Underdogs fail to upset the form book in Daytona 500

By Feb 25, 2014, 4:00 PM EST
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Phoenix Racing’s Regan Smith, Phil Parsons Racing’s Michael McDowell and Tommy Baldwin Racing’s JJ Yeley walked away with top-10s in the 2013 Daytona 500, and scored three for the underdogs a year ago.

But in the 2014 edition, luck was not on the side of those outside the power teams.

Excluding the single-car No. 13 Germain Racing Chevrolet driven by Casey Mears, who finished 10th, there was nary a surprise finish for the teams that could use the financial boost of a top-10 result in NASCAR’s highest-paying race (10th on up pays roughly $100,000 to $200,000 more than the remaining positions).

There were a good eight to 10 real “long shots” in this year’s Daytona 500, who would have done wonders to upset the proverbial apple cart and had their best chance to capture a result.

Cedar Rapids, Iowa’s Landon Cassill ended best of the bunch in 12th, in the No. 40 Hillman Racing (with Joe Falk’s Circle Sport operation) Chevrolet, which featured new sponsorship from CarsforSale.com. As you see in the picture, he avoided a late “big one” that took out many of the mid-level teams.

“12th place in the Daytona 500! Great car but didn’t play defense when I needed,” Cassill tweeted after the race. It wrapped a week that saw him get hit by a car in the garage area early on to give him a black eye, but then race his way in through the Budweiser Duel, and end with a solid result.

Veterans Bobby Labonte and Reed Sorenson ended 15th and 16th, respectively, for HScott Motorsports and Tommy Baldwin Racing. A late pit stop gamble promoted Sorenson to a top-five position, but he quickly faded after a restart.

Alex Bowman (No. 23 BK Racing, reliveried with Borla Exhaust colors instead of Dr Pepper as teammate Ryan Truex failed to qualify), Josh Wise (No. 98 Phil Parsons Racing) and Brian Scott (No. 33 RCR/Circle Sport Racing) ended 23rd to 25th.

Scott was one of five “underdogs” taken out in a single “big one” accident on Lap 195, in a wreck triggered when teammate Austin Dillon hit his other teammate Ryan Newman. The others collected included Swan Racing’s rookie pair of Cole Whitt (No. 26) and Parker Kligerman (No. 30), HScott lead driver Justin Allgaier (No. 51) and Go FAS Racing’s Terry Labonte (No. 32).

Baldwin’s second car, driven by Michael Annett (No. 7), made some news during the race when he spun on pit entry and nearly collected Kasey Kahne. Unfortunately for Kahne, he was issued a pit road speeding penalty for the dust-up. Annett was later eliminated from the race after being involved in a wreck where Dillon tapped Kyle Larson in Turn 3.

Front Row Motorsports’ pair of Davids couldn’t hassle the Goliaths, either. Ragan (No. 34) and Gilliland (No. 38) finished 34th and 36th, and the latter David got an unfortunate – if hilarious – mention as part of “NASCAR Superlatives” on Monday’s edition of “The Tonight Show starring Jimmy Fallon.”

Sadly for most of these teams, anything better than 25th or so the next four-six races will be considered a “good” result, with anything in the top-20 or more a serious bonus. Otherwise, it’s wait ‘til Talladega and the chance of avoiding the “big ones” there to see their next chance at a result.

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.”