Austin Cindric’s Win At World Wide Technology Raceway Boosts Team Penske

Few people had Austin Cindric becoming Team Penske’s first regular season winner during the Nascar Cup Series season. However, the third-year driver, who has struggled to find consistency, took home the team’s first win of the season at World Wide Technology Raceway.

Cindric defeated teammate and reigning Cup Series champion Ryan Blaney, who was cruising to his first victory of 2024 until he ran out of fuel coming to the white flag. Blaney’s issue allowed Cindric to soar by and score his second career Cup win.

“I’m an internally motivated person,” Cindric said in his post-race press conference. “This is not fun if I’m not winning. As you can imagine, it’s not been very fun for a little while. That’s the standard I hold. I don’t want to find myself in a position to be okay with 10th and be okay. Hey, I finished in the top 10, that’s an awesome day. No, that’s 10th. That’s good, that’s a step forward, but it’s not where I want to be. It’s not the level in which I prepare. It’s not the level in which my team expects to perform.

“The opportunity that I have to be able to go win at the highest level, the intensity that I carry every day when I wake up, go to the race shop. I cut out every other distraction in my life good, bad or indifferent. If that makes me a horribly rounded person, which is does in a lot of ways, all I care about is what I do between the walls of a racetrack.”

The victory is Cindric’s first top 10 since the second race of the year at Atlanta Motor Speedway. While the No. 2 team has had plenty of qualifying speed with an average start of 11.9, he has not kept his car in contention throughout the season.

The triumph is a major win for Cindric, who is now locked into the Cup Series playoffs. Now, he can focus on building the consistency he has lacked, as well as the confidence that he can get the job done.

“It’s no secret, this is our first win as a company this season,” Cindric said. “So we still got to be able to go out there and put numbers on the board and continue to grow our program, grow our team to where we are ready for the opportunity. It’s not just an appearance. It’s a run in the playoffs. That is what’s possible.

“The season is long. The summer is long. A lot can happen, a lot can change. Pretty important next couple months for us to get ready for that.”

Cindric was elevated to the Cup Series when Brad Keselowski departed team Penske to become an owner/driver with RFK Racing. He kicked off his full-time Cup career with a win in the 2022 Daytona 500. The journey since, however, has not been easy.

While teammates Blaney and Joey Logano have succeeded over the past two seasons, Cindric has been far behind. The No. 2 team’s struggles forced Penske to remove crew chief Jeremy Bullins after the 2023 regular season and replace him with Brian Wilson, who won the 2020 Xfinity Series championship with Cindric.

“Kudos to him,” Cindric said of his crew chief. “I’m sure this means a lot to Brian. First win for Brian as a crew chief in the Cup Series. I gave him the checkered flag after the race. I’m just so happy we were able to get one of these together.”

The next Cup Series race is at Sonoma, where Cindric finished fifth in 2022.