Rookie Austin Cindric Holds Off Bubba Wallace to Win Daytona 500

Austin Cindric won the Daytona 500 on Sunday afternoon from the Daytona International Speedway to pick up his first career victory.

Cindric ran up front for most of the day as part of a group of Fords that controlled the lead for a majority of the race.

The 2020 Xfinity Series Champion and Cup Series rookie won in just his eighth career start, and said he was surrounded with great people at his team who helped him get to victory lane to kick off his rookie campaign.

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“I’m surrounded by great people, that’s all there is to it,” Cindric said.  “I know there’s going to be highs and lows when you’re a rookie in a field of drivers this strong.  I’m just grateful for the opportunity and excited for the climb…we’ve got ahead of us.”

Cindric was the leader before they headed to Overtime, and was able to stay at the front of the field with help from his Team Penske teammate Ryan Blaney. Headed into the trioval, Blaney tried going to the outside of Cindric following a push from Bubba Wallace, but the rookie was able to throw a block to hold off the field.

Cindric thanked his teammate following the race for the push that helped get to the lead.

“I appreciate Ryan being a great teammate,” Cindric said.  “Obviously he wants to win one.”

Wallace picked up his second runner-up finish in the Daytona 500, and said he was disappointed with this one.

“I’m going to be pissed off about this one for awhile,” Wallace said.  “I was happy on the first second place we got a couple years ago; this one just sucks when you’re that close.”

“I thought our Toyota teammates did good work until they got picked off.  Just dejected; the thing that keeps me up is just the hard work…from everybody at 23XI.”

Unofficial results:

1. Austin Cindric

2. Bubba Wallace

3. Chase Briscoe

4. Ryan Blaney

5. Aric Almirola

6. Kyle Busch

7. Michael McDowell

8. David Ragan

9. Brad Keselowski

10. Chase Elliott

11. Ty Dillon

12. Daniel Hemric

13. Martin Truex Jr.

14. Corey LaJoie

15. Landon Cassill

16. Chris Buescher

17. Cody Ware

18. Daniel Suarez

19. Kurt Busch

20. Cole Custer

21. Joey Logano

22. Jacques Villeneuve

23. Justin Haley

24. Alex Bowman

25. Austin Dillon

26. Kaz Grala

27. BJ McLeod

28. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

29. Erik Jones

30. Kevin Harvick

31. Noah Gragson

32. Kyle Larson

33. Todd Gilliland

34. Christopher Bell

35. Tyler Reddick

36. Greg Biffle

37. Denny Hamlin

38. William Byron

39. Harrison Burton

40. Ross Chastain

Chris Graythen/Getty Images

Blaney Wins at Daytona, Reddick Takes Final Playoff Spot Over Dillon

Ryan Blaney won the Coke Zero Sugar 400 from Daytona International Speedway on Saturday night in NASCAR’s regular season finale.

Blaney took the lead on the final restart, and was able to hold off the field as a wreck took out most of the leaders heading into the final corner.  Blaney was ahead of Chris Buescher as the caution flag flew, and he was able to head to victory lane for the second-consecutive weekend.

Blaney said he had to use his superspeedway experience to choose the right line while in the lead.

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“You never know how the end of these are going to turn out,” Blaney said.  “Down the back you just don’t know what lane is going to get a bigger run.”

Blaney said the push from Corey LaJoie on the restart is what helped him get to victory lane.

“The biggest thing is just getting the push,” Blaney said.  “It really all started with [LaJoie] giving me a good push and getting me out front.”

With only one spot open for the Playoffs heading into the regular-season finale, Buescher was in position late to get the victory and lock himself into the Playoffs.

Buescher came up one spot short after restarting as the leader heading in overtime, and said he will be thinking about his final restart.

“I’m sure I’ll play it back and find something else different,” Buescher said.  “Top line wasn’t organized at the start and bottom was; they were digging.  Difficult ending to a day…to miss that Playoff spot by one spot.”

Tyler Reddick came into the race in the final Playoff spot, but his chances seemed to diminish throughout the race as his teammate Austin Dillon picked up points in the first two stages before Reddick was involved in a big accident towards the end of the race.

Reddick’s team got the car back out on track as multiple winless drivers battled for the win in the closing laps.  Reddick was able to sneak through the last-lap accident that collected Dillon and locked himself into the final Playoff spot.

Reddick said it was a stressful race with everything that went wrong.

“Almost felt helpless there, but we didn’t give up and we fought through it,” Reddick said.  “I knew it was about 14 points I had on that green-white-checkered.  It was just go hard and try to stay up tight to the cars ahead of me and keep the nose out of clean air.”

