‘I am so excited,’ 23-year-old Austin Cindric edges Bubba Wallace to win Daytona 500 in overtime


‘I am so excited,’ 23-year-old Austin Cindric edges Bubba Wallace to win Daytona 500 in overtime

Austin Cindric wins the 2022 Daytona 500

Austin Cindric became the second-youngest driver to win the Daytona 500 as he drove the No. 2 Ford Mustang of Penske racing edging Bubba Wallace. Austin Cindric secured the first official race win in Next-Gen NASCAR on the same day when his team owner Roger Penske celebrated his  85th birthday, making it one of the perfect birthdays presents.

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Austin Cindric was able to make full use of a synchronized driving strategy by Ford drivers where drivers pushed each other over 500 miles helping each other to succeed. Austin Cindric led from the restart and worked perfectly with his Team Penske teammate Ryan Blaney to maximize their chance of success in the final two-lap sprint to the finish.

Austin Cindric was successful in holding off teammate Ryan Blaney on the final lap and held on to edge Bubba  Wallace who was closing down before NASCAR put on caution for a crash behind them. He was ruled the leader and the winner in overtime by NASCAR.

Austin Cindric, who was promoted from the Xfinity Series to replace Brad Keselowski this year has made a strong start in contention for NASCAR’s rookie of the year honor securing his first career cup victory on his 8th cup series start.

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Find out What Austin Cindric had to say on winning Daytona 500

Austin Cindric
Austin Cindric wins the Daytona 500

After the victory expressed his excitement and acknowledged the efforts put in by his team and exposure towards his success and thanked them. Austin Cindric also dint forget to wish his boss Roger Penske for his 85th birthday.

“I’ve got so many people to thank. First and foremost, Roger Penske, happy birthday! I appreciate Ryan being a great teammate. He wants to win this one, but … I’m so pumped for Discount Tire at Menards, Ford, everybody [who] works so hard with this NextGen car, through this whole process, and … damn, I am so excited,” Austin Cindric said.

Austin Cindric went on to say his success after the transition from the Xfinity series came thanks to the amazing people surrounding him adding that he is excited about highs and lows in the future with the team.

“I am surrounded by great people. I know there are going to be highs and lows being a rookie in the field with drivers this strong. I am just grateful for the opportunity excited for the climb and mountain ahead of us,” Austin Cindric said

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Bubba Wallace finished second for the second time in his career in the Daytona 500 and the rest of the top 5 was filled by Ford drivers Chase Briscoe, Ryan Blaney, and Aric Almirola. Kyle Busch finished at p6 and defending champion finished at 7th  Michael McDowell.

Also read: ‘I think there’s tremendous opportunity here,’ NFL Hall Of Famer Emmitt Smith on becoming NASCAR team owner