Austin Cindric off to strong start with NASCAR Xfinity Series win at Daytona
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Austin Cindric was one of the few drivers to escape Daytona unscathed. Instead of cruising through the infield like some of the nearly 20 other drivers who crashed out before the finish, Cindric was there at the end of the race to firmly plant a checkered flag in the torn up grass after winning NASCAR’s season-opening Xfinity race.
The 22-year-old Team Penske driver didn’t miss a beat after winning last year’s series championship. Cindric started from the pole position and led 28 laps of the 122-lap race, including a two-lap overtime shootout following a late caution. He avoided earlier wrecks, and recovered after he got stuck at the back of the pack when an unfortunately timed caution flag came out as he attempted to make a green flag pit stop.
Cindric won six races last season, but he said his goal this year was to win at a superspeedway. Saturday’s race, titled the “Beef. It’s What’s For Dinner. 300,” was a quick check mark.
“I’ve flipped here. I’ve been in the care center more times than I’ve finished. I’ve won here on the road course. I’ve won here on the RallyCross track. Daytona’s had a lot of highs and lows for me,” Cindric said.
The Big One occurred just under 20 laps before the finish of the race when part-time Xfinity driver Ty Dillon attempted to clear Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Daniel Hemric in the inside lane. Dillon wiggled, then crashed at the front of the pack, taking out over 10 other drivers.
“Early on, that was one of my best races I’ve run on a superspeedway,” Hemric said. “I was doing my job. I was trying to block that lane. We were getting close to that stage end and I’m assuming the teammates were wanting to break off for that reason and try to get to the front.”
Cindric and JGR’s Harrison Burton missed the next wreck at the front of the pack, and restarted in first and second, respectively. Cindric held his lead in the final laps, while Brett Moffitt raced up to second. Burton finished third.
“I was trying to fake low and go high,” Burton said. “It didn’t work out for me. I thought (Moffitt) – I don’t know if he wasn’t clear or not – but I thought if I drug down, he would come with me. I’ve got a lot to learn and I learned a lot really quickly.”
It was also a strong season debut for Moffitt, the driver of the No. 2 Chevrolet for Our Motorsports. But Moffitt couldn’t best Cindric in the closing lap. He noted the progress Cindric has made as an Xfinity driver.
“The last couple years he’s been progressing at a very high rate, and then last year all that kind of came to fruition,” Moffitt said. “For a while he was a road course guy and that’s what he was known as. And now he’s an oval guy, road course and a plate guy.”
Cindric will get another chance at plate racing during this year’s Daytona 500. He raced his way into the lineup as an Open car for Team Penske based on his qualifying time. He said it was a surreal moment lining up with Cup drivers like Kyle Larson and Ryan Newman for his recent Duel, and noted that he was in third grade when Newman won the Daytona 500 in 2008 for the Penske Organization.
“That was also the realization that there’s a lot of guys that don’t know me,” Cindric said.
But they will soon. Cindric is slated to race the No. 21 Wood Brothers Racing car driven by Matt DiBenedetto in the Cup Series in 2022. The Penske prospect is making limited appearances in the top series this year in preparation for that transition, but Cindric said his focus is on Xfinity this year.
“My number one goal is to make it to Phoenix, make it to the Championship 4,” Cindric said. “My main goal is to get back into that same position, obviously (and) find a way to have our best day again.”
NASCAR at Daytona Xfinity Results
| Order | Car No. | Driver | Time after leader | Laps |
| 1 | 22 | Austin Cindric | -- | 122 |
| 2 | 2 | Brett Moffitt(i) | 0.104 | 122 |
| 3 | 20 | Harrison Burton | 0.225 | 122 |
| 4 | 10 | Jeb Burton | 0.243 | 122 |
| 5 | 16 | AJ Allmendinger | 0.333 | 122 |
| 6 | 68 | Brandon Brown | 0.347 | 122 |
| 7 | 2 | Myatt Snider | 0.446 | 122 |
| 8 | 26 | Brandon Gdovic | 0.471 | 122 |
| 9 | 18 | Daniel Hemric | 0.616 | 122 |
| 10 | 23 | Jason White | 0.683 | 122 |
| 11 | 7 | Joe Graf Jr. | 0.791 | 122 |
| 12 | 90 | Caesar Bacarella | 1.05 | 122 |
| 13 | 99 | Stefan Parsons | 1.266 | 122 |
| 14 | 54 | Ty Dillon | 1.898 | 122 |
| 15 | 47 | Kyle Weatherman | 2.043 | 122 |
| 16 | 5 | Matt Mills | 2.044 | 122 |
| 17 | 78 | Jesse Little | 2.128 | 122 |
| 18 | 6 | Ryan Vargas # | 2.315 | 122 |
| 19 | 48 | Danny Bohn(i) | 10.328 | 122 |
| 20 | 66 | Timmy Hill | -1 | 121 |
| 21 | 92 | Josh Williams | -2 | 120 |
| 22 | 51 | Jeremy Clements | -2 | 120 |
| 23 | 4 | Landon Cassill | -8 | 114 |
| 24 | 44 | Tommy Joe Martins | -8 | 114 |
| 25 | 61 | Robby Lyons II | -17 | 105 |
| 26 | 98 | Riley Herbst | -17 | 105 |
| 27 | 8 | Josh Berry # | -18 | 104 |
| 28 | 7 | Justin Allgaier | -18 | 104 |
| 29 | 11 | Justin Haley | -18 | 104 |
| 30 | 13 | Chad Finchum | -18 | 104 |
| 31 | 39 | Ryan Sieg | -41 | 81 |
| 32 | 9 | Noah Gragson | -46 | 76 |
| 33 | 74 | Bayley Currey(i) | -47 | 75 |
| 34 | 52 | Gray Gaulding | -47 | 75 |
| 35 | 15 | Colby Howard | -47 | 75 |
| 36 | 1 | Michael Annett | -48 | 74 |
| 37 | 0 | Jeffrey Earnhardt | -48 | 74 |
| 38 | 19 | Brandon Jones | -62 | 60 |
| 39 | 17 | Cody Ware(i) | -62 | 60 |
| 40 | 36 | Alex Labbe | -62 | 60 |
(i) ineligible for points, # rookie
This story was originally published February 13, 2021 at 8:30 PM with the headline "Austin Cindric off to strong start with NASCAR Xfinity Series win at Daytona."
