Crew Penske is seeking to sharpen their aggressive edge getting into the 2026 season, and that features all three of their drivers. With that in thoughts, insiders are elevating questions on whether or not Austin Cindric can elevate his efficiency to match his teammates.
These issues have been entrance and heart on the newest episode of The Teardown. Jordan Bianchi highlighted what he described as an “alarming” statistic from Cindric’s 2025 marketing campaign.
“Do you wish to hear an alarming stat about Austin Cindric?” Bianchi requested. “He completed P25 or worse 15 instances final 12 months. Fifteen out of 36 races.”
In accordance with Bianchi, that quantity of poor finishes explains why Cindric’s common end ballooned to twenty.6, a quantity that merely doesn’t align with championship-level expectations at a powerhouse group like Penske. Whereas Cindric has typically completed sufficient to hover across the playoff cutline, the inconsistency has restricted his ceiling.
“There’s one thing lacking there,” Bianchi mentioned. “They’re not on the identical stage because the No. 22 or the No. 12.”
That inner comparability is difficult to disregard. Whereas Joey Logano and Ryan Blaney have routinely discovered methods to grind out stable outcomes, even on off days, Cindric’s season featured too many races that fully unraveled. Bianchi emphasised that it’s not nearly uncooked pace, however about avoiding disastrous outcomes that torpedo factors totals.
To Cindric’s credit score, Bianchi acknowledged that the previous Daytona 500 winner has proven a capability to be “adequate” usually sufficient to flirt with the highest 16 in factors. However in a Cup Sequence panorama shifting towards consistency below the returning Chase-style playoff format, that margin could also be thinner than ever.
“They’re going to must up their sport,” Bianchi mentioned. The priority is compounded by stress from outdoors the standard energy construction.
Drivers like Chris Buescher, Tyler Reddick and Bubba Wallace are considered as potential beneficiaries of the brand new system, able to capitalizing when others stumble. It stays to be seen if Cindric might be talked about inside that group.
Persevering with, Bianchi revealed he ranked Cindric fifteenth when projecting the playoff image, noting how fragile that place might be: “A few dangerous races and anyone heats up,” he mentioned. “It’s going to be a combat for him to get in.”
Alas, the trail ahead is evident however demanding for Cindric. He has to shut the hole to his teammates in 2026 and get rid of the avalanche of poor finishes.
It’s as much as him to show that his function at Penske comes with extra than simply playoff survival. In any other case, the questions on his long-term ceiling with the crew will solely develop louder in 2026.
