Team Penske and IndyCar were rocked by Wednesday’s bombshell announcement when team owner Roger Penske fired his top three IndyCar leaders for alleged cheating — including longtime head of the company, Tim Cindric.
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It was the second time in the last 15 months that Team Penske’s IndyCar program was caught doing something egregious and out of character from what had been the cleanest company in the sport for decades.
I find it very hard to believe that after 26 years with the organization, including a lengthy tenure as the No. 1 over all tentacles of the Penske racing operation (including IndyCar, NASCAR, Sports Car, etc.), that Cindric would suddenly turn dirty. I’ve known him casually for several years and I’ve known Roger Penske for more than 40 years.
To me, there was no cleaner guy in racing than Cindric. Wait, scratch that, he was the second cleanest guy in racing to me; Roger was first.
Be that as it may, Wednesday’s mass firings will have a long-term effect on the Team Penske IndyCar program. But it will also have a direct impact on the NASCAR program as well.
Suddenly, the NASCAR Cup triumvirate of Joey Logano, Ryan Blaney and Austin Cindric — Tim’s son — just got very awkward.
And that dynamic could very likely lead to Austin eventually departing Team Penske — perhaps sooner rather than later. I mean, if your father was in charge of one of the biggest organizations and then was accused of something so appalling that there was no alternative but for Penske to fire the elder Cindric, would you as his son (or daughter) want to stick around in the same place that sacked his father after nearly three decades?
Think about it: how would Austin react whenever he’d go to NASCAR races and his father would have to avoid hanging around the Team Penske hauler like the plague, essentially being persona non grata for the rest of his life?
What if Austin were to win a Cup race with his father in attendance? Would that not be one of the most awkward victory celebrations ever? And would Penske bar his former employee from sharing the celebration with his son?
Honestly, and while IndyCar and Team Penske are just starting to feel the true fallout of Wednesday’s firing, is it too early to start wondering about how long Austin is going to keep driving the No. 2 Ford in NASCAR?
While Austin signed a contract extension in 2023, the actual duration is unclear. He could be signed through 2026 or 2027 — or this could potentially be his last year, given that most NASCAR contracts are three years in length.
And even if Austin still has another year or two or more to go on his current deal, we all know that contracts can be bought out or drivers released early from their deals for any number of reasons.
And I expect that to happen with Austin by the end of this season. While several media reports claim his status within the Penske camp is secure for now, I think it’s just the opposite. I think we will be seeing the beginning of the end of Austin’s tenure with Team Penske starting with Sunday’s Coca-Cola 600 in Charlotte.
I could be totally wrong and, if so, then I would applaud both Austin and the organization for sticking together. But I just don’t see it as being realistic, for now.
Could the Penske upheaval potentially lead to a NASCAR rarity?
And that leads me to something that I’ve not seen reported anywhere else just yet. But as crazy as it may sound, we could see a rarity potentially happening in NASCAR Cup brewing on the horizon: a trade!
That’s right, when was the last time you saw or heard about teams trading drivers? I can’t recall any.
But in light of Austin Cindric’s situation, I would not be surprised if we see a trade proposed between Team Penske and… drumroll please… Richard Childress Racing. The younger Cindric for the younger Busch brother, Kyle that is, straight up.
Here’s my thinking: With his current deal with RCR set to expire at the end of this season, and the fact Busch still has yet to sign a contract extension, it’s questionable whether he will return to the RCR fold next year.
If he does part ways with RCR, Busch would obviously be looking for at least one more contract with a high-profile and successful organization to potentially end his Cup career with.
What better team to do so than with Team Penske, which has won the last three Cup championships (two by Logano and one by Blaney)? Sure, if this was 15 years ago and Kyle was still the edgy, cocky guy he was back then, there’s no way Roger Penske would ever have brought Busch onboard.
A more mature Kyle is a more marketable Kyle
But Kyle is married now, has two kids, has dramatically scaled back his temper and smart mouth answers to the media, not to mention be not as critical with other drivers. In other words, he has grown up and matured.
I think the time couldn’t be better for 88-year-old Roger Penske to decide bringing on a two-time Cup champion and the winningest driver in overall NASCAR competition with 232 wins in combined Cup, Xfinity and Truck series competition, would be a good thing for his organization.
And if Busch were to come into the Penske fold, that leaves his seat available at Richard Childress Racing. Ergo, a trade of Busch for Cindric.
With Wednesday’s firing of Austin’s father, Tim, and two other top Team Penske IndyCar leaders, this is the second major departure from the overall Penske organization since the start of the year. Back in February, longtime IndyCar president Jay Frye left the Penske fold. While it may have come as a surprise to many, insiders weren’t surprised. And Frye landed well on his feet in early April, becoming president of Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing.
Sure, cheating accusations can hang around an individual’s character and future like a noose. But mark my word, Tim Cindric is going to land on his feet soon. Sure, he’s carrying a scarlet letter of cheater, but in the whole big picture, Cindric is too good of a man, too good of an administrator and too good of an IndyCar strategist not to find something good rather quickly.
