Austin Cindric sends a clear message after a 'missed opportunity' as the playoff pressure mounts

Playoff pressure has blown up for Austin Cindric after a rough outing at New Hampshire Motor Speedway last Sunday. Cindric has also not had a top-10 finish since his fifth-place finish at Richmond in August. He made a narrow escape at Bristol Night race, but could be eliminated without a strong finish at Kansas or Charlotte Roval.

During a media session on Wednesday (September 24) at Kansas Speedway, the Team Penske No. 2 Ford driver reflected on his performance in the NASCAR Cup Series Round of 12 opener and explained how his qualifying results hurt his race.

"I definitely view it as a missed opportunity in a few ways. Obviously, having great runs from all of the cars that came out of that shop, I think, one, it starts in qualifying. I think a lot of that was on me, just not getting the lap," Austin Cindric said.

Cindric started the short track race from 22nd and moved up by the end of the first stage to finish in 18th. But his No. 12 Ford suffered minor nose damage from a restart incident, and he struggled in Stage 3, ultimately finishing 17th. He missed stage points, and the result dropped him into a 19-point deficit for the next round with two races remaining.

"It was a pretty challenging stage 3 to come back up through the field after doing some repairs for that. I definitely see it as a missed opportunity to start the round off well and that's what we're gonna need to do," Cindric added.

Cindric will have to outperform Ross Chastain, who is just above him below the cutline and in need of a solid result at Kansas Speedway this weekend. 23XI Racing's Tyler Reddick and Bubba Wallace could also be in a must-win situation after Kansas.

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Austin Cindric looking towards 'best weeks of the year' at Kansas and Charlotte

Austin Cindric is hoping to fare well at Kansas and the Roval. However, the 27-year-old has no top-10 finishes at the former.

Cindric has had limited success at the 1.5-mile oval, with an average finish of 23.6. His best result there came in 2021, when he finished 11th after starting 22nd. Cindric also finished in 11th place at the Kansas spring race earlier this season.

"I'm not getting ahead of my skis here at all, but I think from our standpoint you have to look at it realistically and think that we're gonna have to go out and have two of our best weeks of the year to go make this happen on points, but I think those are two tracks that we're capable of doing that," Austin Cindric said.

Last year, Cindric finished 34th at the Kansas playoff race after starting 17th. He struggled with car handling and track conditions.