NASCAR
Austin Cindric Wins Gateway After Ryan Blaney Runs Out of Fuel
MADISON, ILL. – Gateway was shaping up to be a Penske-perfect Sunday, until the last lap. With the white flag in air, Ryan Blaney slowed and allowed teammate Austin Cindric to capitalize. Busting an 85-race losing drought, Austin Cindric takes the win in St. Louis.
Picking up right where he left off in Charlotte, Christopher Bell won Stage 1. This marked a third-straight Stage win for the No. 20, who took two stages a week ago. Bell equaled that feat at Gateway, sweeping both Stages.
Stage 2 did end under yellow after prerace favorites Kyle Larson and Kyle Busch spun into turn one. Despite running well most of the day, Busch was not able to defend his Gateway win from last year.
All three Penske cars stayed out to restart in the top three spots for Stage 3. Austin Cindric initially took off in the lead with Ryan Blaney in close pursuit. Blaney would leapfrog Cindric on their final pit stops, by coming in a lap earlier.
The 12’s march to the victory was anything but secure though. Blaney had to hold off a hard-charging Christopher Bell. The No. 20 Toyota did stumble into a motor issue however, forcing Bell to back off from Blaney.
The 12 appeared to be setting sail for victory lane, until the white flag waved. Coming out of turn four to start the last lap, Blaney’s car sputtered out of fuel. This allowed Cindric to sneak on by and steal the win. Blaney meanwhile coasted to the checkers in a disappointing 24th-place.
“Honestly I’m heartbroken for the 12 team, I don’t know what happened to them at the end but they deserved to win this race,” Cindric said. “Ryan’s been a hell of a leader on this team, and this weekend was a great one for everybody involved, to have two cars in the fight, and an eventual 1-2 there.”
“Heartbroken for those guys, but this is huge for me and this team. I’m so glad I was able to 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 and hoped for the best.”
“It’s everything, it’s absolutely everything to win. The funniest thing about it is that this Freightliner Ford Mustang is probably one of the best looking cars on the racetrack, and I’ve had terrible races every single time with this car. It’s great to win with a great paint scheme, and in front of an amazing crowd. This racetrack does an amazing job putting on events. Just proud to be able to bring it home for these guys, they deserve it.”
Nearly four seconds behind Cindric at the checkers was Denny Hamlin. The No. 11 is runner-up for a second straight year at Gateway. Other top finishers were: Brad Keselowski, Tyler Reddick, and Joey Logano. Austin Dillon, Christopher Bell, Carson Hocevar, Justin Haley, and Kyle Larson rounded out the top-10. Hocevar in eighth earned his career-best result with Spire Motorsports.
Cindric is the ninth different winner so far in 2024, taking up a valuable Playoff ticket. Gateway marks his first win since the 2022 Daytona 500, a span of nearly two-and-a-half years. The 2 team entered Sunday 18th in points, and leave St. Louis with the trophy.
The NASCAR Cup Series returns to action from Sonoma Raceway on Sunday. Gateway gave us a pretty big surprise winner; can Sonoma see a road course underdog capture the flag? The Toyota/Save Mart 350 goes green at 3:30 p.m. ET on FOX, PRN, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.
Written by Peter Stratta
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Photo Credit to Sean Gardner/Getty Images
