Austin Cindric Wins Second Race at Kentucky Speedway for the Sweep

AP Photo - Mark Humphrey

SPARTA, KY – RIS – Austin swept the second of two NASCAR Xfinity races tonight in a show of pure domination.  It was the first time anyone had won races on consecutive nights at the same track since Richard Petty did it way back in 1971 – 49 years ago.    The No. 22 Team Penske Ford led 130 laps of 200 overall, including the last 43 to capture his second checkered flag of the 2020 season.

“I’m just so excited. This is all a credit to my team. What we did tonight was really impressive because we ran one set-up last night and won the race and came with another set-up and won the race again,” Cindric said.

“That happens at the shop, that happens with the guys on the box. All credit to them I’m the lucky one that gets to drive this Ford Mustang.”

Cindric was third in the first stage, won the second and stretched it out in the final segment. He trailed briefly on the final restart, then sliced through two cars out of Turn 2 and rolled to victory by 2.262 seconds over points leader Chase Briscoe in the No. 98 Ford.

 Coming in second by 2.262 seconds, Chase Briscoe was the runner-up. Kaulig Racing teammates Justin Haley and Ross Chastain were third and fourth, respectively, while Justin Allgaier, who went to the hospital after Thursday’s race but was medically cleared for Friday’s event, was fifth.

Anthony Alfredo, Noah Gragson, Michael Annett, Daniel Hemric and Riley Herbst rounded out the top 10.

It was a calm race.  There were only two cautions other than cautions during the stage breaks, The first one was on Lap 3 when Brandon Seig slammed the wall in Turn 3.  The second was with 22 laps to go when Brandon Jones hit the wall.

Just as Cindric was celebrating his victory with a burnout, drivers Harrison Burton and Noah Gragson argued before throwing punches in a fight that lasted several moments before they were separated. Both drivers are employees of JR Motorsports. 

The 21-year-old Cindric, son of Team Penske president Tim Cindric, won twice last year on road courses at Watkins Glen and Mid-Ohio. On Friday night, he led the final 43 laps and 130 of 200 overall in his first win on an oval track.

Gragson again showed early strength in taking the 45-lap first stage, his third segment win in two nights on the 1.5-mile oval, buit like last night's race, he faded in the latter stages of the race.

The NASCAR Xfinity series runs again at Texas Motor Speedway on July 18th.

