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NASCAR: Austin Cindric Talks ‘Incredible Opportunity’ to Win Daytona 500

NASCAR driver Austin Cindric edged out Bubba Wallace and Ryan Blaney on the front straightaway yesterday in the Daytona 500 to secure the life-changing victory. Afterwards, Cindric, the rookie who races for Penske’s No. 2 Ford team, spoke with national media about the big win.

“Certainly a pretty intense moment they’re racing for the win of the Daytona 500, it’s the one that everybody wants to win,” Cindric said of the last-second victory. “It’s one that everybody wants to win, and Bubba has been able to put himself into position a lot of years in a row now. Just try to position myself to where I can be close enough to still make those blocks and still make those moves to be at the lead at the start-finish line.

“We did have a red flag – a stopped period for clean-up for one of the crashes. Definitely a good time to reflect on what I’m going to have to do if I find myself in that position, restarting on the front row of the biggest race of the season. But you gotta keep your head in the game, and what an incredible opportunity to be able to do it in front of a sellout crowd.”

Cindric is a Cup series rookie, but he has flourished in NASCAR for years

Cindric made the leap from XFINITY circuit to Cup Series with ease. Last year, he nearly became a back-to-back XFINITY champion, losing on the final lap of the final race. Luckily, he more than made up for the disappointment on NASCAR’s biggest stage just a few months later.

“I’ve had the last three months to reflect on being a loser,” Cindric said. “I’m a winner today. So, I’ll take it. And it, and it doesn’t change that. We love the fact that able to rebound like that. But you know, that’s what the sport’s all about. That’s what racing is all about, is how you can rebound. For me, it’s everything I dream of is to come to speed weeks in and to be able to win the Daytona 500, the biggest race of the year, the biggest race of them all. It’s just it’s hard to believe, hard to put into words.”

Cindric will ride the momentum into the Wise Power 400 at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, California, next Sunday.

Runner-up Bubba Wallace tastes defeat for the second time at Daytona

No. 23 Toyota driver Bubba Wallace knows all too well how it feels to claim second place at the Daytona 500. It has happened twice now in four years.

In 2018, Wallace finished runner-up in the Great American Race by 0.206 seconds. At the time it was the first start of his first full season as a NASCAR Cup Series driver; and the top-five finish signaled the beginning of a promising career.

Now in his fifth season, Wallace still shows tremendous promise — he won in Talladega in October ’21 — but he’s no longer interested in promise. Wallace wants to win, and his No. 23 Toyota team came mighty close, finishing 0.036 seconds behind winner Austin Cindric last night.

“I didn’t have a fighting chance the first time in 2018,” Wallace said. “This one, being that close, it’s just like a gut punch. Going from all the confidence in the world to literally having it ripped out from underneath you is a really s—– feeling.”