Dillon said his team fought hard with a fast car before their luck ran out at the end of the race to end their Playoff push.

“We fought our butts off in the stages; made some good moves to get stages points,” Dillon said.  “We fought hard.  The car was fast…unfortunate that we’re not in the Playoffs.  We gave it all we could and fought to the very end.”

Unofficial results:

1. Ryan Blaney

2. Chris Buescher

3. Bubba Wallace

4. Ryan Newman

5. Ryan Preece

6. Tyler Reddick

7. Justin Haley

8. Alex Bowman

9. Chase Elliott

10. BJ McLeod

11. Josh Bilicki

12. Erik Jones

13. Kurt Busch

14. Denny Hamlin

15. Aric Almirola

16. Kevin Harvick

17. Corey LaJoie

18. Austin Dillon

19. Ross Chastain

20. Daniel Suarez

21. Kyle Larson

22. Chase Briscoe

23. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

24. Joey Logano

25. Cole Custer

26. Matt DiBenedetto

27. Anthony Alfredo

28. David Starr

29. Cody Ware

30. Martin Truex Jr.

31. Garrett Smithley

32. Joey Gase

33. Christopher Bell

34. Brad Keselowski

35. Kyle Busch

36. Kaz Grala

37. Landon Cassill

38. William Byron

39. Quin Houff

40. Michael McDowell

Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images

Blaney Holds off Byron to Win at Michigan

 Originally written for CLNS Media.

Ryan Blaney won the FireKeepers Casino 400 from Michigan International Speedway on Sunday afternoon.

Blaney chose the bottom lane ahead of the final restart, and a big push from Kyle Busch got him ahead of William Byron coming out of Turn 2.  Blaney was able to hold off the hard-charging Hendrick Motorsports duo of Byron and Kyle Larson to pick up his second victory of the season.

Blaney started toward the front of the field on Sunday, but fell back at the drop of the green flag after he struggled with his car’s handling.

Logan Riely/Getty Images

Blaney said his team worked on the car all day to get it ready for the finish.

“We weren’t great to start the day off,” Blaney said.  “Kept working and working and got a lot better.”

Blaney said the race came down to the final restart where a push from Busch got him to the lead.

“Picked a good lane on the restart there and was able to get the push we needed,” Blaney said.  “Michigan’s a matter of…holding it wide open and pretty much playing the air game.  We got a great push by the 18 [of Busch] on the restart and was able to get clear.”

Byron finished second on Sunday after he couldn’t overcome NASCAR’s 550 horsepower package that keeps racing close but sometimes makes it difficult to pass.

Byron said he was a victim of the superspeedway-like racing that left him without a true partner on the restart.

“Needed [Denny Hamlin] to stay with us,” Byron said.  “I gave up the lead trying to protect the top and just didn’t have the loyalty there to kind of push me into the lead.”

“It was kind of like a speedway race.  I was trying to back up to [Larson] off of four to get a run with about two laps to go.  Unfortunately, he ran the bottom so he didn’t have any momentum to push me.”

Unofficial results:

1. Ryan Blaney

2. William Byron

3. Kyle Larson

4. Kurt Busch

5. Denny Hamlin

6. Matt DiBenedetto

7. Kyle Busch

8. Chase Elliott

9. Brad Keselowski

10. Martin Truex Jr.

11. Chase Briscoe

12. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

13. Christopher Bell

14. Kevin Harvick

15. Chris Buescher

16. Alex Bowman

17. Aric Almirola

18. Erik Jones

19. Bubba Wallace

20. Michael McDowell

21. Ryan Preece

22. Daniel Suarez

23. Cole Custer

24. Ryan Newman

25. Justin Haley

26. Josh Berry

27. Cody Ware

28. BJ McLeod

29. Tyler Reddick

30. Quin Houff

31. Josh Bilicki

32. Garrett Smithley

33. Joey Logano

34. Anthony Alfredo

35. Ross Chastain

36. Austin Dillon

37. Joey Gase

Sean Gardner/Getty Images

Blaney Wins, Larson Dominates in Atlanta

 Originally written for CLNS Media.

Ryan Blaney won the Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 from Atlanta Motor Speedway on Sunday afternoon to pick up his first victory of the year.

Kyle Larson had a dominant car throughout the race and won both stages while leading 269 of 325 laps.  Over the final run, Blaney was able to close in on Larson.  With eight laps remaining, Blaney got around Larson to pick up the victory.

Blaney said the long run at the end of the race worked to his car’s strengths.

“We had a great long-run car all day, and it took us a bit to get going,” Blaney said.  “A couple long runs at the end that let us get there.  It looked like Kyle was getting loose and I’m happy it worked in our favor.”

