Track: Texas Motor Speedway
Race: My Bariatric Solutions 300
Date: April 7, 2018
No. 12 Mazak Ford Mustang – Austin Cindric
Start: 16th
Stage 1: 12th
Stage 2: 17th
Finish: 9th
Status: Running
Laps Completed: 200/200
Laps Led: 0
Driver Point Standings (behind first): 16th (-129)
Notes:
- Austin Cindric finished the My Bariatric Solutions 300 in the ninth position after starting his No. 12 Mazak Ford 16th.
- During the first 45-lap stage, Cindric raced his way up to the 12th position after falling to 17th on the lap 20 restart. Cindric would finish 12th at the conclusion of Stage 1.
- On lap 47, the No. 12 Mazak Ford pit crew made their first stop of the race and gained three positions on pit road, Cindric restarted Stage 2 ninth.
- Cindric raced his way into the top-five by lap 64 and communicated to crew chief Matt Swiderski his Ford was free in but better than the run before.
- On the lap 70 restart, Cindric was pinned to the outside lane running sixth and fell to the 15th position. Shortly after the race was under caution and the No. 12 Mazak Ford team elected to pit on lap 84, six laps before the end of Stage 2.
- Cindric would return to the track in 23rd position with a one-lap green flag sprint to end the stage. Cindric made a clean restart and finished 17th at the end of Stage 2.
- With many cars still needing to pit at the end of the stage, the 19-year-old rookie would restart the 200-lap event from the seventh position.
- During the long run, the No. 12 Ford became loose and Cindric would cross the finish line in the ninth position.
- This was Cindric's second top-10 in the No. 12 Team Penske Ford this year.
Quote: "I am glad to get back in the top-10. I think we had a car for the top-five but this place is kind of a track position game. We were able to race our way up to the top-five once or twice there in the race legitimately. I am proud of that. Proud of these guys on the 12 car. We never gave up all weekend. We got behind on adjustments in practice and made some good calls overnight. We didn't really have the starting spot we wanted but we were able to rally from whatever position we were in. It is cool to have Mazak on the car this weekend. They have a lot of people out here this weekend and I am glad they were able to tough it out in the cold. I am looking forward to Bristol and the 22 car."
No. 22 Fitzgerald Glider Kits Ford Mustang – Ryan Blaney
Start: 1st
Stage 1: 1st
Stage 2: 18th
Finish: 1st (7th career victory)
Status: Running
Laps Completed: 200/200
Laps Led: 132
Owner Points Position (ahead of first): 1st (+40)
Notes:
- Ryan Blaney started and finished 1st in today's My Bariatric Solutions 300. This was his second XFINITY Series pole and seventh career victory. He led a race-high 132 laps on the day.
- Blaney led all 45 laps in Stage 1 and collected his first XFINITY stage win of 2018.
- He reported to crew chief Brian Wilson his car was a little on the tight side and the team made an air pressure adjustment. On the following stop, they went back on the air pressure adjustment after the car began going to the free side.
- A late caution near the conclusion of Stage 2 had several XFINITY Series regulars stay out to collect stage points, while the No. 22 Fitzgerald Gliders Kits team elected to pit for service. Subsequently Blaney finished 18th in Stage 2.
- Blaney took the lead from Daniel Hemric on lap 154 and managed the gap back to eventual second place finisher Christopher Bell.
- This marked the third consecutive victory for the No. 22 team in 2018 (Brad Keselowski at ISM Raceway and Joey Logano at Auto Club Speedway).
- This was the fourth win for Team Penske in 37 starts at Texas Motor Speedway.
Quote: "We started up front and there were a lot of cautions early and in the middle stages of that race. It was kind of hard to get going and really tell what your car was doing. The temperatures were so different today from when we practiced yesterday. We didn't know where we would be at with balance at the beginning of the race. I think we ran two laps in between like three or four cautions and I didn't really know what we needed. We were pretty close to begin with but got behind a little when we got loose on that restart and then the stages got broken up. We were able to restart seventh and drive back up to the lead and lead the whole thing after that. It was just a really fast race car. That is three in a row for this team with three different drivers. That says a lot about Brian's work that he has done and the whole team to bring fast race cars to the tracks lately. Hopefully we can keep this up. It was definitely a fun day."