Austin Cindric can’t wait for some Talladega action. (Photo: Ryan Daley | The Podium Finish)
As 23-year-old Austin Cindric prepares for his 17th career NASCAR Cup Series start, he heads to a track type that he and his organization are expected to contend as frontrunners.
Cindric and the Team Penske trio have the makings to battle for the win during this Sunday’s GEICO 500 at Talladega Superspeedway. After all, Team Penske have won three of the past six Cup races at the 2.66-mile superspeedway.
While Ryan Blaney and Joey Logano are superspeedway aces, Cindric, their rookie teammate, knows what it takes to fight for a victory at these mammoth tracks. In fact, the Mooresville, North Carolina native won this year’s Daytona 500 after a pitched duel with Blaney before the stripe.
Ahead of Sunday’s race, one has to wonder how Team Penske excels at these larger than life venues. Even with the current Cup car, or the Next Gen car, it seems like Team Penske has not missed a beat, particularly with the intangibles.
Cindric continues to grow and excel in his rookie season in Cup. (Photo: Ryan Daley | The Podium Finish)
“Obviously, it takes a lot of execution and sometimes positioning and sometimes luck at the speedway races to be there at the end and have a shot at winning the race,” Cindric said in a pre-race Zoom availability. “One of those pieces is having fast cars and I think the engine shop puts a lot of effort into these types of races as well as our team, whether that’s from a strategy standpoint or a driving standpoint. I feel like our two senior drivers, Ryan and Joey, are two of the best at this type of racing.”
Most impressively, Team Penske bats .500 in the past four races, all run during the show up and race weekend format since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Although Cindric and his comrades won’t get much on-track time to dial their cars in, they’ll qualify on Saturday morning at 10 a.m. CT.
Aside from the veteran experience, Cindric, driver of the No. 2 Menards/Discount Tire Ford Mustang, has confidence with his cars, the engine shop and of course, racing with the Blue Ovals.
“I think we work well together and it’s obviously proven to be successful.” (Photo: Luis Torres | The Podium Finish)
“You look at Talladega, I think six of the 12 wins Penske has at Talladega are from Joey and Ryan,” he observed. “So, those guys are really capable of getting that done and learning from that and understanding how I can best do my part, I think you collaborate that with a lot of really quality cars in the Ford camp, I think that’s why you see a lot of Fords at the front. I think we work well together and it’s obviously proven to be successful.”
Surely, the Cup rookie is one of the key factors for the Ford camp’s chances at another superspeedway win. He bides his time like an expert chess player who doesn’t show the best moves until the critical moments.
Ranked 14th in the Cup standings, some may say that the Rookie of the Year battle is over. However, Cindric, with his Daytona 500 win, realizes how stock car’s premier division has its unpredictable, unusual moments.
Raise your hand if you’re ready for Talladega. (Photo: Ryan Daley | The Podium Finish)
“I think some things have been better than I thought and other things have been more of a challenge,” he shared. “Like the funny thing walking out of the track last week is I don’t think anyone in this group or this room or probably under the roof of this building would have thought that my Bristol Dirt Race I would have run legitimately better than I did at Phoenix. I think those things show that there’s a lot of changes and a lot of newness and a lot of moving parts and a lot of challenges as a rookie in the Cup Series.”
In the first quarter of the 2022 Cup season, Cindric has a Daytona 500 win, which is sole top five finish, and two total top 10s, including his eighth at COTA in Austin, Texas. All in all, the 2020 NASCAR Xfinity Series champion has been in the hunt for several top 10s before late race moments shuffle him from the mix.
Beyond Sunday’s race at Talladega, the freshman sensation isn’t so quick to evaluate his year just yet. Instead, he’s considering his progress and level of comfort along with enjoying the journey as a driver who’s constantly evolving and improving.
“I’m not sure I’d give myself a grade, but I do think there’s been a lot of progress.” (Photo: Molly Gastineau | The Podium Finish)
“I kind of knew that going in, but it’s one of those deals where you have to learn and adapt and prepare yourself as best as possible,” Cindric said. “I’m not sure I’d give myself a grade, but I do think there’s been a lot of progress, whether that’s on the racetrack or off the racetrack with the team trying to build something.
“That’s been a fun process to be a part of. Every day is not easy, but it’s certainly rewarding on the good days.”
