Photos for Headline Surfer / Courtesy of NASCAR and Getty Images / Top Left: Kyle Larson in the No. 5 Hendrick.com Chevrolet Camaro was on the pole for the Daytona 500 on Sunday, Feb. 20, 2022, at Daytona International Speedway. / Bottom Left: Larson's day was over in the waning laps of the race when his car was swept up in a multi-car wreck. / Top Right: On the final lap of the race Austin Cindric, driver of the No. 2 Discount Tire Ford Mustang, held off the fast-charging Bubba Wallace, driver of the No. 23 McDonald's Toyota, to win the NASCAR's 64th annual Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway on Feb. 20, 2022, in Daytona Beach, Florida.
Below Left: Pre-race festivities / The U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds perform a flyover prior to the start of the Daytona 500. / Top Right: Singer Luke Combs performs for the NASCAR racing fans in attendance prior to the race. / Bottom Right: Singer Trace Adkins performs the national anthem.
Posted: Sun, Feb. 20, 2022 - 21:52
By HENRY FREDERICK / Headline Surfer
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- In a green-white-checker finish, rookie Austin Cindric, driving for Team Penske, led 21 of the final 45 laps and held off challenges from teammate Ryan Blaney, Brad Keselowski, and eventual second-place finisher Bubba Wallace to earn his first career NASCAR Cup Series win.
Chase Briscoe finished third.
The Daytona 500 victory was Cindric's first career win in just his eighth NASCAR Cup start and he was absolutely psyched. And because his big win was on team owner Roger Penske's birthday. After all, what better birthday present could a race car owner receive from one of his drivers than winning the Daytona 500?
“Oh, my God. Do you know what makes it all better?" Cindric asked. "A packed house. A packed house at the Daytona 500. I’ve got so many people to thank."
And the name he uttered excitingly "first and foremost" was his boss: "Roger Penske, happy birthday. Oh, my gosh. Appreciate Ryan (Blaney) being a great teammate. Obviously, he wants to win this one, but I’m so pumped for Discount Tire, Menards, Ford."
Cindric continued, "Everybody works so hard with this Next Gen car, through this whole process, and damn, I am so excited."
The victory kicked off Cindric’s rookie season by also locking the No. 2 Ford team into the NASCAR Playoffs.
The former NASCAR Xfinity Series Champion led four times for 21 laps and used drafting help late from teammate Ryan Blaney to cross the checkered flag and secure the victory.
Kyle Larson was on the pole but was collected in a big crash midway through the Daytona 500.
Photos here & below for Headline Surfer / Courtesy of NASCAR and Getty Images / Left pic: Still wearing his helmet, Austin Cindric celebrates with the fans packed into Daytona International Speedway after his victory in the Daytona 500. / Below pic: Cindric celebrates the priceless Daytona 500 win with his racing crew members.
Racing synopsis:
Brad Keselowski, who started third, took the lead from pole-sitter Kyle Larson shortly after the green flag was waved to start the race. Keselowski then got past second-place starter Alex Bowman to lead the first lap of the race. On lap 7, Keselowski began to battle for the lead with Kyle Busch in lap 7, with Busch leading that lap but Keselowski regained the race lead on the 8th lap.
On lap 27, Busch took the lead from Keselowski, but Keselowski battled with him on lap 32, which Keselowski would before Busch took it back on the 33rd lap. During green flag pitstops on lap 39, Jacques Villeneuve, making his first Daytona 500 start, spun coming to pit road, but was able to keep the car moving ahead and a yellow caution was avoided. That first yellow flag being waved would come in the 41st lap when Kaz Grala's right rear wheel came off and Chase Briscoe got turned by Austin Cindric. Kyle Busch would remain the leader of the pack when the race resumed on the 46th lap.
The second yellow caution flag flew on lap 52 when Justin Haley's right front wheel came off ads the race was not more than a quarter-way through. The race resumed on lap 57 with Kyle Busch still in front but would lose the race lead on the next lap to William Byron. Then two laps later, Byron would get passed by Harrison Burton to become the new race leader. Martin Truex Jr. would take the lead spot from Burton on lap 61. Martin Truex Jr.
With three laps to go before the completion of stage 1 of the race, on lap 61, an eight-car wreck was initiated by Keselowski who pushed Burton at the wrong angle and turned him into William Byron, Kyle Busch, Denny Hamlin, Ross Chastain, Christopher Bell, and Alex Bowman. Burton's car caught air, flipped over, but landed with all four wheels touching the ground. Everyone in the wreck was able to walk away uninjured. Stage 1 ended under caution with Martin Truex Jr. in front.
Ryan Blaney led the field to the restart on lap 72. After green flag pit stops, Brad Keselowski took the lead on lap 110. On lap 125, Kyle Larson took the lead from Keselowski but Keselowski took it back on the next lap. With 2 laps to go in stage 2, Martin Truex Jr. took the lead and also won the stage edging out Joey Logano.
The race restarted on lap 138 with Brad Keselowski out front. The fifth yellow caution flew with 50 laps remaining to the finish., involving five cars wrecking on the front stretch when Tyler Reddick got turned by Jacques Villeneuve, who then collected Martin Truex Jr., Joey Logano, and Kurt Busch. The race restarted with 41 laps to go with Austin Cindric leading the field.
