CHARLOTTE, NC - Austin Cindric gave Kyle Busch all he could handle down the stretch but was victim of a last-lap pass and wound up in third place Monday evening in overtime in the NASCAR Xfinity Series at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

Cindric's third place effort paced the Ford effort as the only other Mustang, driven by Thursday's race winner Chase Briscoe finished 20th.

A flurry of activity midway through the final stage altered the complexion of the race. Chase Briscoe, who entered the race as the Xfinity Series’ points leader, rallied from an earlier pit-road penalty for an uncontrolled tire that left him lined up 17th for the start of the final stage. But his already damaged hopes for his third win of the season took another hit with another scrub of the wall with 30 laps remaining. 

The NASCAR Xfinity Series’ next race is scheduled Saturday (3:30 p.m. ET, FS1, PRN, SiriusXM) at Bristol Motor Speedway.

FORD FINISHING RESULTS
3rd - Austin Cindric
20th - Chase Briscoe

AUSTIN CINDRIC, No. 22 Snap-On Tools Ford Mustang
“I am really proud of this team. We were talking about it on the drive to the track today that this was our turning put last year. It was probably one of my worst races last year. To almost beat the best in the business on worse tires, ugh. I never lifted. I never lifted into three until I knew that I was done. I am really thankful to be driving this Ford Mustang. These guys worked really hard with what we unloaded with and there were definitely a lot of unknowns. It was a team effort. I want to win so bad.”

CAN YOU WALK US THROUGH THE OVERTIME FINISH FROM YOUR PERSPECTIVE?
“Yeah, I think we had a lot of opportunities to win the race tonight. If it goes green on a number of occasions I think the Snap-On Ford Mustang is the winner tonight. It just didn’t work out for us. I was on older tires and everyone else on older tires ended up crashing. It is hard to beat the best in the business on older tires. I got a great push from Daniel. I am shocked the restart zone went as well as it did. That was a big struggle for me all night. I knew I was going to have to defend in three and four and took the top in one and two. He just had way more grip than I did. The heat cycles were killer. I never lifted driving into three. I just gave up second but didn’t really care at that point. I just wanted to win the race. Overall it was a great night and I am really proud of my team. I came here with something that we have never come to the race track with. We had to work on it all night. It shows the strength of the team and I am really proud of the effort.”

DID YOU ANTICIPATE THAT BATTLE COMING TO THE CHECKERS?
“Kyle (Busch) proved to me the way he was able to drive around the bottom of Noah and I when we were on the preferred line in three and four, I forget which restart that was, but when he took the lead for the final time a couple of restarts prior I knew that he was going to be able to get back to me with those tires. He was one of the best cars all night too, so yeah, I just tried to do the best I could and give myself a chance to drive in on his door and make something happen but it was difficult.”

WHAT DID YOU LEARN ON THE LAST RESTART?
“I gotta be honest. I thought I was terrible in the restart zone all night and I kind of had to dig deep to figure out ways to manage that. Some of it came to overshooting the box in a lot of ways. It was difficult. I would say that was probably the biggest lesson learned, managing the restart zone when it probably isn’t your favorite.”

WHAT DO YOU TAKE AWAY FROM TONIGHT OR IS IT MORE THE FRUSTRATION OF BEING SO CLOSE?
“It is just the frustration of being so close. I want to win just as much or maybe more than the next guy. This racetrack in particular has given me a lot of grief from when I started racing. Racing in the summer shootout, this place was probably my worst race track and I got a lot tougher here over the years and it has been no different in the Xfinity Series, maybe more difficult for me in the Xfinity Series. To have a run like we did tonight makes a lot of personal strides for me but at the same time I race with my heart and my heart has gotten smarter over the years, but yeah, I want to win.”

HOW MUCH DO YOU HURT RIGHT NOW?
“Not any more than other times I have finished second or third and almost won the race. I have done it enough times. You lose a lot more than you win in this business. The more you knock on the door, the more those opportunities come. At the same time we were the only car to not make a mistake tonight. I think there is a lot to be said about that. If we keep having runs like this we will be a championship contender. I think we are. I think we proved that at Vegas and again tonight.”

WHAT WAS YOUR REACTION WHEN GUYS PITTED ON LAP 172 AND LEFT YOU WITH THE LEAD?
“Unsurprising. Those guys were all in the back with nothing to lose and had tires. I would have done the same in that position. Cautions breed cautions, that is the saying. The only reason the 54 was in that position was because he made a mistake on pit road. That is difficult to say. We cycled from fourth to the lead because we were the only car that didn’t make a mistake on pit road. I don't know what to make of that. There were a lot of scenarios where we would win this race tonight. I was confident on the lead. I have done that enough that I don't get jitters. I just want to get the job done and execute. I think we did that in every regard tonight. The cards just weren’t in our hand tonight.”

YOUR RESULTS ON OVALS HAVE GOTTEN BETTER AND BETTER. DID YOU HAVE TO ADJUST ANYTHING WITH YOUR DRIVING STYLE TO ACCOMPLISH THAT?
“It is like telling a swimmer to play water polo, the only similarity is that they are both in the water. Coming from my background, you have to remember that the first time I was driving a stock car for a full season was in Trucks and we made it to the Final Four. I feel like I have made a lot of personal strides and anyone that has watched NASCAR racing the last three years has seen every mistake I have made and hopefully you see that I own up to it. That is the fruits of that hard work. It is also about being surrounded by the right people. I have a lot of great teammates and experienced people on my team. I am at the point in my career that I know what I want, I know what I need and know how to drive on these tracks. There is a lot of confidence that comes with that but you still have to get the job done. I feel like we did that tonight. It was just a set of circumstances that kept us 20-feet away from victory lane over there.”

HOW CLOSE DID YOU COME TO HITTING THE WALL ON THAT LAST LAP? “I never lifted. I figured my best chance was to drive right onto his right rear and make him as uncomfortable as possible and hopefully we all slow down. That was my only chance at that point knowing he was the dominant car. I am not sure what I could have done better. Maybe just covering his air on the bottom but with tires that were that much worse I don't know what my other move was. I didn’t hit the wall but I am not sure I really cared at that point with a quarter-mile to go.”

WHAT CAN YOU SAY ABOUT GOING TO BRISTOL THIS WEEKEND? “I think it will be a great track for us. We sat on the pole there last year and have a good baseline for that track. I am excited. I like Bristol. I like short track racing.”