ALTON, Va. — Audio and story by Race Chaser Online Managing Editor Jacob Seelman — CSP/Chris Seelman photo —
Saturday ended up being a perfect day all-around for Austin Cindric and Martin-McClure Racing at VIRginia International Raceway.
After leading practice and qualifying on the pole, Cindric led the most laps in his No. 39 Reynolds Wrap/K&J Sports Memorabilia Toyota en route to scoring his first career NASCAR K&N Pro Series East victory in his debut start.
However, it was a hard charge on a restart with three laps to go — when the 17-year-old gave a shunt to the left-rear quarter of Justin Haley’s No. 5 Braun Auto Group Chevrolet to reassume the top spot for good — that ultimately afforded him the top step on the victory podium at the conclusion of the Biscuitville 125.
“I started second on the last three restarts … and I struggled to maintain on all of them in that second half and would have to pass my way back up through there,” admitted Cindric, who led 29 of 55 laps overall on the day. “It was tough, but I knew at three to go I had to capitalize on (that final chance). I was able to get on the brakes good down into turn one, and that got Justin a bit worried to where he washed up the track … and lost his momentum.”
“Once he got out of sequence with the track I was able to get to his inside into turn three, and he gave me the door like I expected, but I was able to keep him from gaining back any ground. It was hard-fought — he wasn’t giving me an inch and I was keeping my foot in it — and I knew if he was ever able to catch me (again) it was going to be all (laid) to my rear bumper. I was thankfully able to hold on and come away with my first-ever NASCAR win, which is such a cool experience.”
The win was the second-consecutive for team co-owners and former NASCAR XFINITY Series drivers Eric McClure and Hal Martin, who also scored the win with Chad Finchum at Bristol Motor Speedway two weeks ago.
“The joy is just incredible,” McClure said. “The feeling and the emotion … is something that you don’t get to experience often, if ever. For a start-up team like ours, to see young guys like Chad and Austin come in and do what they’ve done; it’s amazing really. Hopefully we can continue to make good moves and be around for a while to come to experience a few more of these (wins). Right now, though, we’re certainly enjoying and soaking in (everything) the last few weeks.”
“I can’t say enough about the people we have on this team,” Martin added. “To win at Bristol in our first race out was incredible, and to follow it up with a second win here at VIR with Austin is tremendous. Every win is special in it’s own way … and I’ve been fighting for words to describe everything I’m feeling and we’re feeling because I want to say it right … but it’s a special moment. Very special, for sure.”
Cindric dropped the hammer from the moment the initial green flag waved, pulling out to a two second lead over outside pole-man Justin Haley by the time two laps were in the books. He and Kaz Grala were the class of the field from early on, as Grala took second from Haley the next time around and proceeded to walk away from the rest of the pack behind Cindric.
By the time the first caution of the day flew on lap 13, when Spencer Davis lost a transmission in turn two, Cindric and Grala held a near-12 second margin over third place.
Davis’ car would sit on jack-stands in the pit area as the field returned to racing three laps later, with Cindric again motoring away to the top spot while Noah Gragson moved around Haley for third. Cindric would not be able to get away from the field too easily this go-round, however, as the top four remained within one second of each other at the lap 20 benchmark.
Three laps later, Grala’s day would end in heartbreak. The No. 3 NETTTS/Ben Kennedy Racing Toyota sputtered to a stop on course, drawing the second yellow flag of the afternoon. Grala’s car was towed back to the pit area with an electrical problem in the dashboard of the car, and while he was able to return to the track later on — his chances at going after a victory were dashed.
Restarts through the middle of the race would prove to be Cindric’s Achilles heel, as he gave up the point to Noah Gragson on a restart one lap prior to halfway, but Cindric would be afforded a chance to regroup when the caution flew on lap 29 after Dominique van Wieringen ran into trouble on the back half of the course.
NASCAR would use that caution as the mandatory halfway break, when all cars would come to pit road for a five-minute break to make adjustments and set up for the second half of the event. At the restart it was Gragson over Cindric and Haley, with dirt track ace Tyler Dippel sneaking into fourth as 25 to go flashed up on the scoreboard.
It was at that point that Haley began to flex his muscle in seeking redemption on the 2.25-mile North Course. He disposed of Gragson for the lead on lap 33 entering turn one and set his sights on riding off into the sunset … all so he could make it to West Virginia in time for prom later in the evening.
Haley opened up a lead of 2.5 seconds in his first lap after seizing the point and maintained the margin all the way until Gragson, running fourth at the time, broke something under the hood of his No. 55 AlertID/SpeedVegas/Jefferson Pitts Racing Ford and stalled to bring out the fourth yellow of the afternoon. That caution would bunch the field for a restart with 11 laps to go, and that’s when things got chaotic mid-pack.
