DAYTONA BABY.
What a finish at the 64th running of the Daytona 500… the Great American Race.
NASCAR Cup Series rookie Austin Cindric took the checkered flag in just the 8th Cup Series race of his career, throwing a perfect block on teammate Ryan Blaney on the final lap.
The Team Penske Ford drivers, Cindric and Blaney worked together for most of the race, however the block put Blaney into the wall and he wound up finishing 4th.
Bubba Wallace finished 2nd behind Cindric, and probably would’ve won if they had another 20 feet of race track before the finish line.
I was high on Team Penske in my weekly picks, as well as the Fords at Daytona, and Chase Briscoe in the #14 Ford took 3rd place, with Aric Almirola finished 5th in his #10 Ford.
As always at Daytona, the crashes came early and came often with a number of drivers including William Byron, Denny Hamlin, Christopher Bell, and more wrecking out before the end of the first stage.
Kevin Harvick, Kyle Larson, and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. all saw their chances dashed before the finish as well.
Austin Cindric wins the first Daytona 500 of his career and will look to continue the momentum next week in California at the Auto Club 400.
