Austin Cindric scored his second Cup Series victory in incredibly surprising fashion Sunday at Gateway.
Cindric took the lead on the final lap after Penske teammate Ryan Blaney’s car suddenly slowed because it had apparently run out of gas. Blaney looked set for an easy victory after Christopher Bell’s car had engine trouble with less than 20 laps to go.
Cindric has struggled since winning the 2022 Daytona 500. He entered Sunday’s race 20th in the points standings after finishing 24th a season ago with just five top-10 finishes. He had not won in 85 races since he won in his eighth Cup Series start at Daytona two seasons ago.
Blaney moved into the lead after pitting with 64 laps remaining in the 240-lap race. He entered the pits knowing that he could make it to the end of the race with a full tank of gas, but apparently his team did not fill that tank completely. He radioed his team as his car sputtered that he had run out of gas and reached the finish line in 24th place.
The bet Blaney’s team made seemed very good. The final pit stop was supposed to ensure he made it to the end of the race with fuel, but it also meant he would have older tires as the checkered flag approached.
Bell pitted later than Blaney and Cindric, who had a similar strategy to his teammate, and quickly ran over Blaney with 30 laps remaining. However, he was unable to pass it after the duo fought. Blaney did a deft job of keeping Bell at bay for several laps before his engine had trouble, and it was not inconceivable that he would have been able to maintain the lead for the rest of the race if Bell had had a fully functioning engine.
However, neither driver was victorious.
