Cindric led all 15 laps of the opening Stage of Saturday’s NASCAR Xfinity Series UNOH 188 at the Daytona International Speedway road course.
Noah Gragson, who had a couple of issues during Stage 1 by missing a few braking points, finished second in Stage 1. Road ace Jade Buford was third in SS Greenlight Racing’s No. 07 car, Riley Herbst was fourth and another road ace Earl Bamber was fifth in RCR’s No. 21 machine.
Justin Allgaier, Chase Briscoe, Brandon Brown, Michael Annett and Andy Lally rounded out the top-10 in Stage 1.
The race started under a moist condition, after huge rain and lightning storms swept through and delayed the start of the race, but NASCAR allowed teams to decide between standard slicks or rain tires. Briscoe and a couple of others went with rain tires, which did not work out well, while the rest of the field performed much better on their slick tires.
Justin Haley crashed his No. 10 car and is behind the wall. His teammate Ross Chastain is also in the garage with a transmission issue.
Stage and Playoff Points Awarded in Stage 1:
| Finish | Driver | Stage Points | Playoff Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Austin Cindric | 10 | 1 |
| 2 | Noah Gragson | 9 | 0 |
| 3 | Jade Buford | 8 | 0 |
| 4 | Riley Herbst | 7 | 0 |
| 5 | Earl Bamber | 6 | 0 |
| 6 | Justin Allgaier | 5 | 0 |
| 7 | Chase Briscoe | 4 | 0 |
| 8 | Brandon Brown | 3 | 0 |
| 9 | Michael Annett | 2 | 0 |
| 10 | Andy Lally | 1 | 0 |
