Joey Logano bolsters bid for Chase with Michigan win

By Aug 18, 2013, 4:51 PM EDT
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Joey Logano has put himself into the fight for a Wild Card spot in the Chase for the Sprint Cup, winning the Pure Michigan 400 at Michigan International Speedway from the pole position.

The victory, Logano’s first of the season, has moved him to 13th in the standings and more importantly, just seven points behind Martin Truex Jr. in 12th for the second Wild Card transfer spot.

“I couldn’t ask for anything more,” Logano said on ESPN in Victory Lane. “We needed this for our Chase hopes. We’re not out of it yet. We’ve got another great racetrack [Bristol Motor Speedway] after this coming up for us.

Logano inherited the lead with three laps to go after Mark Martin ran out of gas in an ultimately futile attempt to stretch his final fuel load. Both Martin and Brad Keselowski were on the same strategy, but after a caution came out on Lap 172 for Kyle Busch’s second spin of the day, Keselowski went to the pits for a splash while Martin stayed out.

Knowing he needed a yellow to have any chance, Martin raced out the final run to the checkered flag until his No. 55 Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota went bone dry. With him out of the picture, it was left to Logano and Harvick to settle the matter.

“I knew [Martin] was two laps short, but I really wanted to get by him just in case,” Logano said. “…I had the 29 [Harvick] behind me and he was about the same speed as me. But just getting that clean air meant so much.”

Martin still praised his MWR compatriots for trying to make their strategy work.

“We knew we needed another caution to make it, but we had the speed to pull it off,” said Martin. “That felt like the old days. Kudos to [crew chief] Rodney Childers and everybody that works on that [car].

“They went for it, rolled the dice, and it’s not crazy to expect cautions at the end of one of these NASCAR races.”

Finishing behind Logano and Harvick in third was Kurt Busch, who was able to break into the Top 10 of the standings thanks to that result.

“I was all fired up when we were running 14th [in the race] – Truex was ahead us, Keselowski was ahead of us, [Greg] Biffle was ahead of us, [Kasey] Kahne was ahead of us – you can’t run 14th and gain on guys,” said Busch. “And I had a restart where the seas parted when I went to the high side, so I got a lot of positions on that restart. We just need to keep plugging away.”

Paul Menard secured his first Top-5 finish of 2013 with a fourth place finish ahead of Clint Bowyer, who overcame a first-lap spin to come home fifth.

Ford Mustang GT3 test has Austin Cindric dreaming of Daytona: ‘I want to drive that car’

By Mar 22, 2023, 2:30 PM EDT
Cindric Ford GT3 test
Jonathan Bachman/Getty Images
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Austin Cindric wasn’t the “mystery” test driver behind the wheel of the new Ford Mustang GT3 at Sebring International Raceway, but the Team Penske driver desperately wanted to be.

Ford CEO Jim Farley, an amateur sports car driver himself, made the big reveal via a Tuesday tweet that provided the first video evidence of the GT3 Mustang on track.

“I’ve watched the video in question about a million times,” Cindric said Wednesday during a Ford Performance Zoom news conference to promote NASCAR’s first road course weekend of the season at Circuit of the Americas. “Definitely exciting times for sure. I want to drive that car. It suits my experience level and also the relationships that I have.”

Ford will enter the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship next season with its GT3 Mustang, entering a two-car factory effort (that will be managed by Multimatic) in GTD Pro and making customer cars available in the GT Daytona category.

That increases the likelihood of seeing more NASCAR drivers crossing over to IMSA. Cindric has been the only full-time Cup driver in the Rolex 24 at Daytona the past two years, but Ford Performance global director Mark Rushbrook has said the GT3 Mustang will provide more opportunities.

Ford has used its GT4 Mustang as a NASCAR driver development tool in the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge with Harrison Burton and Zane Smith combining to win the season opener at Daytona International Speedway in January.

“We’re excited about the Next Gen car and the new architecture there and the similarities between that car and GT3 and even GT4 cars,” Rushbrook said at the announcement of the Ford GT3 program in January 2022 at Daytona. “We think it’s a great opportunity and to do be able to do that in a 24-hour race and get NASCAR drivers even more time is something we need to consider taking advantage of that opportunity.”

Given his sports car background, Cindric probably still would be in the Rolex 24 regardless. He has eight IMSA starts since the 2017 season opener at Daytona, racing a Lexus RCF GT3 and Mercedes-AMG GT3 in the GT category. The 2022 Daytona 500 winner made his second LMP2 start this year with Rick Ware Racing.

But Cindric’s preference naturally would be in a Ford, particularly with sports car racing enjoying convergence and crossovers in both GT and prototype racing.

“It’s an exciting time in GT racing, just as it is now for prototype racing with a lot of new regulations and manufacturers building new GT3 cars,” he said. “And also the opportunity with WEC (the World Endurance Championship) and Le Mans and how that all lines up for that category of car. It’s definitely an exciting time. I want to be as much of a part of that as possible.”

Though those odds seemingly will increase with multiple Ford entries in the Rolex 24 field next year, Cindric said NASCAR drivers still have to put in the networking to land rides as he has in recent years.

“Now how (the GT3 Mustang) relates to specifically NASCAR drivers and how often they want to be in the Rolex, could it be an influence? Absolutely, as far as the tie-in with the manufacturer,” Cindric said. “But the challenge and the drive and the logistics of getting an opportunity for a race like the Rolex 24 will be just as challenging as it always is to find your one-off ride for the race. At least from my experience, that’s what I still anticipate.”

It turned out the “mystery” test driver wasn’t from NASCAR (Farley revealed the driver to be 24 Hours of Le Mans winner Joey Hand after a fan asked whether it was Joey Logano).

But Cindric believes there could be more Cup drivers — and perhaps himself — behind the wheel of Mustang GT3s in the future.

“There’s definitely more of a pathway than I think there would be before as far as Ford drivers are concerned,” he said. “Hopefully, I’ll get the opportunity to drive that thing. It’s obviously a great looking car. That’s the first box you’ve got to check. And it’s cool (to have) a guy like Jim Farley, no doubt he’s a racer just as much as he is steering the ship for Ford. It’s cool to see he’s just as excited as the rest of us about it.”