Slow Stop Costs Austin Cindric Golden Opportunity at Atlanta

In a display of Team Penske dominance, Joey Logano continued his run of success in even-numbered years, winning the Quaker State 400 at Atlanta Motor Speedway to open the Cup Series Playoffs on Sunday (Sept. 8). Logano advances to the Round of 12, a huge boost to his bid to become a three-time Cup Series champion.

While one Penske driver celebrated in victory lane, another Penske playoff team rued a potential missed opportunity to make the next round, a chance that was lost on pit road.

Austin Cindric’s Good Day That Could’ve Been Great

Throughout the first two stages on Sunday, Austin Cindric was a fixture at the front of the field in his No. 2 Quaker State Ford. In total, Cindric collected 19 stage points by virtue of his runner-up finish in stage one and taking the green/white checkered flag in stage two.

However, racing is a team sport, and that includes the pit crew. On lap 163, Cindric’s stellar run took a wrong turn when the No. 2 crew had a slow stop on the left front tire. Just like that, Cindric went from the lead to outside the top 20.

While Cindric rallied to 10th and leaves Atlanta in a better position, 24 points above the cut line, the driver of the No. 2 could not help but be a little disappointed.

“I feel like we had a car capable of winning the race today,” Cindric told the media postrace. “I wish we obviously had that pit stop back going into stage three, but overall, really happy with the pace and drivability of the car and the points we gained.”

Atlanta marked the second race in a row that the No. 2 pit crew made a significant mistake, getting penalized for an uncontrolled tire last week. The No. 2 team will have to clean up the execution on its pit stops if they wish to make a deep playoff run.

SVG’s Pit Road Learning Curve

At Daytona International Speedway two weeks ago, Trackhouse Racing announced the Shane van Gisbergen will drive full-time for the team in the Cup Series in 2025, piloting the No. 88 Chevrolet.

A big part of van Gisbergen’s transition to full-time NASCAR racing is executing on pit stops, and that was an issue for the New Zealander on Sunday.

SVG was caught speeding twice on pit road, once after stage one on lap 63 and again on lap 163. Those speeding penalties contributed to a long day in the Peach State for van Gisbergen,…