Sean Gardner/Getty Images

As Blaney was chasing Larson down, his teammate Joey Logano was fighting Larson to stay on the lead lap.  Logano disrupted enough of the air around Larson’s car to take the handling away.

Blaney said the lapped traffic played a role in his ability to get around Larson.

“[Larson] got stoved up behind some lapped traffic,” Blaney said.  “We’ve been good this year and had some bad breaks; it’s nice to close out a race like that.”

At one point in the race, Larson had a 10-second lead on the rest of the field, which allowed him to save his tires while keeping a safe distance on the rest of the field.

With Blaney closing in, Larson said he didn’t get a chance over the final run to save his tires and fight for the win.

“I think [Blaney] got a lot better that last stage and it kind of changed up my flow of the race,” Larson said.  “I could get out to such a big lead and then I could take care of my stuff.  He was fast there and I just wanted to maintain that gap; I had to run on the faster part of the racetrack and just used my stuff up.”

“Our HendrickCars.com Chevy was stupid fast there for a long time.  Hate to lead a lot of laps and lose, but a really good car that we brought to the track.”

Unofficial results:

1. Ryan Blaney

2. Kyle Larson

3. Alex Bowman

4. Denny Hamlin

5. Kyle Busch

6. Austin Dillon

7. Chris Buescher

8. William Byron

9. Martin Truex Jr.

10. Kevin Harvick

11. Matt DiBenedetto

12. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

13. Ryan Newman

14. Ross Chastain

15. Joey Logano

16. Bubba Wallace

17. Daniel Suarez

18. Cole Custer

19. Michael McDowell

20. Aric Almirola

21. Christopher Bell

22. Austin Cindric

23. Chase Briscoe

24. Erik Jones

25. Ryan Preece

26. Tyler Reddick

27. Anthony Alfredo

28. Brad Keselowski

29. Corey LaJoie

30. Justin Haley

31. Cody Ware

32. James Davison

33. Quin Houff

34. BJ McLeod

35. Joey Gase

36. Timmy Hill

37. Josh Bilicki

38. Chase Elliott

39. Kurt Busch

Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images

Kyle Busch Kicks Off Season with Busch Clash Victory

 Originally written for CLNS Media.

Kyle Busch won the season-opening Busch Clash from Daytona International Speedway on Tuesday night to kick off the 2021 NASCAR season.

The Busch Clash, the customary non-points race that begins NASCAR’s season every year, was run on Daytona’s road course for the first time.

Busch was running a distant third when the field took the white flag, but he was able to take the lead coming out of the final corner after Chase Elliott and Ryan Blaney got together racing for the win. 

Busch, in his first race with a new crew chief after a single-win season in 2020, said he hopes the two can continue to grow their relationship as Busch hunts for his third Cup championship.

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“Can’t say enough about Ben Beshore and this whole M&M’s team,” Busch said.  “I’ve been through a couple crew chiefs, and it always seems to go well for a little while and then it fizzles out.”

After the COVID pandemic caused NASCAR to change the 2020 schedule multiple times, NASCAR raced on the Daytona road course for the first time last August.  Now officially the second race of the season, Busch said his team looked at this as a test session for the points-paying event in two weeks.

“We had a great car here tonight,” Busch said.  “We worked a lot over the winter time and focusing on what we can do in this race to know what we needed to get better for race number two, coming up in two weeks.”

Elliott and Blaney, known as two of the closest friends in the garage, had fast cars throughout the night but got together racing for the lead in the final chicane coming to the checkered flag.

Elliott said it was a move he had to try with a win in sight.

“I can’t be sorry for going for the win, but certainly didn’t mean to wreck him,” Elliott said.  “Neither one of us won; that’s the big thing.  You’ve got to go for it here in an event like this.”

Blaney, who had fresher tires over the final run, said he had to use up more of his car than he’d hoped while he chased Elliott down in the final laps.

“We were just racing hard and I had a little bit fresher tires there,” Blaney said.  “I tried to protect and drove in the last corner really deep to try to make sure I didn’t get dive-bombed like that.  Learned something for next week…and excited to get to the [Daytona] 500 this Sunday.”

Unofficial results:

1. Kyle Busch

2. Chase Elliott

3. Joey Logano

4. Tyler Reddick

5. William Byron

6. Denny Hamlin

7. Alex Bowman

8. Erik Jones

9. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

10. Matt DiBenedetto

11. Austin Dillon

12. Aric Almirola

13. Ryan Blaney

14. Ryan Newman

15. Kevin Harvick

16. Chris Buescher

17. Brad Keselowski

18. Ty Dillon

19. Kurt Busch

20. Cole Custer

21. Martin Truex Jr.

Chris Graythen/Getty Images

Blaney Wins at Talladega as NASCAR World Rallies Around Wallace

Originally written for CLNS Media.

