Save Mart 350 – Sonoma Raceway
Sonoma, CA – June 9, 2024

AUSTIN CINDRIC No. 2 AMERICA’S TIRE FORD MUSTANG

START: 28TH STAGE ONE: 14TH STAGE TWO: 22ND FINISH: 22ND POINTS: 18TH

RACE RUNDOWN: Austin Cindric started 28th and finished 22nd in an eventful 110-lap race at Sonoma Raceway in California. Following a win last week in St. Louis, hopes were high for the Mooresville, NC native heading into the second road course race of 2024. Stage 1 started off with multiple incidents that Cindric managed to avoid and brought the America’s Tire Ford home in the 14th position in Stage 1. Stage 2 would unfortunately see Cindric’s day take a downturn. A high-speed spin on lap 31 at turn one and multi-car incident on lap 40 would see any track position made up immediately lost again. Cindric would finish Stage 2 in the 22nd position. The final stage would see Cindric go for a third and final spin with three laps remaining. The America’s Tire Ford would soldier home for a 22nd-place finish. While certainly not the result the team wanted, Cindric and the No. 2 crew will look to rebound next week at Iowa Speedway – a track where he scored his first Xfinity Series pole in 2018.

CINDRIC’S THOUGHTS: “Definitely wasn’t the day we were expecting and we had to fight through a lot of adversity early on. Track position is so important at these places – especially with how these restarts can unfold – but this No. 2 America’s Tire team didn’t give in. We’ll take what we can from today and start looking ahead to Iowa.”

RYAN BLANEY No. 12 MENARDS/MOEN FORD MUSTANG

START: 3RD STAGE ONE: 2ND STAGE TWO: 30TH FINISH: 7TH POINTS: 12TH

RACE RUNDOWN: Ryan Blaney came away with a seventh-place finish Sunday at Sonoma Raceway, marking his fourth-career top-10 finish at the 1.99-mile road course. After starting third, Blaney raced inside the top-five for the entirety of the opening stage as the 12 team opted to stay out during each of the three cautions in the 25-lap segment, culminating in a second-place finish in Stage 1. Blaney took the green flag at the start of Stage 2 from row one and continued his battle with the No. 45 for the race lead, but three cautions within the first 15 laps of the segment halted any forward momentum. Crew chief Jonathan Hassler eventually brought Blaney to pit road for the first time with four laps to go in the stage while running third as all the leaders pitted within the same two laps in order to stay out during the caution, resulting in a 30th-place result in Stage 2. With few teams opting to hit pit road during the stage break, Hassler called the Menards/Moen Ford to pit road to top off on fuel before the final run of the afternoon while restarting from 29th. Despite battling issues with rear grip on the ensuing run, Blaney worked his way back into the top-10 by lap 70 and was scored third before making his way to pit road under green with 27 laps to go for the final stop of the day. Blaney blended back onto the racing surface in 19th, but eventually made his way into the top-10 with seven laps to go before picking up an additional three spots in the final four laps to secure a seventh-place finish.

BLANEY’S THOUGHTS: “Up and down day for our 12 team, for sure. I think the number of early cautions forced our hand with the strategy and we did a good job adjusting to that to keep us in contention in the final two stages. It’s tough coming back up through the field here but proud of the guys for staying on it all day to come away with a top-10.”

JOEY LOGANO No. 22 AUTOTRADER FORD MUSTANG

START: 1ST STAGE ONE: 30TH STAGE TWO: 9TH FINISH: 21ST POINTS: 16TH

RACE RUNDOWN: After picking up his 31st-career Cup Series pole on Saturday, Joey Logano and the No. 22 Autotrader Ford Mustang led the first 16 laps Sunday at Sonoma but a multi-car incident in Stage 1 marred the rest of the afternoon, resulting in a 21st-place finish. Logano paced the field from the drop of the green flag up until the second caution of the day on lap 16 as the Autotrader Ford was brought to pit road under yellow for a four tire stop before lining up 21st for the ensuing restart. As the field made its way down through the esses, several cars went spinning in front of Logano and the No. 14 slid back across the racing surface, clipping the right rear of the No. 22. Logano made a pair of stops under caution as the 22 team worked to make repairs, culminating in a 30th-place finish in Stage 1. Logano made two more trips to pit road during the stage break to continue working on the right side before lining up to restart for Stage 2. Three cautions in the opening laps of the segment saw Logano jump to 15th in the running order by lap 40 and eventually made his way back inside the top-10 as the green flag pit cycle began in the closing laps of the stage, resulting in a ninth-place finish in Stage 2. Logano began the final stage from ninth after staying out under yellow and was called to pit road early in the run on lap 68 for the final stop of the day before ultimately settling for a 21st-place finish.

