Austin Cindric through the years

Since 2015, at just 16 years old, Austin Cindric has been wheeling. From trying to make his name in motorsports in the ARCA Menard Series to stunning the world in 2022 with a Daytona 500 triumph in his rookie Cup Series season, see Cindric's career highlights through the years. 

Cindric first turned up onto the NASCAR scene by debuting in the Truck Series driving for Brad Keselowski Racing at Martinsville in 2015. He would return to the No. 29 Truck a few weeks later at Phoenix in the penultimate race of the season.

In 2016, Cindric made his debut in what is now the ARCA Menard Series East at Virginia International Raceway and showed off his road-course skills by converting a pole into a victory and leading a race-high 29 laps en route to the checkered flag. 

Later that year, Cindric went back-to-back in his ARCA Mendar Series East starts by again converting a pole into a win, but this time at Watkins Glen International. 

Cindric's impressive runs at such a young age led him to a full-time season with BKR in the Truck Series for the 2017 campaign. He earned his first national series win in the 15th race of the year -- again from pole -- and did it at Canadian Tire Motorsports Park. 

Cindric's lone full-time Trucks season ended with a win, eight top fives, 16 top-10 finishes and a third-place result in the driver rankings after being in the mix for the title all year. An excellent rookie campaign, indeed.  

In 2018, Cindric made the jump to NASCAR Xfinity Series, splitting time between Roush Racing and Team Penske. He netted 13 top-10 finishes over the 33-race season, with seven of those coming in the top five.

A year later, Cindric made Team Penske his full-time home in the Xfinity Series. His first Xfinity win came at Watkins Glen International and won again the very next weekend at Mid-Ohio. Cindric nearly doubled his top-five and top-10 numbers in his sophomore season but ultimately ended 2019 sixth in the driver rankings. 

In 2020, Cindric erupted for six wins and captured the Xfinity Series Championship at Phoenix Raceway. He started third and led 72 laps in the final race and bested Justin Allgaier, Justin Haley and Chase Briscoe for the trophy. 

While still full-time in the Xfinity Series in 2021, Cindric made his Cup Series debut in the 63rd running of the Daytona 500. Despite being involved in a Lap 199 wreck, Cindric managed to lead two laps in what was his first time working with Team Penske at the Cup level. Cindric also made a handful of Cup starts in the No. 33 Ford that year.

2021 was another season where Cindric looked to have a stronghold on the Xfinity Series. He scored five wins, and his final triumph came on the road course at the famed Indianapolis Motor Speedway. He again was in the mix for a series championship but finished runner-up to Daniel Hemric by 0.03 seconds in the Xfinity Series Championship race. 

Cindric continued to turn heads that same weekend he won at Indy in the Xfinity Series. He notched his first-career top-10 effort in a Cup car. 

In 2022, Cindric took over the No. 2 Team Penske Ford in the Cup Series for his rookie campaign. In his second-ever Daytona 500, Cindric shocked the world and won with a slim victory over Bubba Wallace by 0.036 seconds. The win also gave Cindric his first playoff bid in NASCAR's premier series. He finished 12th in the final driver rankings. 

After an 85-winless streak, Cindric finally tasted victory for the second time at the Cup level. In 2024 at World Wide Technology Raceway, Cindric was on par for a runner-up finish behind Ryan Blaney, his teammate. However, coming to the white flag, Blaney's No. 12 Ford ran out of gas, Cindric then zoomed past the 2023 Cup Series champion for the thrilling win to earn his second-career playoff bid.