Austin Cindric Wins at Gateway as Ryan Blaney Runs Out of Fuel

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MADISON, IL – RIS – Ryan Blaney seemed to have the NASCAR Cup race at World Wide Technology Raceway, but then he ran out of fuel and had to coast to the finish line. The benefactor was Austin Cindric, who crossed the finish line first and relegated Blaney to a 24th place finish.  As some genius once said, “it’s never over ‘til it’s over.

Blaney was in control late at the 1.25-mile Illinois track and led 20 of the final 23 laps, but his No. 12 Ford ran out of gas coming to the white flag, allowing then-second-place-runner Cindric to get the checkers.

“Never even worried about running out of gas, Blaney said.

Also noteworthy was last week’s winner, Christopher Bell.  Bell hounded Blaney for the race lead within the final 20 laps but ultimately suffered a mechanical issue that robbed his Toyota engine of power. Bell was able to muster a seventh-place finish despite the loss of speed.

Behind Cindric, Denny Hamlin, Brad Keselowski, Tyler Reddick and Joey Logano completed the top five. Austin Dillon, Bell, Carson Hocevar, Justin Haley and Kyle Larson completed the top 10.

Kyle Busch, the defending race winner at Gateway, crashed out on Lap 140 after contact from a spinning Larson. The No. 8 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet was racing to Larson’s right on the final lap of Stage 2 when Larson’s car snapped loose entering Turn 1, sending Busch into the SAFER barrier. The DNF is Busch’s first of the season.

Bell had been the dominant car for much of the day in suburban St. Louis, leading 80 of the 240 laps. The three Penske cars — Cindric, Blaney and Logano — did not pit in the break between the second and third stages, and that put them in position to go for the win.

Blaney and Bell, the winner of last week’s rain-shortened Coca-Cola 600, dueled for the lead for several laps before Bell — just after finally squeezing ahead of Blaney briefly — let up and reported motor issues to his crew. Bell wound up seventh, getting a push by teammate Martin Truex Jr. on the straightaways in the final laps.

Michael McDowell started on the pole and led the first 40 laps before Bell maneuvered his way inside to take the lead for the first time.

Kyle Busch finished 35th after an incident with Kyle Larson. They were dueling for a top-10 spot at the end of the second stage. Larson’s car slid into Busch’s car and Busch’s car hit the wall.

 “It looked like (Larson) got loose down the front straightaway into Turn 1,” Busch said. “He was on older tires and trying to get us for a spot. I’m not sure what that single point would mean for him, but it certainly hurt us a lot. It took that point away, as well as the others that we would get for the stage and then also the rest of the day."

