Cindric wins Xfinity race

Watkins Glen, N.Y. — Austin Cindric's dad never wanted him to be a racer. Dad might want to change his mind now.

Cindric won on the road course at Watkins Glen in NASCAR's Xfinity Series on Saturday, holding off veteran AJ Allmendinger in the final two laps. It was the first series win in 54 races for the 20-year-old Penske Racing driver, and he outran one of the best road racers in NASCAR.

"It's fantastic. It means so much in the playoffs," Cindric said. "To be able to execute today, that's what we need with six or seven races left before the playoffs. It's a momentum shift. This team is used to winning."

Allmendinger moved out to a big lead with five laps left in the 82lap event, but Cindric, with fresher tires in his No. 22 Ford, slowly began closing the gap and was within two car-lengths with three laps to go. He closed to the back bumper of Allmendinger's No. 10 Chevy in the inner loop but Allmendinger held his ground.

On Lap 81, Cindric tried again to pass going up through the esses and dogged Allmendinger coming out of the carousel turn, a sweeping righthander, then made the pass.

Not finished yet, Allmendinger bumped Cindric back, forcing him wide, and briefly retook the lead before going wide into the final turn, allowing Cindric to recover. He then made it through the tough first turn and up through the esses as Allmendinger finally faded, finishing 1.16 seconds behind.

Bell’s third

Christopher Bell was third, Justin Allgaier fourth and Ryan Blaney fifth.

After the race, Allmendinger's car failed postrace inspection and was disqualified for height. NASCAR said it didn't meet the minimum height and said the team had until noon Monday to appeal. The car also was disqualified at Daytona in July with Allmendinger driving.

Kyle Busch won the pole, his first at The Glen in 11 tries in the series, with Cindric alongside on the front row, and the race was Busch's to lose. After dominating the first stage, he lost his chance near the midpoint of the race around the speedy 2.45-mile natural terrain layout. Busch passed Cup regular Blaney for the lead in the inner loop on Lap 35, locked up his left front and slid off course, forcing him to the pits and then the garage, his day over with a broken part. In his previous four starts this year in the series, Busch had three wins and one runner-up finish.

"After they had their issues, we knew it was game on," Cindric said.