{"id":46543,"date":"2024-06-02T21:01:59","date_gmt":"2024-06-03T02:01:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/?p=46543"},"modified":"2024-06-03T11:34:38","modified_gmt":"2024-06-03T16:34:38","slug":"austin-cindric-breaks-85-race-drought-with-nascar-cup-win-at-world-wide-technology-raceway","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/2024\/06\/02\/austin-cindric-breaks-85-race-drought-with-nascar-cup-win-at-world-wide-technology-raceway\/","title":{"rendered":"Austin Cindric breaks 85-race drought with NASCAR Cup win at World Wide Technology Raceway"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"

Austin Cindric, driver of the #2 Freightliner Ford, celebrates in victory lane after winning the NASCAR Cup Series Enjoy Illinois 300 at WWT Raceway on June 02, 2024 in Madison, Illinois. (Photo by Sean Gardner\/Getty Images)<\/p><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

By Reid Spencer<\/em><\/p>\n

NASCAR Wire Service <\/em><\/p>\n

MADISON, Ill. \u2013 Surprise and elation were the watchwords for Team Penske driver Austin Cindric, who won Sunday\u2019s Enjoy Illinois 300 at World Wide Technology Raceway at the expense of teammate Ryan Blaney.<\/p>\n

\"\"

Austin Cindric, driver of the #2 Freightliner Ford, takes the checkered flag to wi the NASCAR Cup Series Enjoy Illinois 300 at WWT Raceway on June 02, 2024 in Madison, Illinois. (Photo by Logan Riely\/Getty Images)<\/p><\/div>\n

The race was Blaney\u2019s to win\u2014until the reigning NASCAR Cup Series champion ran out of fuel on the next-to-last lap and handed the lead to his teammate. Cindric charged past Blaney at the start\/finish line and completed the checkered-flag lap as Blaney rolled agonizingly slowly to a 24th-place result.<\/p>\n

The victory was Cindric\u2019s first since he won the 2022 DAYTONA 500 as a rookie, a dry spell that lasted 85 races. Nevertheless, Cindric expressed conflicting emotions after he climbed from his No. 2 Ford.<\/p>\n

\"\"

Austin Cindric, driver of the #2 Freightliner Ford, celebrates with a burnout after winning the NASCAR Cup Series Enjoy Illinois 300 at WWT Raceway on June 02, 2024 in Madison, Illinois. (Photo by Logan Riely\/Getty Images)<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cThis weekend was a great weekend for everybody involved,\u201d Cindric said. \u201cBut, yeah, to have two cars in the fight, eventual 1-2. Heartbroken for those guys.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is huge for me. This is huge for this team. I’m so glad I was able to get a win with Brian (Wilson) as my crew chief in the Cup Series. You never know when it’s going to happen again. Just drove my butt off, hope for the best.\u201d<\/p>\n

All three Team Penske drivers\u2014Cindric, Blaney and Joey Logano\u2014made only three pit stops to at least four for all other competitors. They stayed out under caution for the Stage 2 break and restarted 1-2-3 on Lap 149.<\/p>\n

\"\"

Austin Cindric, driver of the #2 Freightliner Ford, poses with the winner sticker on his car in victory lane after winning the NASCAR Cup Series Enjoy Illinois 300 at WWT Raceway on June 02, 2024 in Madison, Illinois. (Photo by Sean Gardner\/Getty Images)<\/p><\/div>\n

After pitting early in the ensuing cycle (Blaney on Lap 176, Cindric on Lap 177 and Logano on Lap 179, Blaney gained a spot on Cindric and began working his way through the field, improving his position as cars ahead of him came to pit road.<\/p>\n

On Lap 217, when Kyle Larson pitted, Blaney assumed the lead, but with the race\u2019s fastest car\u2014the No. 20 Toyota of Christopher Bell\u2014in hot pursuit. Bell soon caught Blaney and pulled alongside several times before engine issues caused Bell to slow dramatically.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m blowing up, I\u2019m blowing up,\u201d Bell radioed to his crew.<\/p>\n

But Bell, who had won the first two stages, nursed his car to the finish with help from Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Martin Truex Jr. Three laps down and mired in 34th place, Truex repeatedly pushed Bell\u2019s Camry in the closing laps.<\/p>\n

\"\"

Austin Cindric, driver of the #2 Freightliner Ford, and Ryan Blaney, driver of the #12 Menards\/Richmond Water Heaters Ford, race during the NASCAR Cup Series Enjoy Illinois 300 at WWT Raceway on June 02, 2024 in Madison, Illinois. (Photo by Logan Riely\/Getty Images)<\/p><\/div>\n

