Austin Cindric does not seem to be too perplexed by the heat of the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs fight. (Photo: Mitchell Richtmyre | The Podium Finish)
RICHMOND, Va. – Some may say that Austin Cindric is in the midst of a sophomore slump.
In the eyes of the critics of the Team Penske driver, such an observation seems fair. Ahead of Sunday’s Cook Out 400 at Richmond Raceway, Cindric has three top 10 results and an average finish of 21.1, placing him 21st in the standings.
A path into this year’s NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs may not seem realistic by pointing into the 16 driver and team field. The buzz from his 2022 Daytona 500 victory seems to be in the rear view mirror with the 24-year-old driver’s occasional struggles coming to the forefront.
Then again, as a whole, the Team Penske organization has not been as vociferous in terms of being a powerhouse Ford Performance team. While Joey Logano and Ryan Blaney have won respectively at Atlanta and Charlotte, as a whole, the struggles endured by Cindric seem somewhat endemic across the powerhouse team.
Cindric enters Sunday’s 400-lap race looking for his first victory since his upset in “The Great American Race” over a year and a half ago. If he hopes to turn his season around, he will need to greatly improve upon his results at Richmond.
The distinct red and neon yellow Menards colors of Cindric’s No. 2 Ford hope to be in the mix for a good result at Richmond. (Photo: Wayne Riegle | The Podium Finish)
In Cindric’s past four starts, his best finish is a 12th in last year’s Cook Out 400 when he placed 12th. Then again, he has three other finishes of 20th or worse, including two finishes of 28th.
Despite starting 30th in Sunday’s race, Cindric’s recent comments seem to echo his optimism about repeating his sensational feat from a year ago.
“The way I approach it, you can look at it from the outside standpoint and say, ‘Look, we’ve got a couple of road course races and a plate race,'” Cindric said. “Those are probably the two greatest opportunities.”
Following Richmond, Cindirc hopes to greatly improve upon his early DNF at Michigan, the next venue, before returning to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course, site of his runner-up result to Tyler Reddick.
The final two races of the regular season are at Watkins Glen International and Daytona International Speedway. Despite competing since 2021, the former open wheel racer feels optimistic about his chances to snatch a win at these venues particularly if he can build some momentum at a place like Richmond.
For a driver facing crunch time for the postseason fight, Cindric does not seem to be sweating it out too much. He expresses confidence and faith in the personnel at the shop and his over-the-wall crew to execute for him on race day from now through the final lap at Daytona in August.
“I drive for Roger Penske. I’ve got (five) weeks to win a race,” Cindric said. “I have a racecar that comes out of a race shop that builds winning racecars. I feel like I’m a driver that’s capable of winning in the Cup Series. It can happen in the next (five) weeks.
