Inside Team Penske: The Behind-the-Scenes Formula Driving Austin Cindric’s Next Big Leap in NASCAR

Austin Cindric has logged five seasons in the NASCAR Cup Series, collecting three wins and 27 top-10 finishes across 142 starts. For the second straight year, he punched his playoff ticket with a regular-season win, this time conquering Talladega. And now he rolls into Gateway on Sunday as the defending race winner.

In his four full-time campaigns, Cindric has reached the playoffs three times, finishing 12th as a rookie in 2022 and 11th last season. But this year, Cindric and crew chief Brian Wilson have their sights set higher: a championship run.

With Penske teammates Ryan Blaney and Joey Logano already etched as Cup champions, the No. 2 driver intends to complete the sweep.

Cindric and Wilson share a long history. They first worked together when Cindric was still a teenager, ultimately winning the 2020 Xfinity Series championship.

After spending time apart, Wilson with Wood Brothers Racing and Harrison Burton, Cindric paired with Jeremy Bullins on the No. 2 Ford, Penske reunited them in late 2023.

Now back together, they believe the bond is stronger than ever and primed for a deep postseason push. Wilson set the bar plainly: “For us, success would be a deeper playoff run…

“We’ve been scoring more stage points. We’ve been qualifying better. If we can take another step like that, that’d be incredible, and I think if we do, we can possibly contend for the championship.”

Cindric echoed the ambition, noting how close he has come to the Round of 8. He said, “I’ve been super-close to making it into the Round of 8. Obviously, that is the next step.

“I don’t think we’re in any better or worse position than I’ve been in before, just from a numbers standpoint and how we’ve run throughout the year. It’s definitely my best season to date…”

“But as far as what would be best to come out of all of it, I think making a Championship 4 in the Cup Series is a huge deal. It would be one of my biggest accomplishments; I think it rivals the Daytona 500.”

What sets this driver-crew chief duo apart is not just familiarity but genuine honesty. They have tough conversations behind closed doors, never in public or over the in-car radio, and both know when to draw the line.

Wilson acknowledged there have been some hard-nosed conversations this season, drilling into the finer details of the car, the adjustments, and the back-and-forth with engineers. Yet he emphasized that they never let those cracks show in public. Instead, those difficult talks have only toughened their bond.

He recalled an early moment in Cindric’s career when the young driver sat on the pit wall after a race, frustrated and head down. Wilson had pulled him aside and said, “No, come on. We’re not going to let our competitors see any weakness or frustration.

“If you want to do it, we’ll do it in the lounge. I don’t mind having those conversations, but you don’t show it publicly.’ He was probably 16 or 17 years old then.”

Since that day, the two have kept their communication open and honest, building a foundation that has carried them through the highs and lows.

Besides that, Cindric admitted the comfort of working with someone who knows him so well has been invaluable. That trust, forged through years of partnership, has ensured that when successes are harder to come by than they were in Xfinity, the struggles don’t fracture the relationship but instead tighten their resolve.

Wilson believes that Cindric, Blaney, and Logano’s 100th race saw a lot of similarities. And that’s why he feels that the foundation is there for Cindric, and they just need to keep improving and implementing.

Meanwhile, although Cindric admits to being as impatient as he was at the beginning of his career, he stated that Wilson helps him a lot, places a lot of trust in him, and does not micromanage.