 28th-place starting spot and reported that the “front tires were fading more than the rears” as the run progressed. He managed the balance to secure a 12th-place finish in the opening segment, and the team elected not to pit before the stage break, instead coming to pit road under caution for four tires and fuel. Cindric restarted 25th to begin Stage 2 and gained a handful of positions as the run progressed, advancing to 21st. A pit stop for four tires, fuel and an air-pressure adjustment with three laps remaining set him up to finish Stage 2 in 21st. Cindric restarted Stage 3 in 13th and worked his way into the top 10 before a left-front tire went down in the closing stretch, forcing an unscheduled pit stop for fresh tires that dropped him to 33rd. Unable to recover the lost track position in the final laps, Cindric crossed the line in 32nd.
CINDRIC’S THOUGHTS: “It was a frustrating day for us. We worked our way into the top 10 in the final stage and felt like we had something to build on, but obviously that didn’t pan out. We learned a lot about this setup, and I’m proud of the No. 2 Discount Tire team for sticking with it all afternoon. We’ll regroup and look ahead to Phoenix, which has been a strong track for our team.”
RYAN BLANEY No. 12 MENARDS/PENNZOIL FORD MUSTANG DARK HORSE
START: 4TH STAGE 1: 14TH STAGE 2: 7TH FINISH: 8TH POINTS: 4TH
RACE RUNDOWN: Ryan Blaney and the No. 12 Menards/Pennzoil Ford Mustang Dark Horse team gained four spots in the NASCAR Cup Series driver points standings with an eighth-place finish Sunday at Circuit of the Americas. Blaney was a mainstay in the top-three from the drop of the green flag in the 95-lap event and took his first lead of the afternoon eight laps in before opening up a five-second lead on the field. Crew chief Jonathan Hassler made the call to flip the opening stage, bringing Blaney to pit road from the lead with three laps remaining in Stage 1 which allowed the No. 12 Menards/Pennzoil Ford to assume the lead prior to start of the second segment. Blaney settled into second in the running order and stayed within a second of the leader during the ensuing run before the same strategy came into play prior to the stage end as he hit pit road with three laps to go in Stage 2 for a four tire stop. Due to the lead the top two had built prior to the green flag stops, Blaney was able to blend back inside the top-10 to come away with a seventh-place result in Stage 2. After the field cycled during the stage caution, Blaney lined up to take the restart from row one and continued to challenge for the top spot. With one and two-stop strategies in play to make it to the end, Hassler made the call to only make one stop the rest of the way which saw Blaney come down pit road with 27 laps to go. Blaney began his charge back towards the front after rejoining the field 11th in the running order and reached as high as third on the leaderboard before the caution flag flew with 21 laps remaining. After staying out and taking the green flag of the final restart with 17 to go, Blaney settled into third and eventually dropped to eighth over the course of the final run as teams with fresher tires made their way to the front in the closing laps. Blaney ended the afternoon with 11 laps led, marking a career-high at Circuit of the Americas in his sixth start at the Austin road course.
BLANEY’S THOUGHTS: “I just lost grip. I don’t know. I just kind of lost grip and lost touch with Shane [van Gisbergen] and Tyler [Reddick]. Yeah, it was weird. I wasn’t really pushing hard like after the green flag pit stop with Tyler, knowing it was going to be a longer run, caution or not. [The tires] didn’t really fire off very good, and I stayed in touch with those guys for maybe five laps, and they just kind of started to slowly lose and then really fall off the cliff. Overall good weekend. I hate that we didn’t finish top-three like I thought we were, but it’s hard to complain about it. We don’t have a great track record here, so we put a solid weekend together, and hopefully build on something.”
JOEY LOGANO No. 22 SHELL-PENNZOIL FORD MUSTANG DARK HORSE
START: 20TH STAGE 1: 29TH STAGE 2: 18TH FINISH: 15TH POINTS: 6TH
RACE RUNDOWN: Joey Logano and the No. 22 Shell-Pennzoil Ford Mustang Dark Horse team rallied from deep in the field prior to the final restart Sunday at Circuit of the Americas to come away with a 15th-place finish in the first road course event of the season. After starting 20th, picked up a few positions during the opening run before crew chief Paul Wolfe made the call to flip the stage by pitting with three laps remaining in the segment, resulting in a 29th-place finish in Stage 1 but allowing Logano to take the ensuing restart from seventh on the leaderboard. Logano maintained top-15 pace before the call was made to again flip the stage, bringing the No. 22 Shell-Pennzoil Ford to pit road with four laps to go in Stage 2 as Logano crossed the line 18th in the segment. Logano cycled to 10th after the remaining teams pitted under caution before the field took the green with 45 laps to go with one and two-stop strategies in play to make it to the end. Wolfe made the call to stop twice over the final stretch, bringing the No. 22 to pit road under green on lap 63 for four tires and a round of adjustments as Logano blended back into the field scored 23rd with 29 laps remaining. Logano raced his way up to 13th before a caution with 21 laps to go forced him to make his final stop under yellow and lost several spots on pit road due to being blocked in to his pit stall by the No. 77 ahead. As a result, Logano took the final restart of the afternoon from 30th with 17 laps to go and made up 10 positions on the opening lap before working his way up to 15th by the time the checkered flag flew.
LOGANO’S THOUGHTS: “We made the most of our day. What we lacked in pace at times we were able to make up for with the strategy calls we made to gain a few spots here and there. We had the opportunity to go on offense at the end by two-stopping it and did what we could on that final run. There’s a lot to look forward to these next few weeks to see where we stack up.”
The NASCAR Cup Series heads to the desert for the Straight Talk Wireless 500 at Phoenix Raceway on Sunday, March 8. Live coverage begins at 3:30 p.m. ET on FS1, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.
