Don't look now, but three-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Joey Logano is showing everyone again why he should never be counted out after winning the Cook Out 400 at Richmond Raceway on Saturday night.
That was not only Logano's second win in the four most recent races, but the recent surge has moved him from 20th to ninth in the standings and put him back into title contention when it looked like he may be fighting for a Chase berth altogether just six races ago.
While it is time to face the facts and realize that Logano is a championship contender, regardless of what format is in place, the entire Team Penske organization came to play at Richmond. Look no further than Austin Cindric, who entered the race on the provisional Chase postseason bubble in 16th and was only 29 points to the clear over Ryan Preece.
After finishing fourth in both stages and third in the race, Cindric improved his points positioning to 15th and a much more respectable 57 points to the good over Preece.
He still has his work cut out for him to make the Chase in the final two regular season races at New Hampshire Motor Speedway and Daytona International Speedway, but a long-overdue top-five run could be exactly what he needs to turn his season around and create the breathing room he needs to claim one of the 16 spots.
Austin Cindric looking to put rough summer stretch behind him
Prior to that third-place run at Richmond, Cindric had finished outside the top 10 in 11 consecutive races, and his most recent top-five result came at Darlington Raceway in March. Granted, seven of those 11 finishes in a row outside the top 10 were inside the top 15, but the winning speed and week-to-week consistency was not there for the No. 2 team.
Aside from nearly colliding with Daniel Suarez as he entered his pit stall during the second stage at Richmond, it was the kind of race that had eluded this team all season long. Despite qualifying a disappointing 23rd, Cindric was one of the first drivers to hit pit road in stage one and jumped all the way into the top five with his fresh tires.
Cindric remained inside the top five for the majority of the night, outside of each green-flag pit sequence. With Logano winning two of four races since mid-July and Ryan Blaney already having two wins to his credit, it was the kind of result that showed what the No. 2 bunch is capable of as well and that Cindric may not be too far off from a trip to victory lane, either.
While that may be the case, having a good run was step one for Cindric, whose five top 10 finishes are the fewest of any driver currently in the provisional 16-driver postseason field. As he simply said following the much-needed finish, it was "a very important day for us to have a good day".
Team Penske has typically been the cream of the crop when the Cup Series has gone short track racing in recent years. On Saturday night alone, Logano and Cindric both finished inside the top three, while Josh Berry came home eighth for Penske-affiliated Wood Brothers Racing. Blaney dropped to 13th in the running order, but not before leading 88 laps from the pole and winning the first stage.
Cindric does not have a top 10 finish in four starts at New Hampshire, but after Logano won the pole, Blaney picked up the win, and Berry finished runner-up a year ago, he has a good notebook to work off of. As far as Daytona goes, he won the 2022 Daytona 500 and has become one of the better superspeedway drivers in the entire series, adding a win at Talladega Superspeedway in 2025.
Richmond went exactly how Cindric could have hoped for if a win was not in the cards, but he is still not in the clear amid a regular season that has been anything but consistent so far.
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