NASCAR Xfinity race at Daytona live updates: Austin Cindric wins in overtime
Rain this morning canceled NASCAR Cup practice and Xfinity qualifying, but the track is ready for racing as the Xfinity Series prepares to run the Beef. It’s What’s For Dinner. 300. (Yes, that is really the name of the race.)
The green flag is scheduled to wave at 5:15 p.m. The Daytona 500 is tomorrow at 2:30 p.m.
Check back for here for updates throughout the race and final results. Follow the Observer’s NASCAR reporter Alex Andrejev on Twitter at @AndrejevAlex. Have story ideas or tips for the 2021 season? Send them to aandrejev@charlotteobserver.com.
Results
| Order | Car No. | Driver | Time after leader | Laps |
| 1 | 22 | Austin Cindric | -- | 122 |
| 2 | 2 | Brett Moffitt(i) | 0.104 | 122 |
| 3 | 20 | Harrison Burton | 0.225 | 122 |
| 4 | 10 | Jeb Burton | 0.243 | 122 |
| 5 | 16 | AJ Allmendinger | 0.333 | 122 |
| 6 | 68 | Brandon Brown | 0.347 | 122 |
| 7 | 2 | Myatt Snider | 0.446 | 122 |
| 8 | 26 | Brandon Gdovic | 0.471 | 122 |
| 9 | 18 | Daniel Hemric | 0.616 | 122 |
| 10 | 23 | Jason White | 0.683 | 122 |
| 11 | 7 | Joe Graf Jr. | 0.791 | 122 |
| 12 | 90 | Caesar Bacarella | 1.05 | 122 |
| 13 | 99 | Stefan Parsons | 1.266 | 122 |
| 14 | 54 | Ty Dillon | 1.898 | 122 |
| 15 | 47 | Kyle Weatherman | 2.043 | 122 |
| 16 | 5 | Matt Mills | 2.044 | 122 |
| 17 | 78 | Jesse Little | 2.128 | 122 |
| 18 | 6 | Ryan Vargas # | 2.315 | 122 |
| 19 | 48 | Danny Bohn(i) | 10.328 | 122 |
| 20 | 66 | Timmy Hill | -1 | 121 |
| 21 | 92 | Josh Williams | -2 | 120 |
| 22 | 51 | Jeremy Clements | -2 | 120 |
| 23 | 4 | Landon Cassill | -8 | 114 |
| 24 | 44 | Tommy Joe Martins | -8 | 114 |
| 25 | 61 | Robby Lyons II | -17 | 105 |
| 26 | 98 | Riley Herbst | -17 | 105 |
| 27 | 8 | Josh Berry # | -18 | 104 |
| 28 | 7 | Justin Allgaier | -18 | 104 |
| 29 | 11 | Justin Haley | -18 | 104 |
| 30 | 13 | Chad Finchum | -18 | 104 |
| 31 | 39 | Ryan Sieg | -41 | 81 |
| 32 | 9 | Noah Gragson | -46 | 76 |
| 33 | 74 | Bayley Currey(i) | -47 | 75 |
| 34 | 52 | Gray Gaulding | -47 | 75 |
| 35 | 15 | Colby Howard | -47 | 75 |
| 36 | 1 | Michael Annett | -48 | 74 |
| 37 | 0 | Jeffrey Earnhardt | -48 | 74 |
| 38 | 19 | Brandon Jones | -62 | 60 |
| 39 | 17 | Cody Ware(i) | -62 | 60 |
| 40 | 36 | Alex Labbe | -62 | 60 |
Cindric wins overtime shootout
8:05 p.m., Lap 122: Cindric leads a two-lap shootout after the caution, leading both laps. The 2020 Xfinity Series champs continues his winning ways. His team congratulates his spotter, Coleman Pressley, on his efforts.
“2021, here we come!” Cindric said on his radio. He later said that he told team owner Roger Penske, who was watching the race from a suite at the track, that he should, “Come more often on Saturdays. We do better when you’re here.”
Another wreck
7:49 p.m., Lap 112: With eight laps left, Cassill and Martins are involved a wreck further back in the pack as Burton and Cindric stay up front and battle for the lead.
The Big One
7:35 p.m., Lap 104: Burton and Cindric lead in the final 20 laps. With 16 laps left, Ty Dillon gets a run, and tries to clear JGR teammate Hemric on his left from the middle lane, but can’t, gets loose and hits Hemric. He was making a move to run in the top-three, so he takes out multiple cars behind him, including Hemric, Allgaier, Berry, Jeb Burton, Haley, Herbst, Clements, Finchum, White, Bohn, Hill and Brown. This is the eighth caution of the night.
