Blaney, the reigning series champion, looked primed to pick up his first win of the 2024 season after surviving a wild duel with Christopher Bell.
Cindric had cut Blaney’s lead to under two seconds with three of 240 laps remaining, but Blaney’s No. 12 Penske Ford suddenly fell off the pace.
Cindric inherited the lead and held off Denny Hamlin by 3.844 seconds to pick up his second career win and ended an 85-race winless streak.
Watch: Austin Cindric on getting back to Victory Lane: ‘It’s everything’
Cindric, who was in danger of missing the playoffs, locked himself in the 16-driver field with the victory.
“Honestly, I’m heartbroken for (Blaney’s) team. I don’t know what happened to them at the end of the race. They deserved to win this race. Ryan has been a hell of a leader on this team,” Cindric said. “This weekend was a great weekend for everybody involved. But, yeah, to have two (Penske) cars in the fight, eventually 1-2. Heartbroken for those guys.
“This is huge for me. This is huge for this team. I’m so glad I was able to get a win with Brian (Wilson) as my crew chief in the Cup Series. You never know when it’s going to happen again. Just drove by butt off, hope for the best.”
Asked what the win does to turn around a tough season, Cindric said, “It’s everything. It’s absolutely everything. Great to win in front of this amazing crowd. Glad to bring it home for these guys, they deserve it.”
Brad Keselowski ended up third, Tyler Reddick was fourth and Joey Logano rounded out the top five.
Completing the top 10 were Austin Dillon, Bell – who limped home with an engine issue, Carson Hocevar, Justin Haley and Kyle Larson.
Blaney did finally cross the finish line and ended up credited with a 24th place finish and last car on the lead lap.
Stage 1
Bell ran down Michael McDowell and passed him for the lead with five laps to go and held on to take the Stage 1 win by 0.726 seconds. Blaney was third, Cindric fourth and Hamlin fifth.
During the caution for an incident involving Cody Ware and Derek Kraus, Keselowski had to pit twice due to a loose wheel on his No. 6 Ford and fell to the rear of the field.
Stage 2
Bell claimed the Stage 2 win under caution when Larson and Kyle Busch wrecked racing for position on the final lap.
The damage to his No. 8 Chevrolet brought an early end to Busch’s race. Cindric ended up second in the stage, Blaney third, Chase Elliott fourth and Logano rounded out the top…
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