On the jump going down into the esses, Collin Cabre got loose and got into the side of Gracin Raz as he tried to correct the car, pushing Raz off the track as he worked to grab hold of the racing groove. As Raz got back onto the asphalt himself, he got into the rear quarter-panel of Cabre’s machine, with the contact ultimately sending the No. 2 around and hard into the tire barrier.
The incident drew a red flag for repairs to the barrier where Cabre hit, and ended his day along with the No. 49 of John Holleman IV, who was shoved into the melee from behind and sustained heavy damage as well.
After cleanup, Haley again got away on a restart with seven laps to go, but had to deal with a sudden burst of momentum from HScott Motorsports with Justin Marks teammate Tyler Dippel — who restarted third but had enough of a run to all but clear Haley for the top spot through turns three and four.
However, just as it looked like the New York young gun would be able to get away into clean air, his car came shuddering to a halt at turn six with transmission troubles that ended his incredible run and snatched a potential second win of the season from his fingers.
That caution set up the race-ending three lap dash, and though Haley tried to hold off Cindric’s machine, the bump-and-run sealed his fate and left the young gun wondering what might have been for a second consecutive year — after late-race contact while leading took him out of contention for the win at VIR last August as well.
“I didn’t really appreciate being moved for a win like that,” Haley said immediately upon climbing from his car. “I could have moved him (back) for the win, and I hope he learned something off of that. … At this level, you just don’t move someone like he did, but he won today and I guess that helped him out. We had a really strong car — faster than he was for most of the closing stint — but it just didn’t pan out.”
“I made a decision to stay off of him, and not pass him the way he passed me, because that’s how I was raised in racing,” he added in the media center. “I know we had the best car, and I think we showed that when it counted. It’s tough to sit here with second, and I know I’ll think about it all night — even while I’m at prom — but we’ll just move on to the next race and try to get ourselves another win then.”
Fort Kent, Maine’s Austin Theriault finally delivered a result befitting of the effort put in by he and his Hattori Racing Enterprises team, claiming the final podium spot in third after running inside the top five all race long.
Kyle Benjamin finished fourth and leaves VIR tied with Haley for the series points lead, while Ronnie Bassett Jr. turned heads with his family-owned team by rounding out the top five in just his third-ever K&N East road course race.
Hunter Baize, Jairo Avila Jr., Ruben Garcia Jr., Brian Henderson and J.P. Morgan were the balance of the top 10 finishers.
The NASCAR K&N Pro Series East now takes a month off before returning to action on May 30, with a Memorial Day stop at the all-new Dominion Raceway in Fredericksburg, Virginia.
Audio with race winner Austin Cindric:
Audio with winning team owners Eric McClure and Hal Martin:
Audio with runner-up Justin Haley:
Audio with third-place Austin Theriault:
Audio with fourth-place Kyle Benjamin:
Audio with fifth-place Ronnie Bassett Jr.:
Audio with Tyler Dippel after lap 49 transmission failure:
Audio with Collin Cabre after lap 45 crash:
Audio with John Holleman after lap 45 crash:
Audio with Spencer Davis after lap 13 transmission failure:
RESULTS: NASCAR K&N Pro Series East; Biscuitville 125; VIRginia International Raceway; April 30, 2016
- Austin Cindric
- Justin Haley
- Austin Theriault
- Kyle Benjamin
- Ronnie Bassett Jr.
- Hunter Baize
- Jairo Avila Jr.
- Ruben Garcia Jr.
- Brian Henderson
- J.P. Morgan
- Harrison Burton
- Sergio Pena
- Dillon Bassett
- Ali Kern
- Gracin Raz
- Sarah Cornett-Ching
- Noah Gragson
- Dominique van Wieringen
- Tyler Dippel
- Kaz Grala
- Collin Cabre
- John Holleman IV
- Spencer Davis
- Trey Hutchens III
Lead Changes: Three between three drivers.
Lap Leaders: Cindric (1-26, 53-55); Gragson (27-32); Haley (33-52).
Laps Led: Cindric (29); Haley (20); Gragson (6).
Caution Flags: Six for 14 laps.
About the Writer
Jacob Seelman is the Managing Editor of Race Chaser Online and creator of the Motorsports Madness radio show, airing at 7 p.m. Eastern every Monday on the Performance Motorsports Network.
Seelman grew up in the sport, watching his grandparents co-own the RaDiUs Motorsports NASCAR Cup Series team in the 1990s.
The 22-year-old is currently studying Broadcast Journalism at Winthrop University in Rock Hill, S.C., and is also serving as the full-time tour announcer for the Must See Racing Sprint Car Series.
Email Jacob at: [email protected]
Follow on Twitter: @Speed77Radio or @JacobSeelman77
Email Race Chaser Online: [email protected]
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