Days after firing his father, Roger Penske makes definitive statement on Austin Cindric’s NASCAR future 

Roger Penske made a definitive statement on Austin Cindric’s NASCAR future just days after firing his father. The owner of Team Penske fired Austin's father Tim Cindric, a longtime president of the IndyCar team, along with two other top executives following a cheating scandal that shook the racing world a few days ago.

The scandal involved Penske's team making illegal modifications to two cars during Indianapolis 500 qualifying. Dismissing three top team officials was described by Penske as necessary to uphold the integrity of the organisation and the sport as a whole. Despite his father's forceful exit, Austin Cindric’s position as a NASCAR Cup Series full-time driver for Team Penske seems secure.

NASCAR journalist Bob Pockrass shared his interaction with Penske on X on May 31. According to Pockrass' post, Penske said:

"Let me say, as far as Austin Cindric is concerned, I had a good talk with him. He's been a great young guy. I've known him as he'd grown up. And I said, "Austin, you've got a job to do here, you've got a contract with us, and you've got a contract for next year." So as far as I'm concerned, we don't need to be talking about Austin Cindric. We need to be talking about Austin Cindric in the winner's circle."

Currently driving the #2 Ford, Cindric has publicly stated that he is not concerned about his future with the team. He emphasized that the situation doesn’t affect his professional standing. He told the usnews.com:

“Professionally, I'm in no different of a place than I was a week ago. I feel like we have a lot of momentum on our team right now in the the No. 2 car. I've never felt better and had a better start to the season. So for me I'm just focused on execution. I feel like we have had some really fast cars."

Austin Cindric is having a notable 2025 NASCAR Cup Series season marked by a breakthrough victory at Talladega and an improvement in consistency compared to previous years. He is currently ranked 15th in the Cup Series points standings after 13 races this season.

He won his first race of the season at Talladega Superspeedway in April delivering the first Cup victory of 2025 for Team Penske. Cindric has achieved three top-ten finishes including one top-five and an average finish of 17.25.

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Roger Penske’s team cheating scandal forces IndyCar to take a huge step

IndyCar is considering the creation of an independent governing body following a cheating scandal involving Roger Penske’s team. The controversy erupted after two Penske drivers, Josef Newgarden and Will Power, were disqualified from Indy 500 qualifying when their cars failed technical inspections due to illegal modifications on the rear attenuator.

IndyCar President Doug Boles talked about officiating future races without any influence from team owners. He said via the Associated Press:

“We want to ensure that we have an officiating entity that has no ability for folks to say it’s got influence from Roger Penske. We have been working very, very hard to create an entity—an officiating entity—and by officiating, I mean race control and tech inspection, and an entity that is completely removed from anything that has to do with Penske Entertainment, or Roger Penske, or the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in the IndyCar Series.”

This incident has heightened concerns about a potential conflict of interest, as Roger Penske owns both the series and a competing team, prompting calls for an officiating entity free from any Penske-related influence.