Surprise and elation were the watchwords for Team Penske’s Austin Cindric, who inherited the lead and won Sunday’s Enjoy Illinois 300 at World Wide Technology Raceway when teammate and reigning NASCAR Cup Series champion Ryan Blaney ran out of fuel on the next-to-last lap.

Cindric, who had been running second to Blaney, charged past his teammate at the start/finish line and completed the final lap under green to earn his first Cup win since his rookie season Daytona 500 triumph in 2022 – snapping an 85-race drought.

“This weekend was a great weekend for everybody involved,” Cindric said. “But, yeah, to have two cars in the fight, eventual 1-2. Heartbroken for those guys.”

For Blaney, it was a gut-wrenching turn of events as he had the race well under control until his No. 12 Ford simply ran out of gas while leading.

“Never thought in my mind we were short,” a disappointed Blaney said. “One of those things. Proud of the 12 boys…Just stinks. One lap short, which just stinks.”

The dramatic finish capped an eventful day that saw Christopher Bell dominate the first two stages, winning both and appearing headed for his second consecutive victory. But Bell suddenly suffered an engine issue while battling for the lead that allowed Blaney to pull away.

“Some sort of motor issue. I’m surprised that I made it to the end,” Bell said after sliding to a seventh-place finish. “You don’t get race cars like that very often. Whenever you do, you need to take advantage of it.”

Tyler Reddick finished fourth behind Cindric, Blaney and Denny Hamlin, with Joey Logano completing the top five. Austin Dillon took sixth, followed by Bell, rookie Carson Hocevar in a career-best eighth, Justin Haley and Kyle Larson.

The race was impacted by a Lap 140 incident when Larson got loose underneath Kyle Busch while battling for position, sending both cars hard into the outside wall. Busch was eliminated on the spot in 35th place, his first DNF of 2024.

“We can’t afford days like this,” said Busch, who remains winless and on the playoff bubble. “He got loose and wiped us out.”

With his first win since his rookie season, Cindric was filled with gratitude and relief after finally breaking through again.

“This is huge for me, huge for this team,” he said. “Just drove my butt off, hope for the best.”