Austin Cindric’s Father Makes Swift Exit From Team Penske
What’s Happening? On Wednesday Morning, Team Penske announced the “departure” of several executives, including Tim Cindric, a long-time staple of the…
With the shocking announcement of Tim Cindric’s unceremonious departure from Team Penske, NASCAR fans are wondering if his absence could affect the career of his son, Austin Cindric, the driver of Team Penske’s iconic No. 2.
Team Penske statement and Roger Penske quote on Team Penske INDYCAR personnel changes: pic.twitter.com/EmzWY7YUnX
— Team Penske (@Team_Penske) May 21, 2025
Very rarely does NASCAR news come from INDYCAR, let alone the Indianapolis 500. However, this story found its way to the NASCAR news cycle in a roundabout way.
Tim Cindric, a longtime staple of Team Penske, has left the team following a dramatic cheating scandal in Indianapolis. Alongside the now-former President of Penske’s IndyCar efforts, two other executives have also left the team.
Of course, this has raised questions about the future of his son, Austin Cindric, who has had a rather disappointing time behind the wheel of Penske‘s most iconic NASCAR Cup Series ride. However, this isn’t the first time this conversation has happened this year.
On Jan. 31, Team Penske announced Cindric was stepping away from his day-to-day role as the President of their multifaceted racing pursuits while retaining his role in INDYCAR. However, today’s announcement is unlike the decision from January, which had the tone of a personal decision. This time, it seems as if there could be tension in his departure.
As Roger Penske stated Wednesday morning:
“Nothing is more important than the integrity of our sport and our race teams. We have had organizational failures during the last two years, and we had to make necessary changes. I apologize to our fans, our partners and our organization for letting them down.” — Roger Penske
So, is there any real reason to think this departure will affect Austin Cindric’s NASCAR career?
What’s Happening? On Wednesday Morning, Team Penske announced the “departure” of several executives, including Tim Cindric, a long-time staple of the…
Austin Cindric’s turnaround from NASCAR National Series rookie in 2017 to full-time Cup Series driver in 2022 was no easy feat. Despite his father’s role in the team, Cindric had to earn his spot at Team Penske; this included four full-time seasons in the NASCAR Xfinity series.
Over these four seasons, Cindric rose from winless to consistent to dominant. In his third season, 2020, Cindric had 26 top-10 finishes and walked out of Phoenix with the championship. While waiting for a Cup Series seat to open in 2022, he put together yet another championship-caliber season, ultimately falling short at Phoenix.
Though he made a splash immediately upon arrival, winning Penske’s second Daytona 500, Cindric quickly showed signs of regression. Despite a strong ability to race at superspeedways, Austin seemed to have lost his skill on the other tracks, including his acumen for road course racing.
These struggles are acceptable for any driver, especially when making the transition during the NASCAR Gen Seven era. However, Cindric yet again showed an overall statistical decrease in 2023, going with less in 2024.
Despite all these factors, and to the surprise of nobody, he reportedly received an extension at Team Penske in late 2023. At the time, this could have been viewed as Penske giving their former top prospect, the son of a longtime executive, a longer leash to figure things out at the Cup Series level, though some viewed it as NASCAR nepotism in action.
But after another disappointing yet slightly better 2024, most viewed this as a foolish decision. With the announcement of his father’s departure from the NASCAR side of the team in January, fans quickly claimed that, in their opinion, Cindric had no choice but to pick up the pace in 2025. So, how has the 26-year-old performed this season?
The young 2025 season has been up and down for the No. 2 team. After a strong showing in the first two races, both at superspeedway-style tracks, he had led 106 laps and scored one top-ten finish. However, at Circuit of the Americas, Cindric received a major penalty for intentionally wrecking Ty Dillon.
Putting this 50-point penalty behind him, Cindric has had quite the rebound season. He has shown improvement on intermediate tracks, including consistent qualifying speed, and was the first in-house Team Penske driver to win a race. A quick look at his stats through the first 12 races of the season shows a driver who is improving on his past seasons but still struggles for consistency on race day.
What’s Happening? NASCAR has fined and penalized Austin Cindric for intentionally wrecking Ty Dillon on the front stretch at Circuit of…
Factoring in his first three full-time seasons at the Cup Series level, and his partial 2025 season, is there any real need to worry for Austin Cindric?
As of right now, probably not.
Though some could point to his surface-level stats as a reason the No. 2 team is the worst car at Team Penske, a deeper look at the numbers shows that Cindric is by no means the team’s weak link.
For example, Cindric’s 17.3 average finish is the second-best of his career, just behind his rookie season, and his 11.3 average starting position is the best of his career and is the second-best among full-time Cup Series drivers. Cindric also has 226 laps led, good for fifth best in the Cup Series.
Cindric currently has the second-most top-ten finishes at Team Penske, the second-most laps led by anyone at Team Penske, the best average starting position of anyone at Team Penske, but the worst average finish of the three drivers in the Penske stable.
If you want to look at his 13th-place point position, the worst on the team, here’s an interesting thought. Had Cindric not had the 50-point penalty after COTA, he would not currently be 13th in points. Rather, he would be a career-best ninth, with 323 points, one spot above his teammate and reigning Cup Series champion, Joey Logano.
While it’s easy to deduce that this could save his spot at Penske in the future, the case could be made that he is the most unstable driver at the team.
His inconsistency on race day, combined with job security supplied by the championship legacies of Ryan Blaney and Logano, could be enough to make Cindric the odd man out at the three-car team should a major name hit the free agent market.
Right now, Austin Cindric’s future looks secure, but that by no means confirms he is in a safe spot. He will have to keep up his solid pace in 2025 if he wants to secure his long-term future with the organization.
What’s Happening? Like any other sport, Free Agency is a key part of NASCAR. However, driver-free agency is not covered like…
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