AdventHealth 400
Kansas City, Kan. – April 19, 2026
AUSTIN CINDRIC No. 2 PPG FORD MUSTANG DARK HORSE
START: 34TH STAGE 1: 16TH STAGE 2: 19TH FINISH: 12TH POINTS: 17TH
RACE RUNDOWN: Austin Cindric started 34th in Sunday’s AdventHealth 400 at Kansas Speedway in the No. 2 PPG Ford Mustang Dark Horse and quickly worked his way forward, climbing to 25th by Lap 5 and into the top 20 shortly after. Early in the run, Cindric reported the car was on the snug side to start as the team began working to find a more neutral balance. A green-flag stop on Lap 34 for four tires, fuel and a right-front air pressure adjustment helped Cindric maintain track position, and he cycled to 18th following the pit sequence. Cindric continued to manage the balance through the opening segment and finished Stage 1 in 16th. He noted the car was “neutral” on the restart but became a little loose toward the end of the run, prompting additional air pressure adjustments during the stage break. Restarting 16th to begin Stage 2, Cindric battled a tightening condition as the run progressed, reporting “too tight” early in the segment. Following another round of green-flag pit stops with adjustments, he indicated the car had become tighter than the previous run. Despite the handling challenges, Cindric remained in the mix and cycled to 12th before ultimately finishing Stage 2 in 19th. He relayed that the fire-off was worse and that he felt like he drove through his right-front, leading the team to free the car up for the final stage. Cindric restarted just inside the top 15 for the final segment and steadily worked his way forward, noting the car was still on the tight side while running 10th with approximately 80 laps remaining. A green-flag pit stop with just over 50 laps to go provided additional adjustments, and Cindric cycled into ninth as pit stops played out. A late caution with two laps remaining set up a dash to the finish, with Cindric pitting for two tires and fuel alongside the leaders. He lined up around the top 10 for the restart and ultimately crossed the line in 12th.
CINDRIC’S THOUGHTS: “It’s obviously good being able to come up from the back as quickly as we did. I had confidence in our PPG Ford Mustang Dark Horse that we were going to have some pace today based off of practice. Qualifying definitely wasn’t representative of our overall pace. Our guys executed a great race. I felt like Brian [Wilson] called a great race strategy-wise. We had nothing to lose there taking two tires at the end for the green-white-checkered. All in all, proud of the effort – still not as good as we’d want to be, but still need a little more speed at these mile-and-a-half tracks.”
RYAN BLANEY No. 12 MENARDS/SCOTT’S FORD MUSTANG DARK HORSE
START: 9TH STAGE 1: 15TH STAGE 2: 21ST FINISH: 24TH POINTS: 3RD
RACE RUNDOWN: Ryan Blaney and the No. 12 Menards/Scott’s Ford Mustang Dark Horse team battled through a damaged splitter suffered in Stage 1 Sunday at Kansas Speedway, ultimately resulting in a 24th-place finish. Blaney maintained top-10 pace during the opening run of the 400-mile event before the first green flag pit cycle took place as crew chief Jonathan Hassler called the No. 12 Menards/Scott’s Ford to pit road on lap 38. Following the four tire stop, Blaney made contact with the left side door of the No. 16 as he was exiting his stall and caused damage to the right side of the No. 12’s splitter. Blaney went on to finish 15th in Stage 1 before making two stops on pit road between stages to make repairs. After restarting from the tail end of the field as the last car on the lead lap, Blaney began to fight handling issues throughout the second stage and ended up going a lap down during the green flag pit cycle as he was scored 21st at the end of Stage 2. The long, green flag runs kept Blaney trapped a lap down over the course of the final stretch of the afternoon before taking the checkered flag 24th in the end.
BLANEY’S THOUGHTS: “I thought we had decent pace at the start. It’s tough to tell if the splitter damage on that first stop made us struggle like that from then on, but it certainly didn’t help. Definitely unfortunate but we did what we could to manage it the rest of the way.”
JOEY LOGANO No. 22 HUNT BROTHERS PIZZA FORD MUSTANG DARK HORSE
START: 15TH STAGE 1: 24TH STAGE 2: 28TH FINISH: 30TH POINTS: 14TH
RACE RUNDOWN: Joey Logano and the No. 22 Hunt Brothers Pizza Ford Mustang Dark Horse team came away with a 30th-place finish Sunday afternoon at Kansas Speedway. After having to start at the rear of the field due to a steering rack change following qualifying Saturday, Logano gained 10 positions in the first 16 laps as the No. 22 team opted to split the opening stage in half by pitting on lap 40 during the first green cycle. Logano was scored 25th by the time the cycle completed and battled to stay on the lead lap with under 10 to go in the 80-lap segment, but ultimately fell a lap down in a 24th-place effort in Stage 1. Logano fought a loose-handling condition to begin the ensuing run and a caution-free Stage 2 kept the Hunt Brothers Pizza Ford trapped a lap down and unable to make up any track position. Another long, green flag run set in during the final stretch of the afternoon before Logano ultimately took the checkered flag from 30th to close out the 400-mile event.
LOGANO’S THOUGHTS: “Just a tough weekend all around for our 22 team. Track position was key all day with the lack of cautions and having to start where we did only makes it more of an uphill battle. We’ll reset and hopefully get the momentum back in the right direction.”
The NASCAR Cup Series heads to Talladega Superspeedway for the Jack Link’s 500 on Sunday, April 26. Live coverage begins at 3:00 p.m. ET on FOX, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.
