Team Penske celebrated a successful night at Richmond Raceway on Saturday, with Joey Logano crossing the finish line in first place and Austin Cindric securing third place.
Cindric needed a strong performance following a 29th-place finish in Iowa and had not achieved a top-10 result since May. With the No. 2 car positioned 16th in the Chase standings, there was no margin for error, and both Cindric and his team delivered under pressure.
“This was the kick in the ass that this team needed,” Cindric said post-race. “The past few months have been a bit of a grind. We’ve been suffering in silence and succeeding quietly at times. Tonight was a good way to snap out of it and remember who we are, then execute a solid race.”
Cindric credited the performance to a collective effort from his teammates, including Logano andBlaney.
“Joey and Ryan, I couldn’t ask for better teammates,” he said. “It’s a blast working with them and learning from them. Richmond is a track where I feel like Joey could finish top-five in my rental car. It’s a place where I study him extensively.”
With his third-place finish, Cindric advanced to 15th in the points standings, overtaking Shane van Gisbergen and pushing the No. 97 car onto the playoff bubble with two races remaining. NASCAR next visits New Hampshire, where the battle for Chase positioning remains tightly contested.
