Team Penske NASCAR Cup Series Race Recap - Talladega

April 24, 2022

Track:  Talladega Superspeedway     
Race:   GEICO 500
Date:   April 24, 2022

 
No. 2 Menards/Sylvania Ford Mustang – Austin Cindric
Start: 18th
Race Finish: 21st
Stage 1 Finish: 16th
Stage 2 Finish: 18th
Laps Led: 0
Point Standings: 16th (-130)
 
Race Rundown: Austin Cindric started 18th and finished 21st Sunday in the GEICO 500 at Talladega Superspeedway in the No. 2 Menards/Sylvania Ford Mustang on Sunday afternoon. Cindric quickly bailed from the hectic draft early in the race to ride most of the first stage, but still connected with his Ford teammates in the draft to finish the stage in 16th. Misfortune would strike on lap 90, as Cindric was collected in an accident, with the Menards/Sylvania Mustang sustaining right front damage in the multi-car accident. The Menards team made repairs to the car, and he was able to continue and fight hard to stay on the lead lap. The Rookie of the Year candidate gained track position during the last stag, but was shuffled out of line late, resulting in a finish of 21st.
 
Cnidric's Thoughts: "It seemed to be a track position race – more than I would have expected for a Talladega race. The damage that we got in the wreck was enough to lose the drat.  Just ran out of cars behind me.  We didn't have a shot to make a move at the end.  It was a bit of a long day in that sense."
 
 
No. 12 Wurth Ford Mustang – Ryan Blaney
Start: 22nd
Race Finish: 11th
Stage 1 Finish: 14th
Stage 2 Finish: 14th
Laps Led: 23
Point Standings: 2nd (-21)  
 
Race Rundown: Ryan Blaney started 22nd, led a total of 23 laps and finished 11th  at Talladega Superspeedway on Sunday afternoon in the No. 12 Wurth Ford Mustang. Blaney ran competitively all day, narrowly missing a top-10 result after getting shuffled out of the lead pack late in the race. The driver of the No.12 Mustang was in position to make some race winning moves late, but lacked an adequate number of Ford Performance teammates to make moves to get to the front, due to high attrition throughout the race. 
 
Blaney's Thoughts: "You can't pass anybody here anymore. It is hard to pass everywhere but it is the same thing at speedways now. You can't really make a third lane. I don't know what the problem is with it. I thought we had a decent shot at going but we got stuck when someone jammed it in there three-wide and shuffled us out toward the end and we just couldn't get it back up there."

  
No. 22 Shell-Pennzoil/Autotrader Ford Mustang – Joey Logano
Start: 13th
Race Finish: 32nd
Stage 1 Finish: 15th
Stage 2 Finish: 32nd
Laps Led: 1
Point Standings:  6th (-60)
 
Race Rundown: Joey Logano started 13th and finished 32nd after a wreck at lap 89 ended the race prematurely for the No. 22 Shell-Pennzoil/Autotrader Ford Mustang. Early in the race, Logano struggled with taking a push, describing the Shell-Pennzoil/Autotrader Mustang as too loose in the draft. The team made several adjustments and with extremely fast pit stops and kept Logano in the top-10, until disaster struck on a restart just a few laps before the end of Stage 2.  The damage of the accident was too much, forcing an early retirement for Logano and the No 22 team.
 
Logano's Thoughts: "I felt a lot of things that didn't feel good, I will tell you that much. The car got banged up pretty good there. We were getting pushed back and forth and I was the one that got shuffled to the right and hit the wall and came back in front of the field. That is superspeedway racing."