Unofficial Results: Enjoy Illinois 300, June 2, 2024 - World Wide Technology Raceway
Fin, Str, Driver, Car, Laps, St1, St2, Tms Led, Laps Led, Playoff Pts, Pts, Status
1) 2, Austin Cindric, No. 2 Freightliner Ford, 240, 4, 2, 3, 53, 5, 56, Running
2) 6, Denny Hamlin, No. 11 Yahoo! Toyota, 240, 5, 10, , , , 42, Running
3) 7, Brad Keselowski, No. 6 Solomon Plumbing Ford, 240, , 5, 1, 17, , 40, Running
4) 5, Tyler Reddick, No. 45 SiriusXM Toyota, 240, 8, , , , , 36, Running
5) 12, Joey Logano, No. 22 Shell Pennzoil Ford, 240, 9, 6, 1, 1, , 39, Running
6) 18, Austin Dillon, No. 3 DOW/Rivers are Life Chevrolet, 240, , 9, , , , 33, Running
7) 4, Christopher Bell, No. 20 DEWALT Toyota, 240, 1, 1, 5, 80, 2, 50, Running
8) 20, Carson Hocevar #, No. 77 Zeigler Auto Group Chevrolet, 240, , 8, , , , 32, Running
9) 21, Justin Haley, No. 51 MotoRad Ford, 240, , , , , , 28, Running
10) 13, Kyle Larson, No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet, 240, , , 1, 7, , 27, Running
11) 9, Ty Gibbs, No. 54 Monster Energy Toyota, 240, 7, , , , , 30, Running
12) 16, Ross Chastain, No. 1 Busch Light Chevrolet, 240, , , , , , 25, Running
13) 17, Chase Elliott, No. 9 NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet, 240, 10, 4, , , , 32, Running
14) 26, Chris Buescher, No. 17 Travel Centers of America Ford, 240, , , , , , 23, Running
15) 11, William Byron, No. 24 Valvoline Chevrolet, 240, 6, , , , , 27, Running
16) 35, Todd Gilliland, No. 38 Ruedebusch Ford, 240, , , 1, 6, , 21, Running
17) 23, Chase Briscoe, No. 14 Overstock.com Ford, 240, , 7, , , , 24, Running
18) 28, Daniel Hemric, No. 31 Poppy Bank Chevrolet, 240, , , , , , 19, Running
19) 36, Zane Smith #, No. 71 Focused Health Chevrolet, 240, , , , , , 18, Running
20) 24, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., No. 47 Kroger Health/Oikos Chevrolet, 240, , , , , , 17, Running
21) 8, Bubba Wallace, No. 23 McDonald's Toyota, 240, , , , , , 16, Running
22) 27, Noah Gragson, No. 10 SERVPRO Ford, 240, , , , , , 15, Running
23) 31, Daniel Suarez, No. 99 Choice Privileges Chevrolet, 240, , , , , , 14, Running
24) 3, Ryan Blaney, No. 12 Menards/Richmond Water Heaters Ford, 240, 3, 3, 2, 20, , 29, Running
25) 1, Michael McDowell, No. 34 Siteman Cancer Center Ford, 239, 2, , 1, 40, , 21, Running
26) 22, Erik Jones, No. 43 Family Dollar Toyota, 239, , , , , , 11, Running
27) 33, John Hunter Nemechek, No. 42 Bommarito.com Toyota, 239, , , , , , 10, Running
28) 14, Alex Bowman, No. 48 Ally Chevrolet, 239, , , , , , 9, Running
29) 32, Ryan Preece, No. 41 Overstock.com Ford, 239, , , , , , 8, Running
30) 25, Derek Kraus, No. 16 Kafka Conveyors Chevrolet, 239, , , , , , 7, Running
31) 30, Harrison Burton, No. 21 Motorcraft/Quick Lane Ford, 239, , , , , , 6, Running
32) 15, Corey LaJoie, No. 7 Chili's Catch-a-Rita Chevrolet, 239, , , , , , 5, Running
33) 34, Cody Ware, No. 15 Jacob Construction Ford, 238, , , , , , 4, Running
34) 19, Martin Truex Jr., No. 19 Bass Pro Shops Toyota, 237, , , 1, 1, , 3, Running
35) 10, Kyle Busch, No. 8 Rebel Bourbon Chevrolet, 139, , , 1, 15, , 2, Accident
36) 29, Josh Berry #, No. 4 Overstock.com Ford, 109, , , , , , 1, Accident
(i) Ineligible for driver points in this series, (#) Rookie

Race Length: 240 Laps, 300. Miles
Time of Race: 2:48:03
Average Speed: 106.530 MPH
Margin of Victory: 3.844 Seconds
Stage 1 Top 10: 20, 34, 12, 2, 11, 24, 54, 45, 22, 9
Stage 2 Top 10: 20, 2, 12, 9, 6, 22, 14, 77, 3, 11
Comments: Austin Cindric won the Enjoy Illinois 300 at World Wide Technology Raceway, his 2nd victory in 94 NASCAR Cup Series races.

Cautions: 5 for 32 laps;
Laps: 4-7 (42, 15 Incident Turn 2 [None]);
18-22 (16, 15 Incident Backstretch [None]);
47-54 (Stage 1 Conclusion [15]);
113-119 (4 Incident Turn 3 [47]);
141-148 (5, 8 Incident Turn 2/ Stage 2 Conclusion [16]).

Lead Changes: 16 among 10 drivers;
M. McDowell 1-40;
C. Bell 41-48;
T. Gilliland 49-54;
K. Busch 55-69;
C. Bell 70-95;
M. Truex Jr. 96;
A. Cindric 97-114;
C. Bell 115-143;
A. Cindric 144-176;
J. Logano 177;
C. Bell 178-193;
B. Keselowski 194-210;
K. Larson 211-217;
R. Blaney 218-220;
C. Bell 221;
R. Blaney 222-238;
A. Cindric 239-240.