What is Austin Cindric’s future with Team Penske after Roger Penske’s comments?

Austin Cindric's future at Team Penske took an intriguing turn after his father, Tim Cindric, was let go from his position at the team last month. While NASCAR team owner Roger Penske reaffirmed his contract runs until the end of 2026, the No. 2 Ford driver's trajectory after that is unclear.

Cindric, currently in his fourth full-time Cup Series season, has one win this season. The 2022 Daytona 500 champion's position was under scrutiny following the high-profile controversy surrounding IndyCar leadership. Tim served as Team Penske’s racing president from 2005 and moved to oversee the team’s IndyCar program and museum earlier this year. Last month, he was among three executives who were dismissed after a failed technical inspection of two Penske cars at the Indianapolis 500.

Fox Sport's Bob Pockrass, who caught up with Penske, shared the billionaire team owner's comments about Austin Cindric's contract status on X.

"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," Roger Penske said (via Bob Pockrass).

Austin Cindric, who made his NASCAR Cup debut with Penske in 2021, returned to the team the following year for his rookie season. He signed a contract extension with the team in 2023, which will expire next year. After the contract runs out, it is unclear if Penske will renew his deal for the following years or if the 26-year-old will move to another team.

What did Austin Cindric say regarding his position at Penske?

Austin Cindric commented on his father's departure from Team Penske and shared light on his place in the team at Charlotte Motor Speedway on May 25.

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

Cindric collected his first win of the 2025 season at Talladega in late April and is currently ranked 13th in the points standings after the first 14 races. He completed the last season in 11th place overall after getting eliminated from the Round of 12 after the Charlotte Roval race.