Austin Cindric realizes he still has a race this weekend at Kansas Speedway before next week’s Round of 12 finale on the Charlotte Roval road course.
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The Roval is on Cindric’s mind because if he doesn’t do well at Kansas, the only way he’ll advance to the Round of 8 is to win at Charlotte. Of course, if the 2022 Daytona 500 winner can take the checkered flag at Kansas on Sunday, he won’t have to worry about the Roval, as he’ll have already locked himself into the Round of 8.
Even so, the Team Penske driver readily admitted that his road course exploits in the NASCAR Cup Series have not lived up to his expectations.
“I’d say no, and I think that’s probably an obvious answer,” Cindric said per Speedway Media, earlier this week during media availability before heading to Kansas.
“This year has been exceptionally challenging. I think the biggest change I could put on that is we have a tire that we’ve gone to at the start of the year that we’ve integrated into all road courses and, at the end of the day, I’ve struggled to figure out what’s best for my car and what’s best for making lap time.”
Cindric has had a rough time this season, performance-wise
Cindric has one win thus far this season (Talladega), two top fives, and five top 10 finishes. That’s it.
The 27-year-old’s road course record this season is even worse: 25th at Austin, 18th at Mexico City, 27th at Chicago, 30th at Sonoma, and 16th at Watkins Glen, all of which are not anywhere good enough for him if he thinks he can rally on the Roval.
“I’d say my last two events that we did at Sonoma and Watkins Glen were probably our two best, which 15th isn’t what we shoot for here,” Cindric said. “I definitely look forward to Charlotte and once again trying to adapt what we know from our last couple years to the Roval, where we had a great playoff race there last year – (but) not good enough to win.”
“(Road course racing has) actually probably been one of the weakest areas for me this year, and who would have thought saying that a couple of years ago. It ebbs and flows. It shows how competitive the series is, and nothing is guaranteed. You’ve got to keep evolving.”
Cindric finished fourth at the Roval last year, his best road course performance to date. Unfortunately, he finished 34th at Kansas and 32nd at Talladega, the two rounds of 12 races before the finale at the Roval, and he was ultimately eliminated from advancing to the Round of 8.
“We were in a must-win last year, but it’s gonna have to be a good event for us regardless, but it has been frustrating,” Cindric added.
Cindric just barely made it through this year’s Round of 16, finishing 12th at Darlington, 19th at Gateway, and 30th at Bristol. He and his No. 2 Team Penske Discount Tire Ford Mustang Dark Horse come into Kansas in 10th place, 19 points below the final transfer spot with two races remaining.
Is it time to be desperate yet?
Well, Cindric is not feeling desperate yet.
“Should I be desperate?” he asked. Obviously, we have to go out and have two really good days, and just as likely that the others do the same or get into trouble. Kansas and the Charlotte road course have been two very challenging racetracks as far as getting into wrecks or getting behind, so I think there’s a lot of opportunity for us, and (minus-) 19 is totally not out of the question, especially in two race events.
“I’m not getting ahead of my skis here at all, but I think from our standpoint, you have to look at it realistically and think that we’re gonna have to go out and have two of our best weeks of the year to go make this happen on points, but I think those are two tracks that we’re capable of doing that. I’m excited for this weekend. It pumps me up. We’ve got nothing to lose and everything to go out and gain. I think that’s kind of where my head’s at.”
Does Cindric believe things could suddenly turn positive at Kansas and continue through at Charlotte, sending him on into the Round of 8?
“I don’t think any race has really gone the way we wanted it to so far,” he said. “I can sit here and list off all the reasons why, and a lot of ways, I feel like that’s how our season has gone this year. If I looked at my season from the perspective of a top 10 means I’m good or not, I’d go crazy because we’ve had a lot more than just that, but we have to go out and put it up there.”
“We need to get results and results equal points, whether that’s in the stages or at the end of the races. My pit crew has probably been doing the best job they have all year and been super consistent and super reliable through the playoffs. I’d say that’s probably one of my overwhelming positives. Past that, we’ve done what we needed to, but what we did in the last round is not going to be enough to get us through, and I also don’t feel like we’ve been able to achieve our maximum in those races, either.
“I think that’s really where my head’s at and where my focus is because I do feel like if we achieve the maximum of what we’re capable of as a group, or much closer to it, I feel like we’ll find ourselves in a very favorable position to continue fighting for a championship.”
