ST. LOUIS (KMOX) - World Wide Technology Raceway has wrapped up another Enjoy Illinois 300, with this year's iteration's thrilling ending leading to the race's third winner in three years.
Austin Cindric managed to snatch his first Cup Series win in 2024 thanks to two timely amounts of luck. Cindric was looking as if he was set for third place for most of the race, but Christopher Bell had engine issues which left him underpowered for the closing laps of the race, and reigning NASCAR Cup Series champion Ryan Blaney ran out of fuel heading into the white flag.
The win for Cindric in Madison, Illinois Sunday gave him his first win since winning the 2022 Daytona 500 his rookie season.
"It's a bit of shock and bit of relief, and a lot of happy." Cindric told KMOX's Tom Ackerman minutes after stepping on to Victory Lane. "I guess Ryan (Blaney) ran out of fuel there, but we executed a super good race. It got a little bit tight there as the track started to cool down, we did the green flag cycle, got a little bit behind. I thought (Blaney and Bell) had a bit better on us."
Cindric says he still couldn't believe both Blaney and Bell had issues at the end of the race, as it looked like Cindric was due for a third-place finish for most the race, which still would've been his best finish since finishing third in the 2022 Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona.
"It's crazy they both had problems and we won the race. We were destined to finish third, but that 's what execution give you and this is probably one of our better executed races so far this year," said Cindric.
Cindric says while he was happy to finally add another win to his career, he was even more pleased to win it at World Wide Technology Race Way, a track that has "knocked it out of the park" every time NASCAR has stopped at the track.
"With the exception of maybe more bathrooms needed in the garage area, they knock it out of the park every time," said Cindric. "I went to the Battlehawks' game (on Saturday) and to see a UFL game have so many fans in attendance, it's clear that St. Louis is a great sports town. You definitely get more of that IndyCar crowd, but I saw a lot more Austin Cindric shirts than I have all year have no idea why, but glad we were able to win."