“Not the maximum”: Austin Cindric shares his thoughts following podium finish in Rolex 24 Daytona

Austin Cindric initially thought that his first Daytona outing of the 2025 season was weeks away. But when Ben Barker broke his collarbone during a skiing accident, Ford summoned the Team Penske driver to pilot the No. 64 Multimatic Motorsports entry in the Rolex 24 at Daytona under the GTD Pro Class.

Cindric promptly started making preparations for what was going to be his sixth appearance in the 24-hour race. And it did pay off. The NASCAR Cup Series regular earned a podium finish in a substitute role.

However, for him, a P3 finish wasn’t the “maximum” by any means. Reflecting on the same during a post-race interview with Frontstretch’s Phil Allaway, the native of Columbus said,

“I’m definitely satisfied with the result, but for this car, I feel like third wasn’t quite the maximum.”(00:25)

That being said, Cindric’s achievement was indeed a worthy inclusion in Team Penske’s recent Daytona sweep. The North Carolina-based race team bagged its second straight win in the event through the hands of Felipe Nasr, driver of the No. 7 Porsche.

A fresh season lies ahead of Team Penske in the NASCAR Cup Series, which means that the organization has the chance to defend its series title for the fourth consecutive year. Just like last year, Joey Logano, Ryan Blaney, and Austin Cindric will spearhead Team Penske’s Cup campaign.

The first point-paying race of the season will be held at Daytona International Speedway, also home to the Rolex 24 Hours at Daytona. Fans can watch the famed 500-miler live on FOX or listen to radio updates on MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

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Austin Cindric opens up on how his early Daytona outing had affected his offseason

For every NASCAR full-timer out there, the offseason is the time to recharge and replenish before the upcoming season kicks off. But Austin Cindric, who drives the No. 2 Ford Mustang Dark Horse full-time for Team Penske, had to come out of his offseason prematurely.

Although his team started this year’s Rolex 24 from the pole, Cindric had just 10 days to prepare for it. During an older interview with News Break, he said,

“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. 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,” he added.

All’s well that ends well. Cindric came home from the racetrack smelling like champagne. Later, through a post on X, he said that it has been a “Great way to start the year.” The 26-year-old speedster will now compete for his career-second Daytona 500 win.