DAYTONA BEACH, FL – August 17, 2020 – Austin Cindric won his fifth race of the season in the historic first race on the Daytona International Speedway Road Course. This marked the 10th NASCAR Xfinity Series win of the season for Ford Performance and Roush Yates Engines.
“Congratulations to Austin, Brian and the No. 22 crew,” said Doug Yates, President and CEO of Roush Yates Engines. “Austin is an accomplished road racer and drove a great race on Saturday. Our team at Roush Yates Engines is proud to partner with and build world-class engines for all the Ford Performance teams.”
The inaugural running of the Daytona Road Course was fast and furious, starting from the first lap. Ford Performance teammates, Cindric and Chase Briscoe, led the Xfinity field to the green flag and it was game on from the first lap. It was Cindric that mastered the course layout and track conditions to take control of the race to win the first Stage and secure 10 additional stage points.
The Ford Performance teammates would continue to battle each other throughout Stage 2, and it was Briscoe that would come out on top, winning Stage 2 and leading 26 laps.
In the final stage, Cindric perfectly managed a chaotic late race restart to stay in contention for the win. He passed leader Brandon Jones with five laps to go and built a sizable lead to take the checkered flag 7.108-second ahead of Jones. This was his fifth win out of the last six races and second road course win in a row.
When asked how he would describe the race, Cindric commented, “I’m not sure anyone was really happy with their race car. Unfortunately, I have a tough perspective of driving really fast high-grip race cars at this track, but great credit to my team, the MoneyLion guys and everyone that puts this together Ford Performance, Roush Yates Engines, obviously everyone at Team Penske for working hard. That’s five wins on the year and back-to-back now. I’m really proud of that. I didn’t feel like I drove my best today, but we executed there at the end where it counts and that’s what makes these races so difficult to win.”
Chris Buescher of Roush Fenway Racing led the Ford Performance teams to a top-5 finish, finishing P5 in the NASCAR Cup Series race in the Go Bowling 235 on Sunday, followed by Stewart-Haas Racing driver Clint Bowyer in P6, Team-Penske’s Joey Logano P9 and Front Row Motorsports driver Michael McDowell in P10.
With the playoffs fast approaching, NASCAR heads to Delaware for a double-header weekend. Both series will run back-to-back races, on Saturday and Sunday at Dover International Speedway.
27 CHAMPIONSHIPS – 402 WINS – 358 POLES!
*Photos courtesy of NASCAR Media & Getty Images
About Roush Yates Engines
Roush Yates Engines is a leading-edge engine development company based in Mooresville, NC consisting of two state-of-the-art facilities – Roush Yates Engines and Roush Yates Manufacturing Solutions, a world class ISO 9001 / AS9100 certified CNC manufacturing facility. The company’s core business includes designing, building and testing purpose-built race engines.
Ford Performance in partnership with Roush Yates Engines is the exclusive engine builder of the NASCAR FR9 Ford V8 engine and Ford Mustang 5.2L V8 engine, used in the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge series.
With an unparalleled culture of winning and steeped in rich racing history, Roush Yates Engines continues to follow the company’s vision to lead performance engine innovation and staying true to the company’s mission, provide race winning engines through demonstrated power and performance.
3 Series – 22 Teams – 81 Races
