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Blaney’s pain is Cindric’s gateway to NASCAR glory

By Thomas Miles

Date posted: June 3, 2024

The NASCAR Cup Series race at Gateway went down to the final lap where a late twist of fate saw the win dramatically swap between Penske teammates.

Reigning NASCAR Cup Series champion Ryan Blaney looked in complete control, leading 20 of the final 23 laps.

However, his #12 Mustang ran out of gas moments before taking the white flag, seeing what would have been a critical win disappear in heartbreaking fashion.

There to seize on the unexpected opportunity was Penske teammate Austin Cindric, who took it with both hands and secured his first NASCAR Cup Series win since the 2022 Daytona 500.

Denny Hamlin and Brad Keseloski ended up next best in second and third as Blaney crawled his way to 24th.

Despite being thrilled his winless streak is broken, Cindric admitted he was conflicted in victory lane.

“This weekend was a great weekend for everybody involved,” Cindric said. 

“But, yeah, to have two cars in the fight, eventually 1-2. Heartbroken for those guys.

“This 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. 

“I just drove my butt off and hoped for the best.”

Blaney admitted running out of gas caught him completely off guard.

“Never thought in my mind we were short,” Blaney said. 

“One of those things. Gosh, proud of the 12 boys. We were fast. 

“Had my work cut out for me holding off Christopher (Bell). That was a fun battle. I don’t know what happened to him.

“Yeah, one lap short, which just stinks. Congrats to the 2 team. They did a good job all day. Proud for Team Penske and Ford.

“Really happy with our showing today. I don’t know what I’ve got to do to get some luck on our side. 

“Gosh, we wrecked the last two points races and thought we had a great shot to win today. Ended up bad.”

Another late contender was Joe Gibbs Racing’s Christopher Bell with the #20 hounding the back of Blaney throughout the final stage.

But luck was also not on Bell’s side as his Toyota suffered engine dramas and he had to settle for seventh.

“I have no idea what happened,” said Bell. 

“Some sort of motor issue. I’m surprised that I made it to the end. Glad we were able to salvage something out of it.

“You don’t get race cars like that very often. Whenever you do, you need to take advantage of it. Disappointing day.”

The NASCAR Cup Series heads to Sonoma where Supercars drivers Will Brown and Cameron Waters will be waiting for them this weekend.

Photo by John K Harrelson / NKP / LAT Images

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