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Food City 500
Bristol, Tennessee - April 11, 2026

Ryan Blaney, driver, No. 12 Discount Tire Ford Mustang Dark Horse - 1st

Austin Cindric, driver, No. 2 Menards/Tarkett Ford Mustang Dark Horse - 9th

Joey Logano, driver, No. 22 Shell-Pennzoil Ford Mustang Dark Horse - 20th

THUNDER VALLEY: After a week off, the NASCAR Cup Series returned to action at Bristol Motor Speedway, with drivers taking to the track Saturday for practice and qualifying in preparation for the Food City 500. Ryan Blaney earned the pole for Sunday's race - his second NASCAR Cup Series pole at Bristol and the 13th of his career - as Team Penske carries a strong track record into the weekend at The Last Great Colosseum. The organization owns 14 Cup Series wins at the high-banked half-mile, dating back to Rusty Wallace delivering Team Penske's first Bristol win in 1991 in the No. 2. Wallace went on to account for seven of those 14 wins, establishing Bristol as one of Team Penske's most successful venues.

Among the current lineup, Blaney has been one of the most consistent performers at Bristol in recent races, posting three straight finishes of sixth or better and recording top-five results in both events at the track last season. Despite that consistency - and 585 career laps led at the venue, his second-highest total at any track - Blaney is still looking to break through for his first Bristol win.

Joey Logano is a past winner at the track, with victories in 2014 and 2015, while Austin Cindric continues to build experience at the concrete oval. In six career starts, Cindric has a best finish of 13th, but enters the weekend with momentum on his side. The driver of the No. 2 Ford Mustang Dark Horse has gained 28 points relative to the cutline over the last two races, climbing from 30th to 18th in the standings following back-to-back top-10 finishes at Darlington Raceway and Martinsville Speedway, while collecting stage points in every stage during that stretch.

BLANEY SAID IT: "Just kind of got free on Lap 1, and then it was like all right, gather yourself up in (Turns) 3 and 4 and try and get a second lap," said Blaney. "Luckily, the rear tires came in better the second lap in (Turns) 1 and 2, and then (Turns) 3 and 4 I thought was a really good corner. A really great job by the whole 12 boys. Our racecar in practice was pretty good, and it was nice that we made some pretty good adjustments in qualifying with the pace being up. I appreciate Discount Tire, Ford and Menards for everything that they do. Cool start to the weekend, now we got to do it for 500 laps, which should be fun."

UP NEXT: Sunday's Food City 500 from Thunder Valley goes green at 3 p.m. ET, airing live on FS1, PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.