BRISTOL, Tenn. – Team Penske and Austin Cindric’s perseverance and a little luck in Saturday night’s Bass Pro Shops Night Race was the determining factors that helped the Daytona 500 winner survive the opening Round of 16 and move forward in his first appearance in the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs.
Cindric had a fast No. 2 Freightliner Ford Mustang Saturday night, but Cindric suffered a flat tire early in the race and struggled throughout the 500 laps to fully recover.
However, a race full of attrition which included woes for Cindric’s teammates Ryan Blaney and Joey Logano and others allowed Cindric to steadily move up the running order throughout the race.
Wheeling a battered No. 2 Team Penske Ford Mustang around the track, Cindric finished 20th, seven laps down, but more importantly two points ahead of Kyle Busch in the Playoff standings allowing him to secure one of the 12 spots in the next round of the Playoffs which features races at Texas Motor Speedway, Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway and the Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway ROVAL.
“For a while I was just trying as hard as I can and as they fell off like flies just trying not to force any issues, try not to force any more right-front tire failures,” said Cindric after the race.
“From there, I think I was tied with the 18 for 100 laps, but just one hell of a night. I still don’t think this place loves me back, but it probably showed me a little mercy tonight, so I’ll take it and run with it.”
Despite his frustrating night, Cindric admitted he didn’t want to be made aware of where he sat in the Playoff standings until he had an opportunity to make it through the next round.
“I would say I got told at the beginning of stage three how close it was or how close it wasn’t,” Cindric added. “I was probably about 16 out at the beginning of Stage 3 and then we were five out, four out, tied with the 18 (Kyle Busch) and that wave around really helped me be able to conserve my car and get a lap ahead of the 77 (Landon Cassill) and the 43 (Erik jones), so just a perfect storm in some ways, but Bristol showed us a little mercy tonight.”
All three Team Penske cars experienced problems in Thunder Valley on Saturday night and with the Playoff tension set to double in drama and nerves over the next three weeks, Cindric has already thought of his plan to advance to the Round of 8.
“Not a very impressive night for Team Penske, so I’m just glad all three of us made it through to the next round,” Cindric mentioned. “Certainly, a tense evening.
“We’ll be on offense for the next three races just like we were to start Darlington this round and have some fun with it.”
Heading to Texas Motor Speedway for the Autotrader EchoPark Automotive 500 on Sept. 25, Cindric is last among the Playoff drivers in 12th. He is seven points behind the cutline held by his Team Penske teammate Ryan Blaney and 34 points in the arrears to points leader Chase Elliott.
Follow Chris Knight on Twitter @Knighter01.
