Tire issues deflate Penske chances at second Brickyard 400 win

SPEEDWAY, Ind. — Team Penske left Indianapolis Motor Speedway deflated again as tire issues stood between them and kissing the bricks after Sunday’s Brickyard 400.

The last time Roger Penske’s race team took on the track he owns, they had to fend off allegations of cheating ahead of the Indianapolis 500 in May.

Two months later, Penske’s three NASCAR Cup Series drivers put themselves in position to win Sunday’s Brickyard 400 – but could only get a seventh-place finish at best when the checkered flag flew.

Austin Cindric looked to change his family’s fortunes at Indy after the Indianapolis 500 scandal cost his father the job of being president of Team Penske. As the second stage unfolded on lap 83, Cindric had led (what became a race-high) 40 laps and looked to have race winning speed.

Unfortunately for Cindric, his tire also decided to unfold.

On lap 84, he limped around the track after blowing a tire on the frontstretch. While he came back to finish on the lead lap, he only had a 15th-place finish to show for it – and no stage points.

The next driver who appeared to be in the driver seat to win was Joey Logano.

Logano’s No. 22 car didn’t appear to be a contender for most of the race, but did manage to finish eighth in stage two.

After the green-flag pit cycle in the final stage, crew chief Paul Wolfe’s calculations showed themselves flawlessly – as Logano cycled to the prospective lead ahead of Bubba Wallace. 

The excitement of potentially stealing a crown jewel victory was short-lived, however. Logano blew a tire, taking him out of contention – in 32nd.

It’s fitting that on a cloudy day in Indy, Ryan Blaney’s highlighter yellow Menards car was the brightest part of Penske’s day.

Blaney started 24th but built toward having a top-10 car. On an alternate strategy, he snagged a valuable playoff point for winning stage two.

Toward the end, he stayed out longer than almost anyone else, hoping for a caution to get him in prime contention to win.

However, when it became evident the win was no longer feasible, Blaney pitted. Thankfully for him, that put him in the perfect place to not have to pit again when the race went into double overtime.

Ultimately, Blaney climbed back inside the top-10 to finish seventh. 

“Yeah, we pieced together a good day,” Blaney said. “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.

“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.”

Penske’s 2018 triumph with Brad Keselowski will still stand as their only Brickyard 400 win, at least until 2026.

In the meantime, Blaney, Logano, Keselowski, Cindric and the entire NASCAR Cup Series field will now head to Iowa Speedway where Blaney won last year. The Iowa Corn 350 is scheduled to go green Aug. 3, at 3:30 p.m. ET.