Team Penske NASCAR Xfinity Series Race Report
Track: Texas Motor Speedway
Race: Alsco Uniforms 250
Date: June 12, 2021
No. 22 Odyssey Battery Ford Mustang – Austin Cindric
Start: 4th
Stage 1: 1st – Sixth Stage Win of 2021
Stage 2: 3rd
Finish: 3rd
Status: Running
Laps Completed: 171/171
Laps Led: 14
Point Standings (ahead of second): 1st (+108)
Notes:
- Austin Cindric added to his championship point lead with a third-place finish Saturday afternoon at Texas Motor Speedway. The driver of the No. 22 Odyssey Battery Ford Mustang team won Stage 1, his sixth stage victory of the season. Cindric grabbed the 20th stage win of his career, becoming just the third driver in NASCAR Xfinity Series history to accomplish the feat. He stretched his advantage in the NASCAR Xfinity Series driver standings to 108 points over second-place AJ Almendinger and has been the points leader in all 14 races this season. He collected his 10th top-five finish of the season and fifth top-five in seven starts at Texas.
- The starting lineup was once again set per the NASCAR rulebook, which gave Cindric the fourth starting position. During the opening laps he briefly slipped to the fifth position before making his way to the front. The Mooresville N.C. native grabbed the lead on lap 29 and outran ran Daniel Hemric and Kyle Busch to win the stage when the segment ended on lap 40. During the stage caution, the defending series champion reported his Odyssey Battery Ford Mustang was good but ran tight as the run progressed. Crew chief Brian Wilson elected to pit on lap 43 four tires, fuel, and tape and Cindric restarted fourth on lap 47.
- He was up to third position when the third caution was displayed on lap 61. Cindric held firm to third over the final 19 laps of Stage 2 and pitted during the stage caution on lap 83 for four tires plus air pressure adjustments to improve the balance on the No. 22 Mustang. Cindric lined up fourth when the race went green on lap 88.
- Shortly after the restart, Cindric took it three-wide to grab third position. He pitted during the sixth caution on lap 111 for four tires and he restarted fourth on lap 115. A total of four more cautions would slow the pace, the last yellow flag pushing the finish of the race into NASCAR Overtime. Wilson kept his driver on the track after each yellow and Cindric held firm to third after each restart. The final restart came on lap 169 with Cindric pushing Kyle Busch at the drop of the green flag and briefly ran second before dropping back to third on the final lap.
- Austin Cindric will be back in action with the No. 33 PIRTEK racing team at Texas Motor Speedway tomorrow afternoon in the NASCAR All-Star Open. Live coverage will begin at 6:00 p.m. ET on FS1.
Quote: “We faded halfway through the race. We were really good to start with and just didn’t quite have the pieces to keep up with the track with the PJ1 fading away. Overall, it was a great race. It was good to get a playoff point and we had a good points day. We had a lot of people from Odyssey Battery here. The last time I did a suite appearance was back at Fontana last year. It’s great to have them as partners and we hope to keep the momentum going.”
