Cindric Wins Second-straight Xfinity Race at Mid-Ohio

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LEXINGTON, OH – RIS – It appears that 20-year old Austin Cindric has earned the title of “road course ace” in the NASCAR Xfinity Series.  Cindric won his second straight race on a road course at Mid-Ohio to top off his win at Watkins Glen International last week. 

Just like last week, he held off a surging Christopher Bell to gain his second checkered flag.  Both the road courses had another road course ace, A.J. Allmendinger in the field.  Matters not to the Team Penske driver as he marches to the playoffs.

"To get my first two wins within a week is incredible," he said. "To win on a road course like this obviously gives you a lot of confidence."

Driving the Team Penske No. 22 Ford, Cindric finished 3.780 seconds ahead of Bell's Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota. Allmendinger, driving a Chevy for the northeast-Ohio based Kaulig Racing was third, 10.290 seconds behind. Points leader Tyler Reddick of Richard Childress Racing was fourth. His lead is 28 points over Bell.

"Road-course racing is obviously not my strong suit," Bell said. "To get out of here and maintain points is good for us."

Cindric, the pole-sitter for a second straight year, took the lead from Chase Briscoe on Lap 63 in the second turn, or keyhole, with an outside move. Cindric led 47 of the 75 laps on the 13-turn, 2.258-mile course. He is the son of Team Penske President Tim Cindric and the grandson of the former track owner, the late Jim Trueman, who was the car owner when Bobby Rahal won the 1986 Indianapolis 500.

"I've had four or five poles here over my career here and never won on anything I've driven so it feels awesome," he said. "It's cool because there's probably kid out there watching the corners wanting to be a race car driver some day and that was me 10, 12 years ago watching the corners, running around, playing in the grass, doing whatever you want, getting a hot dog."

Briscoe in the Biagi-DenBeste Racing Ford won the first 20-mile stage when Cindric made his first stop on Lap 18. Cindric stalled coming out of the pit and was 14th through the stage but after everyone pitted, he was second to Bell by Lap 22.

The restart on Lap 37 resulted in another caution before Turn 3 when Allgaier lost his grip and spin, creating a chain reaction for several cars around him.

"We had good position and spun ourselves out of track position," Allgaier said. "We just didn't have the raw speed to get around, That's the frustrating thing. We held pace all day."

Allmendinger took his loss in stride and praised Cindric.

"I was fortunate to win the first one here for Team Penske (2013) so that have a really good race car around here”, Allmendinger said. “You get confidence like Austin has now and you see it on the racetrack, so he's going to be tough to beat.”

Next for Cindric and the Xfinity Series is Friday night at Bristol Motor Speedway, which is coincidentally the 42nd anniversary of Elvis Presley’s death.

Unofficial Results for the 7th Annual B&L Transport 170 at Mid-Ohio - August 10, 2019 - Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course

