Cindric Behind The 8-Ball After Round Of 12 Opener

Austin CIndric's car is repaired on pit road Sunday during the Hollywood Casino 400. (Nigel Kinrade/NKP photo)

KANSAS CITY, Kan. – Unfortunately, a strong start to Sunday’s Hollywood Casino 400 presented by ESPN BET didn’t turn into a positive result for Austin Cindric.

Cindric, who clinched a spot in the second round of the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs after three top-15 finishes in the first round, looked to keep his postseason momentum rolling at Kansas Speedway.

After a solid opening stage for the No. 2 Team Penske crew, which featured a seventh-place run and four accrued bonus points, a loose wheel forced a second pit stop during the stage caution, sending Cindric from seventh back to 30th.

The bad day only got worse for the Mooresville, N.C., native after that, as his Menards/Moen Ford Mustang Dark Horse spun and hit the wall on lap 157, leading to front-end damage that put Cindric four laps down by the end of the second stage.

Cindric ended up 34th, the worst finisher of the 12 remaining playoff drivers.

“It was a really frustrating result. I thought the team did a really great job with adjustments overnight, and we had a really fast car today and just took ourselves out of it on pit road,” Cindric said.

“Obviously, we had some contact on the back straightaway and I took us out of the race, really,” he added. “That is unacceptable for the position we are in and especially with the speed we have had in the car. I am pretty bummed about all that.”

Cindric arrived in Kansas seeded ninth, four points below the cutline. He’ll head to Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway seeded 12th (last), 29 points behind the elimination threshold.

There are still silver linings for Cindric, as two races remain in the Round of 12, and Talladega on Oct. 5 and the Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway ROVAL on Oct. 12 are both races Cindric can contend in.

Talladega is a drafting track, which Cindric has excelled on in the past – highlighted by his win in the 2022 Daytona 500 at Daytona (Fla.) Int’l Speedway, which produces a similar racing style to Talladega.

The ROVAL, a road course-oval hybrid, also provides an opportunity for Cindric, since five of his 13 career NASCAR Xfinity Series wins came on road courses. Cindric also scored a 10th-place run at Watkins Glen (N.Y.) International during the first round of the playoffs.

“I think the next two weeks are weeks we can go have great races, but we definitely won’t be able to get this one back,” Cindric admitted. “It makes our goals a little more clear going into Talladega and the ROVAL.”

The NASCAR Cup Series heads next to Sweet Home Alabama for the YellaWood 500 at Talladega, with race coverage beginning Sunday, Oct. 6 at 2 p.m. ET on NBC, the Motor Racing Network, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, channel 90.