No team has thrived in the Playoffs format and the Next Gen era quite like Team Penske. Since 2022, the organization has swept all three Cup Series titles, two courtesy of Joey Logano and one from Ryan Blaney. Though Austin Cindric, the third Penske driver, hasn’t cracked the Championship 4 or claimed a title yet, his record speaks volumes.
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In four full-time Cup seasons, he’s reached the playoffs three times, finishing 12th and 11th in two of them. After winning the Talladega race in the regular season this year, he again made the postseason cut but fell short of advancing to the Round of 12.
Still, for a relatively new Cup driver, Cindric’s performances hold weight, winning the Daytona 500, bagging his second race at Gateway last year, and scoring another win this season is no small feat.
Given how well the format has played into Team Penske’s hands, its drivers naturally favor the Playoff system, though they insist their support goes beyond personal success. They credit it for injecting suspense into the playoffs, the kind that keeps fans guessing who’ll make the next cut.
Addressing the ongoing debate among fans and insiders calling for a return to a 36-race points format, Cindric offered a balanced take. “There’s no denying that the current playoff format creates excitement. You see what happened at the end of the round at the ROVAL, and I think at the end of the day, our on-track product is exciting. I’m not sure a points format for the championship is going to make or break the fanbase as far as if they’ll enjoy the racing or not.”
He continued, “I feel like we are hyperfocusing on something like this. But as far as what’s fair and deserving of a champion? No one’s going to agree, and that’s kind of where I’ve come to.”
To drive his point home, Cindric drew from personal experience, noting he’s seen both sides of the coin. He explained that under a full-season points system, he would have two Xfinity titles, yet without the Playoffs format, he’d have missed the Championship 4 in his rookie Truck Series year and would have likely made the Cup playoffs only twice instead of three times.
“So at the end of the day, I respectfully say that I don’t care. I don’t think our team necessarily cares, because we just want to go race, and whatever the format is, we would like to excel. That’s kind of the basis of it. But I don’t really have a strong opinion on what I think would be the best or what makes the most sense, because I think there are pros and cons either way,” he added.
For now, Cindric’s playoff run is in the rearview, while teammates Logano and Blaney sit in the bottom four of the Round of 8 standings with one race left before Phoenix. Last year, the duo had punched their tickets to the Championship 4 with wins at Las Vegas and Martinsville, respectively. Whether history repeats itself, with one advancing on victory and the other on points, remains anyone’s guess.