LOGANO’S THOUGHTS: “Unfortunate end to our weekend in Sonoma especially with the speed we showed the last two days. Anything can happen on these restarts and it was just wrong place, wrong time for us after trying to flip the strategy on everyone up front. Still proud of the effort from the 22 crew to keep after it all day long despite the early setback there.”

Iowa Speedway hosts its inaugural NASCAR Cup Series race next Sunday, June 16. Race coverage begins coverage at 7:00 p.m. ET on USA, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

Keselowski Finishes 13th, Waters DNF After Promising Start on Road Course

SONOMA, Calif. (June 9, 2024) – Chris Buescher led the second-most laps of any driver Sunday at Sonoma Raceway, won stage two and nearly lasted for the race win, before finishing third in the BuildSubmarines.com Ford.

Brad Keselowski put together a solid day, also with stage points, to finish 13th. Cam Waters unfortunately did not finish in his NASCAR Cup Series debut after being collected in a multi-car incident, despite a strong start.

“It was really good strategy on the day and an awesome finish,” Buescher said after the race. “I wasn’t quite able to hold the lead there and that bums me out, I was trying. I’ve got to be better and ultimately figure out how to make that last a little bit longer, but our team did a really nice job.

“To start where we did and finish right here at the front with our BuildSubmarines.com Ford Mustang, I’m really proud of that. Just another close one at the end of the day.”

The top three finish for Buescher marks the fifth-straight race an RFK car has finished inside the top three, and his best since P2 in Kansas.

6 Recap
Keselowski – carrying the banner for King’s Hawaiian and Despicable Me 4 – had arguably the best rebound of any driver, coming back from a 35th-place starting spot. The opening segments of the race saw eight total cautions in the first two stages alone, as the longest green flag run within the first 41 laps stood at just 13.

The No. 6 pitted twice in the opening stage, setting up a strategy play for later. He finished 27th to end the first stage and fired off 22nd to begin the second. Then, at lap 35, a multi-car incident occurred in turn 11, one that blocked the track and trapped Keselowski in 33rd. He stayed out in the caution break though, setting him up 18th on the ensuing restart.

He restarted 16th for the final restart of the stage at lap 42, then, as the lead cars were forced to pit to end the stage, Keselowski remained on track, regaining track position to ultimately earn stage points and finish sixth.

He and teammate Buescher restarted the third stage sixth and first, respectively, at lap 59 to begin the final run to the checkered. With one more stop needed, Keselowski remained on track for as long as possible, ultimately pitting again for the final time at lap 64 from sixth, before going on to finish 13th.

17 Recap
Buescher and the No. 17 team utilized a similar strategy to the No. 6 to start the race as the BuildSubmarines.com Ford had to rebound from 26th on the grid. He finished the first stage in 28th after pitting just once in the opening run.

The No. 17 rolled 24th to start stage two and worked his way up to 17th just five laps later on a restart. He skated through the incident at lap 35, advancing to 11th. A few laps later he got into the top-10 for the first time all day, restarting 10th with 13 laps remaining in the stage at lap 42.

He was the first car on different strategy, meaning when the lead cars pitted in the closing laps of the stage, Buescher inherited the lead for the final two laps to win the stage, earning a playoff point. He stayed out in the stage break and led the field back to green to begin stage three, ultimately hitting pit road for fuel at lap 68.

He again took the lead at lap 84 after another pit cycle occurred, and this time led for 17 laps before the No. 19 and No. 5 took over. He went on to finish third after the 19 ran out of fuel in the final lap, securing the top three result.

60 Recap
Waters made the most of his Cup debut despite the circumstances and was in line to inherit a top five position until an incident out of his control ultimately severely damaged the No. 60 AUKUS/BuildSubmarines.com Ford.

Waters – the Australian native – began the day from 31st and elected to pit early at lap 16 during one of the several cautions to begin the afternoon. With that strategy in play, Waters was able to slowly check off track position throughout the flurry of cautions. He worked his way to 18th by lap 20, and up to 18th to end the first stage.

