No. 22 Carquest Ford Mustang – Austin Cindric
Start: 2nd
Stage 1: 1st (Third Stage Win of 2021)
Stage 2: 10th
Finish: 4th
Status: Running
Laps Completed: 200/200
Laps Led: 43
Point Standings (ahead of second): 1st (+21)
Notes:
- Austin Cindric rallied from a cut tire to claim a fourth-place finish Saturday afternoon at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Cindric led twice for 43 laps and scored his fourth top-five finish in four races this season. The driver of the Carquest Ford Mustang racked up his fourth top-10 finish in seven start at Las Vegas. He leads the NASCAR Xfinity Series driver standings 21 points over second place.
- Cindric started the 200-lap event from the second position after the starting lineup was set per NASCAR rule book. He grabbed the lead on lap 2 and dominated Stage 1, only briefly losing the lead after the first restart on lap 26. He recaptured the lead on lap 29 and stayed there until the segment concluded on lap 45, winning his third stage of the season. Crew chief Brian Wilson elected to pit during the stage caution on lap 48 for four tires, fuel, and a slight adjustment to aid his loose Carquest Mustang and Cindric restarted second on lap 52.
- Shortly after the restart, Cindric suffered a flat left-rear tire on the Carquest Ford Mustang and fell a lap down to the leaders. A timely caution on lap 57 slowed the field before Cindric could pit and he was able to limp his Mustang around the 1.5-mile oval. The defending series champion pitted without penalty for left-side tires and returned to the track. He received the free pass to put him back onto the lead lap. The driver of the No. 22 Mustang restarted 36th on lap 62 and rallied through the field during the remaining laps of the segment to score a 10th-place when Stage 2 ended on lap 90.
- Cindric started the final stage ninth when the race went green and by lap 118, he had climbed back inside the top-five. As the long run progressed, Cindric said his Carquest Ford was loose. Wilson called his driver to pit road for a scheduled green flag stop on lap 148 for four tires, fuel, and adjustments to aid his Mustang. Cindric was scored third when the cycle of green flag stops was complete on lap 160.
- The seventh caution was displayed on lap 173, setting up one final round of pit stops among the leaders. Cindric pitted on lap 176 for four tires, fuel, and slight adjustments. He restarted sixth and over the final 21 laps raced his way up a fourth-place finish, his fourth consecutive top-five finish of the 2021 season.
- The NASCAR Xfinity Series is back in action at Phoenix Raceway Saturday, March 13th, for the Call 811 Before You Dig 200. Live coverage will begin at 5:30 p.m. ET on FS1. MRN and Sirius XM NASCAR Radio.
Quote: “We cut a tire down when we were one of the best cars and took us the entire race to get back to fourth. We needed a hundred more miles and maybe we would have had a shot with our Carquest Ford Mustang. All good on my end, just bad luck.”
Team Penske PR
