Team Penske NASCAR Xfinity Series Race Report
Track: Road America
Race: Henry 180
Date: July 3, 2021
No. 22 Menards/Richmond Ford Mustang – Austin Cindric
Start: 2nd
Stage 1: 2nd
Stage 2: 8th
Finish: 8th
Status: Running
Laps Completed: 45/45
Laps Led: 10
Point Standings (ahead of second): 1st (+89)
Notes:
- Austin Cindric rebounded from a late-race incident to score an eighth-place finish in the Henry 180 Saturday afternoon at Road America. The driver of the No. 22 Menards/Richmond Ford battled back to claim his 13th top-10 in 17 races this season. Cindric led 10 laps and was in contention for the victory until his Mustang was damaged following a restarted with eight laps to go. He remains the leader in the NASCAR Xfinity Series driver standings, 89 points ahead of second-place AJ Allmendinger.
- Cindric qualified his Menards/Richmond Mustang second Saturday morning. He dropped back to fourth during the opening laps of the 45-lap event but soon the reigning Xfinity Series Champion worked his way back through traffic to score a second-place finish when Stage 1 ended on lap 10. Crew chief Brian Wilson kept his driver on the track during the stage caution, giving Cindric the lead on lap 11.
- The race restarted on lap 12 and two laps later the third caution slowed the pace. Inside the No. 22 teams pit window, Wilson called the driver of the Menards/Richmond Mustang to pit road on lap 14 for a slight air pressure adjustment, four tires and fuel. Cindric restarted 28th but once again showed his road course skills, wasting no time getting back to the front. He raced back inside the top-10 and claimed an eighth-place finish when Stage 2 ended on lap 20.
- Cindric restarted fourth on lap 22, 23 laps from the finish. He grabbed the lead on lap 24. The fifth caution on lap 28 brought the leaders to pit road. Wilson elected to pit, calling for four tires and fuel. Cindric restarted seventh on lap 29 and recaptured the top spot on lap 31. The sixth caution of the race on lap 36 which split the field on pit strategy. Wilson chose to pit, giving Cindric four tires and setting themselves up for the short run to the finish. The driver of the No. 22 Mustang restarted 10th with eight laps remaining but moments after the green flag waved misfortune struck. A car spun in front of Cindric and as traffic stacked up another car hit Cindric in the right-rear. The damage forced Cindric to pit for repairs. He restarted 27th with six laps to go. From there Cindric was able to rally back, charging his way through the field to collect an eighth-place finish.
- Cindric will be back in action tomorrow at Road America behind the wheel of the No. 33 PIRTEK Ford Mustang. He will be making his sixth start of the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series season in the Jockey Made in America 250. Live race coverage will begin at 2:30 p.m. ET on NBC and MRN Radio.
Quote: “You can’t win ‘em all. Our guys brought a really fast Menards/Richmond Ford Mustang. Sometimes it works out for you and sometimes it doesn’t. Today it just wasn’t meant to be. If they gave out an award for cars passed, we would handily have that. I am not sure there is a corner on this car that doesn’t have damage. I appreciate the hard work by everybody. We had a decent points day, and we will move on.”
