Austin Cindric

Austin L. Cindric[1] (born September 2, 1998) is an American professional stock car racing driver. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, driving the No. 22 Ford Mustang for Team Penske, and part-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 33 Mustang for Penske.

Austin Cindric
Cindric at Daytona International Speedway in 2018
Born	Austin L. Cindric September 2, 1998 Columbus, Ohio
Height	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)
Weight	170 lb (77 kg)
Achievements	2020 NASCAR Xfinity Series champion 2020 NASCAR Xfinity Series regular season champion
NASCAR Cup Series career
Car no., team	No. 33 (Team Penske)
NASCAR Xfinity Series career
100 races run over 4 years
Car no., team	No. 22 (Team Penske)
2020 position	1st
Best finish	1st (2020)
First race	2017 Johnsonville 180 (Road America)
Last race	2020 Desert Diamond Casino West Valley 200 (Phoenix)
First win	2019 Zippo 200 at The Glen (Watkins Glen)
Last win	2020 Desert Diamond Casino West Valley 200 (Phoenix)
Wins Top tens Poles 8 63 7
NASCAR Camping World Truck Series career
29 races run over 3 years
2017 position	3rd
Best finish	3rd (2017)
First race	2015 Kroger 200 (Martinsville)
Last race	2017 Ford EcoBoost 200 (Homestead)
First win	2017 Chevrolet Silverado 250 (Mosport)
Wins Top tens Poles 1 16 1
Medal record Representing  United States Summer X Games 2014 Austin GRC Lites
Last updated on: November 7, 2020.

Prior to competing in stock cars, Cindric raced in a variety of disciplines including sports cars, the Road to Indy ladder, and the Global RallyCross Championship. His first NASCAR start came in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series in 2015, and he finished third in that series' standings in 2017 before moving up to the Xfinity Series. He won the 2020 NASCAR Xfinity Series championship.

Racing career

Early career

Cindric started his career in semi-professional legends car and Bandolero racing in North Carolina. After attending the Skip Barber Racing School to gain road racing experience, in 2013 and 2014 he raced in the U.S. F2000 National Championship. In 2013 he finished 17th in points driving for Andretti Autosport with a best finish of seventh in the season finale. In 2014 he switched teams to Pabst Racing Services, finishing 14th in points with a second place podium finish on the oval at Lucas Oil Raceway. He also competed in Historic Sports Car Racing, winning a race in a Porsche 944.[2]

Cindric's No. 19 Draw-Tite Ford F-150 at the Brad Keselowski Racing shop

In 2014, Cindric began competing in the Global RallyCross Championship Lites, winning the bronze medal in his debut at X Games Austin 2014.[3][4] In October, he made his IMSA Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge debut for Racers Edge Motorsports at Road Atlanta with David Levine as co-driver, finishing 17th.[2] During the year, he was named a member of the Porsche North American Junior Academy.[5] In 2015, at age 17, Cindric competed in the Bathurst 12 Hour, the youngest driver to compete in the event, driving the No. 63 Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG for Erebus Motorsport;[6] he finished 21st overall and seventh in his class.[7] He began competing full-time in the CTSCC in 2015, driving for Multimatic Motorsports with Jade Buford as co-driver.[2] In July, he won the CTSCC race at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park, becoming the youngest (age 17) winner in the series.[8]

In 2016, he drove the No. 6 McLaren for K-PAX Racing in the Pirelli World Challenge.[9]

Regional and Truck Series

In July 2015, Cindric made his ARCA Racing Series debut at the #ThisIsMySpeedway 150 at Iowa Speedway, driving the No. 99 for Cunningham Motorsports;[6] Cindric started and finished fourth in the race.[10] He made his NASCAR debut in the Camping World Truck Series, driving the No. 29 Ford F-150 for Brad Keselowski Racing at Martinsville as a substitute for Austin Theriault who was still recovering from his injury at Las Vegas.[11]