“Sorry about that,” Dillon says. “The No. 8 pushed me up there and I got loose with Daniel on my left rear.”
Harrison Burton to the front
7:13 p.m., Lap 86: Burton takes the lead after a long yellow for cleanup from the last wreck. He’s racing on the outside lane, followed by Hemric, Dillon and Cindric in a line. Toyotas lead the top-three, but Cindric team notes some manufacturer connections a couple cars back.
Wreck during green flag pit stops
6:53 p.m., Lap 77: As green flag pit stops get ready to start, Annett wiggles mid-pack in the inside lane, then swings towards the outside wall and spins to Earnhardt and Gaulding and the chaos began. Gragson and Currey’s car take some damage. Cindric had gone to pit from the lead just before, but pulls back out to keep the position. Gragson, Earnhardt and Gaulding are all done for the night due to damage.
Austin Cindric leads after restart
6:44 p.m., Lap 70: Cindric and Ty Dillon take two tires during pit stops to lead the restart on Lap 65. Cindric leads the outside lane, running tight with Allgaier, Moffit and Haley. Ty Dilllon holds the inside lane, but falls back. Cindric team tells him to pit from the lead in the final 30 laps.
Red flag for fluid
6:30, Lap 60: “It looks like Myrtle Beach on this racetrack,” Jeb Burton’s radio says. The race is under a red flag for fluid on the track after Jones’ big wreck. Drivers park their cars.
Brett Moffit wins stage 2
6:20 p.m., Lap 60: With four laps to go, Moffitt drops down to form the bottom lane, and then surges to the front of the pack as the field fills in behind him. He wins the second stage, but as he crosses the start/finish line, Jones gets tapped, then goes sliding through the infield grass. He takes a hard hit to the outside wall, then gets clipped by Ware. Both drivers appear OK, but Jones’ car has heavy damage. The Stage 1 winner, Jones, apologizes to his team on the radio: “That was the best day I’ve had in this in a long time,” Jones says. “Sorry to get the season started like this.”
Ryan Sieg defending top spot
6:10 p.m., Lap 49: The field is running in a single-file line led by Sieg, who throws a block in front of Haley in second, after a brief three-wide run. The order is Sieg, Haley, Brown, Snider, Moffitt in the top-five, but expect a lane to break off in the coming laps. These are the first laps led by Sieg at Daytona.
Brandon Jones (barely) wins Stage 1
5:48 p.m., Lap 30: The race goes green in the final few laps of the stage and the front of the pack runs in a single-file line led by Herbst, then Cindric, Jones, T. Dillon, Hemric. In the final two laps of the stage, the front splits into two lanes with Herbst leading the outside and Jones leading the inside. Jones gets a late surge just before the start/finish line for the Stage 1 win. In the top-10 are: Jones, Herbst, Ty Dillon, Cindric, Gragson, Hemric, Allgaier, Burton, Sieg and Brown.
Second, then third caution comes quickly
5:38 p.m., Lap 20: Josh Williams goes for a spin, apparently with a blown left rear tire, and the yellow flag is out for the third time in the first 20 laps. Haley, Snider, H. Burton, Brown, Sieg, Gragson, Allmendinger, Clements and T. Hill are among the drivers who pit under the flag. The race goes green on Lap 24 with Herbst leading the outside lane and Cindric leading the inside.
5:26 p.m., Lap 11: Williams stops on the track after the field briefly goes green. Allgaier still leads. This is a rough start for Williams’ DGM Racing team.
Early caution gives teams chance to check up
5:17 p.m., Lap 5: The field splits into two lanes early with Cindric leading the first lap. Cindric won the 2020 Xfinity championship and qualified his way into Sunday’s Daytona 500. But Allgaier, another Xfinity final four contender, takes the lead charging from the inside lane. On lap 5, Labbe spins out into the grass and a caution is called. Cindric radios to his team asking about his distance out front of his lane and is told by his spotter Coleman Pressley, that yes, too far.
NASCAR XFINITY RACE AT DAYTONA, THE BEEF. IT’S WHAT’S FOR DINNER. 300
▪ When: 5-7:30 p.m.
▪ How to watch/listen: FS1, MRN
▪ Distance: 120 laps, 300 miles on the 2.5-mile tri-oval
▪ Stages: 30, 60, 120
This story was originally published February 13, 2021 at 5:09 PM.
