Austin Cindric has logged 5 seasons within the NASCAR Cup Sequence, accumulating three wins and 27 top-10 finishes throughout 142 begins. For the second straight 12 months, he punched his playoff ticket with a regular-season win, this time conquering Talladega. And now he rolls into Gateway on Sunday because the defending race winner.
In his 4 full-time campaigns, Cindric has reached the playoffs 3 times, ending twelfth as a rookie in 2022 and eleventh final season. However this 12 months, Cindric and crew chief Brian Wilson have their sights set larger: a championship run.
With Penske teammates Ryan Blaney and Joey Logano already etched as Cup champions, the No. 2 driver intends to finish the sweep.
Cindric and Wilson share a protracted historical past. They first labored collectively when Cindric was nonetheless a teen, in the end profitable the 2020 Xfinity Sequence championship.
After spending time aside, Wilson with Wooden Brothers Racing and Harrison Burton, Cindric paired with Jeremy Bullins on the No. 2 Ford, Penske reunited them in late 2023.
Now again collectively, they imagine the bond is stronger than ever and primed for a deep postseason push. Wilson set the bar plainly: “For us, success can be a deeper playoff run…
“We’ve been scoring extra stage factors. We’ve been qualifying higher. If we will take one other step like that, that’d be unimaginable, and I believe if we do, we will probably contend for the championship.”
Cindric echoed the ambition, noting how shut he has come to the Spherical of 8. He stated, “I’ve been super-close to creating it into the Spherical of 8. Clearly, that’s the subsequent step.
“I don’t assume we’re in any higher or worse place than I’ve been in earlier than, simply from a numbers standpoint and the way we’ve run all year long. It’s positively my greatest season thus far…”
“However so far as what can be greatest to return out of all of it, I believe making a Championship 4 within the Cup Sequence is a big deal. It might be considered one of my largest accomplishments; I believe it rivals the Daytona 500.”