In addition to his Pirelli World Challenge schedule in 2016, he joined Martin-McClure Racing for two K&N Pro Series East events[9] and Brad Keselowski Racing in the No. 2 F-150 at Dover International Speedway.[12] His two K&N East starts resulted in victories at Virginia International Raceway and Watkins Glen International.[13] Later in the year, he recorded his first ARCA win at Kentucky Speedway.[14] That October, Cindric made his restrictor track debut at Talladega, finishing 20th. In November 2016, BKR announced Cindric would compete full-time in the Truck Series in 2017.[15]

During the 2017 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series season, he grabbed the pole for the season's lone road course race at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park. Although he led the most laps that day, differing strategies saw Cindric behind Kaz Grala on the last lap. Cindric, on newer tires, made contact with Grala, causing the No. 33 to spin. Cindric went on to win and claim a playoff berth in team Brad Keselowski Racing's final season.[16] Grala claimed that he got run over, but Cindric marginalized his maneuver by calling it a "last resort" and claiming that it was justified by the need for a playoff spot. The move drew widespread criticism from other drivers, including Justin Allgaier and Christopher Bell.[17] A week after the Mosport incident, Cindric made a Global Rallycross start in which he collided with Scott Speed coming out of a joker lap. That led to a verbal confrontation from Speed afterwards and again drew the ire of the NASCAR community on social media.[18]

Xfinity Series

Cindric's No. 22 Xfinity Series car at Road America

In August 2017, Cindric joined Team Penske's No. 22 car for the Xfinity Series race at Road America.[19]

In 2018, Cindric ran the full season in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, splitting time between three different Ford Mustangs: Penske's No. 12 and No. 22 Fords, and the No. 60 Ford of Roush Fenway Racing.[20] Cindric got his first pole at Iowa in the seasons 14th race, where the 22 car, which was the car he was driving in that race had a history of being fast, though he faded back to 11th in the race after finishing 2nd in stage 1. He was involved in a violent crash in the Daytona race, in which he barrel rolled twice in turn 2. In Cindric's last ride with the No. 60 Roush Fenway car at Darlington, he was turned by Ryan Truex exiting turn 4 on the third lap and spun out resulting in a 40th-place finish. The car, split between Cindric, Chase Briscoe, and Ty Majeski, attracted notoriety during the season for being involved in numerous accidents, ending the year with 28: 22 brought out a caution flag, six spins that did not produce a caution, and four wrecks during practice or qualifying.[21]

On November 8, 2018, Team Penske announced that Cindric would compete full-time in their No. 22 Ford Mustang in 2019. MoneyLion was the primary sponsor for 18 races, part of a multi-year deal with the team.[22]

In August 2019, Cindric scored his first career NXS wins with back-to-back road course victories at Watkins Glen and Mid-Ohio.[23][24] He finished the 2019 season sixth in points after finishing seventh at Homestead.[25]

Cindric scored his first oval victories in July 2020 at Kentucky Speedway, where he swept the weekend's Xfinity races Shady Rays 200 and Alsco 300.[26] He was the first driver to win national series races at the same track on two consecutive days since Richard Petty in 1971.[27] The victories began a seven-race stretch in which he won or finished second, including his third straight win at Texas Motor Speedway after Kyle Busch's disqualification and back-to-back road course victories at Road America and the Daytona road course.[28][29][30] He won the regular season championship with a tenth-place finish in the finale at Richmond, and entered the playoffs with five wins.[31] Cindric won at Phoenix to win the championship. Cindric also led the non-playoff points standings and led all drivers in top-fives and top-tens.[32]

Cup Series

During the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series' 2019 Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 weekend at Atlanta Motor Speedway, Cindric replaced Brad Keselowski for final practice as Keselowski was experiencing flu-like symptoms.[33] Cindric remained on standby for the race,[34] but Keselowski ran the full event.[35] In September, Cindric once again served as a practice substitute driver, this time for Michael McDowell at the Bank of America Roval 400 while McDowell was being treated for a kidney stone.[36]