Ryan Blaney won the Geico 500 from Talladega Superspeedway on Monday afternoon.

Blaney won after he and his Penske teammates Joey Logano and Brad Keselowski dominated most of the race. 

Chris Graythen/Getty Images

The Penske trio quickly worked their way to the front on Monday, after the race was postponed due to rain on Sunday.  After a late caution forced the drivers to worry about fuel-mileage, Blaney hung in the back of the pack until the closing laps.

Blaney said he needed to make his move with 12 laps to go.

“We came back in and topped off, and we were just riding around until maybe 12 to go,” Blaney said.  “I was waiting for Kevin [Harvick] to kind of go, but he had to save more than I did, so we just kind of had to get going.”

A caution with three laps to go forced the race into overtime, and Blaney was able to hold off the rest of the leaders.

Coming to the checkered flag, Blaney made contact with Erik Jones, causing a wreck as the field crossed the line.  Blaney and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. raced side-by-side across the line, and Blaney was able to hold him off in a photo finish.

Blaney said he was excited to get his first win of the season.

“Just trying to block the best we could,” Blaney said.  “Just kind of trying to beat and bang to the line; just edged it out.  It’s been a really cool year so far.”

The race began with the NASCAR world supporting Bubba Wallace.  On Sunday, a noose was found hanging in the garage stall of Wallace’s team, and NASCAR immediately launched an investigation.

Wallace, the only African American driver in the Cup Series, has been outspoken over the past few weeks as protests have erupted across the country, and has even played a part in NASCAR banning the Confederate flag from tracks.

Chris Graythen/Getty Images

After news of the noose was announced last night, the drivers in the garage decided to support Wallace.  Before the race, the entire garage pushed Wallace’s 43 car to the front of the field, where they surrounded him during the pre-race prayer and national anthem.

Wallace, standing in front of fans wearing “Black Lives Matter” shirts in the stands, said the 14th-place finish was like a win after everything that’s happened.

“This is probably the most badass moment right here,” Wallace said.  “We had a good race going today…I know I should have won that damn race.  All in all, we won today.”

“The pre-race deal was probably one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to witness in my life, from all the supporters from drivers to crew members to everybody here.”

Wallace ended with a message to the person who tried to intimidate his team.

“The sport is changing.  The deal that happened yesterday…sorry I’m not wearing my mask, but I wanted to show whoever it was that you’re not going to take away my smile; I’m going to keep on going.”

Unofficial results:

1. Ryan Blaney

2. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

3. Aric Almirola

4. Denny Hamlin

5. Erik Jones

6. Chris Buescher

7. Alex Bowman

8. John Hunter Nemechek

9. Kurt Busch

10. Kevin Harvick

11. William Byron

12. Ty Dillon

13. Jimmie Johnson

14. Bubba Wallace

15. Ryan Preece

16. Corey LaJoie

17. Joey Logano

18. Michael McDowell

19. Brad Keselowski

20. Tyler Reddick

21. Brendan Gaughan

22. Cole Custer

23. Martin Truex Jr.

24. Ryan Newman

25. Clint Bowyer

26. Matt DiBenedetto

27. Quin Houff

28. Daniel Suarez

29. Christopher Bell

30. Gray Gaulding

31. BJ McLeod

32. Kyle Busch

33. Timmy Hill

34. Garrett Smithley

35. Brennan Poole

36. JJ Yeley

37. Joey Gase

38. Chase Elliott

39. Austin Dillon

40. Matt Kenseth

Chris Graythen/Getty Images

Truex Shines at Martinsville Under the Lights

Originally written for CLNS Media.

Martin Truex Jr. won the Blue-Emu Maximum Pain Relief 500 from Martinsville Speedway on Wednesday night at the track’s first Cup Series night race.

Truex, along with the rest of the Toyota drivers, struggled at the beginning of the race.  But after the team made multiple changes, he was able to drive through the field on multiple occasions.

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Truex had a pit road penalty while leading early in the race, but he was able to recover to win and finish as the only Toyota driver on the lead lap.

Truex said it was a testament to his team’s strategy at Martinsville.

“We’ve been working a long time on trying to figure this place out,” Truex said.  “The last couple years we’ve been really strong.  Just hats off to the guys.”

The victory was Truex’s first with new crew chief James Small, after Cole Pearn stepped down at the end of 2019.

