Sitting 12th in the standings, Austin Cindric was a whopping 48 points beneath the elimination line, meaning nothing short of a victory would carry the Team Penske Ford into the next round. Despite the uphill battle, he arrived in Charlotte optimistic, hoping to channel the flashes of speed shown earlier in the season with his Talladega win. But the hybrid track stood true to its nature of being a chaotic and unpredictable race, and what unfolded for Cindric was nothing short of a lesson.

Reflecting on a day that unraveled quickly, Cindric said, “We made good progress like the initial start, but yeah, it was pretty slick, pretty tricky. Yeah, made a mistake there and lost some spots and then got dumped and then got in the wreck.”

After making a small mistake and losing spots early, Cindric was hit by Carson Hocevar after a lock-up on lap 33, damaging the rear suspension of his No. 2 Ford. And right after they spun out, Cindric’s car was taken to the garage. He added, “It’s such a long race here, like, in those moments, I didn’t feel like I was out of it. I just wanted to not put us in a situation.” But he could only do so much as the crash left him 22 laps down and ended his hopes of advancing.

Even before the Stage 2 mishap, Cindric had already suffered a pair of issues in the backstretch chicane. The 27-year-old blew the corner on Lap 9, serving his stop-and-go penalty on the racing surface before falling to 23rd position. A few while after, he went for a spin in Turn 3 off the nose of Justin Haley, forcing him to pit road with scuffed tires.

Cindric ultimately finished 36th, joining Bubba Wallace, Tyler Reddick, and Ross Chastain as the four drivers eliminated after the Roval. His fate was sealed not by a single moment, but by a string of difficulties throughout the Round of 12. Cindric was 17th at New Hampshire, 30th at Kansas, and now had a disastrous Roval.

Austin Cindric described the experience: “For a month you can’t do anything wrong, and for three weeks that matter the most, you feel like you can’t do anything right, so it’s just how the cookie crumbles.” Despite the disappointment, Cindric judges this as his best season yet.

Back in New Hampshire, the driver had qualified in 22nd place with a time of 29.59 seconds. By the end of Stage 1, he was 18th, but his Ford suffered minor nose damage during the restart incident, and he struggled in Stage 3. However, throughout the race, he was stuck in 17th place and was 0.43 seconds behind the defending champion. As a result, he dropped the stage points, and the poor finish dropped him to a 19-point deficit for the next race.

Then there was Kansas which had a big crash which had a big crash in the mad pack with 52 laps to go, and it collected Austin Cindric and Joey Logano. Cindric was in 18th at the time of the wreck, while his teammate Logano was in 10th place. Now, this would explain the poor finish at Kansas.

“I feel like there’s a lot of races this year that we had speed and a lot of capability and execution to try and contend for race wins,” he claimed, even as his playoff run faltered. The stats show consistent speed and flashes of competitiveness, including his spring win at Talladega and strong runs at tracks like Vegas. As of now, he has 5 Top-10s, 2 Top-5s across 32 races with only 323 laps led.

Now, with the championship out of reach, Cindric shifts focus to ending the season strong and helping teammates Joey Logano and Ryan Blaney in Ford’s continued quest for late-season redemption.

Ryan Blaney and Joey Logano’s Roval results set Ford’s playoff path

Ryan Blaney and Joey Logano approached the Charlotte Roval with the weight of Team Penske’s playoff hopes on their shoulders, knowing a strong finish would be pivotal for their championship ambitions. Blaney, who showed consistency and strategy throughout the day, used smart pit cycles to win Stage 2.

Today was an effort that demonstrated his confidence on road courses and earned him valuable stage points. Ultimately, Ryan Blaney managed a 13th-place finish after starting 11th. While not spectacular, it was enough to advance him to the Round of 8, placing him second (+6 points) in the reseeded playoff standings heading into the home stretch.

Joey Logano’s day was more turbulent. The defending champion struggled to find race-winning speed, battling adversity as the Roval’s challenges kept him mired mid-pack. A long green-flag stint and subsequent restarts saw Logano fall to 20th. However, crucially, he avoided major incidents.

This allowed him to narrowly slip into the next round by just four points after starting 17th. The cutline drama was palpable; on the final lap, a collision between Ross Chastain and Denny Hamlin sealed Logano’s advancement, underscoring the razor-thin margins that define playoff survival. Logano currently sits last, -24 points below the cutline.

Looking forward, both Penske drivers face steep challenges as they set their sights on Las Vegas and the remaining playoff races. Blaney’s recent road course poise and Logano’s opportunistic drive at the Roval show glimpses of potential. However, they’ll need to elevate performance (and avoid missteps) to keep Ford’s title hopes alive. With every point and position mattering more than ever, this next round offers both the promise of redemption and the risk of heartbreak for Penske’s playoff duo and the Ford camp.