Despite winning the Daytona 500 and making the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs in his rookie season, Austin Cindric claims he’s too competitive to say he did all he could.
His four 11th-place finishes remain a source of frustration two months after the conclusion of the season — after all, they hurt his top-10 stats.
“I’m motivated to try to figure out what it takes to be the best in the Cup Series. That’s why I’m here, that’s what the team expects and I think it’s what the team deserves,” Cindric said.
The driver of the No. 2 Ford Mustang has been on Team Penske’s roster since 2019. He claimed a Xfinity Series championship with them in 2020 and finished runner-up in 2021. When Brad Keselowski announced his departure from the team’s Cup Series program the following year, Cindric was called up to fill the void.
Though he had made several starts in the premier NASCAR division prior to replacing Keselowski, this season was his first year as a full-time Cup Series contender.
“I was fully prepared during the season to be introduced as ‘Rookie driver Austin Cindric.’ Well, that only lasted about a week,” Cindric said, chuckling.
In his regular-season debut with Team Penske on Feb. 20, Cindric stunned 120,000 fans at Daytona Int’l Speedway and drove away with a Daytona 500 victory.
After leading 21 laps and battling to the checkered flag with 23XI Racing’s Bubba Wallace, Cindric crossed the finish line .036 seconds ahead of Wallace and became the first rookie to win “The Great American Race.”
Trevor Bayne won the Daytona 500 as a rookie in 2011, but as he was not eligible to run for rookie of the year in the Cup Series, Cindric is considered the first to claim the prestigious victory.
From that day on, for track introductions, it was “Daytona 500 winner, Austin Cindric.”
“It put a smile on my face every time I was introduced, that’s for sure,” Cindric said. “That was the best day of my life, winning the Daytona 500 and doing it on Roger [Penske]’s birthday.”
It didn’t take long for Cindric to be humbled, as he finished outside the top 20 three races later at Phoenix (Ariz.) Raceway. But it was natural to expect a few hiccups in his rookie year. The 24-year-old admits that he didn’t quite know what to anticipate when he made the transition to the Cup Series. It was a new playing field for all drivers as the Next Gen car made its entrance and Cindric himself was busy adapting to the way Team Penske functioned.
Early on, Cindric realized learning how to be on the same page and speak the same language as the crew was essential in order to make the team’s feedback loop efficient.
“With the Next Gen car, everyone’s really working with the same stuff, so communication and execution are at an all-time high,” Cindric said. “The quicker you can understand each other, the faster you’re going to make the right decisions.”
While the No. 2 driver had to become familiar with Team Penske, the 39 other drivers on the grid had to become accustomed to Cindric and his tendencies as a racer.
Cindric calls NASCAR a “social sport,” because, in comparison to other motorsports, a NASCAR driver is constantly battling 10 to 20 cars throughout the three-hour race. That, in turn, makes understanding the competition critical.
“They have to know you, they have to trust you and vice versa. Coming into the year, I didn’t really know my competitors,” Cindric said. “The only way that I’ve found to truly earn respect is by beating people. That’s the only way.”
Though Cindric only picked up a single win on the season — and a prestigious one at that — he came close several more times. He finished second at Indianapolis Motor Speedway and collected three other top-five finishes.
His Daytona 500 victory also granted him a berth in the playoffs and so, Cindric ventured on to both the Round of 16 and the Round of 12. He was eliminated from championship contention at the Round of 12 cutoff race at Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway in September, leaving a missed opportunity on the table.
“My two races in the Round of 8 were probably two of my worst races of the year, with Miami and Martinsville, so I can’t sit here and tell you that I probably would’ve made it to the Championship Four,” Cindric said. “But a rookie’s never made it to the Round of 8, so that would’ve been a nice feather in my cap.”
As he’s settled into the offseason, Cindric has had time to reflect on his year. He’s pinpointed past shortcomings as well as opportunities for improvement. His first benchmark for 2023 is to stay consistent through each stage of the race.
“There were very few times where we’d have a good finish and get stage points. Something would happen, execution, this and that — stage points were our Achilles heel,” Cindric said.
Overall, his strong showing in the No. 2 Team Penske entry allowed him to make his mark on the 2022 season. Cindric will confidently move into next year as the defending Daytona 500 winner — and a rookie no more.
Watch a clip from SPEED SPORT’s interview with Cindric as he talks more about teammates Joey Logano and Ryan Blaney, as well as how he has found his own way at Team Penske.