Fin, Str, Driver, Car, Laps, St1, St2, Tms Led, Laps Led, Playoff Pts, Pts, Status
1) 1, Austin Cindric, No. 22 PPG Ford, 75, , 3, 3, 46, 5, 48, Running
2) 3, Christopher Bell, No. 20 Rheem Toyota, 75, , 2, 1, 15, , 44, Running
3) 6, AJ Allmendinger, No. 10 LeafFilter Gutter Protection Chevrolet, 75, , 5, , , , 40, Running
4) 10, Tyler Reddick, No. 2 Nationwide Children's Hospital Chevrolet, 75, , 4, , , , 40, Running
5) 7, Noah Gragson #, No. 9 Cessna Chevrolet, 75, 2, , 1, 1, , 41, Running
6) 8, Justin Allgaier, No. 7 BRANDT Professional Agriculture Chevrolet, 75, , , , , , 31, Running
7) 5, Chase Briscoe #, No. 98 Ford Performance Ford, 75, 1, , 2, 5, 1, 40, Running
8) 4, Cole Custer, No. 00 Haas Automation Ford, 75, 6, , , , , 34, Running
9) 13, Justin Haley #, No. 11 LeafFilter Gutter Protection Chevrolet, 75, , 8, , , , 31, Running
10) 9, Brandon Jones, No. 19 Menards/NRG Toyota, 75, 4, , , , , 34, Running
11) 11, Jeremy Clements, No. 51 BRT Extrusions Chevrolet, 75, 3, , , , , 34, Running
12) 22, Will Rodgers, No. 86 Kelly Benefit Strategies Chevrolet, 75, , , , , , 25, Running
13) 21, Michael Annett, No. 1 TMC Transportation Chevrolet, 75, 7, , 1, 1, , 28, Running
14) 16, Gray Gaulding, No. 08 GPSPure.com Chevrolet, 75, , 6, , , , 28, Running
15) 2, Jack Hawksworth, No. 18 ik9 Toyota, 75, , 1, 1, 5, 1, 32, Running
16) 14, Ryan Sieg, No. 39 CMR Construction & Roofing Chevrolet, 75, 5, 7, , , , 31, Running
17) 20, Josh Bilicki, No. 93 Insurance King Chevrolet, 75, 10, , , , , 21, Running
18) 18, Tommy Joe Martins, No. 66 Gusset.com Toyota, 75, , 10, , , , 20, Running
19) 26, Ray Black II, No. 07 ISOKERNFireplaces&Chimneys/ScubaLife Chev, 75, , , , , , 18, Running
20) 28, Garrett Smithley, No. 0 teamjdmotorsports.com Chevrolet, 75, , , , , , 17, Running
21) 12, Regan Smith, No. 8 Fire Alarm Services Chevrolet, 75, , , 1, 1, , 16, Running
22) 23, Josh Williams, No. 36 Harkin Construction Chevrolet, 75, , , 1, 1, , 15, Running
23) 37, Patrick Gallagher, No. 99 Chevrolet, 74, , , , , , 14, Running
24) 32, Brandon Brown #, No. 68 Vero True Social Chevrolet, 74, , , , , , 13, Running
25) 35, Vinnie Miller, No. 5 Pit Viper Sunglasses Chevrolet, 74, , , , , , 12, Running
26) 33, BJ McLeod, No. 15 teamjdmotorsports.com Chevrolet, 73, , , , , , 11, Running
27) 25, Timmy Hill, No. 42 MBM Motorsports Toyota, 65, , , , , , 10, Running
28) 19, Lawson Aschenbach, No. 4 GoPro Motorplex Chevrolet, 63, 8, , , , , 12, Accident
29) 17, Scott Heckert, No. 78 Pit Viper Sunglasses Toyota, 57, 9, , , , , 10, Accident
30) 31, Aaron Quine, No. 74 Chevrolet, 42, , , , , , 7, Accident
31) 15, John Hunter Nemechek #, No. 23 Chevy Accessories Chevrolet, 41, , 9, , , , 8, Accident
32) 24, Stephen Leicht, No. 01 teamjdmotorsports.com Chevrolet, 36, , , , , , 5, Accident
33) 29, David Starr, No. 52 Rad Air Complete Car Care Chevrolet, 36, , , , , , 4, Accident
34) 27, Chris Dyson, No. 90 Thetford Chevrolet, 31, , , , , , 0, Accident
35) 34, Chad Finchum, No. 13 MBM Motorsports Toyota, 13, , , , , , 2, Brakes
36) 30, Joey Gase, No. 35 Lifeline of Ohio/Donate Life Toyota, 8, , , , , , 1, Oil Line
37) 36, JJ Yeley(i), No. 38 RSS Racing Chevrolet, 2, , , , , , 0, Brakes
38) 38, Max Tullman, No. 53 Circle Track Warehouse Chevrolet, 2, , , , , , 1, Fuel Pressure
(i) Ineligible for driver points in this series, (#) Rookie

Time of Race: 2 Hrs, 22 Mins, 14 Secs.
Total Race Length: 75 Laps - 169.35 Miles
Average Speed: 71.439 MPH
Margin of Victory: 3.780 Seconds
Stage 1 Top 10: 98, 9, 51, 19, 39, 00, 1, 4, 78, 93
Stage 2 Top 10: 18, 20, 22, 2, 10, 08, 39, 11, 23, 66

Race Comments: Austin Cindric won the B&L Transport 170 at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. The victory is his second in the NASCAR Xfinity Series.

Prior to the start of the race the following vehicle(s) dropped to the rear of the field under penalty for the following reasons indicated: Nos. 8, 11, 53, 74, 99 (unapproved adjustments).

Caution Flags: 6 for 17 laps;
Laps: 5-6 (No. 07 Stopped On Track [None]);
22-23 (Stage 1 Conclusion [07]);
30-31 (No. 68 Spin Turn 13 [None]);
33-36 (No. 90, 00 Incident Fronstretch [68]);
38-42 (No. 7, 9, 74 Incident Turn 2 / Stage 2 Conclusion [None]);
58-59 (No. 78 Incident Turn 9 [5]).

Lead Changes: 10 among 8 drivers;
A. Cindric 1-18;
C. Briscoe # 19-20;
N. Gragson # 21;
C. Bell 22-36;
J. Hawksworth 37-41;
J. Williams 42;
M. Annett 43;
A. Cindric 44-58;
R. Smith 59;
C. Briscoe # 60-62;
A. Cindric 63-75.