At 26 years of age, Austin Cindric is far from retiring but it’s never too early to start thinking about it. A lot of race car drivers take up management roles in the sport post-retirement. Some even lead their race teams or become high-ranking executives in established teams. That’s what Austin’s father Tim Cindric does as the President of Penske Racing. However, he is not too keen on doing the same.
Advertisement
“I don’t think I’d want to do what my dad does because that’s a tough job, and he’s also really, really good at it,” he said in a recent interview with The Athletic. “Do I think I could do well in some form of a management role? Yeah, maybe. But do I want to go out and start my own race team? No, because there’s no better race team than Penske Racing, in my opinion.”
Cindric is at an age during which a race car driver mainly focuses on the racing side of things, and not what goes on in the higher levels of management. Drivers who have gone on to start their teams or take up executive roles have done so in the latter stages of their careers. In that regard, there is still a lot of time for the driver of the No. 2 car to weigh his options and take a call.
He might even have it in his genes since his father is so good in an executive role. Tim Cindric is a legend at Penske Racing. He has taken charge of the team’s IndyCar operation for 400 races and delivered 139 race wins and three championship victories. He’s done well for himself in NASCAR as well. Team Penske has won the last two Cup Series championships.
Penske racer explains dynamic with father after Cup Series promotion
They may be father and son, but Austin and Tim Cindric hardly ever worked together before 2022 despite being on the same team. As President, the 56-year-old has to give more importance to the Cup Series than the other divisions in NASCAR. So when his son was racing in the Xfinity Series, he simply trusted Austin and his crew to get results, which they did consistently.
Things are different in the Cup Series. There’s a lot more interaction between the two regarding work. While that was a change from the dynamic they were both used to, their relationship is in a good place now with a lot of love and mutual respect.
“He’s my dad, so I love the guy,” Cindric said. “Other than that it’s maybe not the strangest it’s ever been. In Xfinity, he could kind of avoid me and just let me and my team do our thing. He’d you know kind of ignore that obviously his role within the team. But he is in all of our meetings now.”
Things had been tough for Cindric over the last few years as he struggled to get to victory lane. This year, he finally won his first Cup Series race since the 2022 Daytona 500. It must have put a smile on his father’s face who had a big role to play in him becoming a race car driver.
