Although Austin Cindric didn't win Sunday's NASCAR Cup Series race at Kansas Speedway, he proved a win could be coming for him or one of his Team Penske teammates.
KANSAS CITY, Kan. — Although Austin Cindric didn't win Sunday's NASCAR Cup Series race at Kansas Speedway, he proved a win could be coming soon for Team Penske.
Cindric put together the best single-race performance for a Penske car on a 1.5-mile non-drafting oval in years. He finished third and second in the stages and was less than six tenths of a second shy of upsetting Kyle Larson's utter dominance.
"He was flying," Larson said about Cindric.
Cindric earned the most points (52) for a Penske car in a single 1.5-mile, non-drafting oval race since Ryan Blaney earned 53 points and a second-place finish at Homestead-Miami Speedway in 2023.
How Cindric's Day at Kansas Went
Penske needed a good day at Kansas. Coming into the day, the entire organization hadn't earned stage points on a 1.5-mile oval since the Spring 2025 Kansas race. In the spring, none of their cars finished inside the top-10 and struggled for speed – like they have at other intermediate races since Spring 2025 Kansas race.
Inclement weather wiping out practice and qualifying made Sunday even more of an unknown. The metric put Cindric in 11th but it was unclear which way he would go.
Cindric quickly made it clear: He was in the top-five by the competition caution on lap 35.
Cindric's No. 2 Discount Tire Ford Mustang was fast but his pit road performance wasn't. Yet, his car was so fast that he finished third to Larson and Denny Hamlin in the first stage and second only to Larson in the second stage.
The final 96 laps gave Cindric a front row view to Larson's battle with Chase Briscoe. However, a slower pit cycle put Cindric too far back for him to charge by Larson.
A Career Day for Cindric: By the Numbers
Cindric's second-place finish was his first time he earned a top-five finish on a non-drafting oval larger than 1.25 miles. He has six total non-drafting oval top-five finishes, including now three this season.
In total, Cindric has 15 career top-five finishes and 35 top-10 finishes in 181 starts.
Cindric moved from 11th to ninth in the points standings. He has finished inside the top-15 in 14 of the last 16 races. In the last seven races, he has two top-five finishes and four top-10 finishes – compared to one top-five and four top-10s in the previous 23 races.
Next is Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Sunday, Oct. 4. Cindric's best Las Vegas finish is sixth in Spring 2023 and Spring 2025, when he led 47 of 267 laps.
Cindric's best fall race finish was 11th last year.
