News

Goodyear 400
Darlington, S.C. - March 22, 2026

AUSTIN CINDRIC No. 2 FREIGHTLINER FORD MUSTANG DARK HORSE

START: 12TH  
STAGE 1: 8TH  
STAGE 2: 8TH  
FINISH: 5TH 
POINTS: 21ST

RACE RUNDOWN: Austin Cindric and the No. 2 Freightliner Ford Mustang Dark Horse team delivered a strong, methodical performance in Sunday's Goodyear 400 at Darlington Raceway, coming away with a top-five finish, his first of the 2026 season. Cindric started 12th and quickly worked his way into the top 10, reporting early that his car was on the tight side. As the opening run unfolded and teams cycled through green-flag pit stops, the No. 2 team made gains, with Cindric climbing to fifth while noting the balance had shifted freer. He finished Stage 1 in eighth and came to pit road for four tires, fuel and an air pressure adjustment. Taking the green flag for Stage 2 from seventh, Cindric continued to manage a car that fluctuated between free and tight. He reported being freer on the run but still searching for the right balance as a caution on Lap 111 brought the field back together. The team made additional adjustments during the stop, but as the run progressed, Cindric battled a tightening condition. Following another green-flag pit cycle, he found himself back in 10th before charging to an eighth-place finish in Stage 2. Cindric lined up eighth for the final stage and remained in the mix as varying pit strategies shuffled the running order when a caution shortly after the restart saw several cars stay out, leaving Cindric to restart just outside the top 10 despite a solid stop by the Freightliner crew. He continued to fight a tight-handling condition deep into the run but maintained track position inside the top 10. With just over 50 laps remaining, Cindric made his final green-flag stop for four tires and fuel, cycling back to 11th. From there, he steadily worked his way forward, breaking back into the top 10 and climbing to seventh with 25 laps to go. Over the closing laps, Cindric capitalized on his track position and pace, charging into the top five to secure his first career top-five finish at Darlington Raceway in nine Cup Series starts.

CINDRIC'S THOUGHTS: "It was a difficult weekend for the teams to kind of decide what to bring and the right things to do. My group proves time and time again that they come prepared, whether it's changes or practice to race, things like that, so we really had a solid package to work with all day, something that we could adjust with and change with the conditions. We were overdue for this group to have a good run and I'm proud to be able to deliver it and get us to the finish line for the first time, it feels like all year without an issue, so I'm proud of the team and something to build on."

RYAN BLANEY No. 12 MENARDS/DELTA FORD MUSTANG DARK HORSE

START: 7TH  
STAGE 1: 3RD  
STAGE 2: 12TH  
FINISH: 3RD  
POINTS: 2ND

RACE RUNDOWN: Ryan Blaney and the No. 12 Menards/Delta Ford Mustang Dark Horse team jumped to second in the points standings with a third-place finish Sunday at Darlington, Blaney's second top-five effort in his last three starts at the 1.366-mile oval. After starting seventh, Blaney worked his way up to fifth within the first 30 laps prior to the start of the green flag pit cycle. Crew chief Jonathan Hassler called the Menards/Delta Ford to pit road on lap 38 to begin the cycle, allowing Blaney to vault to second in the running order by the time the cycle completed, resulting in a third-place finish in Stage 1. A pit road penalty during the 12 team's stop between stages saw Blaney take the ensuing restart from 20th, but responded by charging up to 12th by lap 144. Blaney hit pit road five laps later towards the end of the green flag pit cycle and picked up a few spots over the final 18 laps of the segment, crossing the line 12th in Stage 2. Hassler planned to split the final stretch into a pair of 50-lap runs, but an early caution brought a majority of the field to pit road. Another issue on the stop shuffled Blaney back to 20th in the order prior to taking the green with 91 laps remaining, as he went on to go through the field once again to regain his place in the top-10 by lap 225. Blaney reached as high as sixth when Hassler made the call for the final stop of the day under green on lap 241 as the Menards/Delta Ford went on offense for the final 52-lap run. Blaney was scored fourth when the cycle completed and showed his strength of maintaining pace the rest of the way to take the checkered flag third with several of the leaders struggling with tire wear down the stretch.

BLANEY'S THOUGHTS: "Really proud of the 12 guys for bringing me a good car and getting it better all day and kind of adjusting to where we were in the pack. That's kind of a tough way to do it, but appreciate Menards, Delta, Ford, Ford Racing, Dent Wizard, Wabash, BODYARMOR, Advance Auto Parts, DEX Imaging, the Wurth Group for what everybody does on this program. I thought the package was really fun. You could kind of make it angry, and you were going to pay the price, and that stuff is pretty good. I think it was the first time in my Cup career that I have let guys go on a restart or on a green flag cycle, and I said to myself, I'm going to see you in about 20 [laps]. That happened multiple times. I think we're making progress on that, so we'll keep going. Like I said, proud of the fight by the 12 guys."

JOEY LOGANO No. 22 SHELL-PENNZOIL FORD MUSTANG DARK HORSE

START: 29TH  
STAGE 1: 33RD  
STAGE 2: 34TH  
FINISH: 33RD  
POINTS: 16TH

RACE RUNDOWN: Joey Logano and the No. 22 Shell-Pennzoil Ford Mustang Dark Horse team came away with a 33rd-place finish in Sunday's Goodyear 400 at Darlington. Logano battled handling issues from the onset of Sunday's 400-mile event before the 22 team had its first opportunity to adjust on it during a green flag stop on lap 46 before closing out Stage 1 with a 33rd-place finish. As the balance initially improved during the following run, the Shell-Pennzoil Ford built too free over the course of the long run, resulting in a 34th-place result in Stage 2. Logano continued to battle to get back on the lead over the course of the final segment, but only one caution over the final stretch thwarted any progress as the No. 22 settled for a 33rd-place finish on the day.

LOGANO'S THOUGHTS: "A tough weekend all around for our 22 team. We just never had a chance to recover after going down a lap early and it kept compounding throughout the day. A lot to work on for us and hopefully we can get things in the right direction at Martinsville."