Austin Cindric got his first win at the biggest stage in America.
The Gen 7 cars finally took the green flag at the 2022 Daytona 500. Cars bunched teamed up in manufacturer packs. Fords went with Fords, Chevys with Chevys, and Toyotas with Toyotas.
It was them who battled the top line and pushed Kyle Busch to battle for the lead against team owner Brad Keselowski.
Surprisingly, his former teammate, Joey Logano found a way to climb from 38th to second in the middle of the stage; Chase Briscoe brought on the first caution of the race spinning into the grass.
Other cautions included flying tires as the new lug nut proved problematic for Kaz Grala and Ryan Blaney. There were other unlucky drivers, such as Jacques Villeneuve who didn’t move much after starting dead last; the former F1 World Champion spun out on his way to the pit lane.
The first stage of the season ended on a massive wreck as Harrison Burton, who was racing for the stage win spun before flipping and sliding on his roof; out with him went Denny Hamlin, William Byron, Alex Bowman, and Kyle Busch.
Martin Truex Jr. crossed the finish line first on a caution to win the first Playoff point of 2022.
Two for two
The second set of laps started in a much more ordered manner with the same men at the very top of the pack: Truex Jr and Brad Keselowski.
Ryan Blaney was the first driver to settle into the lead after settling his wheel problems. Kevin Harvick started the second part of the race trying to pull a Logano climbing from 20th to 4th in the first twenty laps.
Halfway through the stage, an army of Chevys came on to pit lane for fresh tires, most of them skipped the stop prior to the start of the second stage. Meanwhile, Blaney reigned supreme over the lead of the race with 35 laps in first place,
A couple of laps later everyone but the Joe Gibbs’ Toyotas pitted for fresh rubber and fuel; Truex and company lived to fight another lap and calmly proceeded to fill their tanks on the next lap. Keselowski moved onto the lead with Penske’s number 12 on third.
Truex went two for two with a photo finish to beat Joey Logano and win stage two.
Final stage was up next.
Austin Cindric at the Front when it Mattered the Most
Number 19 took the green flag for the start of the final set of 65 turns to the oval, nonetheless, 15 laps later, he found himself in the wrong place as he was wrecked by a very loose Tyler Reddick after the latter bounced off the wall, his race was over and so was Kurt Busch’s.
Penzoil’s 22 got lucky and avoided big damage, he had to go for repairs to keep on running but his battle for the win was very much over.
Logano’s misfortune was the luck of Ricky Stenhouse and Chris Buescher who were at the very front with less than twenty laps to go, only problem was, you don’t really want to be in front near the end.
Kevin Harvick took a bunch of contenders with him after spinning and making coin tat with Chase Elliott, Kyle Larson, Noah Grayson, and David Gilliland. The red flag was out and cars came to a halt right there and then.
Coming off the red flag Austin Cindric had to fight off Buba Wallace, Ryan Blaney for his first-ever Cup Series win, in no other race than the Dayton 500.
The kid who raced almost everything you can put wheels on in America is your 2022 Daytona 500 winner.
Featured Image: CBS Sport
