DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Austin Cindric will start on the front row for Sunday 67th running of the Daytona 500 at Daytona Int’l Speedway.
He’ll be the first of eight previous winners of the Great American Race in the field.
Cindric starts second in his No. 2 Team Penske Ford as the Blue Oval swept four of the top five qualifying positions behind Toyota-mounted pole winner Chase Briscoe.
“I am really proud of the team and the work they have put into this race car,” Cindric said. “We are going to have a front row start in the Daytona 500 and, to share it with one of my closest friends, is pretty cool. Great to have a fast Discount Tire Ford Mustang.
“Obviously, we’ve had speed at these types of race tracks but this is a pretty big one to check off for the weekend, for the pit selection and everything that that means. We will lock in and make sure we do the right things tomorrow night and get a good idea of what our race car is like. For us it is expected with Roush-Yates. Everybody at Ford Performance does an awesome job at these types of race tracks and we want to try and continue that throughout the weekend.”
Cindric earned Daytona’s Harley J. Earl trophy after winning the Great American Race as a NASCAR Cup Series rookie in 2022. He knows he has a lot of work to do to win the race a second time.
“I think both of them would mean a whole lot different on a few different levels, but we’ve got a few more days and a lot more work to get there by the end of the day Sunday,” Briscoe said.
Cindric is optimistic entering the new season.
“I’m super energized. I’ve never really felt this excited about a race season ever in my career, just from the standpoint I know who I’m working with very well,” Cindric said Wednesday. “I feel very confident that we have all the right pieces to go out and be a successful race team and myself as a driver. It’s my fourth year in the series and it ties how long I’ve ever stayed in a racing series in my career, so I feel very confident in what I need out of my car, how to race in the series, the guys that I’m racing.
“I don’t want to use the word comfort because I feel like that is tied with complacency in this industry, but I feel very comfortable with where I’m at and what it’s gonna take to be the best and I know what those things are and I feel confident we can do those things.”
