Austin Cindric took the lead from Team Penske teammate Ryan Blaney two laps from the finish when Blaney ran out of fuel Sunday at World Wide Technology Raceway.
“Never thought in my mind we were short (of fuel),” Blaney told FS1.
Blaney finished 24th.
Said Cindric to FS1: “Honestly I’m heartbroken for the 12 team. I don’t know what happened to them at the end of the race. They deserved to win this race. Ryan has been a hell of a leader on this team.”
MORE: Results of Sunday’s race
MORE: Driver points after Sunday’s race
The victory snapped an 85-race winless drought for Cindric, dating back to his win in the 2022 Daytona 500. The victory sends Cindric to the playoffs. He had entered the race outside a playoff spot. He led 53 laps Sunday.
Points leader Denny Hamlin finished second. Brad Keselowski overcame a loose wheel early in the race to finish third for his third consecutive top-three result. Tyler Reddick placed fourth. Joey Logano completed the top five.
Christopher Bell led a race-high 80 laps and won both stages before an engine issue caused him to fall back as he was dueling Blaney. Bell went on to finish seventh.
“You don’t get race cars like that very often,” Bell said. “Whenever you do, you need to take advantage of it. Disappointing day.”
Martin Truex Jr., who entered the race second in the points, finished 34th after suffering a flat left rear tire and pitted under green on Lap 108 of the 240-lap race. Truex fell to fourth in the points.
Kyle Busch finished 35th after an incident with Kyle Larson. They were dueling for a top-10 spot at the end of the second stage. Larson’s car slid into Busch’s car and Busch’s car hit the wall. Busch fell out of a playoff spot.
“It looked like (Larson) got loose down the front straightaway into Turn 1,” Busch said. “He was on older tires and trying to get us for a spot. I’m not sure what that single point would mean for him, but it certainly hurt us a lot. It took that point away, as well as the others that we would get for the stage and then also the rest of the day.
“It’s very frustrating. We can’t afford days like that.”
Stage 1 winner: Christopher Bell
Stage 2 winner: Christopher Bell
Who had a good race: Austin Cindric scores his second career victory when teammate Ryan Blaney runs out of fuel while leading in the final laps. ... Austin Dillon placed a season-best sixth. ... Carson Hocevar finished career-best eighth. ... Justin Haley placed ninth for his second top 10 in the last three races.
Who had a bad race: Kyle Busch saw his race end after contact with Kyle Larson racing for position on the last lap of the second stage. ... Alex Bowman finished 28th and saw his streak of five consecutive top 10s end.
Next: The series races June 9 at Sonoma Raceway (3:30 p.m. ET on Fox)