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Austin Cindric was among the 2022 Rookie Class of NASCAR who finished in the top five on Sunday in the Verizon 200 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course. He kicked off the race in P2 and eventually took home the runners-up position.
Cindric crossed third, while Ross Chastain crossed second, but he was sent to the back of the lead lap to cut Turn 1 on the last restart. Cindric hoped Chastain would hold off Tyler Reddick in a vulnerable position, which could have given him space to outduel both of them, but they ended up racing clean.
He was also hoping that maybe one of the two drivers could lose the wheel because he knew there was a chance Ross Chastain could have been slapped with a penalty for missing Turn 1. For Austin Cindric, a win is important since there are no trophies for runners-up like in IndyCar.
During the post-race interview, the NASCAR Cup Series rookie described his final restart and how he survived, saying:
“That was nuts. Oh my gosh. I hope the race fans enjoyed that. Obviously, those green-white-checkered it just cautions out the window and everyone has fenders and bumpers to use, I guess. A lot to take in, a lot to handle. I’m glad we survived it all. It’s probably not the day I wanted with the Discount Tire Ford Mustang, but to come away with a good finish we’ll take it.”
Cindric is pleased with second place, although he would rather kiss the bricks to celebrate his second Cup victory. Instead, he'll seek to capitalize on a great scoring day to earn a clean winning record at the end of the season.
Austin Cindric’s performance in the 2022 NASCAR Cup Series season
Austin Cindric won the Daytona 500 at the start of the season, giving him a direct ticket to the 2022 playoffs. He is currently ranked 12th in the drivers’ standings with 530 points. With 14 winners so far this season, only two no-win drivers will be squeezed in, in case NASCAR doesn't record a new winner in the next few races.
Since winning the Daytona 500, he has only had four other top five finishes, which shows he is headed in the right direction as a rookie driver. Apart from the top five finishes, he has collected eight top 10 finishes in his first full-time debut.
This is something even some drivers who have been in the game for a while haven’t achieved. With a playoff spot, Cindric is in the perfect position to fight for the championship, some of which have not been witnessed for decades.
With NASCAR moving to Michigan this weekend, Cindric will look forward to setting the bar higher. As a rookie driver, he's thirsty for wins, so we expect to see more of what we saw in Indianapolis.
