DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — It wasn’t the narrowest margin of victory in Daytona 500 history, but it was close. And Austin Cindric’s full-time NASCAR Cup Series debut couldn’t have gone any better.
The new Team Penske Ford driver held off a parade of furiously charging drivers behind him on the final lap of the 2022 season opener Sunday at Daytona International Speedway and narrowly edged Bubba Wallace for the checkered flag.
Inches, fractions of a car length, hundredths of a second — 0.036 to be exact.
That was the difference between Cindric in the No. 2 car and Wallace in the No. 23 23XI Racing Toyota in what became a true photo finish in the 64th Daytona 500.
Retweet to congratulate Austin Cindric on his #DAYTONA500 win! pic.twitter.com/1MsVdRRMIJ
— FOX: NASCAR (@NASCARONFOX) February 20, 2022
“Oh, my god,” Cindric said afterward, seemingly in disbelief. “Do you know what makes it all better? A packed house. A packed house at the Daytona 500. …
“I’m surrounded by great people — that’s all there is to it. I know there’s going to be highs and lows, being a rookie in a field of drivers this strong. I’m just grateful for the opportunity, excited to climb the mountain we’ve got ahead of us on the [No.] 2 team.”
The 2020 NASCAR Xfinity Series champion, Cindric became the second youngest Daytona 500 champ following Trevor Bayne, who won the 2011 race at the age of 20 years and one day.
“He didn’t make a mistake today,” said team owner Roger Penske, who turned 85 on Sunday, praising the 23-year-old rookie.
Congratulation, @AustinCindric and @Team_Penske! #HotPass takes you behind the scenes during their #DAYTONA500 victory: pic.twitter.com/QJg6c0KfZb
— FOX: NASCAR (@NASCARONFOX) February 21, 2022
Chase Briscoe finished third, Ryan Blaney fourth and Aric Almirola, in his final NASCAR season, fifth.
Cindric replaced Brad Keselowski, who became a driver-owner for Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing, in the No. 2 Ford this year and took his first career checkered flag in the biggest race of the season. The victory also locks Cindric into the 10-race playoffs in the fall.
Cindric got a big push from his Team Penske teammate Blaney in the No. 12 Ford in the two-lap overtime shootout to hold off Wallace, who collected his second runner-up finish at the Daytona 500 after finishing second in 2018. Wallace had captured his first career Cup Series win at last year’s Talladega Superspeedway playoff race after finishing second at the Daytona 400-lap summer race, which served as the 2021 regular-season finale.
Kyle Busch overcame early damage to finish sixth, last year’s winner, Michael McDowell, finished seventh, while David Ragan, Keselowski and Chase Elliott rounded out the top 10.