Unofficial Results: Alsco 300, Kentucky Speedway

Fin, St, Driver, Car, Laps, St1, St2, Tms Led, Laps Led, Playoff Pts, Pts, Status
1)      15, Austin Cindric, No. 22 Snap-On Ford, 200, 3, 1, 2, 130, 6, 58, Running
2)      12, Chase Briscoe, No. 98 Ford Performance Racing School Ford, 200, 7, 4, 1, 2, , 46, Running
3)      9, Justin Haley, No. 11 LeafFilter Gutter Protection Chevrolet, 200, , 9, , , , 36, Running
4)      13, Ross Chastain, No. 10 Chevy Accessories Chevrolet, 200, 10, , 1, 5, , 34, Running
5)      20, Justin Allgaier, No. 7 BRANDT Thank You Farmers Chevrolet, 200, , , , , , 32, Running
6)      10, Anthony Alfredo, No. 21 Alsco Chevrolet, 200, 4, 2, , , , 47, Running
7)      5, Noah Gragson, No. 9 Switch Chevrolet, 200, 1, 8, 1, 37, 1, 43, Running
8)      11, Michael Annett, No. 1 Pilot/Flying J Chevrolet, 200, , , , , , 29, Running
9)      34, Daniel Hemric, No. 8 Poppy Bank Chevrolet, 200, 9, 5, , , , 36, Running
10)    14, Riley Herbst #, No. 18 Monster Energy Toyota, 200, 6, 6, , , , 37, Running
11)    4, Jeremy Clements, No. 51 First Pacific Funding Chevrolet, 200, 8, 10, 1, 11, , 30, Running
12)    17, Harrison Burton #, No. 20 DEX Imaging Toyota, 200, 2, 3, 2, 15, , 42, Running
13)    27, Brandon Brown, No. 68 Bmsraceteam.com Chevrolet, 199, , , , , , 24, Running
14)    2, Jesse Little #, No. 4 TeamJDMotorsports.com Chevrolet, 198, , , , , , 23, Running
15)    26, Josh Williams, No. 92 Chevrolet, 198, , , , , , 22, Running
16)    31, Garrett Smithley, No. 07 Chevrolet, 198, , , , , , 21, Running
17)    6, Brett Moffitt(i), No. 02 Robert B Our Co Inc Chevrolet, 197, , , , , , 0, Running
18)    29, Jeffrey Earnhardt, No. 0 TeamJDMotorsports.com Chevrolet, 197, , , , , , 19, Running
19)    30, Matt Mills, No. 5 JF Electric Toyota, 197, , , , , , 18, Running
20)    18, BJ McLeod, No. 6 TeamJDMotorsports.com Chevrolet, 197, , , , , , 17, Running
21)    32, Colby Howard, No. 15 Project Hope Foundation Chevrolet, 197, , , , , , 16, Running
22)    3, Joe Graf Jr #, No. 08 Bucked Up Energy Chevrolet, 197, , , , , , 15, Running
23)    28, Mason Massey, No. 99 Toyota, 196, , , , , , 14, Running
24)    24, Alex Labbe, No. 36 Larue Snowblowers Chevrolet, 196, , , , , , 13, Running
25)    22, Bayley Currey(i), No. 74 Chevrolet, 195, , , , , , 0, Running
26)    21, Timmy Hill(i), No. 61 ROOFCLAIM.COM Toyota, 194, , , , , , 0, Running
27)    33, Tommy Joe Martins, No. 44 Gilreath Farms Red Angus Chevrolet, 194, , , , , , 10, Running
28)    23, Vinnie Miller, No. 78 Koolbox Chevrolet, 193, , , , , , 9, Running
29)    25, Kody Vanderwal #, No. 52 ADVANCED DAIRY SERVICE Chevrolet, 192, , , , , , 8, Running
30)    36, Brandon Jones, No. 19 Menards/Atlas Toyota, 178, 5, 7, , , , 17, Accident
31)    1, Myatt Snider #, No. 93 RSS Racing Chevrolet, 156, , , , , , 6, Accident
32)    19, Ronnie Bassett Jr, No. 90 Bassett Gutters & More Chevrolet, 73, , , , , , 5, Vibration
33)    16, Chad Finchum, No. 13 CrashClaimsR.US Toyota, 66, , , , , , 4, Electrical
34)    35, Stephen Leicht, No. 66 JANIKING Toyota, 52, , , , , , 3, Fuel Pump
35)    7, Ryan Sieg, No. 39 CMRRoofing.com Chevrolet, 22, , , , , , 2, Suspension
36)    8, Kyle Weatherman, No. 47 Chevrolet, 0, , , , , , 1, Accident
(i) Ineligible for driver points in this series, (#) Rookie

Race Length: 200 laps, 300 miles
1.5 - Mile Paved
Time of Race: 2 hr, 13 min, 25 sec
Average Speed: 134.916 mph
Margin of Victory: 2.262 sec

Stage 1 Top 10: 9, 20, 22, 21, 19, 18, 98, 51, 8, 10
Stage 2 Top 10: 22, 21, 20, 98, 8, 18, 19, 9, 11, 51

Race Comments: Austin Cindric won the Alsco 300 at Kentucky Speedway, his fourth NASCAR Xfinity Series victory.

Prior to the start, the following cars dropped to the rear of the field under penalty for the reasons indicated: No. 7, No. 15, No. 19, No. 52, No. 61, No. 68, No. 90 (backup car), No. 8 (backup car / driver change), No. 44 (unapproved adjustments).

Caution Flags: 5 for 27 laps
Laps: 4-6 (No. 39 Incident Backstretch [None])
22-25 (Competition Caution [5])
47-52 (Stage 1 Conclusion [61])
92-97 (Stage 2 Conclusion [68])
180-187 (No. 8, No. 19 Incident Turn 2 [10]).

Lead Changes: 8 among 6 drivers
M. Snider # 0
J. Clements 1-11
N. Gragson 12-48
H. Burton # 49-61
A. Cindric 62-148
C. Briscoe 149-150
H. Burton # 151-152
R. Chastain 153-157
A. Cindric 158-200.