Rookie Cindric Takes Daytona 500, NASCAR Looks Ahead to Auto Club Speedway

Austin Cindric celebrates his Dayton 500 victory — Credit: DAYTONA BEACH, FLORIDA - FEBRUARY 20: Austin Cindric, driver of the #2 Discount Tire Ford, celebrates in the Ruoff Mortgage victory lane after winning the NASCAR Cup Series 64th Annual Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway on February 20, 2022 in Daytona Beach, Florida. (Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images)

Following the excitement of the season opening Busch Clash, NASCAR’s Daytona 500 lived up to the hype with a surprise rookie victory.

It wasn’t the season opener, but the second race in the 2022 NASCAR Cup Series certainly still had fans in a tizzy as the Daytona 500 offered up spectacular rivalry and racing. As the Next Gen cars took up their next challenge, rookie Cup Series driver (and 2021 Xfinity Champ) Austin Cindric in the Team Penske No. 2 Ford proved that new blood can make all the difference with a stunning win at Daytona International Speedway, edging out Bubba Wallace and Chase Briscoe.

The thrilling race went into overtime in front of a sold-out crowd. Several crashes marked the event, one of which eliminated last year’s Cup Series winner, Kyle Larson, from the race along with Kevin Harvick, Todd Gilliland, Erik Jones and Noah Gragson in lap 190.

Five laps later, at 195, a three-car wreck pushed the whole race into overtime, with Cindric completing a required extra lap into victory.

Daytona 500 Crash at Turn 195 — Credit: DAYTONA BEACH, FLORIDA – FEBRUARY 20: Kyle Larson, driver of the #5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet, Erik Jones, driver of the #43 FOCUSfactor Chevrolet, Noah Gragson, driver of the #62 Beard Oil/South Point Chevrolet, and Todd Gilliland, driver of the #38 First Phase Credit Card Ford, spin after an on-track incident Series 64th Annual Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway on February 20, 2022 in Daytona Beach, Florida. (Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images)

This positions Cindric in a points tie with RFK Racing’s Brad Keselowski with 54 points each at the top of the driver standings.

Now they all look ahead to the Auto Club Speedway race in Pomona, CA, returning there after skipping the track in 2021. The Pomona event will also mark the return of the practice and qualifying elements of race weekend, something which was put on hold for the past seasons due to safety concerns resulting from the pandemic.

From NASCAR’s official release, “NASCAR is excited to return practice and qualifying to its race weekends,” said Scott Miller, NASCAR senior vice president of competition. “We missed seeing cars and trucks on track all weekend long, and so did our fans. We worked closely with our broadcast partners, teams and racetracks to create an exciting, unique qualifying format, while keeping several of the efficiencies that helped our entire industry successfully navigate the pandemic.”

Expect to see the epic matchups of the two prior races in full effect heading into the California race as Cindric and teammate Ryan Blaney continue to battle it out, and Bubba Wallace and Chase Briscoe take their neck and neck standings to go head to head.

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