Austin Cindric was set to probably change the playoff image in an enormous manner at Talladega earlier than being caught up within the ‘Large One’ on Lap 183. After profitable the second stage, he was accountable for the race as the ultimate 5 laps received underway. He had two Fords lined up straight behind him, hoping to lock himself into the Spherical of 8 with a victory. It was sturdy place for the driving force of the No. 2 Staff Penske Ford.
Had he carried out it, followers would have seen a little bit of déjà vu as he entered this race final among the many remaining 12 playoff drivers — Sammy Smith was in an an identical place throughout Saturday’s Xfinity race earlier than capturing the checkered flag and vaulting himself into the Spherical of 8.
That very same ending didn’t come to go for Cindric, who as an alternative discovered himself spinning in entrance of the sector, changing into the epicenter for the largest crash in NASCAR Cup Sequence historical past. Fortunately, nobody went airborne, which NASCAR hoped for after making three modifications to maintain vehicles on the bottom forward of the race weekend.
Whereas NBC asserted that it was a file 28-car pileup, the official NASCAR outcomes present 23 vehicles concerned together with, a number of playoff drivers. Whereas broken, a lot of the title challengers had been capable of proceed. Seven vehicles weren’t capable of proceed, and amongst them had been Cindric and his Penske teammate Joey Logano. Each go away this race under the playoff cut-line with Logano 13 factors out and Cindric 29 factors out.
“Clearly, extremely annoyed,” Cindric mentioned after being launched from the infield care heart. “We had a terrific shot to win the race and simply actually happy with my staff … We received that stage win and put ourselves in place to have one other shot.”
After seeing the replay of the unhealthy bump that despatched him spinning, Cindric determined to chunk his tongue. “I do not know. I do not really feel like complaining. I am too pissed off and it will not do something. Simply happy with the staff. Introduced some actual quick race vehicles.”
The race featured intense four-wide racing with Cindric calling it “a number of the craziest stuff I’ve ever been part of.”
He credited his staff for ‘A+ execution’ and bringing a quick automotive to the monitor, however ultimately, luck merely wasn’t on his facet. Now, his path ahead within the playoffs is evident. “It places us in a must-win scenario for the Charlotte Street Course,” concluded Cindric. “We’ve introduced some exceptionally quick race vehicles each single race of the playoffs and I can’t understate how proud I’m of my race staff and we’ll should carry one other one subsequent week.”
A full record of vehicles concerned within the wreck, per NASCAR: Nos. 45, 48, 34, 17, 9, 13, 2, 21, 22, 42, 14, 23, 10, 99, 51, 4, 38, 62, 71, 19, 16, 20, 43.
