The 2024 season hasn’t been so kind to the Cup Series’ defending champion. With only a handful of top fives and top tens, Ryan Blaney finds himself at a major disadvantage ahead of the playoffs. So when the #12 Penske garage presented their star driver with an opportunity to win at Gateway Motorsports Park, the 30-year-old set off to make the most of it.

After the masterful pit-stop had put Ryan Blaney out in front at the Enjoy Illinois 300, all eyes were on Christopher Bell and Austin Cindric; the only two obstacles in the #12’s way to victory. Unfortunately, Blaney’s #12 Ford Mustang dropped like a stone with the checkered flag in sight, allowing teammate Austin Cindric to snatch a playoff position instead. While Ryan Blaney threw everything he could at the competition, what went so wrong for the #12 garage, mere yards from victory lane?

Lady Luck does not favor the bold at WWTR

NASCAR’s Cup Series race at the World Wide Technology Raceway delivered even more of a plot twist than the first two years. Only this time, it wasn’t previous winners Kyle Busch and Joey Logano, but Logano’s teammates, Ryan Blaney and Austin Cindric, who tussled it out with Joe Gibbs Racing’s Christopher Bell. For most of the race, the #20 of Bell appeared to be the favorite for the win.

After sweeping both stages, Bell pitted for the last time with forty-six laps to go and made a run for the lead. With nearly twenty laps to go, Bell slingshotted past Austin Cindric and was right on Ryan Blaney’s rear bumper. However, this is when the reigning champion stepped into his element. With twenty-lap older tires than Bell, Blaney was able to fend off the #20 JGR driver right until the checkered flag.

Unfortunately, this is when Ryan Blaney’s race unfolded for the worse. Going over what went wrong for the #12 Penske garage, Eric Estepp highlighted their lightning-fast pitstop as the source of their misery. He shared in a new video, “Looked like he (Ryan Blaney) was gonna cruise off to his first win of the season, well deserved. When on the white flag lap, as the white is in the air, the #12 slows! His teammate Austin Cindric scoops on by. Ryan Blaney is out of fuel without any prior indication.”

According to Eric Estepp, the #12 Penske garage had most likely misjudged the amount of refueling needed to be done on their final pit stop. The pit stop was lightning fast and it put Blaney in a position to seal his spot in the playoffs, but it ultimately cost him the checkered flag. Christopher Bell also faced a similar fate, as his day of dominance came to an end with engine woes, striking him late in the race.

At the end of it all, Austin Cindric had managed to secure his spot in the playoffs with just one prior top-ten this season! That being said, Lady Luck could have turned equally sour on Austin Cindric.

‘Shocked’ Austin Cindric feared a similarly gruesome fate to Ryan Blaney

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Whilst the #2 Penske driver had managed to soften the blow to his team, Cindric could have had an equally miserable night as his teammate. After the race was over and the celebrations subsided, Austin Cindric shared his concerns on the last laps of the Enjoy Illinois 300.

He shared with FrontStretch and other media, “I didn’t even know I was close on fuel, so like, I was shocked if I am being honest. I mean maybe you guys didn’t know we were close on fuel either.” According to the #2 driver, his Mustang Darkhorse could have given up any second. Had the race been a few laps longer, Cindric would have ended up at the back of the field with Ryan Blaney.

With how the race had eventually unfolded, Austin Cindric found it hard to believe that the two fastest cars at Illinois ended up spiraling. Cindric gave credit where it was due, “We were in position and it was one of the best-executed races so far this year with probably the best speed we’ve shown this year, so I’m proud to be able to do that. Just, there’s definitely still a bit of that shock factor left over for me.”

Fortunately, Cindric was able to steer clear of disaster at WWTR to beat his championship-winning teammate to the 2024 playoffs. With that being said, do you think Ryan Blaney can join Cindric with a win soon?