Team Penske NASCAR Xfinity Series Race Report
Track: Daytona International Speedway
Race: Wawa 250
Date: August 28, 2021
No. 22 CarShop Ford Mustang – Austin Cindric
Start: 14th
Stage 1: 13th
Stage 2: 39th
Finish: 39th
Status: Accident
Laps Completed: 27/100
Laps Led: 0
Driver Point Standings (behind first): (-17)
Notes:
- Austin Cindric’s race ended prematurely after being turned into the front stretch wall on lap 27 of Stage 1 Saturday afternoon at Daytona International Speedway. The incident left the No. 22 CarShop Ford Mustang with extensive right-front suspension and body damage, resulting in a 39th-place finish in the final rundown. Cindric falls to second in the NASCAR Xfinity Series driver standings, 17 markers behind leader AJ Allmendinger.
- The starting lineup was set per NASCAR rule book, which gave Cindric the 14th starting position. During the opening laps, Cindric steadily made his way to the seventh position before the competition caution on lap 15. He reported his CarShop Ford was decent but a little free in. Crew chief Brian Wilson elected to say out under caution, giving Cindric the fourth position. Shortly before the restart the sky’s opened up and rain red flagged the race on lap 20.
- The race resumed Saturday afternoon with nine laps remaining in Stage 1. Cindric was sitting in second position before getting turned into the wall on lap 27. Cindric brought his CarShop Ford down pit road for repairs, but the damage sustained was too extensive to repair under the Damaged Vehicle Policy and unable to continue.
Quote: “I got spun through the tri-oval. Obviously, everyone is trying to push lanes there, but it’s just really unfortunate. That’s two weeks in a row for our Ford Mustangs to get torn up — two cars that I thought were race-winning cars, so a lot of points lost today and a lot of work to do for the next three weeks. A lot of work that a lot of the year you can look at it both ways — half full or half empty — that is gonna be put in jeopardy, so very frustrating. We’ll move on. That’s racing and sometimes it takes one and that’s it.”