With 10 laps to go, a 6-car crash occurred in the tri-oval: Kevin Harvick got turned by Kyle Larson in which Harvick turned left and hooked Noah Gragson, sending him into the outside wall. Also collected in the wreck were Chase Elliott, Todd Gilliland, and Erik Jones. The race was red flagged for 5 minutes or so to clear the track of wrecked cars and resulting scattered debris. On the restart with 6 laps to go, Austin Cindric took the lead with help from teammate Ryan Blaney.
Out of turn 4 on the same lap, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. got turned by Brad Keselowski and collected Chris Buescher. This brought out the 7th and final caution of the race.to set up overtime. On the restart, Cindric held onto his lead with help from Blaney. Austin Cindric held off the pack and beat Bubba Wallace by half a car length to win his first Cup Series race, which also just happened to come in NASCAR's ultimate race of races: The Daytona 500.
Chase Briscoe, Ryan Blaney, and Aric Almirola finished third through faith, respectively, and Kyle Busch, Michael McDowell, David Ragan, Brad Keselowski, and Chase Elliott rounded out the top 10.
Reporter's Notebook:
Photos for Headline Surfer / Courtesy of NASCAR and Getty Images / Cindric Austin treats the Daytona 500 fans to a classic burnout after winning the 2022 Daytona 500.
• Austin Cindric is now the ninth driver in NASCAR history to earn his first career Cup win in the Daytona 500, and the second in a row to accomplish the feat. So here is the collective, including this year's Daytona 500 champ & first time Cup race winner: Tiny Lund in 1963, Mario Andretti in 1967, Pete Hamilton in 1970, Derrike Cope in 1990, Sterling Marlin in 1994, Michael Waltrip in 200, Trevor Bayne in 2011, Michael McDowell in 2021, and Austin Cindric in 2022.
• Team Penske dedicated its Daytona 500 win to legendary sportscaster Bob Jenkins after the race. Jenkins used to broadcast NASCAR Races on ESPN from 1981 to 2000. Jenkins, 73, died of brain cancer on Aug. 9, 2021. Ironically, his wife, Pam Jenkins, died from complications of brain cancer on Oct. 25, 2012, at age 65. Bob and Pam Jenkins, who resided outside Indianapolis, were married for 44 years.
Jenkins had the pleasure of covering the Daytona 500 and the Indianapolis 500. He often boasted of having attended every Indy 500 race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway from 1960 through 2021, a span of 60 years, except for two of those years early on (1961 & 1965) because he couldn't get out of other commitments. Outside of racing-related fame, Jenkins was an avid collector of 1950s and 1960s music, having amassed over 10,000 45 rpm vinyl records,
• This was the first Daytona 500 without 2008 winner Ryan Newman since 2001. Newman had even raced in 2021, the year after his death-defying accident racing for the checkered flag as summarized in this Headline Surfer story: Denny Hamlin wins 3rd Daytona 500; Ryan Newman survives horrific last-lap crash.
• This was the first Daytona 500 for The Money Team Racing. This was also the first Daytona 500 since 2016 to feature Greg Biffle, who finished 36th.
Race stats:
- Lead changes: 35 among 13 different drivers
- Cautions/Laps: 7 for 37
- Red flags: 1 for 5 minutes and 32 seconds
- Time of race: 3 hours, 31 minutes, and 53 seconds
- Average speed: 142.295 miles per hour (229.002 km/h)
Top 10 finishing order:
1. - #2 - Austin Cindric (R) ; 2. - #23 - Bubba Wallace3. - #14 - Chase Briscoe; 4. #12 - Ryan Blaney; 5. - #10 - Aric Almirola; 6. - #18 - Kyle Busch; 7. - #34 - Michael McDowell; 8. - #15 - David Ragan; 9. - #6 - Brad Keselowski; 10. - #9 - Chase Elliott.
Multimedia video: Final laps to the checkered flag
YouTube embedding / NASCAR video / Watch as Austin Cindric survives overtime to win the 2022 Daytona 500 in his rookie season. Rookie Moves: Austin Cindric wins the 2022 Daytona 500 in NASCAR Overtime.
About the Byline Writer: Henry Frederick is a member of the working press and publisher of Headline Surfer, the award-winning 24/7 internet news outlet launched in 2008 along the I-4 tourism corridor in greater Daytona Beach to Orlando from Lake Mary, Florida via HeadlineSurfer.com. Frederick has amassed 115 award-winning bylines in print & online. He earned his Master of Arts in New Media Journalism from Full Sail University in 2019. He was a breaking news reporter (metro cops & courts beat) for the Daytona Beach News-Journal for nearly a decade. And Before that worked the same beat for The Journal-News/Gannett Suburban Newspapers in Rockland/Westchester counties, NY, dating back to 1989. Having witnessed the execution of serial killer Aileen Wuornos in Florida's death chamber and covering other high-profile cases such as the George Zimmerman murder trial, Frederick has appeared on national crime shows on Discovery ID, Reelz, and the Oxygen Network series "Snapped" for his analysis. AWJ: