NASCAR Cup Series Race Report – Indianapolis

Brickyard 400 Presented By PPG – Indianapolis Motor Speedway
Indianapolis, Indiana – July 27, 2025

AUSTIN CINDRIC No. 2 DISCOUNT TIRE FORD MUSTANG DARK HORSE

START: 10TH
STAGE 1: 31ST
STAGE 2: 24TH
FINISH: 15TH
POINTS: 17TH

RACE RUNDOWN: Austin Cindric and the No. 2 Discount Tire Ford Mustang Dark Horse team showed speed and resilience in Sunday’s Brickyard 400 presented by PPG at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, rebounding from a mid-race setback to finish 15th. In total, he led a race-high 40 laps throughout the day. After qualifying 10th, Cindric moved into the ninth position early and took the lead following a Lap 18 caution when the team opted to stay out. He held the point, reporting his happiness with his car’s clean air balance, before pitting under green with eight laps to go in Stage 1. The strategy dropped him to 31st at the Stage break, but staying out under caution allowed him to restart fourth for Stage 2. Cindric cycled back to the lead as others pitted, but a blown right-rear tire forced him to limp to pit road with just over 15 laps remaining in the Stage. After receiving right-side tires, he went on to finish the segment in the 24th position. Cindric received the free pass and visited pit road for four tires and fuel, and lined up 23rd – on the lead lap – for the restart. Just looking to reset after the misfortune, Cindric and the Discount Tire team fired off for the final Stage looking to make the most of the laps left before making a green flag pit stop with about 40 laps remaining. A light rain shower over Turn 1 brought out the red flag with six laps left in the crown jewel event as Cindric was scored in the 20th position, setting up an overtime finish at The Brickyard. As the chaos played out, the Team Penske driver fought through to take the checkered flag in the 15th position.

CINDRIC’S THOUGHTS: “We had a really strong Discount Tire Ford Mustang today. It was great to lead laps and have pace up front, just unfortunate to have a tire go down. Proud of the fight from everyone to battle back and get a solid finish out of it.”

RYAN BLANEY No. 12 MENARDS/DELTA FORD MUSTANG DARK HORSE

START: 24TH
STAGE 1: 12TH
STAGE 2: 1ST
FINISH: 7TH
POINTS: 7TH

RACE RUNDOWN: Ryan Blaney picked up his fifth stage win of the season as he and the No. 12 Menards/Delta Ford Mustang Dark Horse team turned in a seventh-place finish in Sunday’s Brickyard 400, marking their 10th top-10 result on the year. After taking the green flag from 24th, Blaney worked his way into the top-20 by the halfway point of the opening stage before crossing the line 12th in Stage 1 as varying strategies throughout the field began to unfold. Despite restarting the second segment from 24th, the No. 12 Menards/Delta Ford made its way up to third in the running order during the green flag pit cycle before a caution with 10 laps remaining in Stage 2 prompted crew chief Jonathan Hassler to leave Blaney on track to assume the lead before the field took the green with four to go. Blaney ultimately held off the No. 5 in the closing laps to secure his fifth stage win of the season. Due to maximizing their fuel window on the prior run, Blaney pit a lap early for his scheduled stop under caution, resulting in having to restart at the tail of the field, but the 12 team’s strategy put them back out in front on lap 128 before making one final trip to pit road with 10 laps to go. A brief rain shower brought out the red flag with four laps remaining with Blaney scored 22nd, setting up a green-white-checkered finish once track drying was complete. Blaney successfully evaded a multi-car incident on the backstretch during the first attempt before going from 13th to seventh on the final restart of the afternoon to rally for a top-10 result.

BLANEY’S THOUGHTS: “Yeah, we pieced together a good day. Starting towards the back, it’s just hard to make up ground and pass, so we were trying to do the best job of strategy that we could. We made good moves to win the stage. I knew we were going to pay the price for it, but it was hard to give it up and nice when you’re able to hang on like that. We just scratched and clawed and were able to finish seventh. It was a day where we weren’t the best, but we made something happen, and those are the days that we should be proud of.”

JOEY LOGANO No. 22 SHELL-PENNZOIL FORD MUSTANG DARK HORSE

START: 15TH
STAGE 1: 34TH
STAGE 2: 8TH
FINISH: 32ND
POINTS: 12TH

RACE RUNDOWN: Joey Logano and the No. 22 Shell-Pennzoil Ford Mustang Dark Horse team had the right strategy to put them in contention for the win in Sunday’s Brickyard 400, but a flat right rear tire with 26 laps to go followed by sustaining terminal damage in a multi-car incident in the closing laps ultimately resulted in a 32nd-place finish. Logano took the green flag from 15th before an early caution on lap 18 saw crew chief Paul Wolfe keep the No. 22 Shell-Pennzoil Ford on track – one of three teams to do so – as Logano lined up to restart on the front row. Logano was able to maintain his track position up until a scheduled green flag stop on lap 41 in order to flip the stage, resulting in a 34th-place finish in Stage 1. With a majority of the field pitting during the stage caution, Logano cycled back up to sixth to take the green flag for Stage 2 and settled into eighth in the running order. As the green flag pit cycle began to shape up, Logano took the lead with 17 laps remaining in the segment and was called to pit road during the same lap for four tires and fuel. A caution seven laps later brought another wave of cars down pit road, allowing Logano to get back into the top-10 prior to the restart before going on to pick up an eighth-place result in Stage 2. The varying strategies throughout the field began to take shape in the final stage as Wolfe brought Logano to pit road early in the cycle on lap 117 for right sides tires and fuel as the two-tire stop allowed Logano to jump those ahead of him and eventually take the lead once the cycle was complete. However, with 26 laps to go, Logano suffered a flat right rear tire on the backstretch that forced him to come down pit road under green. The No. 22 Shell-Pennzoil Ford then lost power while attempting to leave the pit stall and subsequently went two laps down before rejoining the field. Following a brief red flag for rain with four laps to go, Logano lined up 27th for the first green-white-checkered attempt before a multi-car incident unraveled ahead of him just before the entrance to turn three, resulting in the No. 38 sliding down the track and making contact with the right front of the No. 22. The 22 team attempted to fix the issue on pit road, but the damage ultimately brought an end to the afternoon in Indianapolis.

LOGANO’S THOUGHTS: “We had the race-winning strategy, just unfortunately didn’t get a chance to see it all the way through after we lost the right rear. [Crew chief] Paul [Wolfe] and the guys hit on everything all day with staying out during that first caution to get us track position early and it seemed like it was only going to be a matter of holding off everyone behind us and having enough fuel for the final 20 or so laps. Disappointed to see it end that way but still proud of the effort this weekend”

The NASCAR Cup Series makes its way to Iowa Speedway on Sunday, August 3, where Ryan Blaney returns as the defending race winner. Iowa also marks the return of NBC who will broadcast the remainder of the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series season. Race day coverage of Iowa begins at 3:30 p.m. ET on Sunday on NBC, MRN, and Sirius XM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.