NASCAR rookie Austin Cindric ‘didn’t make a mistake’ on his way to a Daytona 500 victory

The 23-year-old NASCAR driver’s first career win was the Daytona 500.

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — For the past three and a half months, Austin Cindric has been “haunted” by his performance in the NASCAR Xfinity Series championship race.

“Every moment of every day,” he said of how often he thinks about losing a second consecutive championship in the second-tier series by 0.030 seconds to Daniel Hemric in November.

“I’ve never been in so much pain that I wanted to vomit,” Cindric said. “Never in my life have I been in so much pain, felt like I let so many people down that I’ve wanted to just throw up on the sport.”

But in the 23-year-old rookie’s debut as a full-time Cup Series driver, he found redemption for that loss, taking the checkered flag in the biggest race of his life, Sunday’s season-opening Daytona 500, for his first win at NASCAR’s highest level.

“This makes up for losing the [Xfinity] championship last year,” Cindric said.

“It’s a racer’s dream, and so many people get close to it. And I feel very grateful and very proud to be able to pull it off.”

Replacing Brad Keselowski — who became a driver-owner for Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing — in the No. 2 Team Penske Ford, Cindric edged out runner-up Bubba Wallace by 0.036 in the third-closest finish in Daytona 500 history.

It was Cindric’s eighth career Cup start, and the rookie became the second-youngest Daytona 500 champ after 2011 winner Trevor Bayne, then 20 years old. He led 21 laps.

He raced like, and beat, hard-charging Cup veterans in the final laps around the 2.5-mile track, elevated by his No. 2 Ford that was fast enough to finish second in his qualifying race Thursday and start fifth in “The Great American Race.”

“If you looked at Austin this week and the way he ran, he didn’t make a mistake today,” said team owner Roger Penske, who celebrated his 85th birthday Sunday and got quite the present.

“He was up second, third, almost the entire race, and then at the end to be able to pull it off, [it] shows you the quality of kid he is and also the experience that he already has as a young man.”

With multiple wrecks in the final 10 laps of the 200 go-arounds scheduled — fairly standard for the end of the Daytona 500 — NASCAR went to overtime and ended the race with a two-lap shootout.

Cindric clung to his lead from the inside lane after the final restart with teammate Ryan Blaney, Keselowski and Wallace among those chasing down the No. 2 Ford. Coming out of Turn 4 on the last lap, Blaney moved to the top of the track to attempt to pass his teammate for the win, but Cindric went with him and threw a block.

Blaney made contact with the outside wall as Wallace went to the inside, but they ran out of time to get around Cindric.

“I was able to get Austin in front and off of [Turn] 4, where we were good enough to make a move,” Blaney said. “I got blocked and I ended up getting fenced. I’m happy for Roger Penske, winning the 500 on his birthday. I’m happy for [Cindric’s crew chief] Jeremy Bullins and everyone that works on that 2 car.”

Confident going into the weekend, Cindric said he knew he had a car capable of winning, but there are no guarantees at the Daytona track. NASCAR’s second-longest oval breeds chaos, and simply being in the wrong place at the wrong time can shatter very realistic shots at winning the Daytona 500.

“I did not pack an extra set of clothes, by the way, so I’m not that confident,” Cindric said, laughing about how his expectations influenced his weekend wardrobe.

“I’ll be re-wearing my clothes from [Sunday on Monday], and I will have fresh underwear,” he joked. “So that’s a win.”

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