NASCAR Cup Gateway: Cindric earns shock win as Blaney runs out of fuel

Blaney, the reigning Cup champion, looked primed to pick up his first win of the 2024 season after surviving a wild duel with the Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota of Christopher Bell.

Cindric had cut Blaney’s lead to under two seconds with three of 240 laps remaining when Blaney’s car suddenly fell off the pace.

Cindric inherited the lead and held off Denny Hamlin (JGR) by 3.844 seconds to pick up his second career victory and ended an 85-race winless streak dating back to the 2022 Daytona 500.

Cindric, who was in danger of missing the playoffs, locked himself in the 16-driver field with a victory he admitted Blaney had earned.

"Honestly, I'm heartbroken for [Blaney's] team," Cindric said. "I don't know what happened to them at the end of the race, they deserved to win this race.

"Ryan has been a hell of a leader on this team.

"This weekend was a great weekend for everybody involved. But, yeah, to have two [Penske] cars in the fight, eventually 1-2, heartbroken for those guys." 

Asked what the win does to turn around a tough season, Cindric said, "It's everything. It's absolutely everything. Great to win in front of this amazing crowd."

Ryan Blaney, Team Penske, Menards\Richmond Water Heaters Ford Mustang and Austin Cindric, Team Penske, Freightliner Ford Mustang (Photo by: Nigel Kinrade / NKP / Motorsport Images)

Cindric had led the race from stablemates Blaney and Logano at the start of Stage 3, by electing to stay out when several of the lead lap cars elected to pit. 

Bell, among those who stopped before the start of the final stage, remained out much longer than the Penske contingent and made his final stop with 46 laps remaining.

Once the final drivers completed their stops, Blaney took over the lead with 23 laps to go but Bell had much fresher tyres that meant they ran side-by-side until Bell suddenly announced he was “blowing up” over his team radio and lost pace.

Brad Keselowski ended up third after recovering from a loose wheel on his RFK Ford in Stage 1 that required him to pit twice and fall to the rear of the field.

Tyler Reddick was fourth and Joey Logano rounded out the top five.

Austin Dillon took sixth as Bell, who had won Stages 1 and 2, limped home seventh.

Carson Hocevar, Justin Haley and Kyle Larson - who survived hitting the wall on the final lap of Stage 2 after contact with Kyle Busch that ended the latter's race - completed the top 10.

Blaney did finally cross the finish line and ended up credited with a 24th place finish and last car on the lead lap.

NASCAR Cup Gateway Results

CLA	DRIVER	#		MANUFACTURER	LAPS	TIME	INTERVAL	PITS	POINTS
1	A. CindricTEAM PENSKE	2		Ford	240	2:48'03.507		5	56
2	D. HamlinJOE GIBBS RACING	11		Toyota	240	+3.844 2:48'07.351	3.844	7	42
3	B. KeselowskiRFK RACING	6		Ford	240	+4.286 2:48'07.793	0.442	9	40
4	T. Reddick23XI RACING	45		Toyota	240	+6.418 2:48'09.925	2.132	7	36
5	J. LoganoTEAM PENSKE	22		Ford	240	+10.332 2:48'13.839	3.914	6	39
6	A. DillonRICHARD CHILDRESS RACING	3		Chevrolet	240	+11.021 2:48'14.528	0.689	7	33
7	C. BellJOE GIBBS RACING	20		Toyota	240	+13.034 2:48'16.541	2.013	7	50
8	C. HocevarSPIRE MOTORSPORTS	77		Chevrolet	240	+13.392 2:48'16.899	0.358	7	32
9	J. HaleyRICK WARE RACING	51		Ford	240	+13.668 2:48'17.175	0.276	8	28
10	K. LarsonHENDRICK MOTORSPORTS	5		Chevrolet	240	+13.746 2:48'17.253	0.078	7	27
11	T. GibbsJOE GIBBS RACING	54		Toyota	240	+13.816 2:48'17.323	0.070	7	30
12	R. ChastainTRACKHOUSE RACING	1		Chevrolet	240	+14.054 2:48'17.561	0.238	7	25
13	C. ElliottHENDRICK MOTORSPORTS	9		Chevrolet	240	+15.488 2:48'18.995	1.434	7	32
14	C. BuescherRFK RACING	17		Ford	240	+16.857 2:48'20.364	1.369	8	23
15	W. ByronHENDRICK MOTORSPORTS	24		Chevrolet	240	+17.167 2:48'20.674	0.310	7	27
16	T. GillilandFRONT ROW MOTORSPORTS	38		Ford	240	+24.943 2:48'28.450	7.776	7	21
17	C. BriscoeSTEWART-HAAS RACING	14		Ford	240	+25.168 2:48'28.675	0.225	7	24
18	D. HemricKAULIG RACING	31		Chevrolet	240	+26.631 2:48'30.138	1.463	8	19
19	Z. SmithSPIRE MOTORSPORTS	71		Chevrolet	240	+30.557 2:48'34.064	3.926	7	18
20	R. Stenhouse JrJTG DAUGHERTY RACING	47		Chevrolet	240	+31.538 2:48'35.045	0.981	8	17
21	B. Wallace23XI RACING	23		Toyota	240	+31.972 2:48'35.479	0.434	7	16
22	N. GragsonSTEWART-HAAS RACING	10		Ford	240	+33.033 2:48'36.540	1.061	7	15
23	D. SuarezTRACKHOUSE RACING	99		Chevrolet	240	+34.528 2:48'38.035	1.495	8	14
24	R. BlaneyTEAM PENSKE	12		Ford	240	+41.713 2:48'45.220	7.185	8	29
25	M. McDowellFRONT ROW MOTORSPORTS	34		Ford	239	+1 Lap 2:48'05.357	1 Lap	9	21
26	E. JonesLEGACY MOTOR CLUB	43		Toyota	239	+1 Lap 2:48'05.693	0.336	7	11
27	J. NemechekLEGACY MOTOR CLUB	42		Toyota	239	+1 Lap 2:48'05.862	0.169	8	10
28	A. BowmanHENDRICK MOTORSPORTS	48		Chevrolet	239	+1 Lap 2:48'09.948	4.086	7	9
29	R. PreeceSTEWART-HAAS RACING	41		Ford	239	+1 Lap 2:48'11.004	1.056	7	8
30	D. KrausKAULIG RACING	16		Chevrolet	239	+1 Lap 2:48'11.484	0.480	9	7
31	H. BurtonWOOD BROTHERS RACING	21		Ford	239	+1 Lap 2:48'13.136	1.652	7	6
32	C. LajoieSPIRE MOTORSPORTS	7		Chevrolet	239	+1 Lap 2:48'15.055	1.919	7	5
33	C. WareRICK WARE RACING	15		Ford	238	+2 Laps 2:48'16.156	1 Lap	10	4
34	M. Truex JrJOE GIBBS RACING	19		Toyota	237	+3 Laps 2:48'10.096	1 Lap	9	3
35	K. BuschRICHARD CHILDRESS RACING	8		Chevrolet	139	+101 Laps 1:42'21.119	98 Laps	6	2
36	J. BerrySTEWART-HAAS RACING	4		Ford	109	+131 Laps 1:19'22.086	30 Laps	6	1