Team Penske dominates strategy battle at COTA Race. [Image Source: SPEEDWAYDIGEST]
Team Penske experienced mixed results at the recent NASCAR Cup Series race held at Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas. Ryan Blaney delivered a strong performance, finishing eighth and moving up four spots in the driver standings, while Austin Cindric encountered difficulties, concluding the race in 32nd place despite showing early promise. Joey Logano also put in a determined effort to finish 15th after starting from deep in the field. The event underscored the challenges of road-course racing and the strategic decisions that shaped the outcome for the Penske drivers.
Auston Cindric Battles Tire Wear and Strategy Challenges
Austin Cindric, driving the No. 2 Discount Tire Ford Mustang Dark Horse, began the race in 28th place and faced a tough afternoon that ended in 32nd. His day was marked by managing degrading front tires, which hampered his pace as the race progressed. Cindric fought back during Stage 1, advancing to finish 12th, aided by a strategic decision to skip pitting until a caution period when his team serviced the car with four fresh tires and fuel. Restarting Stage 2 in 25th, he gained spots, reaching 21st by the stage’s conclusion after another tire and air-pressure adjustment.
In Stage 3, Cindric progressed into the top 10, but a left-front tire failure in the closing laps forced an unscheduled pit stop. This setback dropped him to 33rd, and he was unable to recover before crossing the finish line in 32nd place. Reflecting on his day, Cindric said,
Image of: Team Penske
“It was a frustrating day for us. We worked our way into the top 10 in the final stage and felt like we had something to build on, but obviously that didn’t pan out. We learned a lot about this setup, and I’m proud of the No. 2 Discount Tire team for sticking with it all afternoon. We’ll regroup and look ahead to Phoenix, which has been a strong track for our team.”
—Austin Cindric, Driver
Ryan Blaney Delivers a Strong Road Course Showing
Ryan Blaney’s performance was a highlight for Team Penske at COTA, driving the No. 12 Menards/Pennzoil Ford Mustang Dark Horse. Starting in fourth, Blaney quickly found himself among the leaders, taking the race lead eight laps in and extending it to a five-second advantage. His crew chief, Jonathan Hassler, employed a strategy to flip the stage by calling Blaney into pit road near the end of the first stage, handing the lead over to teammates temporarily but allowing Blaney to restart near the front for Stage 2.
Blaney maintained a strong presence in the top positions throughout Stage 2, finishing seventh after another late-stage pit stop under caution for four tires. Opting for a one-stop strategy to reach the final laps, Blaney pitted with 27 laps remaining and re-entered the race in 11th. He mounted a charge up to third place before a caution with 21 laps left slowed him down. Starting the final restart in third, he eventually slipped to eighth as others with fresher tires moved ahead in the closing laps.
Blaney led for 11 laps, achieving a personal best at COTA in his sixth start on the demanding road course. Speaking after the race, he commented,
“I just lost grip. I don’t know. I just kind of lost grip and lost touch with Shane [van Gisbergen] and Tyler [Reddick]. Yeah, it was weird. I wasn’t really pushing hard like after the green flag pit stop with Tyler, knowing it was going to be a longer run, caution or not. [The tires] didn’t really fire off very good, and I stayed in touch with those guys for maybe five laps, and they just kind of started to slowly lose and then really fall off the cliff. Overall good weekend. I hate that we didn’t finish top-three like I thought we were, but it’s hard to complain about it. We don’t have a great track record here, so we put a solid weekend together, and hopefully build on something.”
Joey Logano and the No. 22 Shell-Pennzoil Ford Mustang Dark Horse began the race from 20th position and faced a challenging day that ultimately resulted in a 15th-place finish. Early in the race, Logano adopted the stage-flipping strategy used by his teammates, pitting late in Stage 1 which dropped him to 29th but allowed a restart from seventh at the beginning of Stage 2. Maintaining solid pace throughout, Logano finished 18th in Stage 2 before cycling to 10th after caution-induced pit stops.
As the race neared its conclusion, Team Penske called for two separate stops in the final segment. Logano pitted under green on lap 63, rejoining in 23rd and racing back to 13th place when a late caution forced an unscheduled pit stop. Complications on pit road caused by being boxed in led to a significant loss of positions, pushing him back to 30th for the last restart. Demonstrating resilience, Logano gained 10 spots on the first lap of the final run, eventually finishing 15th.
On his performance, Logano said,
“We made the most of our day. What we lacked in pace at times we were able to make up for with the strategy calls we made to gain a few spots here and there. We had the opportunity to go on offense at the end by two-stopping it and did what we could on that final run. There’s a lot to look forward to these next few weeks to see where we stack up.”
—Joey Logano, Driver
Upcoming Challenges and Team Outlook
Following the demanding road course battle at Circuit of the Americas, Team Penske will shift focus to Phoenix Raceway for the Straight Talk Wireless 500, scheduled for Sunday, March 8. The desert track offers a different challenge and historically has been favorable territory for the Penske team. With lessons learned from tire management, pit strategy, and car setups at COTA, the team aims to build momentum and improve results as the NASCAR Cup Seriesseason progresses.
