Ryan Blaney runs out of gas on final lap, Austin Cindric overtakes to win Enjoy Illinois 300

In a shocking finish, Austin Cindric passed Ryan Blaney going to the white flag to win the Enjoy Illinois 300 at Gateway! Cindric earns his second NASCAR Cup Series win in three years.

Austin Cindric was in the right place at the right time and now the No. 2 Team Penske Ford is BACK in Victory Lane. This is the first win for Cindric since the Daytona 500 in his rookie season.

For the second time in three years, Team Penske wins at Gateway. This time, it’s Cindric and the Blue 2 with the checkered flag.

RYAN BLANEY IS OUT OF GAS. AUSTIN CINDRIC WINS AT WWT RACEWAY! pic.twitter.com/aTY0SL6zpI

— FOX: NASCAR (@NASCARONFOX) June 2, 2024

To put it simply, this was a much-needed win for Austin Cindric. Yes, his family has ties in the Penske organization, but results are all that matter in motorsports.

Ryan Blaney was fighting Christopher Bell for the lead late in this one after the pit cycles played out. He kept defending his position and then, Bell lost cylinders. It looked like Blaney would have this race wrapped up. Then, the 12 ran out of fuel as he was about to take the white flag.

Christopher Bell flies out of the gate

Once this race got going into a good green flag run, it was clear that Christopher Bell had the fastest car on the track. He was flying from the start and able to claim the lead early in the Enjoy Illinois 300.

Bell and a few other Toyotas had speed coming out of the gate. But no one had the speed of Bell. He took the stage win and made it clear that the win was going to go through him.

Bell sweeps the stages

Just like the first, the second stage was all Bell. The 20 car was good on pit road and great on the track. It allowed Bell to pretty much drive whatever line he wanted to or needed to in order to make passes.

While Bell was dominant, Ryan Blaney and the Team Penske cars were all quick as well. They just had to find the right pit strategy to put themselves in position. Cautions from Josh Berry as well as Kyle Busch and Kyle Larson set up a very interesting final stage in the Enjoy Illinois 300.

Austin Cindric capitalizes on others’ failures

The end of this race was the best part. Just when everyone thought the end was predictable, Christopher Bell would just drive to the front again, maybe fight with Ryan Blaney for a few laps, then take the lead back.

That almost happened. Then with less than 20 laps to go, Bell fell off hard. He felt like he was losing his engine and it showed in his speed. What was great to see, Martin Truex Jr., who was two laps down, pushed Bell to a top-10 finish.

Bell fell off which put this race into Blaney’s hands. Then, just as he was about to take the white flag, his car almost stopped. Blaney was out of fuel and Austin Cindric zipped by him. It was a great overall day for Cindric who led a career-high in laps and put himself in the right place when he needed to be.

Blaney ran out of gas and it was over at that point. Cindric zoomed on by and put together one solid white flag lap before taking the checkered flag. A huge result for this driver and team when no one expected it.