He fired off 16th to begin stage two, restarted just outside the top-10 at lap 34, and was in line to gain more track position due to strategy, before chaos ensued the next lap. The No. 4 was forced into a host of cars into turn 11 on lap 35, which ultimately created a traffic jam where Waters sustained front-end damage. Despite the damage and not knowing how the car would run, Waters bounced back to finish the second stage in 21st.

However, as the laps ticked away, the right front and steering proved to be too damaged, forcing Waters to retire the car early.

“I had so much fun,” Waters said following his race. “This weekend and the whole experience coming to a road course in a Cup car was sensational. I had so much fun and I can’t thank everyone enough for making that happen. The start of the race, I took it easy the first couple of laps and then I pressed on and tried to pass some cars.

“The car was super fast. It could absolutely make some ground passing cars, which was really good. The cautions fell our way a bit and I guess effectively we were right up there somewhere. It was all looking really good.”

Up Next
Iowa Speedway hosts the NASCAR Cup Series for the first time ever next weekend with a night race on tap. Race coverage next Sunday is set for 7 p.m. ET on USA, with radio coverage on MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio (Channel 90).

About RFK Racing
RFK Racing, in its 37th season in 2024, features an ownership lineup pairing one of the sport’s most iconic names, Jack Roush, along with NASCAR Champion, Brad Keselowski, and Fenway Sports Group owner John Henry. Roush initially founded the team in 1988 and it has since become one of the most successful racing operations in the world, propelling him to be the first NASCAR owner to amass three hundred wins and capturing eight championships, including back-to-back NASCAR Cup titles in 2003 and 2004. Keselowski, a former owner in the NASCAR Truck Series, is the 2012 NASCAR Cup Series Champion. In 2007, Roush partnered with Henry, who also owns Major League Baseball’s Boston Red Sox, English Premier League’s Liverpool F.C., and the NHL’s Pittsburgh Penguins, to form Roush Fenway Racing. Off the track, RFK is a leader and proven winner in NASCAR marketing solutions, having produced multiple award-winning social media, digital content and experiential marketing campaigns. Visit rfkracing.com, and follow the team on all social platforms @rfkracing.

Top-10 Run For Austin Dillon and The No. 3 Get Bioethanol Chevrolet Team Slowed By On-Track Incident at Sonoma Raceway

Finish: 36th
Start: 16th
Points: 31st

“Our RCR team brought a fast Get Bioethanol Chevrolet to Sonoma Raceway today. We had a solid strategy playing out in Stage 2 and we may have been able to outlast the leaders on fuel. We planned to run to the end, come to pit road, take tires and fuel, and restart the final stage inside the top 10. We didn’t get a chance to show what we were capable of. We were racing in the ninth position when we were caught up in the mess. The No. 60 car got me into the No. 23 car going into turn 10, causing us to be three-wide going into Turn 11. The No. 4 and No. 43 cars collided going into Turn 11, and that caused a chain reaction with a few cars. Our team did a great job on pit road trying to repair it, but the damage was too severe, and we had to take it to the garage. We will move on and head to Iowa Speedway next weekend.” -Austin Dillon

Kyle Busch And The zone Chevrolet Team Credited With 12th-Place Finish after Last Lap Spin at Sonoma Raceway

Finish: 12th
Start: 29th
Points: 15th

“Randall Burnett and all the guys on the zone Chevrolet team came up with a great strategy today that put us in position to score a top-five finish. Early in the race I thought I broke something on the right-front but we had a damaged wheel. We lost track position but our strategy kept us in the game. A couple of guys there at the end of the race had better tires than we did but we were going to have a good day. Unfortunately, one of those guys got into us on the last lap and ruined our day. It’s frustrating to not get the finish that we deserved.” -Kyle Busch

Will Brown Makes First Career NASCAR Cup Series Start in the No. 33 MobileX / Shaw and Partners Chevrolet at Sonoma Raceway

Finish: 31st
Start: 24th
Points: N/A

“It was a great experience to make my first NASCAR Cup Series start in the No. 33 MobileX / Shaw and Partners Chevrolet. I really enjoyed the racing and to be honest, it was very similar to our racing back home in SuperCars. It was a disappointing result for sure. I think we were running quite well at the start and able to make up ground. I started to smell an electrical fire inside the car before the end of Stage 1. I wasn’t sure if it was my car and then I started to see fumes behind the dash. I was hoping it would last, but it was obviously something similar to the issue yesterday in qualifying. I shut off everything and unfortunately with the way the race played out, there weren’t any cautions at the end to get our laps back. It’s disappointing but that is racing at the end of the day.” -Will Brown

