Top 5 memes after Blaney's fuel mishap & C. Bell's engine failure gifts win to Austin Cindric at WWT Raceway

Austin Cindric sealed a surprise victory at the 300-mile run hosted by the World Wide Technology Raceway. This comes after a twisted battle for contention, wherein Christopher Bell and Ryan Blaney were initially at high odds of sealing a win. However, on Lap 221, the Joe Gibbs Racing driver suffered a mechanical failure in his #20 Toyota, while the Team Penske driver's #12 Ford succumbed to fuel exhaustion with just one lap remaining for the Enjoy Ilinois 300 to wrap up.

With that, Blaney's teammate Austin Cindric emerged as the winner of the 240-lap dash. Cindric bagged his first Cup Series win at the 2022 Daytona 500 and suffered 85 winless races until unfavorable luck for the rivals benefitted him.

The front spot was locked by Michael McDowell, and the North Carolina native placed his #2 Ford in second place during the qualifying run. Blaney put his ride in third, followed by Christopher Bell in fourth.

The JGR driver reigned supreme during both stages, with Ryan Blaney and Austin Cindric closely following the pursuit. However, the miseries occurred in the final stage. The Penske teammates with Bell's #20 in between fought a close battle for the lead but with just 18 laps until the checkered flag dropped, disappointment knocked on the JGR driver's door.

Bell succumbed to a mechanical failure due to which his race pace suffered a massive blow and he failed to keep up with the frontrunners, finishing seventh. For Blaney, however, the displeasure came a little later while he was just one lap away from ending his winless season.

Despite having sufficient fuel in his Toyota Camry and a fresher set of compounds on Lap 207, Blaney's machine couldn't retain fuel for the remaining 33 laps. With less than 1.5 miles of distance to be covered, the #12 Ford's fuel got over and so did the 2023 Cup Series champ's odds of sealing the win.

Blaney eyed to churn a promising output after two consecutive DNFs in the last two points-paying races, while Bell was fresh off his Coca-Cola 600 triumph and brimmed with confidence on the WWT Raceway. Nevertheless, both suffered a blow to their hopes.

Amid the strenuous atmosphere during the 16th Cup Series weekend, a few internet users outlined the amusing side as they unlocked their creativity and birthed some hilarious memes. Following are a few of them:

#5. "Ryan Blaney and Jonathan Hassler coming to 1 to go at Gateway"

#4. "LMFAO WHAT Austin Cindric WINS AND IS IN THE PLAYOFFS"

#3. "Ryan Blaney talking to his crew on the last lap."

#2. "Martin Truex Jr. pushing Christopher Bell to the finish at Gateway"

#1. "Bells engine be like…."

Per the latest rankings, Ryan Blaney retains 12th place in the Cup Series standings, while Christopher Bell climbed three spots and is placed eighth. Meanwhile, Austin Cindric's win pulled him from 20th place to 18th.