Austin Cindric candid on race at Chicago Street Course: ‘A long time coming’

LEBANON, Tenn. -- As far as looking ahead  to next week's highly-anticipated Chicago Street Race, Team Penske driver Austin Cindric was straightforward in his analysis: "It's a long time coming." Cindric has been a perennial force on road courses in his NASCAR career, logging five of his 13 Xfinity Series wins on left-and-right circuits and half of his top-10 finishes in the Cup Series on them. Based on his additional experience racing in IMSA and Australian Grand Prix, among other series, he has a pretty unique perspective of the event. "As far as an event standpoint, I've always loved street-course racing," Cindric said in an interview Saturday at Nashville Superspeedway. "It's the same reason why the LA Coliseum has been such a great addition to the schedule, it's just bringing the party to the people. "The atmosphere around a street-course race is pretty hard to describe. Think about wherever you live, there's now race cars driving past where you live. It's cool that we're doing it." RELATED: Buy tickets for Chicago | More info, see music lineup When drivers take the green flag for next Sunday's Cup Series Grant Park 220 (5:30 p.m. ET, NBC, Peacock, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, NBC Sports App), as Cindric mentioned, the competition will be the latest on a list of exciting venues that have shaken up the schedule. The 2.2-mile, 12-turn circuit constructed in the heart of the Windy City is a daunting challenge but also an opportunity for winless drivers to capitalize on a perfect playoff opportunity. And despite the festival-type atmosphere that will be present in Downtown Chicago throughout the weekend, Cindric says fans should expect the regular week-to-week intensity on the track. MORE: AJ Allmendinger analyzes street circuit "I've driven a lot of street courses, and I really love the kind of aggression and risk involved at those types of race tracks... There's plenty of wide sections that we can utilize and pass and still be able to have the normal racing that NASCAR fans expect us to have."