Team Penske eNASCAR Race Report - Talladega

April 26, 2020

Team Penske eNASCAR Pro Invitational iRacing Series Race Report

Track:                Virtual Talladega Superspeedway
Race:                 GEICO 70 at Talladega
Date:                 April 26, 2020

No. 2 Dent Wizard Ford Mustang – Brad Keselowski

Start: 13th
Finish: 19th
Status: Running
Laps Led: 11
Laps Completed: 74/74

Notes:

Brad Keselowski started 13th and raced to the lead multiple times on Sunday afternoon at the virtual Talladega Superspeedway before a late race incident relegated the No. 2 Dent Wizard Ford Mustang to a 19th place result.
Keselowski led 11 laps, tied for the most in the event.
Keselowski worked to the lead before the first caution flag of the race was displayed for a multi-vehicle incident. The Dent Wizard Ford suffered minor damage in a lap 28 incident where Keselowski had to avoid another competitor.
Despite having damage, Keselowski maintained in the top-10 as the race moved towards pit stops. Keselowski momentarily regained the lead following the green flag stops but settled back into the fourth position before a caution flag was displayed with 14 laps remaining.
Keselowski lined up in the third position for a restart with nine laps remaining and was battling for the lead when he was swept into a multi-vehicle incident when teammate Joey Logano got loose on the outside lane.
Damage from the wreck would take Keselowski out of contention and drop the Dent Wizard Ford Mustang to the 19th position, a disappointing result after leading and running inside the top-five for most of the event.

Quote:

"May not have gotten the win, but I’ll still take the “most improved” award, thanks Mike Joy. Led the most laps but got in someone else’s wreck at the end. Hopefully, the win is coming soon though.”

No. 12 Menards/Sylvania Ford Mustang – Ryan Blaney

Start: 39th
Finish: 17th
Status: Running
Laps Led: 0
Laps Completed: 74/74

Notes:

Ryan Blaney started 39th in Sunday afternoon’s virtual Talladega Superspeedway race in the No. 12 Menards/Sylvania Ford Mustang. He raced forward throughout the event and was running inside the top-10 before a multi-vehicle incident with three scheduled laps remaining sent the driver airborne, relegating him to a 17th place finish.
Blaney worked his way forward reaching the 16th position before the first caution flag of the race for a multi-car incident. He ran inside the top-20 for the majority of the first half of the event, maintaining position as the race approached green flag pit stops with 20 laps remaining. A caution flag with 14 laps remaining would position the driver of the No. 12 Ford Mustang for a chance to win the race.
Blaney would restart in ninth position with nine laps remaining but was swept up in a late race accident with teammates Joey Logano and Brad Keselowski.
Blaney had saved his one vehicle reset and was able to utilize it to power back to the 17th position in the green-white-checkered flag finish.

Quote:

“We hung out at the back for most of the race holding on to our one reset. Unfortunately, I got caught in someone else’s mess and got destroyed. Luckily, we had our reset and brought home a respectable finish with our Menards Ford."

No. 22 MoneyLion Ford Mustang – Joey Logano

Start: 30th
Finish: 36th
Status: Accident
Laps Led: 0
Laps Completed: 67/74

Notes:

Joey Logano started 30th and finished 36th after a late race incident in Sunday’s virtual Talladega Superspeedway race in the No. 22 MoneyLion Ford Mustang. Prior to the incident, Logano had staged a late-race rally into the top-10, challenging for a top-five finish before wrecking out.
Logano rode around the back of the field in the early stages of the race, avoiding the early incidents.
A caution flag with 14 laps to go would bunch the field up, with Logano restarting in 17th position with nine laps remaining. He charged forward, reaching the sixth position before getting loose and touching off a multi-vehicle incident.
As a result of the damage in the incident with three laps remaining, Logano was relegated to the 36th position in the No. 22 MoneyLion Ford Mustang.

Quote:

“Rode in the back most of the race and when the caution flag came out with 14 laps to go, it finally gave us a chance to get aggressive. Got up to about the sixth position and thought we were in a good spot when we got in that wreck that ended our day.”

_______________________________________________

Team Penske Saturday Night Thunder Race Report

Track:    Virtual Talladega Superspeedway
Race:     Saturday Night Thunder
Date:     April 25, 2020

No. 22 MoneyLion Ford Mustang – Austin Cindric

Heat 2 Start: 10th
Heat 2 Finish: 7th
Status: Running
Laps Led: 0
Lap Completed: 10/10

Main Event Start: 16th
Main Event Finish: 7th
Status: Running
Lap Led: 0
Laps Completed: 62/62

Notes:

Austin Cindric gave Team Penske its first Saturday Night Thunder top-10 finish Saturday evening at the virtual Talladega Superspeedway. Cindric rebounded from a late race incident and lost track position to score a seventh-place finish in his MoneyLion Ford Mustang.
Cindric started from 16th position and made his way up to 13th position by lap 11. The Mooresville, N.C. native was involved in a few wrecks but with insignificant damage. He would run much of the event in the top-20 until a big crash caused the race to extend into overtime.
The 21-year-old would restart 26th with three laps remaining. As the field took the white flag, the lead pack wrecked. Cindric was able to avoid disaster and crossed the finish line in seventh.
Cindric started the 10-lap second Heat in the 10th position. With 20 cars advancing from each heat, after the drop of the green flag he fell to 16th to log laps. The Mooresville, N.C. native avoided the big one on the last lap, crossing the finish line in the eight position.

Quote:

“I had a lot of fun and was on the radio with my spotter, Coleman Pressley the entire race. We were just trying to stay relevant and on the back of the lead draft. We had some damage but wanted to save our one reset. We went from 26th to seventh position on the green-white-checker restart. It was crazy but avoided trouble, had a great jump and a great push going to get a top-10 finish.”