NASCAR Cup Series rookie Austin Cindric arrived at Daytona International Speedway a no name, even to those who certainly should have known the 23-year-old driver.
Cindric left a Daytona 500 winner, with his name forever etched on the Harley J. Early trophy.
The engraver made sure to dot the ‘i’s’ — both of them — an otherwise common oversight during Cindric’s rise in the sport despite his family’s deep auto racing roots.
“They didn’t know how to spell my name,” Cindric said, noting an “e” accidentally slipped in. “It was spelled wrong on my garage when I showed up here. Not throwing any shade, but hopefully we can get that right next year.”
Bank on it.
Cindric’s sublime driving talent and captivating interview skills suggest plenty of staying power.
Amid the afterglow of Sunday’s narrow win over Bubba Wallace, Cindric’s wind-ranging post-race interview of around 45 minutes provided insight into the long journey of a driver with plenty of advantages coming up the ranks yet having to earn everything to reach Victory Lane for the first time at the sport’s top level.
Cindric’s victory over Wallace qualified.
Cindric’s .036 margin of victory was third closest in the race’s 64-year history, trailing only Denny Hamlin’s 2016 win by .010 and Kevin Harvick by .020 in 2007.
Leading with one lap remaining during the two-lap overtime period, Cindric knew it was going to be a fight to the finish.
“Just holding off the wolves, it’s the race that means everything to everybody,” Cindric said. “Once you come off of (Turn) 4, all gloves are off and everybody wants it.”
Drafting with Team Penske teammate Ryan Blaney to stay in front of the pack, Cindric knew kinship would soon be forsaken. When Blaney attempted a high pass, Cindric aggressively blocked him and Wallace darted to the apron before he ran out of track and time to finish runner-up again.
“This one sucks when you’re that close,” Wallace, who finished second in 2018, said. “But all-in-all, happy for our team, happy for our partners, and on to California.”
Cindric will be taking cloud nine to the West Coast for this week’s race in Fontana.
Doing post-race donuts, Cindric was so emotionally pumped he left his No. 2 Ford Mustang in shambles.
“I broke the car,” he said. “I broke the starter, and I blew out the right rear tire.”
The display gave him some time to reflect as he awaited a tow. Cindric, despite his youth, had plenty to consider.
Cindric was born in Mooresville, North Carolina, a half-hour drive from Charlotte’s NASCAR headquarters and home to many of the sport’s top drivers and teams. His father, Tim, is Team Penske president, while his grandfather had deep ties to Indy car racing; Jim Truman, father to Cindric’s mother, Megan, was team owner of Bobby Rahal’s 1986 winning Indianapolis 500 race team.
“There’s nothing more important to me than racing,” Cindric said. “There’s nothing more important to me than being part of this sport.”
Cindric’s love of racing has caused plenty of heartbreak.
A crash at Darlington Raceway two laps into an Xfinity Series race during Labor Day weekend 2018 left Cindric choked up during his subsequent interview at the infield care center.
“We’ve come a long way since then,” he recalled Sunday.
Cindric went on to win the 2020 Xfinity championship. But with a chance to defend his title last November in Phoenix he watched Daniel Hemrick just beat him to the finish line.
Cindric has replayed the moment on loop ever since.
“I’ve never been in so much pain that I wanted to vomit,” he said. “Never in my life have I been in so much pain, felt like I let so many people down. I explicitly remember waking up at 4 a.m. the next morning and just staring, like having a panic attack. It’s how much it means to me.
“There’s no way to describe that.”
A little more than three months later, Cindric awoke to the indescribable feeling 41 men since 1959 have experienced as Daytona 500 champion.
He doesn’t plan to let the dream end anytime soon.
“My dedication to what I do is pretty much all that matters to me, whether if it’s the people I get to do it with or the life I get to live,” Cindric said. “I know how fortunate I am to get to do this. I promise you, I don’t take it for granted. I’m surrounded by a lot of great people, and I want to do this for a long time.”
©2022 Orlando Sentinel. Visit orlandosentinel.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
