Austin Cindric makes  clear declaration about his relationship with teammates following his ‘late’ Rolex 24 inclusion

NASCAR Cup Series driver Austin Cindric will be seen racing at Daytona International Speedway weeks before the season-opening race kicks off on February 16. He will replace an injured Ben Barker behind the No. 64 Ford Mustang GT3 for Ford Multimatic Motorsports in the 2025 Rolex 24.

This year’s event will be held between January 23 and 25. Cindric will be joined by teammates and endurance racing veterans, Seb Priaulx and Mike Rockenfeller. Speaking of the unexpected opportunity and his relationship with his teammates, the 2022 Daytona 500 champion told journalist Bob Pockrass,

“Yeah, late add to the schedule and has definitely made January pretty busy for me, but nonetheless it’s a race that I’m super passionate about. It will be interesting to see kind of where we stack up, practice and qualifying and all that.”

Cindric, however, is no stranger to the nuances of this 24-hour game of endurance. According to reports, he has run it five times before.

“I really like my codrivers, it’s a team that I’ve worked with a lot. Obviously, a pretty close relationship with Ford Performance. So, it’s a perfect fit for me and given the circumstances coming in for, unfortunately, for a guy who was injured over the course of the holidays, you know, it’s been pretty fun,” Cindric added.

This cuts the offseason short for the 26-year-old native of Columbus, Ohio. All of this is set to happen ahead of his fourth full season in the Cup Series, where Cindric is a two-time winner.

Austin Cindric gives his take on NASCAR Clash at Bowman Gray Stadium

For the first time since 1971, the historic Bowman Gray Stadium (Winston-Salem, North Carolina) will host a Cup race, although not a point-paying one. Therefore, as Cindric said, this 200-lap event is going to be a “must-watch” for race fans.

Cindric has been to Bowman Gray as a spectator but never as a race car driver. Reflecting on his upcoming bid at the legendary “Madhouse”, he said during an interview from last week,

“It's one of one. It's a must-see if you're a race fan. It's like an Isle of Man experience.”

For Cindric, running the Clash at Bowman Gray could be a tad more challenging than running it at the LA Memorial Coliseum, the home of the Clash all these years. The biggest factor is that Bowman Gray is significantly narrower than the Coliseum.

“I think it'll feel smaller, honestly. The Coliseum is quite a bit wider,” Cindric said, comparing the two racetracks. “The track shape is the same as far as the outside distance. But I think it's going to be quite narrower.”

Fans can watch the race on February 12, 8 pm ET onwards on FOX. Radio updates will be available on MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.