In October 2020, Team Penske announced Cindric would begin racing in the Cup Series in 2021 on a part-time basis before moving to a full-time ride with Wood Brothers Racing in 2022.[37] As part of his limited 2021 schedule, he entered the Daytona 500 in a No. 33 car.[38]

Personal life

He is son of Team Penske president Tim Cindric and the grandson of former IndyCar team owner and Red Roof Inn founder Jim Trueman.[2] Cindric graduated from Cannon School on May 18, 2017, hours before he competed in the Truck Series race at the nearby Charlotte Motor Speedway.[39]

Racing record

American Open-Wheel racing results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position, races in italics indicate fastest race lap)

USF2000 National Championship results

Year	Entrant	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	Pos	Points
2013	Andretti Autosport	SEB 24	SEB 29	STP 23	STP 28	LOR 22	TOR 27	TOR 13	MDO 12	MDO 15	MDO 9	LAG 20	LAG 13	HOU 8	HOU 7	17th	77
2014	Pabst Racing Services	STP 11	STP 10	BAR 9	BAR 17	IMS 8	IMS 21	LOR 2	TOR 15	TOR 18	MDO 18	MDO 6	MDO 6	LAG 12	LAG 20	14th	125

NASCAR

(key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)

Cup Series

NASCAR Cup Series results
Year	Team	No.	Make	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31	32	33	34	35	36	NCSC	Pts	Ref
2021	Team Penske	33	Ford	DAY	DAY	HOM	LVS	PHO	ATL	BRI	MAR	RCH	TAL	KAN	DAR	DOV	COA	CLT	SON	NSH	POC	POC	ROA	ATL	NHA	GLN	IND	MCH	DAY	DAR	RCH	BRI	LVS	TAL	CLT	TEX	KAN	MAR	PHO		0^1

Daytona 500

Year	Team	Manufacturer	Start	Finish
2021	Team Penske	Ford

Xfinity Series

NASCAR Xfinity Series results
Year	Team	No.	Make	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31	32	33	NXSC	Pts	Ref
2017	Team Penske	22	Ford	DAY	ATL	LVS	PHO	CAL	TEX	BRI	RCH	TAL	CLT	DOV	POC	MCH	IOW	DAY	KEN	NHA	IND	IOW	GLN	MOH	BRI	ROA 16	DAR	RCH	CHI	KEN	DOV	CLT	KAN	TEX	PHO	HOM	104th	0^1	[40]
2018	Roush Fenway Racing	60	Ford	DAY 40		LVS 34	PHO 16	CAL 28								MCH 23			DAY 33		NHA 17		GLN 13				DAR 40										8th	2231	[41]
	Team Penske	12	Ford		ATL 7				TEX 9					CLT 16	POC 4			CHI 14		KEN 10					BRI 14			IND 34
		22								BRI 12	RCH 5	TAL 30	DOV 9				IOW 11					IOW 18		MOH 2*		ROA 37			LVS 9	RCH 13	CLT 3	DOV 8	KAN 39	TEX 3	PHO 4	HOM 5
2019				DAY 5	ATL 10	LVS 22	PHO 5	CAL 6	TEX 11	BRI 6	RCH 2	TAL 5	DOV 6	CLT 9	POC 7	MCH 11	IOW 10	CHI 5	DAY 4	KEN 14	NHA 12	IOW 37	GLN 1	MOH 1*	BRI 5	ROA 2	DAR 10	IND 27	LVS 12	RCH 2	CLT 3	DOV 3	KAN 25	TEX 3	PHO 6	HOM 7	6th	2294	[42]
2020				DAY 25	LVS 2	CAL 3	PHO 8	DAR 4	CLT 3	BRI 36	ATL 16*	HOM 2	HOM 10	TAL 4	POC 29	IND 5	KEN 1	KEN 1*	TEX 1	KAN 2*	ROA 1*	DAY 1	DOV 2	DOV 3	DAY 8	DAR 12	RCH 4	RCH 10	BRI 3	LVS 6	TAL 34	CLT 6	KAN 28	TEX 4	MAR 10	PHO 1	1st	4040	[43]
2021				DAY	DAY	HOM	LVS	PHO	ATL	MAR	TAL	DAR	DOV	COA	CLT	MOH	TEX	NSH	POC	ROA	ATL	NHA	GLN	IND	MCH	DAY	DAR	RCH	BRI	LVS	TAL	CLT	TEX	KAN	MAR	PHO

