Austin Cindric Nets Stunning Win at WWTR

Austin Cindric snapped a two-year plus winless streak by winning Sunday’s Enjoy Illinois 300 at World Wide Technology Raceway (WWTR). (Photo: Josh James | The Podium Finish)

MADISON, Ill. — Austin Cindric may remember Sunday’s Enjoy Illinois 300 at World Wide Technology Raceway (WWTR) with fond memories.

In the grand scheme of the 15th race of the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series season, Cindric did not exactly sneak his way toward the front of the field. The 25-year-old Columbus, Ohio, native qualified second and ran inside the top five throughout the 240-lap race.

Early on, Cindric challenged the likes of Michael McDowell, the polesitter, and Christopher Bell, the fourth place starter. The new, redesigned Ford Mustang Dark Horses and Toyota Camry XSEs seemed to be the class of the field on the relatively flat intermediate, 1.25-mile track.

As Bell drove to the Stage 1 win, Cindric captured a respectable fourth place finish, capturing seven stage points.

In the words of a Talking Heads hit song from 1981, “Once in a Lifetime,” Stage 2 was the same as it ever was. Bell and Cindric were the key principals of this portion of the race while Ryan Blaney threw his name into the fight, placing third.

However, the most eventful portion of Stage 2 occurred on Lap 141 when Kyle Larson and Kyle Busch tangled in Turn 1. Busch’s afternoon was over while Larson sustained rear end damage.

Once Stage 3 was underway, it became a fuel mileage battle between the lead lap contenders. The Team Penske drivers of Cindric, Blaney and Joey Logano went on a three-pit stop strategy.

Perhaps the most critical moment occurred in the final pit stops of the afternoon on Laps 175 and 176. Blaney’s pit crew delivered with a pit stop just over eight seconds while Cindric’s team serviced his car in under 10 seconds.

Austin Cindric did not luck his way to the win in Sunday’s Enjoy Illinois 300 at World Wide Technology Raceway (WWTR). (Photo: Josh James | The Podium Finish)

Certainly, the lost time propelled Blaney toward the front of the field on Lap 222. Those precious seconds separating Blaney and Cindric on the track reared its ugly head for the former and benefitted the latter with two laps left in the race.

Before it was a Team Penske battle for the win, Bell appeared to have the race in his hand before engine issues derailed his efforts.

On the penultimate lap of the race, Blaney’s car sputtered, running out of gasoline while Cindric leapt to the lead.

Coming to the stripe, Cindric bested Denny Hamlin by 3.844 seconds. Before Cindric could consider the incredible implications of his win, he sympathized with Blaney, his Team Penske teammate.

“Honestly, I’m heartbroken for the 12 team,” Cindric said. “I don’t know what happened to them at the end of the race, but they deserved to win this race. Ryan has been a hell of a leader on this team. This weekend was a great weekend for everybody involved.

“To have two cars in the fight and an eventual one-two there, like I said, I’m heartbroken for those guys, but this is huge for me. This is huge for this team. I’m so glad I was able to get a win with Brian as my crew chief in the Cup Series. You never know when it’s gonna happen again. I just drove my butt off and hoped for the best.”

Meanwhile, Hamlin, the points leader, counted his blessings on an afternoon where he was not exactly the class of the field.

“No, definitely not.,” Hamlin said. “We had a top-five car. We didn’t have the best today, but the Yahoo! Camry was in the mix, and was able to capitalize on some others misfortune there.

“We were going to have a top-five day regardless, but proud of the team. They did a great job on pit road – Chris [Gabehart, crew chief] and the team brought a great car, just wasn’t quite enough.”

Following an important win in the Goodyear 400 last month at Darlington, Brad Keselowski scored his third podium in a row, moving from 11th to eighth in the championship standings.

“That was strategy,” Keselowski said. “We got behind early for sure but we kept putting ourselves in position to keep moving forward and I wish I could have gotten second but it was a really hard-fought day for everyone on the Solomon Plumbing Ford Mustang. We will take a lot of good momentum from this one for sure.”

There was incredible pressure for Cindric to perform and tally wins in a ride synonymous with winning races. Now, the 2020 NASCAR XFINITY Series champion can look forward to battling for this year’s NASCAR Cup Series championship in three months.

For the first time since the 2022 DAYTONA 500, Austin Cindric is a winner after emerging victorious at WWTR. (Photo: Josh James | The Podium Finish)

“It’s everything,” Cindric said. “It’s absolutely everything and the funny thing about it is this Freightliner Ford Mustang is probably one of the best-looking cars at the racetrack and I’ve had terrible races every single time with this car and it’s great to win with a great paint scheme.

“It’s great to win in front of an amazing crowd. This racetrack does an amazing job putting on events and I’m just proud to be able to do it and proud to be able to bring it home for these guys. They deserve it.”

Stage 1 Top 10 Results

1. Christopher Bell
2. Michael McDowell
3. Ryan Blaney
4. Austin Cindric
5. Denny Hamlin
6. William Byron
7. Ty Gibbs
8. Tyler Reddick
9. Joey Logano
10. Chase Elliott

Stage 2 Top 10 Results

1. Christopher Bell
2. Austin Cindric
3. Ryan Blaney
4. Chase Elliott
5. Brad Keselowski
6. Joey Logano
7. Chase Briscoe
8. Carson Hocevar
9. Austin Dillon
10. Denny Hamlin

Enjoy Illinois 300 at World Wide Technology Raceway Race Results