Austin Cindric wins 2022 "Daytona" 500 - Race Results

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    Becoming the first-ever Rookie of the Year contender to win the famous "Daytona" 500, Austin Cindric pulls off a shocking victory in the 2022 "Great American Race" at Daytona International Speedway on Sunday, February 20th. Cindric's margin of victory was 0.36 seconds over Bubba Wallace.

Austin Cindric was technically the second rookie to win the "Daytona" 500, as Trevor Bayne won the 2011 event with rookie stripes on the rear bumper. However, Bayne was not eligible for championship points due to not running the complete season schedule.

To start the race, Kyle Larson and Alex Bowman would sit on the front row for Hendrick Motorsports. Four drivers would have to fall back and start at the end of the 40-car field:

• Chase Briscoe, No. 14 Ford Mustang (2 Inspection Failures)
• Daniel Hemric, No. 16 Chevrolet Camaro (3 Inspection Failures)
• Joey Logano, No. 22 Ford Mustang (Back-up Car)
• Jacques Villeneuve, No. 27 Ford Mustang (Engine Change)

Bricoe would have the biggest comeback, going on to finish 4th.

As the first points-paying race with the NextGen car, multiple teams had issues with the single-lug wheel fasteners, with the No. 50 of Kaz Grala and No. 31 of Justin Haley having wheels come off the car; Haley actually breaking one of the 18-inch rims. Ryan Blaney's No. 12 pit crew had a problem getting one of his rear-wheels off, the single-lug appearing to be stuck on the wheel hub. Thankfully, these issues would not plague more drivers during the race but is something the crews need to watch for in future races.

The first Caution flag would come out for none other than Kaz Grala's runaway wheel on Lap 41; the incident involving Briscoe and Cindric. Caution flag number two fell on Lap 52 of Haley's broken wheel, NASCAR listing the reason of caution for "Debris Turn 1". 

Coming to the green and white checkered flag to finish Stage 1, all hell broke loose when Brad Keselowski's bump-draft to Harrison Burton when wrong. Burton shot towards the infield, collecting multiple drivers and flipping over multiple cars: unfortunately ending William Byron, Ross Chastain, Denny Hamlin, and his own day. Martin Truex, Jr. would finish the Stage under caution. 

The second Stage would go straight green flag run, as many drivers were just trying to log laps at that point. Truex would barely hold of Joey Logano for the green and white checkered finish.

Fourteen laps into the final stage, Tyler Reddick would lose control of his No. 8 Chevrolet Camaro while in race traffic, collecting multiple cars. Martin Truex, Jr. would be collected by the spin while Joey Logano and Kurt Busch collided into each other trying to avoid Reddick. A little over 30 laps later, another caution would fly when Kyle Larson got a huge run off Turn 4, running a bit too fast into the rear bumper of Kevin Harvick. Despite trying to hang on to the car, Harvick would then lose control of his No. 4 Ford, it would turn around and hit Noah Gragson's car, which jackknifed into the outside retaining wall. Larson, barely out of the gas, would then proceed to slam into Gragson's right-side door, destroying both cars. Erik Jones, who was quietly hanging around the top-10 most of the race, was collected with Chase Elliott and Todd Gilliland.

Coming to 2-laps to go, Brad Keselowski would give Rick Stenhouse, Jr. a very aggressive shove, which would turn him around and bring out the caution, forcing the "Daytona" 500 into an overtime race. 

NASCAR Overtime for the "Daytona" 500 went smoothly until the finish. Austin Cindric would hold on to the lead for the victory, while multiple drivers crashed after the checkered flag, basically fighting for a good finishing position.

Below are the complete 2022 "Daytona" 500 race results:

NASCAR.com

Despite winning the race, the No. 2 Ford Mustang of Cindric was not the race long dominate car. RFK Racing's Brad Keselowski and his No. 6 Ford Mustang led the field for a total of 67-laps, only to watch his old car go to victory lane with a new driver.

During the race, there were 35 led changes among 13 different drivers.

A PHOTO FINISH IN THE #DAYTONA500!

AUSTIN CINDRIC WINS! pic.twitter.com/abobUxgbRa

— NASCAR (@NASCAR) February 20, 2022

The finish to the #DAYTONA500 was great.

It was even better with our friends over at @FOXDeportes! pic.twitter.com/6lmVBl6QzA

— NASCAR (@NASCAR) February 22, 2022

THE 47 IS IN THE WALL! pic.twitter.com/gNYD19v3QK

— NASCAR (@NASCAR) February 20, 2022

Trouble strikes some of our contenders late in the #DAYTONA500! pic.twitter.com/On0SY53dWB

— NASCAR (@NASCAR) February 20, 2022

They’re spinning off of four! @TylerReddick, @joeylogano and @KurtBusch are involved! #DAYTONA500 pic.twitter.com/ZQIbIwTRzv

— NASCAR (@NASCAR) February 20, 2022

Take a look at the incident that brought out the yellow shortly before the end of Stage 1. #DAYTONA500 pic.twitter.com/Rjq6Cn61wu

— NASCAR (@NASCAR) February 20, 2022