Saturday’s Cook Out 400 at Richmond Raceway was another strong night for Team Penske.
Ryan Blaney started on pole and contended for the lead early in the going; Joey Logano went on to park the No. 22 Ford Mustang in Victory Lane, and Josh Berry (an affiliate teammate) continued a streak of top-10 results dating back to Indianapolis.
Austin Cindric, driver of the No. 2 Ford Mustang Dark Horse out of the Team Penske shop, also had a strong evening at Richmond Raceway, finishing in third place, his first top-five result since Talladega Superspeedway in April. In fact, Cindric may have been the fastest of the four Penske Mustangs.
“We certainly had a fast Richmond/Menards Ford Mustang,” Cindric told USA Sports post-race. “Super proud of Brian [Wilson] and everyone at Team Penske, I mean, all four of those cars that rolled out of the shop this week were lightning fast – obviously congrats to Joey [Logano] and everybody on the No. 22 team.”
For Cindric, crew chief Brian Wilson, and everybody on the No. 2 team, that’s a relief.
The last couple of weeks for the Mooresville, North Carolina-native and his team have been quite puzzling. While his teammates Logano, Blaney, and Berry have had legitimate speed for three weeks straight, Cindric has been struggling – especially at Iowa. That’s left an entire faction of the Team Penske organization confused and wondering what they’re doing wrong.
A third-place finish on Saturday was exactly what the doctor ordered.
“Yeah, this was the kick in the ass that this team needed. The last couple weeks, and really months, have been a bit of a grind for us – suffering in silence and succeeding in silence in some ways, and tonight was a good way to drop the mirror in front and be able to remember who we are a little bit and be able to execute a good race.”
Cindric started the 400-lap contest in the 23rd position, and by the conclusion of the 70-lap opening stage, the driver of the No. 2 Ford Mustang Dark Horse was inside the top five. Between the opening two stages, Cindric amassed an impressive (and much-needed) 14 points.
There were several times during the event that Cindric looked like he’d be able to challenge for a race win at Richmond, clearly having the fastest race car. However, by the closing stages of the run, there was just too much ground to make up on leaders Joey Logano and Chase Briscoe, partly because of their short-run prowess, but also partly because of some difficult trips down pit road for the No. 2.
“Yeah, [tire conservation] was kind of the name of the game here, especially since they introduced this right side here last year. I thought that was one of our strengths. We could fire off good enough, but I thought I was one of the best cars, especially after about 30 laps,” Cindric said.
It was a great showing for Cindric, and no doubt, an important one. With just two races now until the start of The Chase for the NASCAR Cup Series championship, the Team Penske driver is still fighting for his life to make the post-season. But with a 48-point night in Richmond, he’s moved off the bubble and has a significant buffer heading into the final two races at New Hampshire and Daytona.
“I think from an execution standpoint, but also just car speed all weekend. With the exception of qualifying really, I’m super proud of the race car and the package. Everybody at Team Penske, all four cars that came out of that building this week were super strong. I felt like I had a car that could have won tonight and we didn’t, and that’s my only frustration, but as far as the big picture goes for the season, it was a very important night for us to capitalize on a good car.”
Photo: Matthew T. Thacker for Ford Performance