Camping World Truck Series

NASCAR Camping World Truck Series results
Year	Team	No.	Make	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	NCWTC	Pts	Ref
2015	Brad Keselowski Racing	29	Ford	DAY	ATL	MAR	KAN	CLT	DOV	TEX	GTW	IOW	KEN	ELD	POC	MCH	BRI	MSP	CHI	NHA	LVS	TAL	MAR 25	TEX	PHO 14	HOM	51st	49	[44]
2016		2		DAY	ATL	MAR	KAN	DOV DNQ	CLT	TEX	IOW	GTW	KEN	ELD	POC	BRI 18	MCH	MSP 23	CHI	NHA	LVS	TAL 20	MAR	TEX	PHO 15	HOM	36th	56	[45]
2017		19		DAY 27	ATL 21	MAR 21	KAN 10	CLT 13	DOV 5	TEX 25	GTW 11	IOW 8	KEN 4	ELD 10	POC 7	MCH 5	BRI 9	MSP 1*	CHI 15	NHA 8	LVS 4	TAL 5	MAR 10	TEX 2*	PHO 9	HOM 5	3rd	4032	[46]

K&N Pro Series East

NASCAR K&N Pro Series East results
Year	Team	No.	Make	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	NKNPSEC	Pts	Ref
2016	Martin-McClure Racing	39	Toyota	NSM	MOB	GRE	BRI	VIR 1*	DOM	STA	COL	NHA	IOW	GLN 1**	GRE	NJM	DOV	33rd	96	[13]

^* Season still in progress
¹ Ineligible for series points

ARCA Racing Series

(key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)

ARCA Racing Series results
Year	Team	No.	Make	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	ARSC	Pts	Ref
2015	Team Penske	99	Ford	DAY	MOB	NSH	SLM	TAL	TOL	NJE	POC	MCH	CHI	WIN	IOW 4	IRP	POC	BLN	ISF	DSF	SLM	KEN 17	KAN	67th	365	[47]
2016	Cunningham Motorsports			DAY	NSH	SLM	TAL	TOL	NJE	POC 2	MCH	MAD	WIN	IOW	IRP	POC	BLN	ISF	DSF	SLM	CHI 6	KEN 1*	KAN 2	30th	895	[48]
2017				DAY	NSH	SLM	TAL	TOL	ELK	POC	MCH	MAD	IOW	IRP 23	POC	WIN	ISF	ROA 12*	DSF	SLM	CHI	KEN	KAN	65th	305	[49]

Complete Global Rallycross Championship results

(key)

Supercar

Year	Entrant	Car	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	GRC	Points
2017	Bryan Herta Rallysport	Ford Fiesta ST	MEM	LOU	THO1	THO2	OTT1	OTT2	INDY	AC1	AC2	SEA1 8	SEA2 4	LA	11th	102

GRC Lites

Year	Entrant	Car	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	Lites	Points
2015	Olsbergs MSE	Lites Ford Fiesta	FTA 1	DAY1 9	DAY2 1	MCAS 5	DET1 3	DET2 3	DC 8	LA1 2	LA2 1	BAR1 2	BAR2 1	LV 10	2nd	473

