Pennzoil 400 Presented By Jiffy Lube
Las Vegas, Nev. – March 15, 2026
AUSTIN CINDRIC No. 2 DISCOUNT TIRE FORD MUSTANG DARK HORSE
START: 31ST STAGE 1: 17TH STAGE 2: 10TH FINISH: 19TH POINTS: 30TH
RACE RUNDOWN: Austin Cindric started 31st and finished 19th in Sunday’s Pennzoil 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway after steadily working his way forward throughout the 267-lap event in the No. 2 Discount Tire Ford Mustang Dark Horse. After taking the green flag from the 31st position, Cindric wasted little time making progress through the field. By Lap 20 he had already advanced to 21st place and told the team over the radio that he was happy with the car. Just a few laps later he cracked the top 20 as the No. 2 team began to settle into a rhythm during the opening run. Cindric made his first pit stop of the afternoon under green on Lap 33 for four tires and fuel. As the opening stage progressed, he reported the car had become a little freer, but he continued to move forward. By the end of Stage 1 he had climbed to 17th place and radioed that the car was still too free. The team responded with four tires, fuel and an air pressure adjustment during the stage break. Restarting 14th to begin Stage 2, Cindric quickly worked his way into the top 10 and maintained solid pace with the leaders. Twenty-seven laps into the stage he reported the car had shifted to the tight side while running eighth. He returned to pit road on Lap 121 under green for four tires and fuel and cycled back into the top 10 after the round of pit stops. Cindric finished Stage 2 in 10th place and crew chief Brian Wilson opted to free the car up slightly and pull some air out of the right-front tire during the stage break while putting on four fresh tires. The Discount Tire machine restarted 13th for the final segment, but the balance shifted tighter on the next long run. With 79 laps remaining, Cindric was running 15th and reported the car was “just as tight this run if not tighter.” A green-flag pit stop with 57 laps remaining proved costly when a caution came out while Cindric was on pit road, trapping him a lap down. He received the wave-around and was able to return to the lead lap, restarting 19th with 50 laps remaining. Despite the setback, Cindric was able to hold position over the remaining laps and ultimately brought the Discount Tire Ford Mustang Dark Horse home with a 19th-place finish.
CINDRIC’S THOUGHTS: “Yeah, a lot, lot to digest from the race. We knew we were better than where we were in qualifying, just due to the draw. We made quick work and got ourselves within the top 10 by Stage 2, all under green flags. So our Discount Tire Ford was really strong. The guys made some good adjustments overnight and in the stages. And, yeah, ultimately, the caution coming out during the pit cycle put us behind with not enough laps to recover. It’s nice to not be in a wreck for the first time this year. I’m at least happy with a race finish that helps add to some of the points we need.”
RYAN BLANEY No. 12 MENARDS/PENNZOIL FORD MUSTANG DARK HORSE
START: 6TH STAGE 1: 9TH STAGE 2: 11TH FINISH: 16TH POINTS: 3RD
RACE RUNDOWN: Ryan Blaney and the No. 12 Menards/Pennzoil Ford Mustang Dark Horse team caught an untimely caution late in Sunday’s Pennzoil 400, resulting in a 16th-place finish at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Blaney displayed top-10 pace from the onset of Sunday’s 400-mile event, posting a ninth-place effort in Stage 1 before working his way up to sixth during the initial run of the second segment. After pitting at the start of the green flag pit cycle in Stage 1, crew chief Jonathan Hassler made the call to run long in Stage 2, allowing Blaney to assume the lead on lap 122 before hitting pit road a few laps later for a four-tire stop. Blaney was scored 12th in the running order by the time the cycle was complete before crossing the line 11th at the conclusion of Stage 2. The Menards/Pennzoil Ford took the ensuing restart from 14th before Blaney picked up five spots during the opening two laps of the run to re-enter the top-10. With the final green flag pit cycle looming, the 12 team opted to come to pit road at the beginning of the cycle on lap 210, but an ill-timed caution just two laps later trapped Blaney a lap down in the process. After taking the wave-around to rejoin the lead lap, Blaney lined up 20th to take the green flag of what turned out to be the final restart of the afternoon and worked his way up to 16th by the time the checkered flag flew.
BLANEY’S THOUGHTS: “Disappointing end, for sure, to what should have been a top-10 day for our 12 group. We were decent on pace most of the day but just didn’t have enough at the end to move through the field after restarting as far back as we did. Just wrong place at the wrong time with how that last caution fell.”
JOEY LOGANO No. 22 PENNZOIL ULTRA PLATINUM FORD MUSTANG DARK HORSE
START: 21ST STAGE 1: 15TH STAGE 2: 15TH FINISH: 15TH POINTS: 11TH
RACE RUNDOWN: Joey Logano and the No. 22 Pennzoil Ultra Platinum Ford Mustang Dark Horse team came away with a 15th-place finish in Sunday’s Pennzoil 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. After starting 21st, Logano worked his way into the top-15 just 22 laps into the 400-mile event as crew chief Paul Wolfe opted to run long to gain track position during the opening stint, allowing Logano to assume the lead on lap 35. Wolfe eventually called Logano to pit road three laps later to essentially split the first stage in half, resulting in a 15th-place result in Stage 1. Logano took the ensuing restart from 12th and maintained his track position during the run before being called to pit road at the start of the green flag cycle on lap 121, however, a loose-handling condition set in over the closing laps of the second segment, resulting in another 15th-place effort. Logano battled his way through traffic during the initial laps of the final run of the afternoon before a caution in the middle of the green flag pit cycle on lap 212 shuffled the field. Logano and the No. 22 Pennzoil Ultra Platinum Ford hit pit road for four tires and a round of adjustments prior to the final restart of the day with 50 laps remaining before ultimately taking the checkered flag 15th to close out the first intermediate track event of the season.
LOGANO’S THOUGHTS: “We fought a lot of things balance-wise all day with having to fight through traffic, and that’s tough to adjust on with the number of green flag stops we had today. We’ll go to work on a few areas of our intermediate package and we have a few weeks to build on something there.”
The NASCAR Cup Series returns to the east coast for the Goodyear 400 at Darlington Raceway on Sunday, March 22. Live coverage begins at 3:00 p.m. ET on FS1, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.
