Austin Cindric fulfills dream with win at Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course
Austin Cindric, driver of the #22 PPG Ford,celebrates with the checkered flag after winning the NASCAR Xfinity Series Pennzoil 150 at the Brickyard at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on August 14, 2021 in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Photo by Stacy Revere/Getty Images)
By Holly Cain, NASCAR Wire Service
INDIANAPOLIS – It was essentially a storybook ending for Austin Cindric Saturday afternoon in the Pennzoil 150 at the Brickyard and the 22-year old with Hoosier roots appropriately celebrated his first win at the renowned Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course by singing “Back Home Again in Indiana” as he took a victory lap.
Austin Cindric, driver of the #22 PPG Ford, celebrates with a burnout after winning the NASCAR Xfinity Series Pennzoil 150 at the Brickyard at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on August 14, 2021 in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Photo by Stacy Revere/Getty Images)
Cindric easily out-paced the NASCAR Xfinity Series field by 2.108-seconds to take his series best fifth victory of the year and 13th of his career. It marked the second win on the day for the Team Penske Racing, which won an NTT IndyCar race earlier at the renowned Indianapolis facility now owned by Roger Penske himself.
The president of Team, Penske, Tim Cindric, met his son in Victory Lane to celebrate – hugs, high-fives and pat-on-the-backs everywhere. Indiana is the Cindric family home for generations.
“Unbelievable and first of all I’ve got to thank Roger Penske for every opportunity I’ve had in my career and every opportunity he’s given race fans to enjoy this beautiful facility,” a grinning Cindric said.
“To win at this facility is amazing,” Cindric said, adding, “What this place means to me, I can’t even put into words what this means.
Austin Cindric, driver of the #22 PPG Ford, celebrate by kissing the bricks after winning the NASCAR Xfinity Series Pennzoil 150 at the Brickyard at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on August 14, 2021 in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Photo by Stacy Revere/Getty Images)
“Proud to be here, proud to win for Roger and proud to win at The Speedway. There’s nothing bigger.”
Cindric led a race-best 29 of the 62 laps on the 14-turn, 2.439-mile Indianapolis road course, taking the lead for good with 17 laps remaining and pulling away to a nearly four-second advantage at one point. Polesitter and Stage 2 winner A.J. Allmendinger finished runner-up for the second consecutive week at a road course track.
Allmendinger’s Kaulig Racing teammate – also an Indiana native – Justin Haley finished third and won Stage 1.
Reigning NASCAR Cup Series champion Chase Elliott rallied to a fourth-place finish despite finding out only hours earlier that he would substitute for Michael Annett, in the JR Motorsports No. 1 Chevrolet so Annett could continue recovering from a leg injury.
Austin Cindric, driver of the #22 PPG Ford, drives during qualifying for the NASCAR Xfinity Series Pennzoil 150 at the Brickyard at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on August 14, 2021 in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Photo by Stacy Revere/Getty Images)
“I was actually still asleep this morning when I got the call,” Elliott said, noting that when he saw Hendrick Motorsports Vice President Chad Knaus had called, he momentarily worried he’d slept through NASCAR Cup Series practice and was getting fired.
Instead he rallied to an impressive finish and got some time on the track in advance of Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race.
Another JR Motorsports driver, Noah Gragson finished fifth. NASCAR Cup Series regular Austin Dillon, Myatt Snider, Riley Herbst, Harrison Burton and road racing star Andy Lally rounded out the top-10.
That was an important finish for Herbst, who entered the 13th in the championship, one position outside the Playoff hunt. His work – which included 11 bonus points in the stage finishes – was good enough to move up into that 12th position, 10 points ahead of Annett.
AJ Allmendinger, driver of the #16 Hyperice Chevrolet, poses for photos after winning the pole award during qualifying for the NASCAR Xfinity Series Pennzoil 150 at the Brickyard at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on August 14, 2021 in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Photo by Sean Gardner/Getty Images)
The other two drivers still in Playoff contention with only two races remaining to set the 12-driver field, Brandon Brown and Ryan Sieg, both had troubles Saturday. Brown was scored 34th of the 36 cars and did not finish after his car suffered damage in a first lap incident. Sieg spun out in the opening laps then had a tire go down later in the race, finishing 32nd. They are now -41 (Brown) and -73 (Sieg) points behind Herbst.
