Hollywood Casino 400
Kansas City, Kansas – September 27, 2026
AUSTIN CINDRIC No. 2 DISCOUNT TIRE FORD MUSTANG DARK HORSE
START: 11TH STAGE 1: 3RD STAGE 2: 2ND FINISH: 2ND POINTS: 9TH
RACE RUNDOWN: Austin Cindric and the No. 2 Discount Tire Ford Mustang Dark Horse team delivered one of their strongest performances of the season Sunday afternoon at Kansas Speedway, racing near the front throughout the Hollywood Casino 400 before securing a season-best second-place finish. After inclement weather canceled Saturday’s NASCAR Cup Series practice and qualifying sessions, Cindric lined up 11th with the starting lineup set per the NASCAR Rulebook. He wasted little time working his way forward, charging to third by Lap 20 while reporting a strong balance on the No. 2 Ford. Cindric remained third when the competition caution flew on Lap 35 and came to pit road for four tires and fuel with no adjustments. He restarted fifth on Lap 41 and continued to maintain a position inside the top five despite reporting that the handling transitioned from tight early in a run to free as the run progressed. Cindric crossed the line third at the conclusion of Stage 1 before crew chief Brian Wilson called for four tires, fuel and an air pressure adjustment during the stage break. The No. 2 team continued to make gains throughout Stage 2. Cindric was running second when the caution flag came out on Lap 114 and reported that the team needed to continue addressing the free-handling condition that developed over the course of a run. Following another four-tire stop with fuel and an air pressure adjustment, Cindric restarted third and ultimately finished Stage 2 in the second position. Cindric began the final stage fourth and remained firmly in contention. With just over 50 laps remaining, he made his final scheduled stop under green for four tires and fuel before racing his way back toward the front during the closing stretch. Cindric ultimately brought the No. 2 Discount Tire Ford home second to record his best finish of the season and cap off a strong afternoon for the No. 2 team at Kansas. The runner-up result also moved Cindric to ninth in the Cup Series Chase standings as the postseason continues next Sunday at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
CINDRIC’S THOUGHTS: “I definitely wish I would have had a shot there. You know, I thought we were really strong all day. We made some decent adjustments and got ourselves good for those long runs for the final run. We just lost a bit too much time in the pit cycle. I think there’s definitely some things I could have done better. I stayed long in the stall and threw off the stop a bit. When you lose by only half a second, it comes down to all the little stuff. Those guys had a hell of a battle for the lead to give me a shot. Super proud of the effort from everyone at Team Penske, Discount Tire and Ford. I feel like I had a car that could have won today but didn’t. I can be happy and pissed about that at the same time. Hopefully we can transfer that over to next week and the week following because I don’t see the reason why we can’t. I think these are the tracks you have to be critically good on. We saw pieces of this from Chicago and I felt like we took some bits and pieces and applied them to Kansas, and obviously, you can see what it did. I’m super proud of everybody on the team, keeping us in it all day and unloading super close.”
RYAN BLANEY No. 12 MENARDS/CARDELL FORD MUSTANG DARK HORSE
START: 25TH STAGE 1: 10TH STAGE 2: 7TH FINISH: 5TH POINTS: 5TH
RACE RUNDOWN: Ryan Blaney rallied from the 25th starting position to score a fifth-place finish in Sunday’s Hollywood Casino 400 at Kansas Speedway, earning valuable stage points and delivering a much-needed rebound performance for the No. 12 team following a pair of challenging Chase races. With rain canceling practice and qualifying Saturday afternoon, Blaney took the green flag in the No. 12 Menards/Cardell Ford Mustang Dark Horse from 25th and methodically charged through the field. Blaney wasted little time advancing forward, climbing into the top 15 before the competition caution on lap 35 and continuing his charge toward the front throughout the opening stage. The No. 12 team made routine adjustments to improve the car’s balance, and Blaney steadily worked his way to an 10th-place finish in Stage 1. Additional adjustments helped improve the handling of the Menards/Cardell Ford Mustang during Stage 2, allowing Blaney to crack the top 10 and remain a factor throughout the segment. He climbed to seventh by the end of the stage and added valuable stage points to his afternoon. After briefly inheriting the lead during a cycle of green-flag pit stops in the final stage, Blaney returned to the track inside the top 10 and continued his march forward over the closing laps. The 2023 Cup Series Champion steadily picked off positions in the final run to secure a fifth-place finish, completing a 20-position gain from race start. Blaney leaves Kansas Speedway fifth in the NASCAR Cup Series standings, 91 points behind the championship leader, as the Chase continue next weekend at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
BLANEY’S THOUGHTS: “We were moving at the end. And, gosh, seven or eight more laps and I might have actually had a shot to win the thing. We were mowing them down rapidly the last 10, 12 laps. Just a good job by them sticking with it. Starting where we did, you know, and just working on it. Getting a little bit better through the day, I thought. Our last run or two of the day was our best run of the day. So really proud of that effort. This is a place where we’ve worked really hard to try to figure out how we can be better here. I thought we had a great day. The 2 [Austin Cindric] had a really good day. It was fast all day. Solid effort. We definitely got better at the start of stage three. I thought that’s where we really got it better. I think a lot of it was just getting some track position, right? You’re buried in traffic and you’re trying to figure out what does your car need to do well there. And then as you get cleaner air, it’s like, all right, now you’re adjusting again and trying to play catch up there. It just kind of took some time to do that. But, they stuck with it and made good changes.”
JOEY LOGANO No. 22 SHELL-PENNZOIL FORD MUSTANG DARK HORSE
START: 1ST STAGE 1: 6TH STAGE 2: 8TH FINISH: 20TH POINTS: 4TH
RACE RUNDOWN: Joey Logano started Sunday’s Hollywood Casino 400 from the pole in the No. 22 Shell-Pennzoil Ford Mustang Dark Horse after qualifying was canceled due to rain Saturday afternoon and the lineup was set per the rulebook. The three-time Kansas Speedway winner showcased top-10 speed throughout the afternoon, but a right-front tire issue in the closing laps erased what had been shaping up to be a solid finish and resulted in a 20th-place result. Logano surrendered the lead on the opening lap but remained among the frontrunners despite battling a free-handling condition throughout the opening stage. A competition caution on lap 35 gave the Shell-Pennzoil team an opportunity to make adjustments, and Logano capitalized on the improved balance to finish Stage 1 in sixth. The team continued to fine-tune the Shell-Pennzoil Ford Mustang throughout Stage 2, and Logano maintained a position inside the top 10 while reporting gradual improvements in the car’s overall balance. He went on to score another top-10 stage result with an eighth-place finish in Stage 2. Following a deeper restart to begin the final stage, Logano methodically worked his way back through the field and returned to the top 10 as green-flag pit stops cycled through the running order. The No. 22 team remained in position for a strong points day before the late-race tire issue forced Logano to give up several spots over the closing laps. Despite the setback, Logano and the No. 22 team displayed competitive speed throughout the afternoon and leave Kansas Speedway fifth in the NASCAR Cup Series standings, 67 points behind the championship leader as the playoffs continue next weekend.
LOGANO’S THOUGHTS: “We had a solid Shell-Pennzoil Ford all day. We stayed in the top 10 and picked up some stage points, but we were chasing the balance a little bit all afternoon. We worked hard to keep ourselves in the mix, so it was frustrating to have the tire issue at the end. We’ll put this one behind us and see if we can keep the momentum heading to Vegas.”
The NASCAR Cup Series Chase for the Championship continues next weekend at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Catch coverage of the South Point 400 beginning at 5:30 p.m. ET on USA, PRN, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.
