NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Ryan Blaney led four Ford drivers to top 10 finishes as he came home third in Sunday’s rain-delayed Ally 400 at Nashville Superspeedway.

Austin Cindric finished seventh while Joey Logano, who led four laps on the night, was ninth as Team Penske registered three top-10 finishes.  Kevin Harvick rounded out the top 10 Ford finishers in 10th.

The 300-lap feature was delayed twice for more than two hours before the halfway point for lightning and then rain, which drenched the racing surface.

Blaney and Harvick were consistently in the top five during the hot and slick conditions that dominated the early stages, but after the rain and the sun went down, conditions changed.

Fortunes for many of the drivers changed when caution came out with four laps to go.  Blaney, Cindric and Logano were part of a group of 10 drivers that stayed out, which included race-winner Chase Elliott, while others in front of them opted to pit, including Harvick and Michael McDowell.

McDowell, who had been in the top 10 for much of the race, ended up 13th.

The NASCAR Cup Series hits the road again as Road America plays host on Sunday, July 3 in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin.

NCS RACE TOP-10 FINISHERS
1st – Chase Elliott
2nd – Kurt Busch
3rd – Ryan Blaney
4th – Kyle Larson
5th – Ross Chastain
6th – Denny Hamlin
7th – Austin Cindric
8th – Christopher Bell
9th – Joey Logano
10th – Kevin Harvick

REMAINING FORD FINISHERS
13th – Michael McDowell
17th – Aric Almirola
24th – Todd Gilliland
25th – Harrison Burton
26th – Cole Custer
27th – Cody Ware
28th – JJ Yeley
29th – Brad Keselowski
30th – Chris Buescher
32nd – BJ McLeod
34th – Chase Briscoe

RYAN BLANEY, No. 12 Advance Auto Parts Ford Mustang –
“I’m not sure as the race kind of kept progressing later into the night I thought we lost some ground between some of the other cars.  I thought hot and slick during the day we were pretty competitive and then something went down and I didn’t think we were as good.  I had to go to the back and then spun out trying too hard.  Jonathan made a good call to stay out the last stop.  Why not, running ninth and was able to run third, so that was a good call by him.  Overall, I wish it was in the hot and slick of the day because I thought we were a little bit more competitive, but not a bad finish.”

JOEY LOGANO, No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Ford Mustang –
“It’s an ugly top 10, but it was a top 10 nonetheless.  It was a battle.  I had some false hope by qualifying second, thinking we might be better than what we were, but as soon as the race started we realized we weren’t.  We just kind of fought everything.”

HOW WERE YOU AFTER THE BREAK?  BLANEY SAID HE PREFERRED THE DAY PORTION. 
“He was better than me.  I don’t know where we deserved to finish, but I feel like we probably overachieved for what we had.”

AUSTIN CINDRIC, No. 2 Duracell/Menards Ford Mustang –
“I’ll take it, I guess.  That was a long way to get there for sure.  Obviously, getting the lucky dog halfway through the third stage and getting our Duracell/Menards Ford Mustang into the top five.  I got passed by a few guys on tires there at the end, but obviously had speed in the car.  We just needed the track position.  Jeremy made a great call to run long and we got probably 10 spots out of that and probably got about six or eight more on the restart there and was able to have a representative day.”

ALL THREE PENSKE CARS FINISHED IN THE TOP 10 DESPITE ALL OF YOU HAVE SOME ADVERSITY THROUGHOUT THE NIGHT. 
“Good cars and never giving up.”

On Saturday, Riley Herbst won the pole and finished 3rd to lead three Fords in the top 10 at Nashville. Ryan Preece finished 6th and Ryan Sieg was 9th to round out Ford’s top 10 finishers. Herbst’s strong run moved him up two spots in the point standings, going from 11th to 9th. Sieg continues to hold the final playoff spot and is 69 points ahead of the cut line. Ford stands 3rd in the manufacturer’s standings, 36 points behind 2nd place Toyota. The Xfinity Series will continue next week at Road America for the Henry 180 (2:30 p.m. ET, USA Network, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio)

FORD FINISHING RESULTS
3rd – Riley Herbst
6th – Ryan Preece
9th – Ryan Sieg
12th – Parker Retzlaff
25th – Kyle Sieg
28th – BJ McLeod
37th – Joe Graf Jr.

RILEY HERBST, No. 98 Monster Energy Ford Mustang –
“I don’t think the whole field had anything for the 7.  I think he was on cruise control all day, but our Monster Energy Ford Mustang was really good.  I’m just proud of us as a group.  Way to execute.  I messed up on pit road a few times myself and the team, so we’ve got to clean up a little stuff there, but, all in all, it was a good day.  We got a pole and good points.  This is what we need to keep doing, just knock on the door and eventually it will open.”

THE LAST PART OF THE RACE YOU HAD AS GOOD A CAR AS ANYBODY. 
“Yeah, I think so.  I think we finished where we should have.  The 18 was a little bit better, but we were comparable back and forth, so, all in all, we’re getting better.  I’m proud of Stewart-Haas Racing, my guys, myself and we’ll have this Monster Energy Mustang in victory lane soon.”

DID THE HEAT BOTHER YOU AT ALL? 
“I mean, it’s warm for sure, but I just tried to be better than the others.”

DESCRIBE THE AFTERNOON? 
“Our Monster Energy Ford Mustang was really good today.  We got the pole and we wanted to lead some laps, but unfortunately we didn’t lead any laps.  We got quite a bit of stage points, which is what we needed.  It’s just a really good day for everybody at Stewart-Haas Racing, myself included.  I’m proud of all these guys on the 98 team.  If just keep doing these runs we’ll eventually get there and if we just keep knocking on the door, eventually it will open.”

HOW DIFFICULT IS THIS, ESPECIALLY ON PIT ROAD WHERE YOU HIT THE 18 TIRE CARRIER? 
“Yeah, I mean, I had no intention of doing that.  I apologize to the 18 guys, Ratcliff and Joe Gibbs Racing.  I just got in there hot.  I locked up the left-front and just a bummer deal.  We both lost spots, so by no means was I trying to do that, but, yeah, it was tough.  I’ll go get some Monster Energy and some food and get ready for Road America.”