Quiet consistency has put Austin Cindric in contention for a Chase spot

You'd be forgiven for forgetting that Team Penske driver Austin Cindric is on the NASCAR Cup Series grid on occasion. The 27-year-old has been far from flashy in his fifth Cup Series campaign. 

Yet on the strength of 13 top 15 finishes and 98 stage points, Cindric finds himself holding on to the 16th and final Chase spot with four races left in the Cup Series regular season. 

Cindric only has four top 10s this season and a lone top five at Darlington. He's only eclipsed the 40-point mark in a race once all season at Martinsville, where he finished eighth. 

What Cindric has done to put himself in Chase contention, however, is mitigate the bad days. He hasn't finished top 10 since a ninth-place run at Watkins Glen on May 10, but has seven top-15 finishes in the last eight races. Over the last five events, he's finished 13th twice and 14th thrice. 

Speed lacking for Austin Cindric

There hasn't been much speed to speak of in the No. 2 camp, but Cindric's steady season has him on pace for his best average finish since his rookie campaign in 2022. Until Joey Logano's recent tear that saw him win at North Wilkesboro and finish third at Indianapolis, Cindric was higher than Logano in the standings and was one of only three Ford drivers, alongside Ryan Blaney and Chris Buescher, to be in the provisional Chase field. 

Going into the Aug. 9 race at Iowa, Cindric finds himself as the last man in the Chase, 38 points above another Ford driver in RFK Racing's Ryan Preece. 

With four races remaining until the postseason, Cindric's advantage over Preece could easily vanish. But if the 2022 Daytona 500 champion continues to stay the course and find ways to finish inside the top 15, he could very well find himself back in the NASCAR Cup Series postseason for the fourth time in five years.