This is the third time NASCAR Cup Series driver Austin Cindric has qualified for the Playoffs. This year, he earned his in via a win at Talladega Superspeedway in April.
With time and experience comes confidence to do better. In his prior appearances, the No. 2 Team Penske Ford driver has made it to the Round of 12, finishing 12th in 2022 and 11th last season.
On a recent episode of the “Actions Detrimental” Podcast on Dirty Mo Media, host Denny Hamlin said Cindric won’t make it past the first Round of 16. The former NASCAR Xfinity Series and Daytona 500 Champion of Cindric has a different perspective.
Watch and See
“This is the first I’ve heard that,” Cindric said during the NASCAR Playoff Media Day on Wednesday. “I guess we’ll have to watch, won’t we?” (smiles)
“Execution is at a premium. I think the field is as competitive as it’s ever been. I don’t see anything but execution to determine who advances to the next rounds.
“There’s only one year (2023) I’ve been a driver in a national series and haven’t made the Playoffs. So, it feels normal to be here, in the format and what it requires of you. Yes, it’s in the Cup Series, it’s super competitive and there are different challenges.”
Each Round of 16 Track Has Challenges
The remaining 10 races have a mix of superspeedway, speedway, short tracks and one road course enroute to the finale at Phoenix Raceway. Cindric said the challenges come down to several factors.
“I think there are definitely some tracks that are challenging from a mechanical standpoint,” he said. “At Bristol, it’s rare we don’t see a car have some sort of a tire failure or mechanical failure with that obviously being the cutoff for the first round.
“For me, I would say New Hampshire is the biggest question mark of tracks. It’s one of those places I haven’t gone to and said, ‘Yep, I totally figured out that place out.’ It’s a weird place.
“Otherwise, I feel pretty good about the schedule.
The tracks of WWTR and Bristol follow Darlington in the Round of 16.
“I think St. Louis, most probably look at that as their best opportunity for a base hit. It’s not a very normal race track, but you can kind of look at it think, okay there’s Darlington and Bristol, this track isn’t as crazy.
“I think our group has our process really well dialed in, especially this year.”
I Want to be Invisible
Cindric doesn’t see his Team Penske crew as being an underdog this season. With this being their third post-season visit, he knows what they are capable of achieving.
However, the driver offered an interesting approach for the early portions of the cutoff format.
“I would love to be invisible for the first two rounds, because then I’ll make it the Round of 8,” Cindric said, smiling. “It’s what we’ve been waiting the whole year for, I’m excited to be at this point and go make it happen.
“Our team has done a great job the past few months to be prepared for these opportunities. Now is the fun part, where actually get to go do the job and not just talking about it. It feels like a lifetime ago we were in Daytona for the 500, or even at Bowman Gray.
“There’s 10 weeks left and I want to make these count. I want to have some positives for the off-season.”
Austin Cindric Likes his Playoff Chances, Despite what Denny says