When the leader ran out of fuel with less than one lap to go, the No. 2 NASCAR Ford Mustang Dark Horse of Austin Cindric leaped into action, earning his second career victory at Gateway on June 2nd, 2024.
Unfortunately, the driver who ran his tank dry heading to the checkered flag was a fellow NASCAR Ford driver: Ryan Blaney. Blaney nursed his No. 12 Mustang to a finish outside the top 20 all said and done, while his Team Penske teammate Cindric celebrated in Victory Lane.
“Honestly, I’m heartbroken for the 12 team,” Cindric said after the race. I don’t know what happened to them at the end of the race, but they deserved to win this race… this weekend was a great weekend for everybody involved. To have two cars in the fight and an eventual one-two there, like I said, I’m heartbroken for those guys, but this is huge for me.”
Cindric added, “The funny thing about it is this Freightliner Ford Mustang is probably one of the best-looking cars at the racetrack and I’ve had terrible races every single time with this car and it’s great to win with a great paint scheme.”
Blaney was understandably disappointed after the race, and said that he didn’t know he was running out of fuel.
“I never thought in my mind we were short,” he said. “It’s one of those things. I’m proud of the 12 boys. The Menards/Richmond Ford was fast.”
Finish | Start | Car Number | Driver | Team | Laps Run | Laps Led | Car |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 2 | 2 | Austin Cindric | Freightliner Ford | 240 | 53 | Ford Mustang |
2 | 6 | 11 | Denny Hamlin | Yahoo! Toyota | 240 | 0 | Toyota TRD Supra |
3 | 7 | 6 | Brad Keselowski | Solomon Plumbing Ford | 240 | 17 | Ford Mustang |
4 | 5 | 45 | Tyler Reddick | SiriusXM Toyota | 240 | 0 | Toyota TRD Supra |
5 | 12 | 22 | Joey Logano | Shell Pennzoil Ford | 240 | 1 | Ford Mustang |
6 | 18 | 3 | Austin Dillon | DOW/Rivers are Life Chevrolet | 240 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro |
7 | 4 | 20 | Christopher Bell | DEWALT Toyota | 240 | 80 | Toyota TRD Supra |
8 | 20 | 77 | Carson Hocevar # | Zeigler Auto Group Chevrolet | 240 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro |
9 | 21 | 51 | Justin Haley | MotoRad Ford | 240 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
10 | 13 | 5 | Kyle Larson | HendrickCars.com Chevrolet | 240 | 7 | Chevrolet Camaro |
11 | 9 | 54 | Ty Gibbs | Monster Energy Toyota | 240 | 0 | Toyota TRD Supra |
12 | 16 | 1 | Ross Chastain | Busch Light Chevrolet | 240 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro |
13 | 17 | 9 | Chase Elliott | NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet | 240 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro |
14 | 26 | 17 | Chris Buescher | Travel Centers of America Ford | 240 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
15 | 11 | 24 | William Byron | Valvoline Chevrolet | 240 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro |
16 | 35 | 38 | Todd Gilliland | Ruedebusch Ford | 240 | 6 | Ford Mustang |
17 | 23 | 14 | Chase Briscoe | Overstock.com Ford | 240 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
18 | 28 | 31 | Daniel Hemric | Poppy Bank Chevrolet | 240 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro |
19 | 36 | 71 | Zane Smith # | Focused Health Chevrolet | 240 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro |
20 | 24 | 47 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | Kroger Health/Oikos Chevrolet | 240 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro |
21 | 8 | 23 | Bubba Wallace | McDonald's Toyota | 240 | 0 | Toyota TRD Supra |
22 | 27 | 10 | Noah Gragson | SERVPRO Ford | 240 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
23 | 31 | 99 | Daniel Suarez | Choice Privileges Chevrolet | 240 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro |
24 | 3 | 12 | Ryan Blaney | Menards/Richmond Water Heaters Ford | 240 | 20 | Ford Mustang |
25 | 1 | 34 | Michael McDowell | Siteman Cancer Center Ford | 239 | 40 | Ford Mustang |
26 | 22 | 43 | Erik Jones | Family Dollar Toyota | 239 | 0 | Toyota TRD Supra |
27 | 33 | 42 | John Hunter Nemechek | Bommarito.com Toyota | 239 | 0 | Toyota TRD Supra |
28 | 14 | 48 | Alex Bowman | Ally Chevrolet | 239 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro |
29 | 32 | 41 | Ryan Preece | Overstock.com Ford | 239 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
30 | 25 | 16 | Derek Kraus | Kafka Conveyors Chevrolet | 239 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro |
31 | 30 | 21 | Harrison Burton | Motorcraft/Quick Lane Ford | 239 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
32 | 15 | 7 | Corey LaJoie | Chili's Catch-a-Rita Chevrolet | 239 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro |
33 | 34 | 15 | Cody Ware | Jacob Construction Ford | 238 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
34 | 19 | 19 | Martin Truex Jr. | Bass Pro Shops Toyota | 237 | 1 | Toyota TRD Supra |
35 | 10 | 8 | Kyle Busch | Rebel Bourbon Chevrolet | 139 | 15 | Chevrolet Camaro |
36 | 29 | 4 | Josh Berry # | Overstock.com Ford | 109 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
# – Rookie
i – Points ineligible
* – Part-time driver
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