Team Penske has swapped the pit crews of its Nos. 2 and 12 teams driven by Austin Cindric and Ryan Blaney, respectively, before the start of The Chase presented by Mobil 1, a team spokesperson confirmed to NASCAR.com on Tuesday.
Blaney and the No. 12 team enter the NASCAR Cup Series Chase as the No. 2 seed, 25 points behind series leader Denny Hamlin. However, his pit crew through Daytona ranked just 32nd of 35 full-time teams, according to NASCAR Insights.
Cindric and the No. 2 team qualified for The Chase and enter as the No. 15 seed of 16, sitting 95 markers back of Hamlin ahead of Sunday’s Cook Out Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway (5 p.m. ET, USA Network, HBO Max, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). Cindric’s crew was the 10th-best crew in the series following Saturday’s regular-season finale at Daytona International Speedway.
— NASCAR.com —