AUSTIN CINDRIC No. 2 MENARDS/QUAKER STATE FORD MUSTANG
START: 20TH STAGE 1: 19TH STAGE 2: 22ND FINISH: 18TH POINTS: 15TH
RACE RUNDOWN: Austin Cindric fired off from the 20th position for the inaugural NASCAR Cup Series points race in Mexico City following a rain-shortened qualifying session Saturday. Shortly after the drop of the green flag, wet weather returned, bringing out the first caution of the day. While many drivers opted to pit for rain tires, Cindric opted to stay out on slicks and restarted on the front row, but lost ground quickly. A few laps later the yellow flag waved again for a multi-car incident and Cindric reported that the track surface was very sensitive to the conditions. As the rain was lightening up, the Menards/Quaker State team again opted to stay out on slicks. When Stage 1 concluded, Cindric was scored 19th. With the track continuing to dry, Cindric stayed out during the break and restarted seventh. In the second segment, he began to lack rear grip, but continued to fight for track position. Crew chief Brian Wilson elected to pit with four laps remaining in the segment, calling the Team Penske driver to pit road for four fresh slick tires and fuel. Cindric finished Stage 2 22nd as varying strategies played out. He restarted 16th and steadily gained position, reaching the top 10. He was racing in the third position when the No. 77 brought out a caution on Lap 64 and headed to pit road for fresh tires and fuel. The No. 2 Ford Mustang Dark Horse restarted 21st, but nifty work by Cindric gained him multiple spots as he maneuvered through chaos that was transpiring ahead of him. When the checkered flag waved on the historic event, Cindric crossed the line in the 18th position.

CINDRIC’S THOUGHTS: “All in all, it was a great experience getting to race in Mexico City for the first time, and everything about the weekend was unique. The conditions and strategy definitely made for an interesting race, but I’m proud of the effort from our No. 2 Menards/Quaker State team.”
RYAN BLANEY No. 12 WURTH FORD MUSTANG
START: 18TH STAGE 1: 2ND STAGE 2: 4TH FINISH: 14TH POINTS: 7TH
RACE RUNDOWN: Ryan Blaney and the No. 12 Wurth Ford Mustang Dark Horse scored a pair of top-five stage finishes en route to a 14th-place finish Sunday in Mexico City. The NASCAR Cup Series’ inaugural race in Mexico City saw a caution for rain on the opening lap, prompting a majority of the field to hit pit road for wet weather tires as a steady rainfall around the 15-turn road course set in. After restarting 19th, crew chief Jonathan Hassler made the call to leave Blaney on track while a majority of the leaders hit pir road under green prior to the stage end. Blaney cycled to second in the running order while chasing down the No. 60 for the stage win, but ultimately settled for a second-place finish in Stage 1. After making the change back to slick tires during the stage caution with the weather having moved out of the area, the No. 12 team remained on the same strategy as the opening stage as Blaney worked his way back up to fifth in the running order by lap 40. He picked up another spot in the final five laps of the segment to come away with a fourth-place result in Stage 2. Blaney lined up to restart 25th following a four tire stop under yellow before making his way up to seventh when the caution flag flew in the middle of the green flag pit cycle on lap 65. The Wurth Ford took the ensuing green flag from 15th with 32 laps to go as the 100-lap event stayed caution-free the rest of the way with Blaney taking the checkered flag 14th.

BLANEY’S THOUGHTS: “Good points day for our 12 group and proud of the effort all weekend. I felt like we had a shot at a top-10 during that final run but came up a little short at the end. It was a great experience here in Mexico City and it was cool to see it all come together the way it did.”
JOEY LOGANO No. 22 SHELL-PENNZOIL FORD MUSTANG
START: 9TH STAGE 1: 24TH STAGE 2: 29TH FINISH: 21ST POINTS: 9TH
RACE RUNDOWN: Joey Logano and the Shell-Pennzoil Ford Mustang Dark Horse came away with a 21st-place finish Sunday in the NASCAR Cup Series’ inaugural race in Mexico City. After gaining three spots in the first few corners of the opening lap, rain brought out the first caution of the afternoon before the field made it back to the start-finish line, prompting teams to pit for wet weather tires. On the ensuing run, crew chief Paul Wolfe made the call to pit for four slick tires with three laps remaining in the opening stage in an effort to flip track position, resulting in a 24th-place finish in Stage 1. After staying out during the stage caution, Logano moved up to 11th in the running order to take the green flag for Stage 2 but was pushed off-track in turn four by the No. 3, dropping the No. 22 Shell-Pennzoil Ford back to 29th. Logano worked to regain ground on the field prior to another four tire stop prior to the stage end on lap 41, culminating in a 29th-place finish in Stage 2. Following a caution on lap 65, Logano lined up to take the green from 22nd with 32 laps to go and worked his way back into the top-20 early in the run before settling for a 21st-place finish.

