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Austin Cindric: 2025 NASCAR Driver Profile

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | Last updated Jan 28, 2025 3:59 PM ET

[Editor’s note: The following article is from Athlon Sports’ 2025 Racing Annual magazine. Order your copy online today, or buy one at retail racks and newsstands nationwide.]

Not every driver is in the running for a NASCAR title year-in and year-out. With at least 36 cars in the field each week, it’s inevitable some drivers are destined to run mid-pack. They don’t all fit the same mold, though.

Exhibit A: Austin Cindric.

With a career average Cup finish of 19.5, Cindric is a solid mid-pack driver. He comes with a highly competitive, energetic personality and, with an average of just four DNFs a year, brings the car home in one piece. It’s a serviceable resume with a few nice bullet points, including a 2022 Daytona 500 win.

Problem is, with his stats you’d think Cindric was driving somewhere in Ford’s middle tier, like Front Row Motorsports or now-defunct Stewart-Haas Racing. Instead, he’s part of a Team Penske operation that’s won three straight Cup championships during the time he’s driven there. Teammates Joey Logano and Ryan Blaney have 15 wins during that time span compared to Cindric’s two.

Austin Cindric 2024 stats

Starts	Wins	Top 5s	Top 10s	Poles	DNF
36	1	4	7	0	4

It makes you wonder whether the 26-year-old driver would even be featured in these rankings if teammate Blaney didn’t run out of fuel down the stretch at World Wide Technology Raceway in June. That boost of good fortune handed a surprise victory to Cindric, a major upset considering his best non-superspeedway oval finish entering the race was a sixth place.

Cindric was asked then if he felt his results left him in jeopardy of losing his ride – despite the fact that father Tim remains President and heir apparent to the Penske powerhouse.

“Not good enough to race and drive at Team Penske,” Cindric said. “I know that. No one has to tell me that. There’s no meeting that has to be set in place. I take that very personally.”

To his credit, Cindric’s always known the stakes. But he couldn’t harness momentum from that win, going four months before another top-5 finish (a fourth at the Charlotte Roval which led to his Round of 12 elimination).

The road courses do tend to be Cindric’s saving grace, where he has an extensive resume prior to his Cup debut, including Global RallyCross and IMSA. In Cup competition, Cindric’s career road/street course average of 14.5 is five spots better than on any other type of track.

Austin Cindric career stats

Years	Starts	Wins	Top 5s	Top 10s	Poles
4	115	2	10	22	1

Outside of that, mid-pack just isn’t good enough. Cindric’s 19.9-place average finish last season is five positions worse than Alex Bowman, who spent 2024 in the rumor mill despite a contract extension through 2026 at Hendrick Motorsports. Top-tier rides are hard to come by in the sport and the family connection can only help for so long.

If Cindric can bring his oval skills up to speed this season, he’ll be a playoff threat. If not? He needs to get with Cole Custer about how to regroup after a NASCAR Xfinity Series demotion.

The Austin Cindric file

Car: No. 2 Ford

Team: Team Penske

Crew chief: Brian Wilson

Years with current team: 5

Best points finish: 11 (2024)

Hometown: Mooresville, North Carolina

Born: Sept. 2, 1998

Scouting report

Anonymous takes from drivers, crew chiefs, and assorted industry insiders:

Everyone likes Austin Cindric and even respects him but his lineage isn’t lost on the industry.

“I wonder what the perception would be if his name was ‘Austin Smith,”’ asks a team owner. “He’s made the playoffs twice and has a Daytona 500 win – he’s made it. But he’s also very clearly the third guy at Penske and his dad runs the place. I wish for him that he was ‘Austin Smith.’”

There are others who believe that he is at peace with being the son of Team Penske president, Tim. A broadcaster says, “I just feel like he’s already looking ahead to whatever is next for him. He is his dad made over.”

One beat writer says: “The next two years will really determine who he becomes in his 30s. He’s over the 100-race threshold that largely defines who you are at this level.”

“Cindric is hit or miss,” says one driver. “He could end up being really, really good or really, really bad. He can do it, though. He’s won an Xfinity title.”

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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