How Austin Cindric’s Career-Best NASCAR Efforts Came Undone on Pit Road at Atlanta

Austin Cindric was in terrific form at the Atlanta Motor Speedway on Sunday, leading a career-high 92 laps and it seemed at one point, the #2 would take the victory. The Team Penske star was the runner-up in the first stage and won the second. However, a poor pit stop in the final stage cost him the chance to qualify for the round of 12 of the playoffs.

His good work came undone on lap 163 when he pitted from the lead. The crew faced an issue with the left front tire, and that extra time dropped him to outside the top 20. But the Penske cars were strong this weekend and the #2 fought back, finishing the race in P10. Cindric finds himself inside the top 12 bubble, 24 points to the good. It’s a good place to be points-wise, but the driver was not entirely happy after the race.

“I feel like we had a car capable of winning the race today. I wish we obviously had that pit stop back going into stage three, but overall, really happy with the pace and drivability of the car and the points we gained,” he said in a media interaction.

The Cup Series will travel to Watkins Glen next weekend, a track where the #2 driver has never won. Road courses are always tricky and with reports of NASCAR getting a different tire compound, things are quite unpredictable. Cindric would not have had to worry about all that if he had run the perfect race at Atlanta. 

Can Team Penske repeat last season’s late dominance?

It might have been a disappointing day for the #2 team but Team Penske was in a celebratory mood. All three playoff drivers finished inside the top 10 with Joey Logano winning the race and Ryan Blaney coming P3. This will give the team a lot of confidence going into the next couple of races in this round.

The team sprung into life during the playoffs last year and won the championship on the back of an ordinary regular season.

“Incredible execution from the team. When it’s playoff time, it’s our time. As I said, we got to always get the level up when it comes playoff time. They gave me a great Mustang. She was fast all day,” the two-time Cup Series champion said after the race.

Last year, Logano was eliminated in the round of 16. This time, he got his redemption by winning and making it through to the best way possible.