Burton’s top-10 result was also impressive considering he was among eight drivers who got caught up in a first lap mishap – cars going airborne as they ran over a “speed bump” on the track’s outside skirt. Lally, an IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship star and the 2011 NASCAR Cup Series Rookie of the Year, has made only four previous starts on the season and now has a pair of top 10s.
Certainly, however, the day and the moment belonged to Cindric who ran his fastest laps of the race in the final few circuits – the victory one of the most cherished moments in his young career.
“It’s a racer’s dream,” Cindric said. “It’s not the win, it’s getting to compete. I think everyone that walks into this place knows what this means.”
The NASCAR Xfinity Series heads to Michigan International Speedway next week for the New Holland 250 (Saturday, 3:30 p.m. ET on NBCSN, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
Interviews:
NASCAR Xfinity Series Race Winner Austin Cindric (No. 22 Team Penske Ford); Tim Cindric (President, Team Penske)
NASCAR Xfinity Series Race – 18th Annual Pennzoil 150 at the Brickyard
Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course
Indianapolis, Indiana
Saturday, August 14, 2021
1. (2) Austin Cindric, Ford, 62.
2. (1) AJ Allmendinger, Chevrolet, 62.
3. (3) Justin Haley, Chevrolet, 62.
4. (25) Chase Elliott(i), Chevrolet, 62.
5. (7) Noah Gragson, Chevrolet, 62.
6. (19) Austin Dillon(i), Chevrolet, 62.
7. (8) Myatt Snider, Chevrolet, 62.
8. (6) Riley Herbst, Ford, 62.
9. (11) Harrison Burton, Toyota, 62.
10. (26) Andy Lally, Chevrolet, 62.
11. (4) Justin Allgaier, Chevrolet, 62.
12. (13) Daniel Hemric, Toyota, 62.
13. (21) Alex Labbe, Chevrolet, 62.
14. (20) Jeremy Clements, Chevrolet, 62.
15. (31) Josh Williams, Chevrolet, 62.
16. (27) Kyle Weatherman, Chevrolet, 62.
17. (33) Landon Cassill, Chevrolet, 62.
18. (34) James Davison(i), Toyota, 62.
19. (5) Ty Gibbs #, Toyota, 62.
20. (15) Jade Buford #, Chevrolet, 62.
21. (32) Tommy Joe Martins, Chevrolet, 62.
22. (36) JJ Yeley, Chevrolet, 62.
23. (23) Jeb Burton, Chevrolet, 62.
24. (29) Spencer Pumpelly, Chevrolet, Ignition, 60.
25. (22) Josh Bilicki(i), Chevrolet, 60.
26. (18) Sage Karam, Chevrolet, Electrical, 59.
27. (24) Sam Mayer #, Chevrolet, Accident, 44.
28. (9) Will Rodgers, Toyota, Brakes, 37.
29. (28) Austin Hill(i), Toyota, Steering Box, 27.
30. (30) Kris Wright(i), Toyota, Accident, 23.
31. (17) Brett Moffitt, Chevrolet, Axle, 21.
32. (35) Ryan Sieg, Ford, Suspension, 14.
33. (16) Kevin Harvick(i), Ford, Power Steering, 1.
34. (14) Brandon Brown, Chevrolet, Accident, 1.
35. (10) Preston Pardus, Chevrolet, Accident, 1.
36. (12) Brandon Jones, Toyota, Accident, 0.
Average Speed of Race Winner: 73.825 mph.
Time of Race: 2 Hrs, 2 Mins, 54 Secs. Margin of Victory: 2.108 Seconds.
Caution Flags: 5 for 15 laps.
Lead Changes: 8 among 5 drivers.
Lap Leaders: J. Haley 1-14;A. Cindric 15-16;R. Herbst 17-19;J. Haley 20-23;A. Cindric 24-32;A. Allmendinger 33-40;T. Gibbs # 41-44;A. Cindric 45-62.
Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Lead, Laps Led): Austin Cindric 3 times for 29 laps; Justin Haley 2 times for 18 laps; AJ Allmendinger 1 time for 8 laps; Ty Gibbs # 1 time for 4 laps; Riley Herbst 1 time for 3 laps.
Stage #1 Top Ten: 11,98,10,22,31,9,51,44,1,54
Stage #2 Top Ten: 16,11,9,54,78,10,18,51,98,92
