By: Zach Catanzareti, Staff Writer
An oval victory continued to elude Austin Cindric on Monday night, as the road course ace lost the race lead and victory to Kyle Busch on the final lap of the Alsco 300 from Charlotte Motor Speedway.
Drifting high in Turn 1 to block the No. 54 of Busch, the No. 22 Team Penske Ford of Cindric found side-by-side with the Toyota with half a lap left to run. Breaking loose in Turn 3, the victory was all Busch’s, as Daniel Hemric squeezed by Cindric to steal second.
First to third in no time.
“I want to win so bad,” Cindric said. “To almost beat the best in the business on worse tires, ugh.”
Leading 30 laps, all in the race’s final stage, Cindric’s quick car had a gallant challenge to come in an overtime finish. Busch’s fresher tires would prove to show its worth.
“I never lifted. I never lifted into [Turn] 3 until I knew that I was done,” he said. “Kyle [Busch] proved to me the way he was able to drive around the bottom of Noah [Gragson] and I. When he took the lead for the final time a couple of restarts prior, I knew he was going to be able to get back to me with those tires.
Death, taxes, and @CLTMotorSpdwy ripping my heart out, must all be things certain in LIFE. Ever since racing in the Summer Shootout I've wanted to win here so bad. This place has made me tough, a better driver, and a better person. Thx @Snapon_Tools @Team_Penske @FordPerformance
— Austin Cindric (@AustinCindric) May 26, 2020
“He was one of the best cars all night too, so yeah, I just tried to do the best I could and give myself a chance to drive in on his door and make something happen but it was difficult.”
Staying out under a late caution, Busch and others chose to hit pit road. A rash of cautions to follow limited Cindric’s opportunities to drive away from the field.
“Cautions breed cautions, that is the saying,” he said. “The only reason the [No.] 54 was in that position was because he made a mistake on pit road.
“There were a lot of scenarios where we would win this race tonight. I was confident on the lead. I have done that enough that I don’t get jitters. I just want to get the job done and execute. I think we did that in every regard tonight. The cards just weren’t in our hand tonight.”
Battling side-by-side with the winningest driver in series history (grabbing his 97th career win Monday) Cindric was both gutted and proud to represent his team up front.
“If it goes green on a number of occasions I think the Snap-On Ford Mustang is the winner tonight,” he said. “It just didn’t work out for us. I was on older tires and everyone else on older tires ended up crashing.
“It is hard to beat the best in the business on older tires. He just had way more grip than I did. The heat cycles were killer. I never lifted driving into Turn 3. I just gave up second but didn’t really care at that point. I just wanted to win the race.
“Overall, it was a great night and I am really proud of my team. I came here with something that we have never come to the race track with. We had to work on it all night. It shows the strength of the team and I am really proud of the effort.”
One week, two insane #XfinitySeries finishes.
This time, @KyleBusch got it done in a battle with @AustinCindric & @DanielHemric! pic.twitter.com/a85etPO6J2
— Xfinity Racing (@XfinityRacing) May 26, 2020