DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Tim Cindric remembers when Austin Cindric was nine years old, he came up to him with a startling announcement.
“When he was 9, I came home one day and as I walked into the garage, he said, ‘Dad, I would like to sit down with you and Mom and have a life-changing discussion,’” Tim recalled. “I said, ‘You want to do what?’
“He said, ‘No, seriously, I would like to talk to you guys. I’ve been thinking about it a really long time and I would like to become a race car driver.’
“That was the last thing from my mind.”
Tim Cindric was the president of Team Penske and understood the challenges of getting a youngster involved in racing. He connected his son with Mike Wallace and Ken Ragan to help him get started in Bandoleros and Legends car racing at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
Cindric showed talent, but his father wasn’t convinced. Tim wanted to see if his son really did have driving talent at the next level. He contacted Johnny O’Connell at the Bondurant Driving School. He wanted O’Connell to give him his frank and honest opinion.
“It was never my dream for him to become a race driver. It was to give him a flash of reality,” Tim admitted. “I told Johnny I want you to tell him where he really stands and what his chances are to become a professional race driver.”
After the first day, O’Connell told Tim Cindric that Austin had the best natural driving ability of anyone he had ever worked with at the Bondurant School. He recommended the next steps for Austin Cindric.
He was able to get a ride at Andretti Autosport in USF2000.
Each step of the way, Austin was impressive. In 2015 at the age of 17, he was the youngest driver ever to compete in Bathurst 12 Hour Race.
“I couldn’t believe how challenging that track was, and I needed Austin to drive at Bathurst in order for me to understand his talent,” Cindric said. “He did really well and is still the youngest to ever drive in that race.
“From that point, I didn’t worry about him anymore.”
Austin rewarded his father’s faith by winning Sunday’s 64th Daytona 500 in his eighth NASCAR Cup Series start. It was a thrilling race that ended with the nose of Cindric’s No. 2 Ford edging the nose of Bubba Wallace’s Toyota by about 3 feet, or .036 seconds.
Cindric became the ninth driver to score his first NASCAR Cup Series victory in the Daytona 500 joining Tiny Lund in 1963, Mario Andretti in 1967, Pete Hamilton in 1970, Derrike Cope in 1990, Sterling Marlin in 1994, Michael Waltrip in 2001, Trevor Bayne in 2011 and Michael McDowell in 2021.
It was Team Penske’s third Daytona 500 win. Ryan Newman won the race in 2008 and Joey Logano in 2015.
Young Cindric often dreamed of winning the Indianapolis 500. In fact, he still dreams about doing that one day.
For now, he is off to a great start as a NASCAR Cup Series rookie who is already a Daytona 500 winner.
After he won the race and did his celebratory burnout in front of the grandstand, Cindric laid on his car in a moment of reflection, looking up to the grandstands.
“Well, I broke the car,” he said. “I broke the starter, and I blew out the right rear tire. Don’t think that’s anything bad, but I was kind of stranded, so it was definitely a good time to collect my thoughts and just appreciate the moment there for a minute to be able to do this in front of a sellout crowd, to be able to do this in general, to be able to be part of this race, having a shot.
“It’s a racer’s dream, and so many people get close to it, and I feel very grateful and very proud to be able to pull it off.”
Cindric is a good kid. In many ways, the 23-year-old doesn’t stray too far from his parents. Well-mannered and polite, he walked through the garage area before the Daytona 500 with his father, Tim, and his mother Megan, but still took time to say hello before he won the biggest race of his career.
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