Then it was Blaney\u2019s turn to suffer game-changing misfortune.<\/p>\n

\u201cNever thought in my mind we were short,\u201d Blaney said. \u201cOne of those things. Gosh, proud of the 12 boys. We were fast. Had my work cut out for me holding off Christopher. That was a fun battle. I don’t know what happened to him.<\/p>\n

\u201cYeah, one lap short, which just stinks. Congrats to the 2 team. They did a good job all day. Props to them, Austin. Proud for Team Penske and Ford<\/p>\n

\u201cReally happy with our showing today. I don’t know what I\u2019ve got to do to get some luck on our side. Gosh, wrecked the last two points races. Thought we had a great shot to win today. Ended up bad.”<\/p>\n

\"\"

Ryan Blaney, driver of the #12 Menards\/Richmond Water Heaters Ford, drives during the NASCAR Cup Series Enjoy Illinois 300 at WWT Raceway on June 02, 2024 in Madison, Illinois. (Photo by Logan Riely\/Getty Images)<\/p><\/div>\n

Bell was fresh from victory in the rain-shortened May 26 Coca-Cola 600 and had a car that was dominant from the outset. He passed pole winner Michael McDowell on Lap 41 to win Stage 1 and stayed on the track under caution for Josh Berry\u2019s collision with the Turn 3 wall to win Stage 2.<\/p>\n

In the closing laps, it seemed inevitable that Bell would overtake Blaney, until Bell\u2019s engine turned sour.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have no idea what happened,\u201d said Bell, who rolled to a seventh-place finish. \u201cSome sort of motor issue. I’m surprised that I made it to the end. Glad we were able to salvage something out of it.<\/p>\n

\"\"

Michael McDowell, driver of the #34 Siteman Cancer Center Ford, and Brad Keselowski, driver of the #6 Solomon Plumbing Ford, race during the NASCAR Cup Series Enjoy Illinois 300 at WWT Raceway on June 02, 2024 in Madison, Illinois. (Photo by Sean Gardner\/Getty Images)<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cYou don’t get race cars like that very often. Whenever you do, you need to take advantage of it. Disappointing day.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tyler Reddick finished fourth and Logano fifth, followed by Austin Dillon, Bell, Sunoco rookie Carson Hocevar (a career-best eighth), Justin Haley and Larson.<\/p>\n

 On Lap 140, the final circuit of Stage 2, Kyle Busch and Larson were battling in close quarters for the seventh position when Larson\u2019s No. 5 Chevrolet broke loose underneath Busch\u2019s No. 8 Camaro, sending both cars sliding into the outside wall.<\/p>\n

Busch\u2019s car was damaged beyond repair and exited the race in the 35th position\u2014the first DNF of the season for the two-time Cup champion. Larson, on the other hand, was able to salvage the 10th-place result.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe can\u2019t afford days like this,\u201d said Busch, who is winless this year and squarely on the bubble for a Playoff spot. \u201cYeah, he got loose and wiped us out.\u201d<\/p>\n

Interviews:<\/h3>\n

NCS Race Winning Driver Austin Cindric (No. 2 Team Penske Ford)<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

NCS Race Winning Team – Brian Wilson (Crew Chief) and Walter Czarnecki (Vice Chairman, Penske Corporation)<\/p>\nhttp:\/\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/PenskeNCS060224.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n

