Austin Cindric won the Daytona 500 on Sunday, surviving a crash-filled ending and holding the lead throughout the two-lap overtime to take the checkered flag in just his eighth Cup Series start. The 23-year-old rookie blocked Ryan Blaney on the wall and then moved down to the bottom of the track to fight off Bubba Wallace and beat him by a nose.
The Athletic Staff
February 21, 2022 at 9:55 AM EST
Summary
Austin Cindric won the Daytona 500 on Sunday, surviving a crash-filled ending and holding the lead throughout the two-lap overtime to take the checkered flag in just his eighth Cup Series start. The 23-year-old rookie blocked Ryan Blaney on the wall and then moved down to the bottom of the track to fight off Bubba Wallace and beat him by a nose.
(Photo: Mike Dinovo / USA Today)
Bubba Wallace, oh so close to a Daytona 500 win, left with ‘a feeling of dejection’
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — It’s the kind of stare people have when something they want so badly narrowly slips through their fingers. A faraway look into the distance where the pain of losing washes over you, all you can think about is how close you were and how out of reach that goal still feels.
This heartbreak was all over Bubba Wallace’s face Sunday night at Daytona International Speedway. The loss stung. How could it not? By 0.036 seconds, he just missed out on winning the Daytona 500 in a photo finish to Austin Cindric; the third-closest finish in the race’s 64-year history.
Defeat like this is hard to move past quickly. And when he got out of his car, before Wallace did anything else, he needed a moment. That agony first needed to be processed.
(Photo: Chris O’Meara / AP)
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Bubba Wallace, oh so close to a Daytona 500 win, left with ‘a feeling of dejection’
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Austin Cindric, Daytona 500 champion: Searching for hugs and underwear in the aftermath of the rookie’s big win
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Austin Cindric plops down onto the back seat of a golf cart late Sunday, unopened bottle of champagne in one hand and a cell phone (not his) in the other.
“Holy shit!” he says, puffing his cheeks.
When you win the Daytona 500, as Cindric just did, the aftermath is a whirlwind of people and noise and cameras and microphones and odd smells and puddles of unknown liquid with soggy confetti in them. It’s overwhelming, really, and there’s suddenly a lot to think about that you hadn’t really considered before.
Like clean underwear for an extended stay in Daytona Beach.
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(Photo: Jared C. Tilton / Getty Images)
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Austin Cindric, Daytona 500 champion: Searching for hugs and underwear in the aftermath of the rookie’s big win
And to all a good night
Bubba Wallace reacts after just missing out on victory lane
Austin Cindric's on-track victory interview
Here's the wild finish
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Austin Cindric wins Daytona 500 after blocking Ryan Blaney on final lap of overtime
Austin Cindric held off Ryan Blaney and Bubba Wallace to win Sunday's Daytona 500, blocking Blaney along the wall on the final lap of overtime to take the checkered flag.
It'll be overtime to finish this race
A two-lap shootout to decide the Daytona 500. Austin Cindric leads with Ryan Blaney, Bubba Wallace and Brad Kesekowski behind. Here we go.
Ricky Stenhouse Jr. knocked out in wreck with six laps to go
Ricky Stenhouse Jr. was leading the Daytona 500 at the red flag with just seven laps left. Shortly after the restart, another crash collected him and, one lap later, he's now out.
Green flag, final six laps under way
Ricky Stenhouse Jr. is your leader at the restart. Six laps left.
Here's a look at the latest crash
We're still under a red flag awaiting the final laps to resume.
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Multi-car wreck with 11 laps to go brings out red flag
Kyle Larson, Kevin Harvick, Chase Elliott, Noah Gragson, Erik Jones and Todd Gilliland were among those collected in a crash just behind the leaders with 11 laps to go. The red flag is out.
Down to the wire at Daytona
The Daytona 500 is heading down to the finish. Bubba Wallace, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Kyle Busch, Austin Cindric and Chris Buescher are the top five as we go under 20 laps to go.
Another multi-car crash
Just when the race seemed relatively calm, Tyler Reddick got loose, was spun in the pack and was collected by Martin Truex Jr, Kurt Busch and Joey Logano, among others. Former F1 world champion Jacques Villeneuve was behind Reddick when the wreck occurred and also got some damage.
Up to that point, Brad Keselowski has been dominating the race. Keselowski has already led more than 60 laps, doubling his career high for laps led in a single Daytona 500.
Now, with around 40 laps to go on the impending restart, the racing should be getting very tense.
Tony Stewart returns to Fox Sports booth at COTA
Tony Stewart has served as a guest Fox Sports analyst the past two races, at the L.A. Coliseum and at Daytona, and he will be back in the broadcast booth at Circuit of the Americas. Fox Sports made the announcement at the conclusion of Stage 2 of the Daytona 500. Matt Kenseth (Fontana) and Danica Patrick (Las Vegas and Phoenix) will be guest analysts for the next three Cup Series races.
Martin Truex Jr. wins Stage 2
Stage 2 concluded with Martin Truex Jr. taking the stage win. Joey Logano finished second, with Bubba Wallace third, Brad Keselowski fourth, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. fifth, Austin Cindric sixth, Chris Buescher seventh, Kevin Harvick eighth, Kyle Larson ninth, and Todd Gilliland tenth.
Truex, who also took the Stage 1 win, just edged Logano at the finish to the second stage.
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Denny Hamlin's viewpoint on early crash
Denny Hamlin's bid to win a fourth Daytona 500 will have to wait another year after he was one of eight drivers collected in a Lap 62 crash. Hamlin suffered front suspension damage and was unable to continue. After being evaluated and released from the infield care center, he explained what caused the accident.
“It looked like the two cars on top, the 6 (Brad Keselowski) was pushing the 21 (Harrison Burton) and you could see the 21 was kind of getting out of control there," Hamlin said. "So, you know the mindset was that you’ve got to back off but I think the 6 was just insistent on pushing him at all costs and eventually turned the 21 around. Tough, considering it was just for the stage. We were kind of boxed in there where I noticed that something was going to happen, but I was boxed in. I was behind a teammate and I wanted to try to help. Again, just too aggressive pushing right there when they weren’t lined up and in control.”
Crossed flags
The Daytona 500 is officially at the halfway point, a welcome sight after back-to-back years of rainy races.
So far, Harrison Burton's flip and the accompanying multi-car wreck is the big story of the race -- along with a pair of loose/broken wheels from Kaz Grala and Justin Haley.
Four cars are officially out of the race (Denny Hamlin, William Byron, Burton and Ross Chastain) while three others are out of contention due to being multiple laps down (Grala, Alex Bowman and Greg Biffle).
The Ford cars are currently controlling the race, occupying 11 of the top 12 positions (including all of the top eight).
Garage filling up with damaged cars.
Denny Hamlin, Harrison Burton, Ross Chastain and William Byron are all in the garage and out of the race after being collected in a Lap 62 crash on the backstretch, exiting Turn 2.
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