“It rivals the Daytona 500”: Austin Cindric sets the stakes for his playoff run and the next ‘biggest achievement’ 

Austin Cindric opened up about the importance of NASCAR playoffs and stated that qualifying in the Championship 4 in the Cup Series is as good as winning the Daytona 500 race. The Team Penske driver, who already qualified for the playoffs, now has his eyes on the Championship 4 race at Phoenix.

Cindric and his crew chief, Brian Wilson, sat with Kelly Crandall of The Race, where they discussed everything about NASCAR and their target coming into the 2025 Cup Series season. The #2 driver, speaking about his playoff run, and what for him would be one of his biggest accomplishments, said:

“I’ve been super-close to making it into the Round of 8. Obviously that is the next step. I don’t think we’re in any better or worse position than I’ve been in before, just from a numbers standpoint and how we’ve run throughout the year. It’s definitely my best season to date."

"But as far as what would be best to come out of all of it, I think making a Championship 4 in the Cup Series is a huge deal. It would be one of my biggest accomplishments; I think it rivals the Daytona 500," Cindric further added.

Last year, Cindric failed to make it to the Championship 4, while two of his teammates, Joey Logano and Ryan Blaney, made it to the final 4. Logano ended up winning the title, while Blaney finished runner-up.

On top of this, the Team Penske drivers have won three back-to-back titles since 2022, which made them the most successful team in the sport. However, Cindric did not play a part in it as he did not qualify in the last four in the aforementioned years.

Despite this, Austin Cindric is gearing up to have a good finish in 2025, as he has his eyes set on Championship 4. The #2 driver qualified for the playoffs this year by winning the Talladega Superspeedway race in April.

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Deeper playoff run will be a success, says Austin Cindric's crew chief

Austin Cindric's crew chief, Brian Wilson shed lights on Team Penske's plan with the #2 driver, and stated that a run deep into the playoffs would make their season successful. Speaking about this, here's what he said:

Austin Cindric (2) during the Cookouts Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway. - Source: Imagn

"For us, success would be a deeper playoff run. We came into this season and said, ‘OK, we took a step in performance in the playoffs last year, we have to bring that into this season.’ We’ve been scoring more stage points. We’ve been qualifying better. If we can take another step like that that’d be incredible."

Austin Cindric finished 11th last year as he failed to make it to the final eight. He is currently in ninth place in the playoff standings with +12 points to his name, which is above the cutline.