Cracker Barrel 400 - Nashville Superspeedway
Lebanon, Tenn. - June 1, 2025
AUSTIN CINDRIC No. 2 DISCOUNT TIRE FORD MUSTANG
START: 16TH
STAGE 1: 15TH
STAGE 2: 6TH
FINISH: 18TH
POINTS: 13TH
RACE RUNDOWN: Austin Cindric and the No. 2 Discount Tire team showed early strength in Sunday night's Cracker Barrel 400 at Nashville Superspeedway, ultimately finishing 18th when the checkered flag waved. After starting 16th, Cindric reported being fairly happy with the car in the early going and executed a long-run strategy in Stage 1, making his first trip to pit road on Lap 70. He closed out the opening segment in 15th. During the stage break, crew chief Brian Wilson called for two tires and fuel, positioning Cindric second for the restart alongside teammate Ryan Blaney. Cindric maintained solid pace throughout Stage 2, running inside the top five for much of the segment before finishing sixth to collect valuable stage points. The team opted for four tires and an air pressure adjustment ahead of the final stage and Cindric restarted seventh. Just past Lap 200, he reported the car didn't fire off well but began to come to him over the run, describing the handling as "squirmy" while running in 13th. In the closing laps, Cindric battled through a shifting issue and made his final pit stop with under 50 laps to go. From there, he soldiered on to finish 18th in the Discount Tire Ford Mustang Dark Horse.
CINDRIC'S THOUGHTS: "I thought our strategy early really put us in a great position to control our race with some track position. I felt like my car, and all of our cars, had some really great long run speed and I felt like we weren't able to capitalize on some of those restarts, kind of in the mess, but then I lost the capability to shift and that kind of put us in a box, honestly. I'm super happy for Ryan [Blaney], everybody at Team Penske-that's a big win to get all of our guys in the playoffs and well-deserved for that bunch."
RYAN BLANEY No. 12 MENARDS/CARDELL CABINETRY FORD MUSTANG
START: 15TH
STAGE 1: 7TH
STAGE 2: 1ST
FINISH: 1ST
POINTS: 7TH
RACE RUNDOWN: Ryan Blaney led a race-high 139 laps en route to his 14th-career Cup Series win Sunday night at Nashville Superspeedway as all three Team Penske entries have now clinched playoff berths 14 races into the 2025 season. Sunday night's victory marks the fourth of Blaney's career in which he's led over 100 laps, culminating in he and crew chief Jonathan Hassler's seventh win as a driver-crew chief pairing. Hassler's strategy call to run the opening stage long and take right side tires only prior to the start of Stage 2 paid huge dividends Sunday night as Blaney ran in the top-five the remainder of the night, ultimately taking the lead with 17 laps to go in the second segment following a three-car battle with the Nos. 11 and 24 before picking up his third stage win of the season. Following a caution on lap 193, Blaney restarted from the outside of row one and cleared the field off of turn two to take over the top spot and maintained the lead up until the final green flag pit cycle began to take shape. Hassler called Blaney to pit road for one last four tire stop with 53 laps remaining and eventually cycled back to the lead with 31 laps to go and over a three-second advantage on the field. The race remained the green the rest of the way as Blaney made his way through lapped traffic, eventually taking the checkered flag to send the Menards/Cardell Cabinetry Ford Mustang to victory lane.
BLANEY'S THOUGHTS: "I never gave up hope, that's for sure. We've had great speed all year, just hasn't been the best year for us as far as good fortune. The 12 boys are awesome; they stick with it no matter how it goes, and it was great to finish one out tonight. We drove up to seventh there in the first stage, and I thought two tires were great. I thought my car was really good, and that really set us up for the rest of the race, so great job by [Jonathan Hassler], as always, all the 12 boys, appreciate what they do. The pit crew was great. Appreciate Menards, Cardell, Ford, Ford Motor Company, Roush Yates Engines, Discount Tire, Wabash, Wurth, Snap-on, DEX Imaging, BODYARMOR, Advance Auto Parts, everything that they do. It's nice that it's finally happening, so I'm ready to go celebrate."
JOEY LOGANO No. 22 SHELL-PENNZOIL FORD MUSTANG
START: 9TH
STAGE 1: 9TH
STAGE 2: 4TH
FINISH: 4TH
POINTS: 8TH
RACE RUNDOWN: Joey Logano turned in a top-five result Sunday night at Nashville Superspeedway as the Shell-Pennzoil Ford Mustang took the checkered flag fourth in the Cup Series' return to the 1.33-mile oval. Logano battled some handling issues early on after starting from ninth, but maintained his track position over the course of the opening run to come away with a ninth-place finish in Stage 1. Following a caution on lap 105, crew chief Paul Wolfe's call for fuel only gained Logano five spots on pit road as Logano battled for the lead on the ensuing restart, but ultimately settled for a fourth-place effort in Stage 2. The No. 22 team's four tire stop during the stage caution won Logano the race off pit road as the defending Nashville winner took the restart from the inside of row one with 102 laps to go, but was shuffled back to third in the running order. Following the final green flag pit cycle of the night with under 60 laps remaining, Logano cycled to fourth on the leaderboard and held the position the rest of the way in the top-five effort.
LOGANO'S THOUGHTS: "We did the details well. All but the one restart where I lost the lead there but I don't think I would've maintained it anyways, that run [Ryan Blaney] had was just lights out which gave him that huge lead. The last run after the last pit stop was pretty solid, I thought, once we got going. It just took me 15-20 laps to get speed in the Shell-Pennzoil Mustang which is the same as what it was in practice. Proud of Team Penske, all of our cars have a win now and that's pretty impressive. It shows all the teams are really strong. My guys were great on pit road today as well. That's a solid, hard-earned top-five."
The NASCAR Cup Series heads to the Michigan International Speedway on Sunday, June 8 for the Firekeepers Casino 400. Coverage begins at 2:00 p.m. ET on Amazon Prime Video and Sirius XM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.