Truex said he knew his team was going to win with their new leader atop the box.

“It’s huge for his confidence; he’s doing an awesome job and I’m really proud of him,” Truex said.  “It’s nice to get another win early in the season.  Hopefully we can go on a roll.”

Ryan Blaney finished second on Wednesday night.  After starting on the pole, he quickly dropped through the field and was lapped by lap 60.  His team was able to make adjustments to the car and, after getting the lucky dog, Blaney showed his speed and drove to the front.

Blaney said he was proud of his team for getting them back up front.

“Big shout out to [crew chief] Todd Gordon and everybody on this 12 team because, I’m not going to lie, we were awful to start the race,” Blaney said.  “Luckily we got a lot better, on even the first stop.”

Blaney said he needed a caution and restart to be able to fight Truex for the victory.

“Wanted a restart towards the front with Martin to see…if I could have raced with him,” Blaney said.  “Couple solid runs we’ve got here stringing together, just need to break through.  Hopefully we can do this soon.”

Unofficial results:

1. Martin Truex Jr.

2. Ryan Blaney

3. Brad Keselowski

4. Joey Logano

5. Chase Elliott

6. Alex Bowman

7. Matt DiBenedetto

8. William Byron

9. Kurt Busch

10. Jimmie Johnson

11. Bubba Wallace

12. Ryan Newman

13. Chris Buescher

14. Michael McDowell

15. Kevin Harvick

16. Tyler Reddick

17. Clint Bowyer

18. Corey LaJoie

19. Kyle Busch

20. Erik Jones

21. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

22. Ty Dillon

23. Matt Kenseth

24. Denny Hamlin

25. John Hunter Nemechek

26. Ryan Preece

27. Daniel Suarez

28. Christopher Bell

29. Cole Custer

30. Brennan Poole

31. JJ Yeley

32. David Starr

33. Aric Almirola

34. Quin Houff

35. Joey Gase

36. Garrett Smithley

37. Austin Dillon

38. Reed Sorenson

39. Timmy Hill

Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images

Bowman Dominant in California

Originally written for CLNS Media.

Alex Bowman won the Auto Club 400 from the Auto Club Speedway on Sunday afternoon.

Bowman dominated throughout the weekend and led a race-high 110 laps.  Bowman unloaded fast on Friday, and he ran fast laps throughout both practices and qualified towards the front of the field.

Stacy Revere/Getty Images

Bowman said this was the second week in a row where his team was fast from start to finish.

“We’ve unloaded the last two weeks; I don’t think we’ve got a change in the racecar from how it came off the truck,” Bowman said.  “[Crew chief] Greg Ives and all the guys are just on point.”

Bowman said this victory is a statement for all the hard work his team has put in since his first win last June.

“The first one…was a really enjoyable experience, and then we sucked for six months,” Bowman said.  “We started this year so strong; I feel like I’ve got a lot of things on my side that I’m doing better.”

Kyle Busch finished second on Sunday after struggling with his car’s handling throughout the weekend.

Busch said his team is continuing to work on their speed.

“We have a lot of work to do,” Busch said.  “It wasn’t a second-place car, but thankfully we got a good finish out of it.”

Ryan Blaney seemed like he had the only car that could challenge Bowman, but he needed to pit for tires with two laps to go after shredding the right-rear tire.

Blaney, who finished second in the first two races of the season, said he wasn’t frustrated with the early season misfortune.

“I didn’t see any frustration,” Blaney said.  “Just corded a right-rear there at the end and gave up a good finish.  That one didn’t work out in our favor…just unfortunate end to the day, again.”

Unofficial results:

1. Alex Bowman

2. Kyle Busch

3. Kurt Busch

4. Chase Elliott

5. Brad Keselowski

6. Denny Hamlin

7. Jimmie Johnson

8. Aric Almirola

9. Kevin Harvick

10. Erik Jones

11. Tyler Reddick

12. Joey Logano

13. Matt DiBenedetto

14. Martin Truex Jr.

15. William Byron

16. Chris Buescher

17. Ross Chastain

18. Cole Custer

19. Ryan Blaney

20. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

21. Kyle Larson

22. Michael McDowell

23. Clint Bowyer

24. Austin Dillon

25. John Hunter Nemechek

26. Ty Dillon

27. Bubba Wallace

28. Daniel Suarez

29. Corey LaJoie

30. Ryan Preece

31. JJ Yeley

32. Brennan Poole

33. Joey Gase

34. Garrett Smithley

35. Quin Houff

36. Reed Sorenson

37. Timmy Hill

38. Christopher Bell

Stacy Revere/Getty Images