“Austimidator is gone; Lost all his aura”: NASCAR fans disheartened by Austin Cindric’s sudden change on his 2025 stache look

NASCAR driver Austin Cindric recently shared his clean shaved face on social media and fans reacted with humor and dissatisfaction.

Cindric showed off his new mustache earlier this month for a new look for the new year. However, even after it became a big hit among fans, he shared a video of himself shaving it off on X (formerly Twitter).

"Did it for the memes and a new profile pic. The reviews were highly entertaining. Happy to have my face back," Austin Cindric wrote.

After the Team Penske driver came back to his normal look, fans did not hold back and their disappointment on X.

"Aw, the austimidator is gone :(," wrote one fan.

"Mans lost all his aura," another wrote.

"You looked more grown up with it," another fan wrote.

Others thought the mustache was here to stay for at least the new season.

"Shoulda rocked the stache the full season, my disappointment," wrote one fan.

"Thought the Stache Gang had another member full time dang," wrote another.

"Bobby Rahal is kinda sad though," replied yet another.

Cindric, 26, completed the last NASCAR Cup season with one win at Gateway and a career-high of 11th in the final points standing. He will return to the Cup Series in the No. 2 Ford Mustang Dark Horse with crew chief Brian Wilson this year for his fourth full-time season in the series.

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"24 Hours of Daytona has become a very meaningful event" - Austin Cindric on racing for Ford

Austin Cindric will replace Ben Barker, who is recovering from a collarbone injury, to race in the 2025 Rolex 24 at Daytona.

The 2022 Daytona 500 winner will join Mike Rockenfeller and Sebastian Priaulx in the No. 64 Ford Mustang GT3. Trackhouse Racing's Shane van Gisbergen will also race in the same GTD Pro class. Cindric, who has a best finish of fifth in the race, was excited for his sixth Daytona race.

"The 24 Hours of Daytona has become a very meaningful event for me and my career. This will be my sixth opportunity to run this race it’s one of the best opportunities I'll have had at taking one of those watches home," said Austin Cindric.

"In 2025, it'll be 10 years exactly since the first time I came down to Daytona to race for Multimatic and Ford in Michelin Pilot Challenge. That nervous 16-year-old would be happy to learn where things would be 10 years on," he added.

The 24 Hours of Daytona is run on the 3.56-mile (5.73 km) combined road course and is the first race of the season for the IMSA SportsCar Championship.