Austin Cindric hangs on to earn his second win of the season at Phoenix Raceway

The NASCAR Xfinity Series continued its west coast tour Saturday afternoon at Phoenix Raceway. The last time the Xfinity Series was here was the season finale in November when Austin Cindric won the championship. Daniel Hemric of Joe Gibbs Racing won the pole for this race with his teammate Brandon Jones qualifying second.

For the third race in a row, the “Choose Cone Rule” returned. This rule allows the drivers to pick a lane before the race starts. Michael Annett and Ryan Vargas both failed inspections twice. They will lose pit selections for next week’s race at Atlanta. Had they failed one more time, they would’ve started the race at the back. The only driver that was starting to the back was Loris Hezemans for a driver change.

Austin Cindric led the first twenty-one laps before the competition caution came out. Only three drivers went to pit road during the caution. The race resumed on lap 27 with Cindric in the lead and Hemric second. Hemric lost two positions to his teammates Brandon Jones and Harrison Burton, and settled for fourth place. Ty Gibbs was the biggest mover after starting 27th; he passed Josh Berry for tenth place on lap 41. Upfront, Austin Cindric was by himself and won stage one. Just before Cindric won the stage, Jesse Little crashed on turn one with no brakes. Little was the first car out of the race.

Drivers went to pit road during the caution, with Daniel Hemric beating Brandon Jones for first place. Cindric came out sixth. However, Jones was caught speeding and had to restart in the back of the field. Stage two got underway on lap 57. The restart lasted two laps before Dexter Bean spun and hit the wall at turn one to bring out the race’s third caution.

No one went to pit road during the caution. The race resumed on lap 63. Right away, fluid was coming out of Noah Gragson’s car and hitting Cindric’s windshield. Gragson’s car would later catch fire, prompting the caution to come out for the fourth time. Gragson’s day was done, and he would finish in 39th place. No one went to pit road during the caution, and the race resumed on lap 77. Myatt Snider and Riley Herbst got together battling for thirteenth but kept going. Upfront, Daniel Hemric led 34 laps to win stage two. Teams went to pit road during the caution, with Justin Allgaier beating out Austin Cindric. The third and final stage resumed on lap 99.

Allgaier and Cindric were battling for the lead. Daniel Hemric had a rough go at it. He restarted second after Cindric chose to get behind Allgaier on the restart. Hemric then went from second to sixteenth in twenty laps after telling his crew chief that his car’s balance was gone. Tommy Joe Martins became the latest car to hit the wall that brought out the race’s sixth caution. Teams went to pit road with Ryan Sieg beating out Cindric. Sieg took fuel only. The race resumed on lap 130.

Cindric easily got the lead from Sieg. After Sieg made contact with Josh Berry, he began to fall back. Two laps into the restart, Harrison Burton got loose and spun at turn two to bring out the race’s seventh caution. Josh Berry went to pit road during the caution, and the race resumed on lap 138.

Everyone dove to the Dogleg to get the lead away from Cindric, but he was able to hold the lead. This restart went two laps before Jeremy Clements made contact with Brett Moffitt, turning him around to bring out the eighth caution of the day. No one went to pit road, and the race resumed on lap 145.

Brandon Jones would take the lead away from Cindric on the same lap. Two laps later, Cindric bumped Jones out of the way to regain the lead. A lap later, Santino Ferrucci pushed Josh Berry up the wall at turn two, causing Berry’s left rear tire to go down and he spun and hit the wall at turn three to bring out the ninth caution. Berry let Ferrucci know how he felt afterward. No one went to pit road, and the race resumed on lap 155.

Brandon Jones lost two positions during the restart. Then in nine laps, he went from second to fourth after Ty Gibbs passed him on lap 164. Two laps later, Jones fell to sixth and got spun by A.J. Allmendinger to bring out the race’s tenth caution. Jones had significant damage and would be done for the day and finish in 33rd place.

No one went to pit road, and the race resumed on lap 172 with Cindric still in the lead. Twenty laps into the restart, Alex Labbe was tagged by Gray Gaulding, sending him to the outside wall off turn four to bring out the race’s eleventh caution with eight laps to go.

No one went to pit road, and the race resumed with two laps to go. Cindric got ahead of the field with Ty Gibbs chasing him. Gibbs almost caught Cindric, but he ran out of time as Cindric won the race by .360 seconds. It was Cindric’s second win of the season.

The rest of the top ten finishers were Brandon Brown third, Riley Herbst fourth, A.J. Allmendinger fifth, Jeb Burton sixth, Bayley Currey seventh, Justin Allgaier eighth, Brett Moffitt ninth, and Jeremy Clements tenth. There were ten lead changes, with Cindric leading the most laps at 119 and eleven cautions for 65 laps.

The Xfinity Series will now head to Atlanta Motor Speedway next Saturday, March 20th, at 5 pm on FS1.

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