 <\/p>\n

NASCAR Cup Series Race – Enjoy Illinois 300<\/strong><\/p>\n

World Wide Technology Raceway<\/strong><\/p>\n

Madison, Illinois<\/strong><\/p>\n

Sunday, June 2, 2024<\/strong><\/p>\n

                  1. (2)  Austin Cindric, Ford, 240.<\/p>\n

                  2. (6)  Denny Hamlin, Toyota, 240.<\/p>\n

                  3. (7)  Brad Keselowski, Ford, 240.<\/p>\n

                  4. (5)  Tyler Reddick, Toyota, 240.<\/p>\n

                  5. (12)  Joey Logano, Ford, 240.<\/p>\n

                  6. (18)  Austin Dillon, Chevrolet, 240.<\/p>\n

                  7. (4)  Christopher Bell, Toyota, 240.<\/p>\n

                  8. (20)  Carson Hocevar #, Chevrolet, 240.<\/p>\n

                  9. (21)  Justin Haley, Ford, 240.<\/p>\n

                  10. (13)  Kyle Larson, Chevrolet, 240.<\/p>\n

                  11. (9)  Ty Gibbs, Toyota, 240.<\/p>\n

                  12. (16)  Ross Chastain, Chevrolet, 240.<\/p>\n

                  13. (17)  Chase Elliott, Chevrolet, 240.<\/p>\n

                  14. (26)  Chris Buescher, Ford, 240.<\/p>\n

                  15. (11)  William Byron, Chevrolet, 240.<\/p>\n

                  16. (35)  Todd Gilliland, Ford, 240.<\/p>\n

                  17. (23)  Chase Briscoe, Ford, 240.<\/p>\n

                  18. (28)  Daniel Hemric, Chevrolet, 240.<\/p>\n

                  19. (36)  Zane Smith #, Chevrolet, 240.<\/p>\n

                  20. (24)  Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Chevrolet, 240.<\/p>\n

                  21. (8)  Bubba Wallace, Toyota, 240.<\/p>\n

                  22. (27)  Noah Gragson, Ford, 240.<\/p>\n

                  23. (31)  Daniel Suarez, Chevrolet, 240.<\/p>\n

                  24. (3)  Ryan Blaney, Ford, 240.<\/p>\n

                  25. (1)  Michael McDowell, Ford, 239.<\/p>\n

                  26. (22)  Erik Jones, Toyota, 239.<\/p>\n

                  27. (33)  John Hunter Nemechek, Toyota, 239.<\/p>\n

                  28. (14)  Alex Bowman, Chevrolet, 239.<\/p>\n

                  29. (32)  Ryan Preece, Ford, 239.<\/p>\n

                  30. (25)  Derek Kraus, Chevrolet, 239.<\/p>\n

                  31. (30)  Harrison Burton, Ford, 239.<\/p>\n

                  32. (15)  Corey LaJoie, Chevrolet, 239.<\/p>\n

                  33. (34)  Cody Ware, Ford, 238.<\/p>\n

                  34. (19)  Martin Truex Jr., Toyota, 237.<\/p>\n

                  35. (10)  Kyle Busch, Chevrolet, Accident, 139.<\/p>\n

                  36. (29)  Josh Berry #, Ford, Accident, 109.<\/p>\n

Average Speed of Race Winner:  133.889 mph.<\/p>\n

Time of Race:  2 Hrs, 48 Mins, 3 Secs. Margin of Victory:  3.844 Seconds.<\/p>\n

Caution Flags:  5 for 32 laps.<\/p>\n

Lead Changes:  16 among 10 drivers.<\/p>\n

Lap Leaders:   M. McDowell 1-40;C. Bell 41-48;T. Gilliland 49-54;K. Busch 55-69;C. Bell 70-95;M. Truex Jr. 96;A. Cindric 97-114;C. Bell 115-143;A. Cindric 144-176;J. Logano 177;C. Bell 178-193;B. Keselowski 194-210;K. Larson 211-217;R. Blaney 218-220;C. Bell 221;R. Blaney 222-238;A. Cindric 239-240.<\/p>\n

Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Lead, Laps Led):  Christopher Bell 5 times for 80 laps; Austin Cindric 3 times for 53 laps; Michael McDowell 1 time for 40 laps; Ryan Blaney 2 times for 20 laps; Brad Keselowski 1 time for 17 laps; Kyle Busch 1 time for 15 laps; Kyle Larson 1 time for 7 laps; Todd Gilliland 1 time for 6 laps; Martin Truex Jr. 1 time for 1 lap; Joey Logano 1 time for 1 lap.<\/p>\n

Stage #1 Top Ten: 20,34,12,2,11,24,54,45,22,9<\/p>\n

Stage #2 Top Ten: 20,2,12,9,6,22,14,77,3,11<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/u><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

  By Reid Spencer NASCAR Wire Service  MADISON, Ill. \u2013 Surprise and elation were the watchwords for Team Penske driver Austin Cindric, who won Sunday\u2019s Enjoy Illinois 300 at World Wide Technology Raceway at the expense of teammate Ryan Blaney. The race was Blaney\u2019s to win\u2014until the reigning NASCAR Cup Series champion ran out of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":676,"featured_media":46548,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[11],"tags":[526,16,784],"class_list":["post-46543","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nascar","tag-austin-cindric","tag-nascar","tag-world-wide-technology-raceway"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/GettyImages-2155772100-scaled.jpg?fit=2560%2C1707","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7hzTZ-c6H","jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46543","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/676"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=46543"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46543\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":46565,"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46543\/revisions\/46565"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/46548"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=46543"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=46543"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=46543"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}