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Charlotte, NORTH CAROLINA – AUGUST 27: Austin Cindric speaks with the media during NASCAR Cup Series Playoff Media Day at Charlotte <\/p>\n
This is the third time NASCAR<\/a> Cup Series driver Austin Cindric has qualified for the Playoff. This year, he earned his in via a win at Talladega Superspeedway<\/a> in April.<\/p>\n With time and experience comes confidence to do better. In his prior appearances, the No. 2 Team Penske Ford driver has made it to the Round of 12, finishing 12th in 2022 and 11th last season.<\/p>\n On a recent episode of the \u201cActions Detrimental\u201d Podcast on Dirty Mo Media<\/a>, host Denny Hamlin said Cindric won\u2019t make it past the first Round of 16. The former NASCAR Xfinity Series and Daytona 500 Champion of Cindric has a different perspective.<\/p>\n Watch and See<\/p>\n \u201cThis is the first I\u2019ve heard that,\u201d Cindric said during the NASCAR Playoff Media Day on Wednesday. \u201cI guess we\u2019ll have to watch, won\u2019t we?\u201d (smiles)<\/p>\n \u201cExecution is at a premium. I think the field is as competitive as it\u2019s ever been. I don\u2019t see anything but execution to determine who advances to the next rounds.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s only 0ne year (2023) I\u2019ve been a driver in a national series and haven\u2019t made the Playoffs. So, it feels normal to be here, in the format and what it requires of you. Yes, it\u2019s in the Cup Series, it\u2019s super competitive and there are different challenges.\u201d<\/p>\n Each Round of 16 Track Has Challenges<\/p>\n The remaining 10 races have a mix of superspeedway, speedway, short tracks and one road course enroute to the finale at Phoenix Raceway. Cindric said the challenges come down to several factors.<\/p>\n \u201cI think there are definitely some tracks that are challenging from a mechanical standpoint,\u201d he said. \u201cAt Bristol, it\u2019s rare we don\u2019t see a car have some sort of a tire failure or mechanical failure with that obviously being the cutoff for the first round.<\/p>\n \u201cFor me, I would say New Hampshire is the biggest question mark of tracks. It\u2019s one of those places I haven\u2019t gone to and said, \u2018Yep, I totally figured out that place out.\u2019 It\u2019s a weird place.<\/p>\n \u201cOtherwise, I feel pretty good about the schedule.<\/p>\n The tracks of WWTR and Bristol follow Darlington in the Round of 16.<\/p>\n \u201cI think St. Louis, most probably look at that as their best opportunity for a base hit.\u00a0 It\u2019s not a very normal race track, but you can kind of look at it think, okay there\u2019s Darlington and Bristol, this track isn\u2019t as crazy.<\/p>\n \u201cI think our group has our process really well dialed in, especially this year.\u201d<\/p>\n I Want to be Invisible<\/p>\n Cindric doesn\u2019t see his Team Penske crew as being an underdog this season. With this being their third post-season visit, he knows what they are capable of achieving.<\/p>\n However, the driver offered an interesting approach for the early portions of the cutoff format.<\/p>\n \u201cI would love to be invisible for the first two rounds, because then I\u2019ll make it the Round of 8,\u201d Cindric said, smiling. \u201cIt\u2019s what we\u2019ve been waiting the whole year for, I\u2019m excited to be at this point and go make it happen.<\/p>\n \u201cOur team has done a great job the past few months to be prepared for these opportunities. Now is the fun part, where actually get to go do the job and not just talking about it. It feels like a lifetime ago we were in Daytona for the 500, or even at Bowman Gray.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s 10 weeks left and I want to make these count.\u00a0I want to have some positives for the off-season.\u201d<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \n\t\t\tTim Packman<\/strong><\/a> Tim Packman is a journalist for Heavy.com covering NASCAR. He grew up around the short tracks of Western New York watching his dad, stepdad and step brother race. His uncle was the head starter at many area tracks and member of the FOAR Score Hall of Fame.
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\nTim’s passion for racing took him to the announcer’s tower and writing program stories for multiple tracks in the area, namely Lancaster National Speedway. In 2000, he moved to Mooresville, NC to become an award-winning journalist for NASCAR.com. He took a job with Dale Earnhardt, Inc. as the team’s Communications Director and was part of two Daytona 500 wins and two NASCAR Championships.
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\nThe announcing experience led to becoming a Pit Reporter and News Director for MRN Radio. A return to the team side at Richard Childress Racing as the Director of Corporate Communications took place, which also included another Championship.
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\nFrom 2015 to 2018, Tim returned to where his career began in 1994 – Lancaster National Speedway & Dragway – as the Track President. He earned Short Track Promoter of the Year awards in 2016 and 2017.
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\nUpon returning to NC, he joined The Garage Shop as Communications Director and host of it’s Podcast and MAV-TV docuseries “Legacy of Speed” talking about Land Speed Racing at Bonneville, and other places.
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\nTim has hosted two other Podcasts, namely “Pub Table Racers,” and wrote three books. One was with NASCAR Hall of Famer Bobby Allison titled, “Bobby Allison, a Racer’s Racer” and two Children’s books, “Funny Dan the Race Car Man” and “Petey the Pace Car.”
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\nHe also served in the US Navy. More about Tim Packman<\/a>\t\t<\/p>\n