Austin Cindric wins the Xfinity Series race at Daytona

The reigning champion converted pole into race victory.

After several hours of bad weather and cancellations, racing finally came back to Daytona International Speedway. After the ARCA Series it was the Xfinity Series’ turn to race around the 2,5-mile oval and that race was an eventful one.

Austin Cindric led the field to the green flag as he got the pole position after the qualifying was cancelled. The opening stage of the race was unfortunate for DGM Racing cars. Three cautions were on the track after the incidents of Alex Labbe and Josh Williams. Riley Herbst was about to win stage 1, but got passed by Brandon Jones for the lead at the line.

Ryan Sieg got to lead his first laps at Daytona in stage 2, though closer to its end he was passed by Brett Moffitt. In fact, the no.02 car driver took the green-white chequered flag. Right behind him chaos unfolded as Brandon Jones spun into the infield and collected Alex Labbe together with Cody Ware. The race had to be stopped.

The final stage had ‘big ones’. The first happened at lap 75 at the trioval. Michael Annett and Chad Finchum had a contact, which triggered a wreck. 10 cars were involved. Another one happened on lap 105 after Ty Dillon to get clear ahead of Daniel Hemric. 14 cars were involved. After the incident between Landon Cassill, Tommy Joe Martins, and Jeb Burton the race had to be ended in the overtime.

Austin Cindric was ahead of Harrison Burton ahead of the restart. The 2020 Xfinity Series champion defended brilliantly and went on to win the race – a perfect way to start the title defence. Brett Moffitt finished second, Harrison Burton crossed the finish line third. Kaulig Racing teammates Jeb Burton and AJ Allmendinger completed the top 5 of the event.