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 NASCAR's 64th annual Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway on Feb. 20, 2022, in Daytona Beach, Florida.
By HENRY FREDERICK / Headline Surfer
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- What's most predictable about NASCAR's signature race is its unpredictability.
And in that vein, the Daytona 500 lived up to its billing and then some as the Great American race: Rookie driver Austin Cindric took the checkered flag in what was his only eighth Cup start and first career win - never mind that it came during the Daytona 500.
Rookie Austin Cindric's big win in the Daytona 500 is Headline Surfer's top NASCAR story of 2022.
As originally reported by Headline Surfer that day, Cindric's 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."
“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."
Here is the original coverage by Headline Surfer posted on Sunday, Feb. 20: Rookie Austin Cindric takes the checkered flag in 2022 Daytona 500 for first career NASCAR Cup win in just his eighth start
Headline Surfer's Daytona 500 story is among nine recognized as award-winning journalism in the 2022 Florida Press Club's annual statewide journalism contest.
Multimedia: Racing video
YouTube embedding / NASCAR video / Relive the 2022 NASCAR Cup Series Daytona 500 from Daytona International Speedway in this week's NASCAR Cup Series Full Race Replay. #NASCAR #Daytona500
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.