INDIANAPOLIS – It was essentially a storybook ending for Austin Cindric Saturday afternoon in the Pennzoil 150 at the Brickyard and the 22-year old with Hoosier roots appropriately celebrated his first win at the renowned Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course by singing “Back Home Again in Indiana” as he took a victory lap.

Cindric easily out-paced the NASCAR Xfinity Series field by 2.108-seconds to take his series best fifth victory of the year and 13th of his career. It marked the second win on the day for the Team Penske Racing, which won an NTT IndyCar race earlier at the renowned Indianapolis facility now owned by Roger Penske himself.

The president of Team, Penske, Tim Cindric, met his son in Victory Lane to celebrate – hugs, high-fives and pat-on-the-backs everywhere. Indiana is the Cindric family home for generations.

“Unbelievable and first of all I’ve got to thank Roger Penske for every opportunity I’ve had in my career and every opportunity he’s given race fans to enjoy this beautiful facility,” a grinning Cindric said.

“To win at this facility is amazing,” Cindric said, adding, “What this place means to me, I can’t even put into words what this means.

“Proud to be here, proud to win for Roger and proud to win at The Speedway. There’s nothing bigger.”

Cindric led a race-best 29 of the 62 laps on the 14-turn, 2.439-mile Indianapolis road course, taking the lead for good with 17 laps remaining and pulling away to a nearly four-second advantage at one point. Polesitter and Stage 2 winner A.J. Allmendinger finished runner-up for the second consecutive week at a road course track.

Allmendinger’s Kaulig Racing teammate – also an Indiana native – Justin Haley finished third and won Stage 1.

Reigning NASCAR Cup Series champion Chase Elliott rallied to a fourth-place finish despite finding out only hours earlier that he would substitute for Michael Annett, in the JR Motorsports No. 1 Chevrolet so Annett could continue recovering from a leg injury.

NASCAR Xfinity Series Race – 18th Annual Pennzoil 150 at the Brickyard

Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course

Indianapolis, Indiana

Saturday, August 14, 2021

1. (2)  Austin Cindric, Ford, 62.
2. (1)  AJ Allmendinger, Chevrolet, 62.
3. (3)  Justin Haley, Chevrolet, 62.
4. (25)  Chase Elliott(i), Chevrolet, 62.
5. (7)  Noah Gragson, Chevrolet, 62.
6. (19)  Austin Dillon(i), Chevrolet, 62.
7. (8)  Myatt Snider, Chevrolet, 62.
8. (6)  Riley Herbst, Ford, 62.
9. (11)  Harrison Burton, Toyota, 62.
10. (26)  Andy Lally, Chevrolet, 62.
11. (4)  Justin Allgaier, Chevrolet, 62.
12. (13)  Daniel Hemric, Toyota, 62.
13. (21)  Alex Labbe, Chevrolet, 62.
14. (20)  Jeremy Clements, Chevrolet, 62.
15. (31)  Josh Williams, Chevrolet, 62.
16. (27)  Kyle Weatherman, Chevrolet, 62.
17. (33)  Landon Cassill, Chevrolet, 62.
18. (34)  James Davison(i), Toyota, 62.
19. (5)  Ty Gibbs #, Toyota, 62.
20. (15)  Jade Buford #, Chevrolet, 62.
21. (32)  Tommy Joe Martins, Chevrolet, 62.
22. (36)  JJ Yeley, Chevrolet, 62.
23. (23)  Jeb Burton, Chevrolet, 62.
24. (29)  Spencer Pumpelly, Chevrolet, Ignition, 60.
25. (22)  Josh Bilicki(i), Chevrolet, 60.
26. (18)  Sage Karam, Chevrolet, Electrical, 59.
27. (24)  Sam Mayer #, Chevrolet, Accident, 44.
28. (9)  Will Rodgers, Toyota, Brakes, 37.
29. (28)  Austin Hill(i), Toyota, Steering Box, 27.
30. (30)  Kris Wright(i), Toyota, Accident, 23.
31. (17)  Brett Moffitt, Chevrolet, Axle, 21.
32. (35)  Ryan Sieg, Ford, Suspension, 14.
33. (16)  Kevin Harvick(i), Ford, Power Steering, 1.
34. (14)  Brandon Brown, Chevrolet, Accident, 1.
35. (10)  Preston Pardus, Chevrolet, Accident, 1.
36. (12)  Brandon Jones, Toyota, Accident, 0.

Average Speed of Race Winner:  73.825 mph.

Time of Race:  2 Hrs, 2 Mins, 54 Secs. Margin of Victory:  2.108 Seconds.

Caution Flags:  5 for 15 laps.

Lead Changes:  8 among 5 drivers.

Lap Leaders:   J. Haley 1-14;A. Cindric 15-16;R. Herbst 17-19;J. Haley 20-23;A. Cindric 24-32;A. Allmendinger 33-40;T. Gibbs # 41-44;A. Cindric 45-62.

Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Lead, Laps Led):  Austin Cindric 3 times for 29 laps; Justin Haley 2 times for 18 laps; AJ Allmendinger 1 time for 8 laps; Ty Gibbs # 1 time for 4 laps; Riley Herbst 1 time for 3 laps.

Stage #1 Top Ten: 11,98,10,22,31,9,51,44,1,54

Stage #2 Top Ten: 16,11,9,54,78,10,18,51,98,92

STORY BY HOLLY CAIN; COURTESY NASCARmedia.com