For the second consecutive race Team Penske seemed to be the class of the field for a time Sunday at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
Ryan Blaney was part of the three wide battle crossing under the checkered flag, ending up scored second after leading 31 laps.
“I’ve won some by a few inches and lost some by a few inches,” Blaney said. “It was a fun night, fun racing. I didn’t think they’d get that big of a run on me. I thought I did a good job of getting close off of two to where I kind of had some of their energy. I guess they just got hooked up super good and got a massive run, and I can’t block both lanes. It was fun racing, but just a couple inches short.”
It was Austin Cindric though who led the most laps for the team, 32, and won Stage 2. In the end he had to settle for a fourth-place finish.
“It’s really unfortunate to have two weeks in a row where I feel like Team Penske has brought three of the best race cars to the racetrack and not come home with a win,” Cindric said. “Obviously, we got really close with the 12. It was fun to lead laps and win the stage. I got in a real tight aero spot while I was following Ryan and washed up the track a bit. He was, honestly, in a really tough spot with the runs that were coming from behind. I thought he was gonna be able to hold on, but the first win for the Mustang Dark Horse has to wait another race, but I’m really proud of the effort. It should be a really great points day for us, so that puts us on the right side of things heading into Vegas.”
That three wide finish with Blaney and the win by Daniel Saurez was just one of the highlights of the race.
One of the others came from Cindric on lap 210. Cindric retook the lead from the fourth spot on a four wide dive bomb move coming into Turn 1.
“That was kind of cool, wasn’t it?” Cindric said with a smile. “I mean, four-wide at Atlanta, that doesn’t really work in the corners, it only works in the straights, but I had enough time to think about if it was a good idea and it was a good idea. I’m sure it looked cool and made for good pictures.”
Cindric said he sized up the situation and knew he could make the move to get back to the lead.
“Someone’s gotta do it,” he said. “I can promise you I’ll be the guy.”
For the third Team Penske driver the news wasn’t anything to highlight.
Joey Logano’s bad day started even before the green flag dropped. In fact, it started during Saturday’s qualifying session. Sunday morning NASCAR announced that Logano had worn a special glove during the qualifying session that had webbing in between the fingers. Drivers will sometimes use their left hand to direct air out of the car during their qualifying laps, and using such a glove can be an advantage.
NASCAR ruled that the glove didn’t meet its rules and forced Logano to give up his second place starting spot, dropping him to the rear of the field prior to the start of the race Sunday. In addition, he had to do a pass-through penalty after the drop of the green flag.
Because of the lap 2 crash, however, Logano didn’t lose a lap, and in fact was leading by lap 99. On the final lap of Stage 1 though his Ford got loose, and he was sent into the outside wall. He was towed back to the pits and the crew was able to make repairs, but he lost 8 laps and finished 28th.
Logano took the blame for the accident that ruined his race.
“Yeah, I just made a mistake,” Logano said. “I thought I could fill the gap in front of the 17 coming off turn two and once I realized I couldn’t get up there, I tried turning back down but once it started packing air on my right rear I couldn’t turn down. I got tight and it got me in the wall.”
Greg is the author of "The Nuts and Bolts of NASCAR: The Definitive Viewers' Guide to Big-Time Stock Car Auto Racing" and has been published in major publications across the country including the Los Angeles Times, the Cleveland Plain Dealer and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. He was also a contributor to Chicken Soup for the NASCAR Soul, published in 2010, and the Christmas edition in 2016. He wrote as the NASCAR, Formula 1, Auto Reviews and National Veterans Affairs Examiner for Examiner.com and has appeared on Fox News. He holds a BS degree in communications, a Masters degree in psychology and is currently a PhD candidate majoring in psychology. He is currently the weekend Motorsports Editor for Autoweek.