Complete WeatherTech SportsCar Championship results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year	Team	Class	Make	Engine	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	Rank	Points
2017	3GT Racing	GTD	Lexus RC F GT3	Lexus 5.0 L V8	DAY 14	SEB 13	LBH	AUS	BEL	WGL 6	MOS	LIM	ELK	VIR	LGA	ATL 8	31st	85
2018	JDC-Miller MotorSports	P	Oreca 07	Gibson GK428 4.2 L V8	DAY 6	SEB	LBH	MOH	BEL	WGL	MOS	ELK	LGA	ATL			52nd	25
2019	AIM Vasser Sullivan	GTD	Lexus RC F GT3	Lexus 5.0 L V8	DAY 5	SEB	MOH	BEL	WGL	MOS	LIM	ELK	VIR	LGA	ATL		49th	26

References

1. "Team Event Rosters – Las Vegas Motor Speedway – Saturday, September 26, 2020" (PDF). NASCAR. Retrieved October 23, 2020.
2. "Cindric Enjoying Full Season in Multimatic Ford Mustang". International Motor Sports Association. Archived from the original on May 10, 2015. Retrieved September 29, 2015.
3. "RallyCross Lites". X Games. Retrieved September 29, 2015.
4. "AUSTIN CINDRIC". Global RallyCross Championship. Archived from the original on September 12, 2015. Retrieved September 29, 2015.
5. "Austin Cindric". International Motor Sports Association. Retrieved September 29, 2015.
6. "16-year-old Austin Cindric to make ARCA debut at Iowa". Autoweek. July 14, 2015. Retrieved September 29, 2015.
7. "2015 Liqui Moly Bathurst 12 Hour". Racing-Reference. Retrieved September 29, 2015.
8. "Austin Cindric, son of Team Penske president, sets CTSC mark". Associated Press. July 11, 2015. Archived from the original on July 16, 2015. Retrieved September 29, 2015.
9. "Austin Cindric Joins Martin-McClure Racing". Catchfence. April 26, 2016. Retrieved April 26, 2016.
10. "2015 #ThisIsMySpeedway 150". Racing-Reference. Retrieved September 29, 2015.
11. Malsher, David (October 31, 2015). "Tim Cindric on son Austin's NASCAR debut – "He's in at the deep end"". motorsport.com. Retrieved October 31, 2015.
12. "BKR Announces Third Truck Driver Lineup For Dover and Charlotte Races". Brad Keselowski Racing. April 28, 2016. Retrieved April 28, 2016.
13. "Austin Cindric – 2016 NASCAR K&N Pro Series East Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved March 9, 2019.
14. Reiman, Samuel (September 23, 2016). "Austin Cindric wins wreck-marred ARCA race at Kentucky". Foxsports.com. Retrieved September 25, 2016.
15. "CINDRIC TO DRIVE FULL TIME FOR BRAD KESELOWSKI RACING IN '17". NASCAR. November 11, 2016. Retrieved January 12, 2017.
16. "Late bumps lifts Austin Cindric to Truck win at MoSport | NASCAR.com". Official Site Of NASCAR. 2017-09-03. Retrieved 2017-09-13.
17. "Tracking the Trucks: Austin Cindric Uses Dump & Run to Win in Canada". www.frontstretch.com. Retrieved 2017-09-13.
18. "Video: Austin Cindric spins Scott Speed in Red Bull GRC heat race". Autoweek. Retrieved 2017-09-13.
19. Utter, Jim (August 19, 2017). "Austin Cindric to make Xfinity Series debut next weekend at Road America". Motorsport.com. Retrieved August 25, 2017.
20. Bonkowski, Jerry (20 November 2017). "Roush Fenway Racing to field three-driver Xfinity development team in 2018". NBC Sports. Retrieved November 24, 2017.
21. "Roush-Fenway's 60 Car Ends Toughest Year Ever". Racing-Reference. Retrieved February 28, 2019.
22. "Team Penske tabs Austin Cindric full time in No. 22 Ford with MoneyLion partnership". NASCAR.com. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. November 8, 2018. Retrieved February 28, 2019.
23. Spencer, Reid (August 3, 2019). "Cindric scores first career Xfinity Series win at Watkins Glen". NASCAR.com. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 4, 2019.
