DAYTONA BEACH, Fla.: Austin Cindric didn’t know if he made Sunday’s Daytona 500 until the checkered flag was thrown in Thursday night’s Bluegreen Vacations Duel No. 1 at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway.
Cindric, the defending NASCAR Xfinity Series champion needed to be the top finishing “open” car in the 60-lap sprint to ensure his place into his first “Great American Race.”
For most of the opening laps of Thursday night’s race under the light, Cindric showed the speed in his No. 33 Verizon 5G Ford Mustang, but Cindric made a crucial mistake during scheduled pit stops on Lap 34 that immediately changed the tone of his Team Penske’s night.
Cindric sped leaving pit road with his Ford Performance teammates and the penalty sent him back to pit road for a pass-thru penalty. After serving his penalty, Cindric remained on the lead lap but a lone duck on the track and without any drafting help meant the lead pack would catch him quickly.
Less than 15 laps later, they did and Cindric went a lap down and made his night more complicated.
Without a caution, Cindric’s saving grace to earn a spot in NASCAR’s Super Bowl was working with JTG Daugherty Racing’s Ryan Preece who could beat Ty Dillon and earn a starting spot based on his finishing position in the duel, rather than his qualifying speed from Wednesday night.
If Preece edged Dillon, Preece’s lock from qualifying Wednesday night would fall into the clutches of Cindric who the third-fastest open car during Daytona 500 qualifying was.
On the last lap of the duel, Dillon’s momentum was stalled coming the checkered flag after Joey Logano slowed abruptly allowing Preece to sneak by Dillon at the checkered flag.
With Preece finishing fifth, he sent Ty Dillon and Gaunt Brothers Racing home – and Cindric was able to use his qualifying speed from Wednesday night to make his NASCAR Cup Series debut on February 14.
“First of all, I get the bonehead of the race award, speeding in the last section of pit road when I nailed everything else the whole night that I didn’t know how to do, so my guys can all have a shot punching me wherever they want to, but I’m obviously really happy to get our Verizon 5G Ford Mustang into the big show,” said Cindric.
“There’s a lot left for me to learn but racing on the biggest stage against the best drivers is an amazing opportunity.”
Even after knowing he made the Daytona 500, Cindric said he did experience a wave of emotions in his first Cup Series qualifying race.
“I feel like I did all the hard things correctly tonight, it’s the easy one that I got wrong. I can’t believe I sped on pit road. I get bonehead of the night, but, overall, really proud to get this Verizon 5G Ford Mustang into the big show.
“Obviously, it’s the biggest stage in NASCAR and I’ve got a shot to learn how to race against the best for 500 miles. After I lined up behind the 37 I knew I had a shot and whether he wanted to move forward or not I was gonna push him no matter what and it was a matter of inches. Unbelievable.”
Looking ahead to Sunday, Cindric says there is still more work to do, but he was relatively happy with the performance of his race car.
“I think we’re all right,” added Cindric. “We obviously showed, our Penske car showed a lot better in the race than in qualifying. So that’s encouraging. That’s where it counts.
“I feel confident. There’s some things I think we need to get a little bit better, definitely seemed to get a little bit freer. Scared myself a few times. Just learning more about this car and what it needs and whether if that’s the right height or aero difference or the motor package difference.”
While content with the speed in his No. 33 Verizon 5G Ford Mustang, Cindric said there are still issues he hopes to address before race day.
“There’s definitely some things I want to work on,” he said. “I know what direction I think I need to go or at least help steer and understand more about for Saturday’s practice session.
“Past that, yeah, I learned a lot. I think we got a fast Verizon Ford 5G Mustang. I think that showed early, we were able to stay up and make a difference. I gained some confidence further up in the pack, whether that be side drafting, how to control the level, giving the pushes. It’s all part of the learning process.”
Follow Chris Knight on Twitter @Knighter01.