LOGANO’S THOUGHTS: “Just a couple unfortunate moments early on that set back our Shell-Pennzoil team and forced us to flip our strategy. We never really had a chance to recover from that but still proud of the effort from the 22 team this weekend.”
The NASCAR Cup Series heads north to Pocono Raceway on Sunday, June 22. Coverage of The Great American Getaway 400 begins at 2:00 p.m. ET on Amazon Prime Video and Sirius XM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.

Team Penske PR

What’s Happening?

Chase Elliott will race in the NASCAR Xfinity Series this weekend, piloting the Hendrick Motorsports No. 17 at Pocono Raceway.

George Russell celebrated Mercedes’ first win of the Formula One season in Canada on Sunday, while McLaren’s Oscar Piastri went 22 points clear in the championship after teammate Lando Norris smashed into him and retired.

Red Bull’s Max Verstappen, who had hoped to win for a record fourth year in a row at Montreal’s Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, had to settle for second after a challenge fizzed out behind the safety car.

Russell’s 18-year-old rookie teammate Kimi Antonelli finished third for his first F1 podium and the first by an Italian since 2009.

Piastri was fourth, with the safety car leading the final lap before peeling off to clear the way for Russell to take the chequered flag.

“Well done, team. That made up for last year,” said Russell, who also started on pole in 2024 but finished third. His last win before Sunday was in Las Vegas in November.

“It’s amazing to be back on the top step. I felt last year was a victory lost and probably got the victory today due to the incredible pole lap yesterday.”

Piastri now has 198 points ahead of Norris on 176, with Verstappen on 155, with Russell on 136.

In the constructors’ standings, Mercedes moved up to second, ahead of Ferrari and 175 points behind McLaren.

Headline drama

An uneventful afternoon erupted in headline drama when Norris hit the rear of Piastri’s car three laps from the end – a clash long predicted in the title battle between the pair – while trying to overtake.

The Briton, whose broken car stopped by the side of the track, was quick to blame himself when it all went wrong after they had earlier gone side by side.

“I’m sorry. All my bad. All my fault. Stupid from me,” Norris said over the team radio.

Piastri pitted as the safety car was deployed and rejoined with a tyre advantage over Antonelli that he could not use as the racing never resumed.

“Glad I didn’t ruin his race. In the end, apologies to the team,” Norris told Sky Sports television.

“This wasn’t even like a ‘that’s racing,’ it was just silly from my part.”

Stewards ruled he was solely to blame and handed him a meaningless five-second penalty.

Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton finished fifth and sixth, the latter with a damaged car after hitting a groundhog.

Fernando Alonso was seventh for Aston Martin and Nico Hulkenberg brought in more solid points for Sauber in eighth place. Esteban Ocon was ninth for Haas in their 200th race, with Carlos Sainz 10th for Williams.

A post-race protest by Red Bull was rejected by stewards five and a half hours after the race ended.

Third place, after passing Piastri on the opening lap, made Antonelli the third-youngest driver ever to stand on the F1 podium.

“I was just hoping for the race to finish, to be honest,” he said.

Russell led away cleanly from pole, with Verstappen slotting in behind.

Behind them, Williams’ Alex Albon tracked across the grass after starting ninth, with Alpine’s Franco Colapinto moving briefly up from 10th before losing out to Hulkenberg and then falling down the order.

Norris started on the hard tyres to go longer in the opening stint and was leading by lap 16 after others who started on mediums came in for pitstops. He then pitted on lap 29 and came out fifth, behind Piastri in fourth.

Leclerc also came in on that lap but then questioned why Ferrari had made the call, with his hard tyres still in reasonable shape.

Hamilton was behind his teammate and wondering out loud where the performance had gone.

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The Elwood Motorsports Team had an action-packed weekend at the Motorsports Country Club of Cincinnati’s Speedom Fest, where driver Alan Elwood showed impressive speed and determination.

Saturday’s action began with Elwood qualifying 7th. However, a gear failure on the opening lap of the prefinal dropped him to 17th, where he would start the final. Despite the setback, Elwood charged through the field, gaining 10 positions by lap four and setting the fastest lap of the race. He was in second place and contending for the lead with just two laps to go when contact from the third-place kart sent him crashing into the outside wall, ending his run.

On Sunday, Elwood bounced back with a strong qualifying performance, placing 4th. By turn 13 of the 16-turn layout, he had taken the lead. He maintained the top spot until the final straight, where he was edged out in a drag race to the finish line and secured a hard-fought second place.

It was a weekend of highs and lows, but Elwood’s pace and resilience were clear throughout the event.

More information and future updates can also be found by visiting Elwood Motorsport Team LLC on Facebook.