Track: Nashville Superspeedway
Race: Ally 400
Date: June 26, 2022
No. 2 Menards/Duracell Ford Mustang – Austin Cindric
Start: 24th
Race Finish: 7th
Stage 1 Finish: 17th
Stage 2 Finish: 32nd
Laps Led: 0
Point Standings: 17th (-194)
Race Rundown: Austin Cindric started 24th and captured his fourth top-10 of the 2022 season with a seventh-place finish in Sunday's Ally 400 at Nashville Superspeedway. The driver of the Menards/Duracell Ford Mustang said he needed a better handling car just before the red flag was waived for the first time for a weather delay. Once the race resumed, Cindric communicated to his team that he had an issue and, on lap 100, came to pit road for services. The Menards/Duracell team replaced all four tires and sent Cindric back on track, placing him 31st, one lap down to the leaders. Shortly after, the race was paused once more due to weather. When the race once again resumed after several hours, Cindric was scored 30th, where he also finished the second stage. Cindric received the free pass on lap 206, rejoining the lead lap. Before the Mooresville N.C. native made his green flag stop, the caution was displayed, leapfrogging Cindric up to 10th with 44 laps to go. Throughout the remaining laps, Cindric held his ground, finishing seventh at the conclusion of the event.
Cindric's Thoughts: "I'll take it, I guess. That was a long way to get there for sure. Obviously, getting the lucky dog halfway through the third stage and getting our Duracell/Menards Ford Mustang into the top five. I got passed by a few guys on tires there at the end, but obviously had speed in the car. We just needed the track position. Jeremy made a great call to run long and we got probably 10 spots out of that and probably got about six or eight more on the restart there and was able to have a representative day."
No. 12 Advance Auto Parts Ford Mustang – Ryan Blaney
Start: 6th
Race Finish: 3rd
Stage 1 Finish: 3rd
Stage 2 Finish: 9th
Laps Led: 1
Point Standings: 3rd (-31)
Race Rundown: Ryan Blaney started sixth and finished third in Sunday's Ally 400 at Nashville Superspeedway. Blaney ran inside the top five much of the first stage. Strong pit service got the Advance Auto Parts Ford out in the top five as he came home third in stage 1. Following a lengthy rain and lightning delay prior to the end of stage 2, Blaney and the Advance Auto Parts team would finish a strong ninth in stage 2. The final stage of the event was eventful, as Blaney would overcome a pit miscue and late-race spin to put himself in position to challenge for the win on a final restart with less than 10 laps to go. Getting a good restart, Blaney would bring the Advance Auto Parts Mustang home in the third position at the end of the 300-lap event.
Blaney's Thoughts: "I'm not sure as the race kind of kept progressing later into the night I thought we lost some ground between some of the other cars. I thought hot and slick during the day we were pretty competitive and then something went down and I didn't think we were as good. I had to go to the back and then spun out trying too hard. Jonathan made a good call to stay out the last stop. Why not, running ninth and was able to run third, so that was a good call by him. Overall, I wish it was in the hot and slick of the day because I thought we were a little bit more competitive, but not a bad finish."
No. 22 Shell-Pennzoil Ford Mustang – Joey Logano
Start: 2nd
Race Finish: 9th
Stage 1 Finish: 18th
Stage 2 Finish: 13th
Laps Led: 4
Point Standings: 5th (-52)
Race Rundown: Joey Logano and the No. 22 Shell-Pennzoil team got a tad bit lucky on Sunday at Nashville Superspeedway, starting sixth and finishing ninth in the Ally 400. Logano battled balance issues early in the race, losing several spots from his outside front-row starting position. Crew chief Paul Wolfe would opt for a two stop strategy for track position early. Logano would maintain position for a while before falling back slightly. He would bring the Shell-Pennzoil Ford 18th in stage 1. Logano continued to solider on fighting balance for the rest of the race. Following a lengthy red flag for rain, Logano would finished 13th in stage 2. Then, a timely caution in the final stage gave the Shell-Pennzoil crew some much needed track position. Still with balance challenges, Logano would come home in the ninth position.
Logano's Thoughts: "It's an ugly top 10, but it was a top 10 nonetheless. It was a battle. I had some false hope by qualifying second, thinking we might be better than what we were, but as soon as the race started we realized we weren't. We just kind of fought everything."