Penske Captures First Sprint Cup Win, Sweeps Weekend

Penske Racing won their first race of the season in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series and captured their first victory since rejoining Ford during Sunday’s race at Michigan International Speedway (MIS).

Joey Logano started Sunday’s Pure Michigan 400 from the pole, posting a lap of 203.949 MPH in qualifying on Friday. After leading early, falling back, and then rolling to the front with a bold move to the bottom of the track from third place on the race’s final restart, Logano became the youngest driver to win a Sprint Cup race at MIS.

“I am pretty stoked right now. It means so much to get Ford in Victory Lane here at Michigan,” said Logano. “This is huge for our chase hopes. We needed this to have a shot at getting in the chase and we’re close now, but we can’t make any mistakes. This sure does help a lot.”

“I go back about 30 years here at this track – this is probably one of the biggest wins,” said Roger Penske, owner of the No. 22 team. “I say it’s my home state, it’s my home track, and Detroit’s my city.”

Logano’s win completes a season sweep for Ford at MIS and moves him from 16th to 13th in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Standings with three races left before the playoffs begin. The win also gives Ford the first Michigan Heritage trophy, awarded to the winning manufacturer at MIS.

“We are very honored to receive the first manufacturers trophy,” said Jamie Allison, Director of Ford Racing. “It is special. Every win is special but to win here in front of our employees and fans and with our team just makes it even more important.”

AJ Allmendinger improved his record to 2 for 2 this year in the Nationwide Series with a win in the inaugural Children’s Hospital 200 at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in Lexington, OH. Allmendinger led 73 of the 94 laps and survived seven cautions to give Penske Racing a sweep of the Nationwide Series’ three road-course events this year.

“It’s a thinking place. It’s not easy to make a pass,” said Allmendinger, who credited his crew, sponsors, and team owner Roger Penske for the win. “There are a lot of twists and turns to the track, and you really have to work the guy to pass. The car was just amazing.”

Penske Racing teammate Sam Hornish Jr. finished third. After starting the race three points behind series leader Austin Dillon, Hornish left Mid-Ohio with a 13-point lead with 11 races remaining in the season.

Dave Blaney, “The Buckeye Bullet”, held off his brother Dale to score his 45th career victory with the University of Northwestern Ohio All Star Circuit of Champions at Butler Motor Speedway on Saturday. Blaney captured his first win in the series since 1996 with the help of his Roush Yates powered Sprint 410 engine.

“We have my dad’s memorial race coming up Tuesday and I wanted to get some more laps in this thing before that,” said Blaney. “We’re up here for the Sprint Cup race so we brought the sprint car to have some fun. Winning here makes the NASCAR race weekend a lot more enjoyable.”

Terry Phillips also found Victory Lane on dirt this weekend by capturing the biggest win of his Late Model racing career at Batesville Motor Speedway in the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series 21st Annual COMP Cams Topless 100. The race was delayed until 1:00pm on Sunday after heavy rains saturated the track on Saturday night and track officials couldn’t get the track to dry out enough to race on.

Phillips took the lead on lap 79 from points leader Jimmy Owens. Owens made a last lap charge to try and retake the lead but came up one car-length short.

“Before today, I’ve led this race with two laps to go and not won,” said Phillips. “That time was probably the biggest heartbreak of my career, but to win this today was the biggest win of my career. I want to say thank you to all my fans, sponsors, Roush Yates Engines, and Bloomquist Race Cars for all their help. It was truly a team win.”

Mason Mitchell started on the pole for the second time in two weeks in the ARCA Racing Series by winning the Menards Pole Qualifying for Sunday’s Allen Crowe 100 at the Springfield State Fairgrounds dirt track. Mitchell’s Roush Yates powered Ford led the first 21 laps and finished seventh.

“Winning my first career pole last week was pretty cool – but to back it up on a dirt track this week says a lot about our team,” said Mitchell. “Roush Yates has provided us with tremendous power for our No. 82 Happy Cheeks Ford and I believe we are getting closer and closer to a win.”

Roush Yates Engines PR