Team Penske NASCAR Xfinity Race Report - Bristol

August 16, 2019

Track: Bristol Motor Speedway
Race: Food City 300
Date: August 16, 2019

No. 12 Snap-on Tools Ford Mustang – Joey Logano

Start: 19th
Stage 1: 36th
Stage 2: 36th
Finish: 36th
Status: Accident
Laps Completed: 36/300
Laps Led: 0
Point Standings: N/A

Notes:

Joey Logano started 19th and finished 36th in Friday night's Food City 300 at Bristol Motor Speedway after an early, multi-vehicle incident ended the night early for the driver of the Snap-on Tools Ford Mustang at lap 37.
After starting 19th, Logano raced inside the top-10 in the opening laps, running lap times as fast as the leaders despite being stuck in traffic. Under the first caution at lap 8, Logano reported that the Snap-on Tools Mustang took off about a two loose but ,was able still able to make passes around the high-banked, concrete half-mile.
Unfortunately, at lap 37, Logano's night ended as he was unable to avoid a spinning car, bending the right front suspension on the Snap-on Tools Mustang, yielding the 36th place finish.

Quote: "It's a bummer to end the night that early. I felt like we had a really good Snap-on Tools Mustang. We were at a disadvantage in qualifying rolling out fourth, but we were able to work into the top-10 early, just couldn't avoid that wreck. I hate it for everyone on the Snap-on Tools team. That's a group of employees that work hard every week in the shop and only get to come to the track a few times a yea and they brought a really good Ford Mustang tonight, just didn't get a chance to show it."

No. 22 MoneyLion Ford Mustang – Austin Cindric

Start: 1st (6th-career NASCAR Xfinity Series pole)
Stage 1: 11th
Stage 2: 4th
Finish: 5th
Status: Running
Laps Completed: 300/300
Laps Led: 1
Driver Point Standings (behind first): 5th (-193)

Notes:

Austin Cindric and the No. 22 MoneyLion Ford Mustang team finished the Food City 300 at Bristol Motor Speedway in the fifth position on Friday night. Cindric remains fifth in the driver point standings, 193 points behind leader Tyler Reddick and 34 points behind fourth-place Justin Allgaier.
The driver of the MoneyLion Ford Mustang started his day at The Last Great Colosseum in Bristol, Tennessee by qualifying on the pole position with a lap time of 15.655 seconds and a speed of 122.568 mph. The qualifying effort was his first pole in four races at Bristol Motor Speedway, his third pole of the 2019 season and his sixth pole position of his XFINITY Series career.
At the drop of the green flag, Cindric slipped to the third position and communicated his MoneyLion Ford Mustang was tight on fire-off. Cindric avoided near disaster on lap 38 when he came within inches of a spinning Cole Custer. Cindric would restart in third but fall to eighth by the time the fourth caution fell on lap 72. Crew chief Brian Wilson elected to bring the No. 22 MoneyLion Ford to pit road for service. With teams on different pit strategies, Cindric would be scored in the 18th position once the race restated on lap 77. The pace was slowed once more on lap 82, causing the first 85-lap stage to end under yellow, Cindric scored in 11th place.
The Mooresville, N.C. native would remain on track during the stage caution, restarting from third on lap 95. Cindric would battle his way to the second position, running laps faster than the race leader, Kyle Busch. The red flag was displayed on lap 120 for extensive clean up. Cindric radioed to his team that his MoneyLion Ford was the best it had been all weekend. The race restarted on lap 125, with Cindric falling to the fifth position. But gain one position and be credited with fourth place at the end of Stage 2.
The 20-year-old driver would restart second on lap 178. Still fighting a tight Ford on fire-off, he would slip to fourth. After 43 laps completed in the final stage, Cindric's Mustang would come to him again and he would once again run the fastest times on the concrete half-mile track. With 78 laps remaining in the 300-lap event, Wilson elected to pit under caution and restart eighth on lap 227. Cindric was able to battle back to the fifth position by the time the ninth and finial caution was displayed with 15 laps remaining. Cindric would maintain his position inside the top-five to capture his ninth top-five and 16th top-10 of the season.

Quote: "Yeah, I'd say we were maybe a little better, but I never got on the outside for a restart the entire night. They mean a lot here, especially when maybe our short run wasn't the best, but we had a great car after about 30-40 laps – the fastest car on track kind of deal, but didn't have the track position to quite use it well enough. Congrats to Tyler. He's a good friend of mine. I'm glad to see him win again, but I want it. It's great to be on the pole here and great to come away with a top five. It's a great day for the guys, so we'll move onto Road America and see if we go for three on the road courses."