Team Penske NASCAR Cup Series Race Report - Mexico City

June 15, 2025

Viva Mexico 250 - Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez
Mexico City, Mexico - June 15, 2025

AUSTIN CINDRIC No. 2 MENARDS/QUAKER STATE FORD MUSTANG

START: 20TH  
STAGE 1: 19TH  
STAGE 2: 22ND   
FINISH: 18TH  
POINTS: 15TH

RACE RUNDOWN: Austin Cindric fired off from the 20th position for the inaugural NASCAR Cup Series points race in Mexico City following a rain-shortened qualifying session Saturday. Shortly after the drop of the green flag, wet weather returned, bringing out the first caution of the day. While many drivers opted to pit for rain tires, Cindric opted to stay out on slicks and restarted on the front row, but lost ground quickly. A few laps later the yellow flag waved again for a multi-car incident and Cindric reported that the track surface was very sensitive to the conditions. As the rain was lightening up, the Menards/Quaker State team again opted to stay out on slicks. When Stage 1 concluded, Cindric was scored 19th. With the track continuing to dry, Cindric stayed out during the break and restarted seventh. In the second segment, he began to lack rear grip, but continued to fight for track position. Crew chief Brian Wilson elected to pit with four laps remaining in the segment, calling the Team Penske driver to pit road for four fresh slick tires and fuel. Cindric finished Stage 2 22nd as varying strategies played out. He restarted 16th and steadily gained position, reaching the top 10. He was racing in the third position when the No. 77 brought out a caution on Lap 64 and headed to pit road for fresh tires and fuel. The No. 2 Ford Mustang Dark Horse restarted 21st, but nifty work by Cindric gained him multiple spots as he maneuvered through chaos that was transpiring ahead of him. When the checkered flag waved on the historic event, Cindric crossed the line in the 18th position.  

CINDRIC'S THOUGHTS: "All in all, it was a great experience getting to race in Mexico City for the first time, and everything about the weekend was unique. The conditions and strategy definitely made for an interesting race, but I'm proud of the effort from our No. 2 Menards/Quaker State team."

RYAN BLANEY No. 12 WURTH FORD MUSTANG

START: 18TH  
STAGE 1: 2ND  
STAGE 2: 4TH  
FINISH: 14TH  
POINTS: 7TH

RACE RUNDOWN: Ryan Blaney and the No. 12 Wurth Ford Mustang Dark Horse scored a pair of top-five stage finishes en route to a 14th-place finish Sunday in Mexico City. The NASCAR Cup Series' inaugural race in Mexico City saw a caution for rain on the opening lap, prompting a majority of the field to hit pit road for wet weather tires as a steady rainfall around the 15-turn road course set in. After restarting 19th, crew chief Jonathan Hassler made the call to leave Blaney on track while a majority of the leaders hit pit road under green prior to the stage end. Blaney cycled to second in the running order while chasing down the No. 60 for the stage win, but ultimately settled for a second-place finish in Stage 1. After making the change back to slick tires during the stage caution with the weather having moved out of the area, the No. 12 team remained on the same strategy as the opening stage as Blaney worked his way back up to fifth in the running order by lap 40. He picked up another spot in the final five laps of the segment to come away with a fourth-place result in Stage 2. Blaney lined up to restart 25th following a four tire stop under yellow before making his way up to seventh when the caution flag flew in the middle of the green flag pit cycle on lap 65. The Wurth Ford took the ensuing green flag from 15th with 32 laps to go as the 100-lap event stayed caution-free the rest of the way with Blaney taking the checkered flag 14th.

BLANEY'S THOUGHTS: "Good points day for our 12 group and proud of the effort all weekend. I felt like we had a shot at a top-10 during that final run but came up a little short at the end. It was a great experience here in Mexico City and it was cool to see it all come together the way it did."

JOEY LOGANO No. 22 SHELL-PENNZOIL FORD MUSTANG

START: 9TH  
STAGE 1: 24TH  
STAGE 2: 29TH  
FINISH: 21ST  
POINTS: 9TH

RACE RUNDOWN: Joey Logano and the Shell-Pennzoil Ford Mustang Dark Horse came away with a 21st-place finish Sunday in the NASCAR Cup Series' inaugural race in Mexico City. After gaining three spots in the first few corners of the opening lap, rain brought out the first caution of the afternoon before the field made it back to the start-finish line, prompting teams to pit for wet weather tires. On the ensuing run, crew chief Paul Wolfe made the call to pit for four slick tires with three laps remaining in the opening stage in an effort to flip track position, resulting in a 24th-place finish in Stage 1. After staying out during the stage caution, Logano moved up to 11th in the running order to take the green flag for Stage 2 but was pushed off-track in turn four by the No. 3, dropping the No. 22 Shell-Pennzoil Ford back to 29th. Logano worked to regain ground on the field prior to another four tire stop prior to the stage end on lap 41, culminating in a 29th-place finish in Stage 2. Following a caution on lap 65, Logano lined up to take the green from 22nd with 32 laps to go and worked his way back into the top-20 early in the run before settling for a 21st-place finish.

LOGANO'S THOUGHTS: "Just a couple unfortunate moments early on that set back our Shell-Pennzoil team and forced us to flip our strategy. We never really had a chance to recover from that but still proud of the effort from the 22 team this weekend."

The NASCAR Cup Series heads north to Pocono Raceway on Sunday, June 22. Coverage of The Great American Getaway 400 begins at 2:00 p.m. ET on Amazon Prime Video and Sirius XM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.