AJ ALLMENDINGER
No. 16 Cirkul Camaro ZL1

• AJ Allmendinger qualified 11th for the Toyota / Save Mart 350 at Sonoma Raceway.
• When the first caution came on lap three, Allmendinger was running 10th and reported his No. 16 Cirkul Chevy fired off well. After the restart, Allmendinger drove up to eighth place by lap 12, reporting he was starting to feel free laterally. The next caution came out on lap 17 and Allmendinger told crew chief, Travis Mack, his car was better in clear air compared to the cars in front of him. The team came to pit road under caution for four tires, fuel and an air pressure adjustment. Allmendinger restarted in 22nd with seven to go in the opening stage. The No. 16 went on to finish stage one in 15th place.
• During the stage break, the No. 16 Cirkul Chevy would not re-fire. After falling back to 31st, the team came to pit road for four tires and fuel. Allmendinger restarted in 27th on lap 31. On lap 35, Allmendinger avoided a large wreck in turn 11, gaining 10 spots. The No. 16 restarted in 11th on lap 39. As cars started to make green flag pit stops at the end of stage two, Allmendinger drove up to fifth before the stage end, earning six stage points.
• The No. 16 stayed out during the stage break and restarted in fifth place. Allmendinger continued to gain positions taking over third before the leaders in front of him came to pit road. Allmendinger took over the lead on lap 68 and maintained the lead until lap 71 when the team came to pit road for a scheduled green-flag pit stop. After exiting pit road, Allmendinger drove up to eighth by lap 77 and by lap 83, the No. 16 was scored in sixth place. After battling hard with the No. 8, Allmendinger reported from fifth place on lap 86 he had used up his rear tires. Allmendinger went on to finish in sixth.

“We had a really fast Cirkul Chevy. Travis [Mack] did a great job with strategy with everything that happened adversity wise. I thought overall we maximized our day. If everything fell right, we could have and a top-five finish, but we’re happy with the result.” – AJ Allmendinger  

DANIEL HEMRIC
No. 31 Cirkul Camaro ZL1

• Daniel Hemric qualified 34th for the Toyota / Save Mart 350 at Sonoma Raceway.
• The first caution of the day came out after only three laps complete, and Hemric pitted to top off with fuel in the No. 31 Cirkul Camaro ZL1. Restarting 35th, Hemric gained two spots when the second caution fell on lap 17. Another caution fell after the restart, and Hemric found himself sitting in 27th, before restarting 25th with three laps to go in the stage. He went on to finish 29th in the opening stage.
• Hemric radioed that the No. 31 Chevy lacked grip overall, and crew chief, Trent Owens, made the call to pit for four tires and fuel during the first stage break. He started the second stage from 30th, before an early caution fell on lap 33. Hemric stayed out and avoided mayhem after the restart, before shaking out to 18th. The green flag came back out on lap 39. After avoiding another spin, Hemric restarted 18th with 13 to go in the stage. He went on to finish the second stage in 12th.
• Hemric stayed out during the stage break and worked his way up to 11th during the first few laps of the final stage. He made his final, scheduled pit stop on lap 69 for tires and fuel, before cycling out to 22nd place. Hemric spun out with 11 laps to go, forcing him to pit for tires, as the field stayed green. He went on to finish 28th.

“We had a good day going for us, until my tires went away there at the end and I spun with about 10 to go. It’s unfortunate to finish the day like this after such a solid run, but I’m proud of the No. 31 Cirkul team for finding a good bit of speed from where we started the weekend in practice.” – Daniel Hemric  

About Kaulig Racing

Kaulig Racing™ is a full-time, multi-car NASCAR Cup Series (NCS) and NASCAR Xfinity Series (NXS) team, owned by award winning entrepreneur, Matt Kaulig. Established in 2016, Kaulig Racing™ has earned 23 NXS wins, made the NXS Playoffs consecutively each season since the playoff system started, and won two regular-season championships. In 2021, the team competed in select NCS events, before expanding to a two-car, full-time NCS team in 2022 and adding a third, part-time entry during the 2023 season. Since its first NCS start in 2021, the team has earned two wins. Kaulig Racing is currently fielding two full-time entries in the NCS and continues to field three full-time NXS entries, with a part-time fourth entry at select events. To learn more about the team, visit kauligracing.com.