“His daddy runs the team”: NASCAR fans react after Austin Cindric gives verdict on being potentially replaced at Team Penske

Last Sunday, Austin Cindric bagged his second career win and clinched a playoff berth for the second time in three years. In a recent interview with veteran journalist Bob Pockrass, the Team Penske driver revealed what keeps him motivated and fans were quick to react to Cindric's answer.

It was Cindric's first victory since he won the 2022 Daytona 500. Not only did he give Team Penske its first win of the season, but also recorded the third triumph for the Ford Mustang Dark Horse in the last three weeks.

However, it came after a winless stint spanning over two years. In an interview with Cindric, Pockrass was curious about what kept the driver motivated, especially in light of the Stewart-Haas Racing drivers losing their jobs. The veteran journalist asked,

"Do you feel anything like, man, I gotta win or else somebody else is gonna take my ride?"

Considering himself internally motivated, Cindric said there was no fun in racing without a win. He mentioned that a mere 10th place finish in a race was not enough for him, as his team expected a lot better than that.

"I'm a very internally motivated person. This isn't fun if I'm not winning. As you can imagine, it's not been very fun for a little while," Cindric laughed. "That's the standard I hold and I don't wanna find myself in a position to be okay with 10th."

"It's not the level in which my team expects to perform. That's not good enough to race and drive at Team Penske. And I know that. I take that very personally; that the opportunities that I have...to be able to go with the highest level and it's the intensity that I carry every day when I wake up and go to the race shop," he added.

Pockrass captioned the interview, saying,

"Austin Cindric on what motivates him and with additional drivers now free agents after the SHR announcement, whether that has had any impact on him as far as urgency on if he's racing for his ride."

Fans reacted to that, with one stating that Austin Cindric's father, Tim Cindric, runs the team.

"Cindric racing for his ride? His Daddy runs the team. That’s funny."

Another fan reacted to it by saying,

"Nepotism Bob... another Austin Dillon."

However, fans were divided on the first comment. Some thought that being the son of Team Penske's president had nothing to do with Austin Cindric's stint at Team Penske, whereas others felt differently.

"Custer's dad ran SHR and he got fired from Cup so...," commented a fan.

"Different situations. Just like Gibbs is never getting fired at JGR and they pushed out a two time champ for him," was the reply by the author of the original comment.

Another fan added, "His daddy runs the indycar team and has barely any involvement in the nascar side."

To which, the response was, "You are telling me at Penske the guy running the Indy Car team has no pull? Were you born last night? 🤣"

"What I’m telling you is that legally no, he doesn’t have that much pull. It’s called nepotism. Cindric is an xfinity champ. 2x cup winner and did it quicker than Byron, and Elliott and Larson," said the fan.

After last week's race, Austin Cindric currently sits 18th in the NASCAR Cup Series point standings with 305 points to his name. His next race is the Toyota Save Mart 350 at Sonoma Raceway on June 10.

"Kudos to him" - Austin Cindric gives it to his crew chief after snapping an 85-race winless streak

Austin Cindric brought an end to his 85-race winless drought that started way back in 2022. Hinting at the element of unpredictability in the sport, Cindric said,

"I’m so glad I was able to get a win with Brian (Wilson) as my crew chief in the Cup Series. You never know when it’s gonna happen again. I just drove my butt off and hoped for the best."

Nevertheless, Cindric felt his win was a big one for his team, especially his crew chief.

"Kudos to him,” Cindric exclaimed speaking of his crew chief, as reported by Forbes. “I’m sure this means a lot to Brian. First win for Brian as a crew chief in the Cup Series. I gave him the checkered flag after the race. I’m just so happy we were able to get one of these together."

Wilson replaced Jeremy Bullins as the crew chief of the No.2 team at the end of the last season. This win was Wilson's first in the Cup Series as a crew chief. However, Wilson and Cindric won the 2020 NASCAR Xfinity Series championship together.

With that, Austin Cindric joins Brad Keselowski as the second Ford driver in this year's playoffs. However, Cindric was heartbroken for his teammate Ryan Blaney, who ran out of fuel and fell back to 24th despite leading the closing laps of the race.