NASCAR Cup Series Race Report - Bristol

September 14, 2025

Bass Pro Shops Night Race - Bristol Motor Speedway
Bristol, Tenn. - September 13, 2025

AUSTIN CINDRIC No. 2 DISCOUNT TIRE FORD MUSTANG DARK HORSE

START: 3RD  
STAGE 1: 12TH  
STAGE 2: 6TH   
FINISH: 30TH  
POINTS: 9TH (-1)

RACE RUNDOWN: Austin Cindric and the No. 2 Discount Tire Ford Mustang Dark Horse team endured a challenging night at Bristol Motor Speedway but persevered to advance to the Round of 12 in the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs. Cindric started the Bass Pro Shops Night Race from the third position and quickly showed strength at The Last Great Colosseum, taking the lead on Lap 49. He made his first trip to pit road on Lap 57 for two tires and went on to finish Stage 1 in the 12th position. The No. 2 team made adjustments and kept Cindric in contention throughout Stage 2. Quick work had him running inside the top 10 for much of the segment, and he collected a sixth-place finish at the conclusion of Stage 2, putting valuable points on the board. In the final segment, Cindric and crew chief Brian Wilson managed their remaining tire sets carefully as tire conservation was critical. After restarting eighth with just over 100 laps to go, Cindric fell back as drivers on fresher tires moved forward. With just under 50 laps remaining, a fire developed in the right front, forcing Cindric to make an unscheduled stop under green. The Discount Tire team quickly extinguished the flames and replaced the tire, allowing him to return to the track and salvage the night. Despite the setback and finishing 30th, Cindric and the No. 2 team advanced to the Round of 12, with the NASCAR Playoffs continuing next weekend at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

CINDRIC'S THOUGHTS: "The fire there was not ideal, but huge credit to all my guys behind the wall and over the wall to be prepared for a situation like that and only lose five laps. We had a great car tonight, definitely with the long run speed and being able to keep the tires on the car. I wish I would have been able to tell you that was going to be the game to start the day, but proud of the effort and a well-earned Sunday off for the 2 car. I'm looking forward to hitting the Round of 12 hard, I want to keep advancing through - this team is capable of a lot."

RYAN BLANEY No. 12 MENARDS/SYLVANIA FORD MUSTANG DARK HORSE

START: 2ND 
STAGE 1: 1ST  
STAGE 2: 2ND  
FINISH: 4TH  
POINTS: 5TH (+19)

RACE RUNDOWN: Ryan Blaney and the No. 12 Menards/Sylvania Ford Mustang Dark Horse team put together a pair of top-two stage finishes en route to a fourth-place finish Saturday night at Bristol, marking the team's 12th top-five finish of the season to pull them into a tie for the series lead. Blaney's seventh stage win of the season in Stage 1 paired with a second-place effort in Stage 2 was enough to clinch a spot in the Round of 12 before the completion of the 500-lap event that saw excessive tire wear from the first run of the night. The final stage saw eight caution flags fly as Blaney successfully managed his tires, allowing the No. 12 team to have a pair of sticker tires on-hand once the final run of the night approached. The Menards/Sylvania Ford maintained top-10 pace prior to the restart with 103 laps to go as crew chief Jonathan Hassler's strategy called for Blaney to manage tire wear up until a scheduled green flag stop with 59 to go while running sixth. After rejoining the field, Blaney charged his way towards the front to reach third in the running order with 17 laps to go before the caution flag flew four laps later to set up one final sprint to the finish. Following a four tire stop under yellow, Blaney lined up to take the green flag from the inside of row four as a four-lap dash to the finish ensued. Blaney worked the inside line to push his way back into the top-five in the first two laps before completing the pass for fourth in the final corner as the checkered flag waved. Blaney and the No. 12 team head into the opening race of the Round of 12 fifth in the playoff standings, 19 points above the elimination line.

BLANEY'S THOUGHTS: "It was another one of those things where we thought we knew what the tire was gonna do and it did something completely different. I guess that's happened multiple times and that makes for an exciting race and trying to figure it out on the fly and what to expect what to do and how to strategize and all that stuff. It was a wild night. I wish we wouldn't have run so many laps under caution. The middle part of that race, two thirds of that race was kind of getting pretty boring, but we were really fast all night. It's nice to win a stage and good to come home fourth. Overall, I'm really, really proud of the night and the effort. We'll go on to Loudon next week. I'm looking forward to it."

JOEY LOGANO No. 22 SHELL-PENNZOIL FORD MUSTANG DARK HORSE

START: 22ND  
STAGE 1: 18TH  
STAGE 2: 16TH  
FINISH: 5TH  
POINTS: 10TH (-2)

RACE RUNDOWN: Joey Logano and the No. 22 Shell-Pennzoil Ford Mustang Dark Horse team found themselves trapped a lap down for a majority of the first two stages of Saturday night's Bass Pro Shops Night Race at Bristol, but rallied back to post a fifth-place finish to advance to the Round of 12. A majority of the field experienced excess tire wear during the opening run of the 500-lap event as Logano went a lap down on lap 32 despite his best efforts to manage right front tire wear. Logano continued to battle his way towards the free pass position during the first two stages before ultimately getting back on the lead lap following a caution on lap 239 prior to the end of Stage 2. Following a four tire stop during the stage caution, Logano began to make his way forward and broke into the top-10 by lap 280. Eight cautions during the final segment prompted varying tire strategies throughout the field as crew chief Paul Wolfe opted to put on the team's final set of sticker tires following the caution on lap 384, allowing Logano to charge into the top-five with under 70 laps remaining. As teams began to make green flag pit stops shortly after, Logano took over the race lead with 58 to go before the Shell-Pennzoil Ford was called to pit road seven laps later for right side tires only. The call allowed Logano to reach fifth in the running order with 24 laps left, but a caution with 13 to go halted his momentum as Wolfe called for another two-tire stop under yellow. Logano lined up to take the restart with four laps to go from the inside of row three as the inside line prevailed to fire off and carried the momentum to a fifth-place finish - marking consecutive top-five finishes to cap off the opening round of the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs. Logano and the No. 22 team enter the opening race of the Round of 12 10th in the playoff standings, two points below the elimination line.

LOGANO'S THOUGHTS: "On that long run towards the end we were able to drive up to the lead and those cars in front of us, they were tanking before me. They were getting to the cords before me and so I felt like we had a good shot because they all pitted as soon as they got the cords, and I felt like that was going to give me a good chance to maybe win the race if it stayed green there because [Brad Keselowski] was falling off hard. He was seven or eight tenths off the last two laps. [Ryan Blaney] was starting to tank as well, so I was feeling like I was going to get them back and then the caution came out and we were out of tires. We had to put old tires back on it, so, overall, a top five and two top fives in a row, which at this point of the season we need to be doing that kind of stuff. I'm proud of the team and proud of the execution. I felt like the win was right there in front of us, but just couldn't quite grab it."

The NASCAR Cup Series heads to New Hampshire Motor Speedway for the first race of the Round of 12 on Sunday, September 21. Coverage begins at 2:00 p.m. ET on USA, PRN, and Sirius XM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.