NASCAR points observations through five races

By Mar 25, 2014, 11:15 AM EDT
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After Sunday’s green-white-checkered shootout at the Auto Club 400 in Fontana, some drivers got their seasons sort of back on track and others lost out on potential great finishes.

Here’s where the 2014 points stack up now (view after Race 4, Race 3 here).

IN GREAT SHAPE

Your five race winners – Dale Earnhardt Jr., Kevin Harvick, Brad Keselowski, Carl Edwards and now Kyle Busch – appear all but headed for the Chase. Harvick is the lowest of the five in points at 25th place after finishes of 41st, 39th and 36th in the last three races, but none of those finishes have reflected how well he has run thus far for Stewart-Haas Racing.

Jeff Gordon’s string of top-10 results ended when he fell to 13th after the GWC, but he still ranks third in points and has been the most consistent of Hendrick Motorsports’ four cars. His first win feels imminent. Matt Kenseth, fifth in points, is only seven points out of the lead and seems primed to join the winners’ list sooner rather than later.

GOOD RUNS, NOT GREAT RESULTS

Jimmie Johnson leads this list, sixth in points and without that standout result in five races just yet. Like Gordon and Kenseth, seems due for a win, perhaps as early as Martinsville next week. Richard Childress Racing’s trio of Ryan Newman, Austin Dillon and Paul Menard are all in the top-15 in points; Joey Logano is 10th after some solid runs on the west coast earlier this year and Ganassi’s pair of Jamie McMurray and Kyle Larson are starting to hit their strides. Back-to-back top-fives have Tony Stewart now 17th in points.

TURNING IT AROUND, OR NEED TO

Kurt Busch’s third place Sunday was very much needed in the fourth SHR car. Kasey Kahne is the lowest ranked driver with two top-10s (19th) and those big names with only one or zero top-10s include Greg Biffle (21st), Clint Bowyer (23rd), Busch (24th) and Martin Truex Jr.  (30th). Truex has probably had the worst luck thus far this year, between accidents, engine failures and needing to go to backup cars.

POINTS: Through 5 of 26 regular season races.

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.”