The season has solely simply begun and Austin Cindric has discovered himself a tough behavior of being in the correct place on the flawed time. Sunday, the No. 2 Staff Penske Ford driver was main with simply 10 laps to go at Atlanta. Every week earlier, he was main the sphere to the white flag on the Daytona 500. However in each instances, he was swallowed out by a wreck he did not begin, and was denied a good shot at victory.
“It was unlucky. As a crew, as Fords, we had the very best vehicles right here this weekend,” mentioned Cindric after being launched from the infield care heart. “We put ourselves into place to win the race and bought used up and into the fence and didn’t win the race. It’s a disgrace. Two weeks in a row I really feel like we’ve had the automotive to beat and haven’t performed it. A method or one other it’s disappointing.”
At Daytona, Cindric was main the within lane when Cole Custer pinched the leaders, amassing Cindric and ending his probability of turning into a two-time winner of the Daytona 500. This weekend, he was able to probably win but once more, when Kyle Larson made a daring transfer up the within, and began pushing up regardless of not being utterly clear. Whereas Larson snatched the lead away, Cindric was moved up into the skin wall earlier than crashing into the within wall — ending any probability he had on the win or an honest end.
“Yeah, just a bit little bit of a lazy type of up the observe,” mentioned Larson when requested in regards to the incident. “He bought there just a little bit faster than I believed he would. I believed he was going to choose me up on the exit at [Turn] two. Yeah, that was most likely my fault. I have not seen a replay, however I am positive that was my fault.”
It is particularly heart-wrenching for Cindric, who solely has two wins since turning into a full-time Cup driver in 2022. And but, he is led 106 laps between the primary two races of the 2025 season regardless of having little to point out for it. By comparability, he solely led 256 laps complete all of final yr.
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Nick DeGroot
NASCAR Cup
Kyle Larson
Austin Cindric
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