FORT WORTH, Tex. — Team Penske suffered through a calamity of errors at Texas Motor Speedway on Sunday.
After a stellar start to the season, each of the three Team Penske Ford Mustangs ended up on pit road with hoods up throughout the course of the O’Reilly Auto Parts 500.
Brad Keselowski, who entered the weekend with two wins to his credit, was the first casualty on Lap 90. The team took the car to the garage for repairs.
“Something broke out of nowhere,” Keselowski said. “We weren’t going very fast or anything and something in the back of the car broke and it won’t go.”
Keselowski returned to the track on Lap 148 and used the remaining 186 circuits as a test with his car as he was out of contention. He finished 36th.
Joey Logano led eight laps and won the first stage before the hood on the No. 22 Team Penske Ford Mustang became loose in the second stage. He pitted on Lap 172 while pit road was still closed. Logano dropped to 20th, one lap down when the race restarted on Lap 178.
“Something came apart in the bracing underneath the hood, I believe, and then the hood started flaring all over the place,” said Logano, who finished 17th. “The hood was gonna blow off the car if we didn’t get a caution, so we were able to fix it but went down a lap and there weren’t enough cautions to ever get the lucky dog.
“We won a stage. I was proud of the speed that was in the car. Our car was capable of winning the race.”
Ryan Blaney was the last Penske racer to experience an issue. Unfortunately, his issue was terminal. Blaney had led 45 laps when his No. 12 Ford started overheating.
“A part broke off and leaked all the water out, so that’s the way it goes,” said Blaney. “It just seems that’s the way this season is going. We’ve had a shot to win pretty much every race and something happens.
“That’s getting old, but the car is fast. That’s the bright side, but I’m kind of tired of looking at the bright side. I want to actually start finishing where we should. It’s just one of those days.”
Source: Lee Spencer | NASCAR Wire Service
