Austin Cindric had an eventful journey on his way to the Round of 12. He entered the cutoff race on the hot seat, holding the 12th and final transfer spot with just 11 points between himself and his closest challenger.
However, he made the most of a great qualifying effort, scoring five stage points and running in the front half of the field for most of the race.
However, with about 45 laps to go, ominous smoke began to trail the No. 2 Team Penske Ford. Cindric’s car was on fire, due to excess tire rubber building up inside the right front fender. The same issue ended Josh Berry’s race — and his playoff hopes — earlier in the night.
Cindric dove to pit road and the team scrambled to put out the flames, as smoke from the blaze triggered by the fire extinguisher filled the cockpit. He said in later post-race interviews that he’s likely never inhaled so much smoke in his life before tonight.
Austin Cindric, Team Penske Ford
Photo by: Jeffrey Vest / Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
However, the car could race and Cindric soldiered on, returning to the race several laps down. He went on to finish 30th, but that was enough as he still had ten points over Alex Bowman, who needed to win the race. It was a rare sight after the checkered flag, as Penske crew members and Cindric congratulated each other after a 30th-place finish.
“Yeah, it’s not ideal,” said Cindric as he reflected on the late-race drama. “I had the fire there, and definitely had a lot of smoke, but huge credit to all my guys behind the wall, over the wall, to be prepared for a situation like that and to only lose five laps.
“We had a great car tonight, and definitely with the long run speed and being able to keep tires on the car, I’m not sure I would have been able to tell you that was going to be the game to start the day, but just proud of the effort, and well earned Sunday off for the 2 car.
“Looking forward to hitting the Round of 12 hard. I want to keep advancing through. This team is capable of a lot.”
Asked how he managed it all behind the wall, Cindric had these humorous words to share: “Try and keep my head above water and hold my breath when I’m under it, so moving on.”
As for what he can do in the next round, he laughed and said: “Ask me Monday, man.”Â
Penske is undefeated in the Next Gen era of the playoffs, winning the last three titles with either Joey Logano or Ryan Blaney. Cindric has never placed higher than 11th in the championship standings, which happened last year.
He can breathe for now, but Cindric will have to fight hard again next weekend as he is below the cutline in the newly reset standings for the Round of 12.
In this article
Be the first to know and subscribe for real-time news email updates on these topics
