Austin Cindric: No. 2 Team in 'Better Place Than We've Ever Been'

Since the NASCAR Cup Series migrated to the NextGen platform in 2022, there has only been one organization that has hoisted the Bill France Cup on the championship stage at Phoenix Raceway. This season, Team Penske has its three main drivers, plus Josh Berry, fighting for a NASCAR Cup Series championship.

In the last three seasons, both Ryan Blaney (2023) and Joey Logano (2022 and 2024) have been named NASCAR Cup Series champions, both coming into their own in the final 10 races of the season and advancing to Phoenix, a racetrack the organization has traditionally had a stranglehold on.

However, Team Penske's third driver, Austin Cindric, isn't necessarily considered by many to be a threat for the NASCAR Cup Series championship, having only recorded a pair of top-five results entering the post-season. But, is Cindric being underestimated?

"I guess I haven't considered that, because I guess I don't care," Cindric responded. "It doesn't really change the results, or I don't think it changes how I'd be raced, either. I think the way the season has gone I don't think there are any clear favorites. I think the playoff grid is as tight as it has ever been."

In the mind of the Mooresville, North Carolina-native, just being in the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs means he's done his job properly -- considering that throughout his NASCAR National Series career, he's only missed the post-season once (Cup, 2023).

"I said it last year and I'll say it again this year: making the playoffs is my only goal for the season and anything after that is a bonus," Cindric explained. "Compared to maybe years past, I don't even know but maybe in 2022 this probably applied, as well, but the criteria for making the playoffs is winning a race or being one of the 16 best in the series. Well, we're top-16 in points and we run a race, so I definitely feel as though we have everything to play for."

To Cindric, because of how difficult it is to maneuver through the rounds in this current post-season format, just making it to the Championship 4 in the NASCAR Cup Series would be "one of, if not the, biggest accomplishment" in his racing career.

"I don't think it's completely out of the picture to think that we could go race for a championship this year. Do I think I'm a favorite? No," Cindric said. "It's not like I'm dominating races, but do I think that I have the tools necessary to be able to go do that? Do I think my team is in a better place than we've ever been on the No. 2 car? Absolutely."

"I feel like in the last two months we've really been able to get into a rhythm and bring some really fast race cars, and we've been able to execute well, as well, so we'll put our best foot forward and see what we get, but I think we've earned a right to make it this far. At that point, I don't feel like there's a favorite in the field, so you might as well just embrace the chaos and all the competitiveness and see what we get out of it."

The 26-year-old driver enters the 10-race NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs seeded 10th of 16 drivers, with only a two-point advantage over the cutline heading into Sunday's Cook Out Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway -- a racetrack where, in seven starts, he's recorded a best finish of 11th.

"Every year about a third of the playoff grid hits a wall there figuratively and kind of stunts the first round," Cindric said about Darlington. "I would expect some of that. It's a challenging track. It's a difficult place to maintain your focus because the race is so long and so challenging. It challenges every part of the team, from more pit stops than any other race to the lines that you have to run to how much the car is challenged throughout the race and in all ways possible. It's a demanding place for pretty much everyone."

The good news for Cindric? World Wide Technology Raceway is the second race in the opening round of the NASCAR Playoffs, a racetrack where the Team Penske driver is the defending winner. If the No. 2 Ford Mustang team can squeak through the second round, some solid tracks in the remaining rounds could help the former Xfinity Series champion advance to the Championship 4.

Coverage of the Cook Out Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway will take place on Sunday, August 31 at 6:00 pm ET on USA Network, Motor Racing Network, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.