24. McFadin, Daniel (August 10, 2019). "Austin Cindric wins Xfinity Series race at Mid-Ohio". NBC Sports. Retrieved August 22, 2019.
25. Spencer, Reid (November 16, 2019). "Reddick wins Xfinity race at Miami, locks up second championship". NASCAR.com. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved November 17, 2019.
26. "Austin Cindric gets first NASCAR Xfinity win on an oval at Kentucky Speedway". ESPN.com. ESPN. Associated Press. July 9, 2020. Retrieved July 10, 2020.
27. Cain, Holly (July 10, 2020). "Cindric sweeps Xfinity races at Kentucky". NASCAR. Retrieved July 10, 2020.
28. Cain, Holly (July 18, 2020). "Austin Cindric clinches third straight Xfinity win after Kyle Busch's post-race DQ at Texas". NASCAR. Retrieved September 12, 2020.
29. McFadin, Daniel (August 8, 2020). "Austin Cindric wins at Road America". NBC Sports. Retrieved September 12, 2020.
30. Long, Dustin (August 15, 2020). "Austin Cindric triumphs on Daytona Xfinity road course". NBC Sports. Retrieved September 12, 2020.
31. "Austin Cindric clinches Xfinity Series Regular Season Championship". NASCAR. September 12, 2020. Retrieved September 12, 2020.
32. https://www.racing-reference.info/yeardet/2020/B>
33. "Austin Cindric to relieve Keselowski in Atlanta Cup practice". Motorsport.com. February 23, 2019. Retrieved February 28, 2019.
34. "Austin Cindric on standby for ailing Keselowski at Atlanta". NASCAR.com. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. February 23, 2019. Retrieved February 24, 2019.
35. Fryer, Jenna (February 25, 2019). "NASCAR: Brad Keselowski won't be stopped by illness, wins at Atlanta". The Chronicle. Associated Press. Retrieved February 28, 2019.
36. "NASCAR: McDowell misses Charlotte practice with stomach woes". The Washington Post. AP. September 27, 2019. Retrieved September 27, 2019.
37. Utter, Jim (October 8, 2020). "-DiBenedetto gets one-year Wood Brothers extension, Cindric joins for 2022". Autosport. Retrieved January 21, 2021.
38. Utter, Jim (January 20, 2021). "Xfinity champion Austin Cindric to attempt Daytona 500". Motorsport.com. Motorsport Network. Retrieved January 21, 2021.
39. Wilhelm, Chase (May 18, 2017). "Austin Cindric to trade in firesuit for graduation gown before Truck race at Charlotte". Foxsports.com. Retrieved May 19, 2017.
40. "Austin Cindric – 2017 NASCAR Xfinity Series Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved March 9, 2019.
41. "Austin Cindric – 2018 NASCAR Xfinity Series Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved March 9, 2019.
42. "Austin Cindric – 2019 NASCAR Xfinity Series Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved March 9, 2019.
43. "Austin Cindric – 2020 NASCAR Xfinity Series Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved November 7, 2020.
44. "Austin Cindric – 2015 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved March 9, 2019.
45. "Austin Cindric – 2016 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved March 9, 2019.
46. "Austin Cindric – 2017 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved March 9, 2019.
47. "Austin Cindric – 2015 ARCA Racing Series Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved March 9, 2019.
48. "Austin Cindric – 2016 ARCA Racing Series Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved March 9, 2019.
49. "Austin Cindric – 2017 ARCA Racing Series Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved March 9, 2019.

External links

• Official website
• Austin Cindric driver statistics at Racing-Reference