"Heartbroken for the 12 team" - Austin Cindric offers condolences to Ryan Blaney after WWT Raceway triumph

Ryan Blaney's teammate Austin Cindric offered his heartfelt condolences after the former lost his potential victory due to the closing laps drama. This comes after the #12 Ford Mustang ran out of fuel moments before entering the white flag lap, which carved the way for Cindric to snap his 85-race winless streak.

The World Wide Technology Raceway birthed multiple cautions and the subsequent restarts. Ryan Blaney set the third-fastest qualifying speed of 137.982 mph, while Austin Cindric was 0.036 seconds ahead in second place.

Christopher Bell, Blaney, and Cindric kept their high-octane rides in the front of the pack for the majority of their 240-lap run. However, on Lap 221, the #20 Toyota of the Joe Gibbs Racing driver suffered a mechanical issue and Bell radioed in saying, “I’m blowing up, I’m blowing up,” before reducing his pace to finish the 300-mile run at the least.

With that, a cat-and-mouse game between Austin Cindric and Ryan Blaney ensued. While the 2023 defending champion eyed to rake in his maiden win this season, the #2 Ford Mustang driver yearned to end his unwanted winless streak. The luck, however, had something else in the bag for Blaney.

With just 5 laps until the checkered flag dropped, Cindric started closing in on the #12 Ford and was 1.1 seconds behind. However, moments before initiating the white flag, Blaney's Ford ran out of gas. Cindric swooped past his teammate and dashed toward the start/finish line to do the much-awaited victory burnouts.

After emerging victorious for the first time since the 2022 Daytona 500, the North Carolina native expressed his condolences for Blaney's shattered weekend.

"Heartbroken for the 12 team, I don't know what happened to them at the end of the race, he [Ryan Blaney] deserved to win this race. Ryan's been a hell of a leader in this team," Cindric told Fox reporter Jamie Little via X.

Ryan Blaney outlines his run after losing the battle to Austin Cindric shortly before kicking off the final lap in Madison

Ryan Blaney stepped into the current season on a high note. After succumbing to DNF at the season-opener Daytona 500, the Team Penske driver bagged three consecutive top-5s; at the Atlanta Motor Speedway, Las Vegas Motor Speedway, and Phoenix Raceway.

To date, Blaney is placed 12th in the Cup Series rankings with four top-5s and five top-10s to his name. However, the Ohio native is shy of a race win this season and came inches close to ending the unwanted feat.

After surviving through the wrecks and cautions, the #12 Ford driver was just a lap away from savoring his ride to the victory lane. Just before the last lap kicked off, Blaney's high-octane ride ran out of fuel and he couldn't help but see the pack behind him take the lead.

After succumbing to a 24th place finish, the 2023 Cup champ weighed in on his run.

"Just one lap short. Man it stings but congrats to the 2 team [Austin Cindric's team], they did a good job today. Really happy with our showing today, just I dont know what I got to do to get some luck on our side. We've gosh wrecked the last two points race and thought we had a great shot to win today and ended up bad," Blaney said vix FOX: NASCAR on X.

Per the rankings post the Enjoy Illinois 300 race, Ryan Blaney sees no change while his teammate Austin Cindric has climbed two spots and is placed 18th now.