While pretty much every other NASCAR Cup driver’s season will end with the Championship 4 race at Phoenix on November 2, Austin Cindric’s season will be extended for a few more weeks and by about 8,500 miles due southwest.
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The Team Penske driver will fly across the Pacific to race in the Adelaide 500, the final race of the Australian Supercars Series.
In a sense, Cindric will be doing the reverse of another driver in the Team Penske corral, IndyCar driver Scott McLaughlin, who previously drove Supercars before coming to the U.S. to try his hand at American-style open-wheel racing.
“It’s been about 10 years since I’ve been down to Australia to go race,” Cindric said Saturday during media availability at World Wide Technology Raceway.
“There’s a certain point in time in my career that it (racing in Supercars) was a legitimate consideration to go race full time. Whether it be Super Two (the minor leagues) or something else.
“Obviously, they’ve done a great job with that series in producing great drivers. So as a younger driver, it was something I really looked at pretty heavily.
“I’ve always kind of kept a pulse on it. I did some racing down there in the past, with the Bathurst 12 Hour and I have a lot of great relationships there. It’s really cool to see it all come full circle.”
Not surprisingly, Cindric likely wouldn’t be racing in Australia if it wasn’t for the fact he’ll be driving for the same manufacturer that he does in NASCAR: Ford.
He added, “Obviously, I wouldn’t be able to do it without the help and connection from Ford, with all the guys at Tickford (the Supercars team he’ll be racing for overseas) and kind of just piecing things together to see if it is all possible.”
Cindric hopes Adelaide isn’t a ‘one and done’
In a sense, by racing in Australia, Cindric will be giving himself either a Thanksgiving or early Christmas gift. “All in all, it’s going to be a super fun adventure,” he continued.
“It’s something that I look at as a great opportunity to hopefully do more races than just the one. And I want to do well and represent myself as well as possible.
“But it’s a tricky course and an incredibly competitive series. So looking to see what I learn about myself and how well I stack up against a pretty stout grid.”
But before he hops on an international flight, Cindric has more pressing business at hand, starting with Sunday’s second race of the NASCAR Cup playoffs near St. Louis. He comes into the race currently ranked ninth in the playoffs and a strong showing would get him closer to being assured of advancing to the Round of 12 in two weeks.
