Austin Cindric Won Stage 1, but Loose Wheel Foiled Victory Bid
4 mins agoIn a race where all the Team Penske drivers and their Wood Brothers satellite entry for Josh Berry seemed quite fast, Austin Cindric outdueled Alex Bowman to win Stage 1 at yesterday's Las Vegas race, his first stage win on a non-drafting oval since Gateway in 2022. He still continuously ran in the top ten until he had to pit a second time during the caution for Shane van Gisbergen's crash for a loose wheel, but eventually worked his way up to 6th. If all the cars who stayed out of the pits on the eighth caution had ended up running out of fuel which seemed very possible at one point, Cindric might've been in the hunt for the win since there were times he was ahead of William Byron and Kyle Larson, the latter of whom he outfinished. Perhaps this suggests he has more staying power after strong qualifying sessions than he did in previous years.
Source: Racing Reference
Source: Racing Reference
