Austin Cindric – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Austin Cindric

Best placement

12. – (2022)

NASCAR-Cup-Series-Statistics

107

Starts	Siege	Poles	Top-10

NASCAR-Xfinity-Series-Stats Best placement

1. – (2020)

133

Starts	Siege	Poles	Top-10

NASCAR-Craftsman-Truck-Statistics Best placement

3. – (2017)

Starts	Siege	Poles	Top-10

Austin Louis Cindric (born September 2, 1998 in Columbus, Ohio) is an American NASCAR racing driver. He currently drives the #2 Ford Mustang for Team Penske in the NASCAR Cup Series. His achievements include victories in the 2020 NASCAR Xfinity Series and the 2022 Daytona 500.

Cindric is not the first in his family to have a career in motorsports: his grandfather Jim Trueman was a team owner and driver and his father Tim Cindric is president of Team Penske.[1]

Cindric began his motorsports career racing semi-professional Legends Cars in North Carolina. In 2013 he moved to the USF2000 Championship where he raced in the Road to Indy Program until 2014. He also drove historic racing cars such as the Porsche 944.[2] In the USF2000 in 2013 he finished seventh in the drivers’ standings, and the following year he finished the season in 14th place. In 2014 he also competed in the Global RallyCross Championship Lites, where he won the bronze medal at the X-Games in Austin. In October he made his debut in the IMSA Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge.

In 2015, at the age of 17, he took part in the Bathurst 12 Hours. With the Australian racing team Erebus Motorsport he finished the race in 21st place.[3] He won his first race in the CTSCC in July, making him the youngest winner in the series.[4] In 2016 he drove the McLaren GT3 for K-PAX Racing in the Pirelli World Challenge.[5]

Cindric in Martinsville 2017

In July 2015, Cindric made his Arca Racing Series debut at the Iowa Speedway race. He drove the number 99 car for Cunningham Motorsports and finished 4th. His only victory in the series came when he won the race at Kentucky Speedway. His NASCAR debut followed when he replaced the injured Austin Theriault in the Camping World Truck Series. He drove two races in the K&N Pro Series East starting in 2016, taking victory in both Virginia and Watkins Glen.[6]

In 2017, Cindric decided against pursuing a seat in sports car racing and signed a contract with Brad Keselowski Racing in the Truck Series. Despite an accident-related 27th place at the season opener in Daytona, he managed to fight his way back into the points. At the race at the Canadian Tire Motorsport Park he managed to secure his first victory. However, the race was mired in controversy as Cindric gave the leader Kaz Grala a push that cost him the win.[7] Overall, he finished third in the drivers’ championship.

Cindrics Ford Nr. 22 in Homestead, 2018

After racing in the Xfinity Series for Team Penske in August 2017, he signed a full-time contract in the racing series for the 2018 season.[8] He drove three Ford Mustangs there, for both Team Penske and Roush Fenway Racing. With Team Penske’s No. 12 he achieved several points finishes, but with RFK Racing’s No. 60 there were several accidents for both him and his fellow drivers. In the same year he also took part in the 24 Hours of Daytona for the first time.[9]

On November 8, 2018, it was announced that he would drive the No. 22 full-time for Team Penkse in 2019. During the year he achieved his first victory in the Xfinity Series at the Watkins Glen racetrack.[10] He ultimately finished the season in sixth place. During the year he had his first experience in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series when he contracted Brad Keselowski in final practice and remained on standby in the race.[11] In September he also replaced Michael McDowell in training.

As part of his contract with Penkse, he was also active for the racing team in 2020. After several podiums, he managed to win both races at Kentucky Speedway. This success made him the first driver since Richard Petty to win races in a national racing series on two consecutive days at the same track.[12] He also won the next race at Texas Motor Speedway. He managed to make it into the playoffs in the following races, but due to an accident he ended up in 28th place in the second round in Kansas.[13] However, he managed to secure a place in the season finale in Phoenix with a 4th place in Texas and a 10th in Martinsville. In the race, thanks to a yellow phase, he was able to put on fresh tires and secure victory. He achieved his first championship victory in the NASCAR Xfinity Series.

In the following season in 2021, Cindric won the season opener at Daytona and led the drivers’ championship for a long time. In the season finale he led the race in Phoenix, but lost the race lead on the last lap to Daniel Hemric, who thus secured the championship.[14]

In October 2020, Team Penske announced that Cindric would drive part-time in the NASCAR Cup Series beginning in 2021 before replacing Matt DiBenedetto in the No. 21 for the 2022 season.[15] He made his official debut in the racing series at the Daytona 500, but ended up in 15th place due to an accident. In Indianapolis he achieved his first top-10 placement.

In July 2021, it was announced that Cindric would ultimately drive the No. 2 for Team Penske the following season instead of the No. 21.[16]

Cindric in a race at Sonoma Raceway, 2022

The start of the season in Daytona also became one of the greatest successes of Cindric’s career, as he was able to win the prestigious Daytona 500 as the second youngest driver in NASCAR history. The victory was decided after several yellow phases, a red phase and an extra time with a difference of 0.036 seconds between Cindric and Bubba Wallace.[17] It was also the first Daytona 500 victory for Team Penske since Joey Logano in 2015. In the next races, Cindric secured the pole position at Auto Club Speedway and briefly led the drivers’ championship. He became the second rookie in NASCAR history to achieve this. Despite everything, he was eliminated from the playoffs in the Round of 12 and ended the season in 12th place. He was also named Rookie of the Year.[18]

The 2023 season ended in 24th place after difficulties. Due to rare top-10 placements, he missed the playoffs and had to give up his hopes of a top placement at the Daytona 500 due to an accident in the final laps. In response to the poor results, Team Penske decided to hire Cindric’s former crew chief Brian Wilson. Cindric had already won the Xfinity Series with this.[19]

In the 2024 season, Cindric achieved his first win in 85 races when he prevailed in the race at Gateway Motorsports Park. He was eliminated from the playoffs in the Charlotte race.