(UPDATED) Rain-postponed Duck Commander 500 is underway at Texas Motor Speedway

By Apr 7, 2014, 12:28 PM EDT
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The rain-postponed Duck Commander 500 is underway at Texas Motor Speedway – 21 hours after it was originally scheduled to kick off before unending rain and several thunderstorms prevented any racing action on Sunday.

While weather conditions are cloudy and temperatures are in the mid-60s, NASCAR officials and teams are likely approaching the race with the famous tagline of comedian Larry The Cable Guy: Git-R-Done – and as quick as possible.

Or at least get one lap past halfway (168 laps) of the 334-lap event to make it official.

The reason: the National Weather Service is predicting a 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms after 2 p.m. ET (the race began at 12:09 p.m. ET).

That prediction continues all the way up until 2 a.m. ET Tuesday – which, by the way, will be sunny with a high of 72.

Pole-sitter Tony Stewart held the lead for the first 10 laps as NASCAR officials determined the track’s viability for full-speed racing. The first 10 laps were run under competition caution green/yellow conditions before the race went full-tilt green on Lap 11.

NASCAR had scheduled a second competition caution at Lap 35 to check tire wear due to all-green conditions following yesterday’s rain. However, because Dale Earnhardt Jr. crashed on Lap 13, the competition caution has been delayed to Lap 48.

This is the seventh race of the 36-race NASCAR Sprint Cup season. There have been six different winners in 2014 thus far: Dale Earnhardt Jr. (Daytona 500), Kevin Harvick (Phoenix), Brad Keselowski (Las Vegas), Carl Edwards (Bristol), Kyle Busch (Fontana) and Kurt Busch (Martinsville).

“There’s a couple spots that are just damp, but the the guy up there in the pace car up there has a pretty good plan here to get us out there, let us run a couple laps under caution to see if the heat of these cars and motors help dry this thing out out a little bit,” Stewart said on Fox Sports while taking one of several pace laps prior to the start of the green flag. “(Track officials) have been out here since 5:30 (a.m. CT) and have done an awesome job.”

Keselowski went back into the pits on Lap 2 because the hood of his car was loose and popped up the hinges to keep the hood intact.

Ryan Newman also had to come into the pits on Lap 3 for the same issue, as well as to make sure his roof flap was secure.

Ditto for Danica Patrick’s car on Lap 4.

All three cars apparently came too close to jet dryers during parade laps and the blowback from the driers apparently got under the cars and loosened the flaps and hoods.

Several other drivers brought their cars onto pit road, including Kyle Busch and Clint Bowyer, to have their cars looked over as a precautionary measure.

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.”