Enjoy Illinois 300 winner Austin Cindric claims he is “heartbroken” for Ryan Blaney and team over Gateway loss

Austin Cindric ended his two-year winless streak at Gateway.

Enjoy Illinois 300 winner Austin Cindric claims he is “heartbroken” for Ryan Blaney and team over Gateway loss

Austin Cindric and Ryan Blaney (Via IMAGO)

Austin Cindric made his NASCAR Cup Series debut in 2022 as one of the most promising talents in the sport, replacing Brad Keselowski at Team Penske Racing. He started the season on a high note by winning the Daytona 500 and went on to have a strong debut season that yielded him the rookie of the year crown.

But his second year with the ford giants didn’t go as planned as he ended the 2023 season winless, with only a handful of good road course racing performances. His start of 2024 season hasn’t been great as well, but he turned the tables on Sunday at Gateway by winning the Enjoy Illinois 300 after his teammate Ryan Blaney who was on lead dropped down after he ran out of fuel.

While talking about the win after the race, Cindric addressed the sorry state of his teammate Blaney and the No:12 crew. He pointed out that he feels the pain and heartbreak of his teammates. Cindric asserted that his teammate Blaney, who has been a leader at Penske, deserved to win the race on Sunday.

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Honestly, I’m heartbroken for the 12 team. I don’t know what happened to them at the end of the race, but 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.
Austin Cindric said via NBC.

Austin Cindric is glad he secured the win

While he feels the pain of the No:12 team, Cindric is also delighted how the race played out and how big is the win for him, that came after over two years. He pointed out that he just hoped for the best when he took the lead from Blaney for the win.

Austin Cindric
Austin Cindric 
To have two cars in the fight and an eventual one-two there, like I said, I’m heartbroken for those guys, but this is huge for me. This is huge for this team. I’m so glad I was able to get a win with Brian as my crew chief in the Cup Series. You never know when it’s gonna happen again. I just drove my butt off and hoped for the best.
Austin Cindric said.

The win would give him and the Penske garage the momentum they having looking forward to for the remaining races of the 2024 season. They would be hoping to convert the momentum to more wins in the coming days.

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