CUP: Austin Cindric’s strong Open run spoiled by tangle on restart
by Brock Beard / LASTCAR.info Editor-in-Chief
FS1 SCREENSHOT by Jaden (@TheNews_24)
Austin Cindric finished last in Sunday’s running of the All-Star Open at the North Wilkesboro Speedway when his #2 Keystone Light Ford finished under power, completing 82 of 100 laps.
Cindric was entered in the Open as he continues to pursue his second Cup Series victory, his first since the 2022 Daytona 500. He nearly pulled off a second victory in “The Great American Race” this year, only to be spun out of a top-five finish in a last-lap tangle with Corey LaJoie. His season-best 4th-place finish at Atlanta gave him a front-row seat to the three-wide photo finish ahead of him, a race that also saw him make a daring four-wide pass for the lead minutes earlier. Two rounds later, he finished last for the first time in 2024 after early damage suffered at Phoenix. Since that race, Cindric has finished no better than 15th, and ranks a distant 20th in points.
Those results made Cindric one of the 19 Chartered entries to make up the field for the All-Star Open. Joining them was exactly one “open” entry – the #66 AAA Road Fest Ford fielded by Motorsports Business Management, with Timmy Hill driving. Hill was slowest in the lone practice session, where Cindric ranked 22nd of the 37 combined entries. Saturday’s torrential rain cancelled qualifying with just three cars left to run, so Cindric claimed 6th per the rule book.
Hill secured the 20th and final starting spot, and on Sunday afternoon had a started issue due to the heavy rains, meaning the crew would have to push-start the car. Team owner Carl Long was also asked by the Wood Brothers to coordinate their pit stops since they used adjoining stalls. After some heavy radio interference following their speed run down pit road, Hill took the green flag in last place.
On Lap 3, Hill remained in last, 4.427 seconds back of the leader, 0.601 behind new 19th-place runner Zane Smith in the #71 Focused Health Chevrolet. Smith dropped Harrison Burton’s #21 Motorcraft / Quick Lane Ford to 19th on Lap 5, by which point Hill now trailed him by 1.253 seconds of open track. Hill radioed he was loose on entry and a “4” tight in the center of the corner. By Lap 8, when Burton dropped Daniel Hemric to 19th in the #31 Poppy Bank Chevrolet, Hill radioed his brake pedal wasn’t working properly. He pitted by Lap 11, when he was 3.362 seconds behind 19th-place Hemric. The crew looked under the hood to check if the brake fans were working. Hill returned to the track by Lap 16, when he was now five laps down. The spotter had him hold the inside line as faster traffic worked its way past, putting him a sixth lap back.
On the 24th lap, Long told Hill that he’d run his fastest lap of the race, but the brake pedal started to go to the floor the next time by. This time, he stayed out, and on Lap 43, Long told Hill he could dial in more rear brake if he wanted. This got him to the Lap 51 competition caution, at which point he was between seven and eight laps down. After also falling multiple seconds back of 18th place, Hemric had lost a lap during that run, denying Hill the “Lucky Dog.” Coming down pit road, Hill wasn’t sure what was causing his brake issues, and said the pedal had come back up during that last run. He estimated it was an issue with brake heat rather than a lack of brake fluid. For the Lap 57 restart, Hill let the rest of the field pull away as he continued to log laps.
Meanwhile, Cindric was in a tight battle for one of the two transfer spots. The opening laps of the race coincided with his IndyCar teammates at Penske locking up the front row of the Indianapolis 500 for the first time since 1988. By Lap 45, he was in 3rd position, looking to track down leaders Ty Gibbs and Bubba Wallace. On Lap 58, he had slipped to 7th, and was locked in the middle of a three-wide battle between Carson Hocevar’s #77 NASCAR Day Giveathon Chevrolet to his inside and Noah Gragson’s #10 Overstock.com Ford to his outside. Coming off Turn 4, Hocevar appeared to come up into Cindric, causing Cindric’s car to cross the nose of the trailing Gragson. Cindric slammed the wall just short of the stripe, causing heavy damage to his right-front and drawing the next caution of the race. Cindric drove alongside Hocevar under the ensuing yellow before he came down pit road for repairs. Those repairs caused him to miss the next restart on Lap 65, at which point he was six laps down. Two laps later, Hill climbed past Cindric, putting the #2 into last place. For the next few laps, Hill’s crew told him he was running his fastest laps of the race.
Cindric managed to return to the race. He cleared minimum speed on Lap 73, when he was 11 laps down. The car’s steering was irreparably damaged, the crew saying “it is what it is at this point.” He did make another stop on Lap 89 and returned to the track on Lap 94 – just six laps to go – by which point he was 15 laps down. NASCAR watched him for running off the pace down the backstretch, but didn’t throw the black flag. He crossed the line under power, 18 laps down, directly alongside race winner Ty Gibbs. “We had a car capable of winning, so thank you for that - and all the hard work on pit road,” said Cindric over the radio. He then climbed out in the garage and talked with Hocevar in the #77 team’s hauler.
Hill finished seven laps down as the only other driver to finish off the lead lap, and the team reportedly plan to run the car in next month’s inaugural Cup race at the Iowa Speedway. Erik Jones’ #43 Family Dollar Toyota slipped to 18th by the finish, trailing Smith and Hemric to complete the Bottom Five.
LASTCAR STATISTICS
*This marked the first last-place finish for the #2 in the All-Star Open. The number has finished last in three runnings of the main event, most recently in 2013.
*Cindric is the first driver to finish last in the Open while still under power since May 19, 2018, when Reed Sorenson finished on the lead lap at Charlotte in Premium Motorsports’ #55 Chevrolet.
THE BOTTOM FIVE
20) #2-Austin Cindric / 82 laps / running
19) #66-Timmy Hill / 93 laps / running
18) #43-Erik Jones / 100 laps / running
17) #71-Zane Smith / 100 laps / running
16) #31-Daniel Hemric / 100 laps / running
