Team Penske stole the headlines Sunday afternoon (Sept. 9) at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
Joey Logano captured the victory. Ryan Blaney made a huge rally in the last 50 laps to rebound from a crash and finish third. Their teammate, Austin Cindric, had a great day of his own scoring 19 stage points, including the stage two win, on the way to a 10th-place finish.
That increased Cindric’s advantage on the cut line from two to 27 points.
It was not a surprise to see Cindric run well at Atlanta. The Penske cars have been fast on drafting tracks for years, a strength that Cindric capitalized on right away when he won the Daytona 500 as a rookie in 2022. Additionally, in the six NASCAR Cup Series races with Atlanta’s current configuration, Cindric has finished worse than 12th only once and led laps five times. Even though the new style of racing at Atlanta can be unpredictable, the No. 2 was a good bet to have a strong start to the playoffs.
On the other hand, it is understandable why fans may have overlooked Cindric going into the postseason.
Most weeks this season, he has not matched the pace of his more experienced teammates. Remember that Cindric’s second win, earlier this year at World Wide Technology Raceway, came when Christopher Bell experienced engine troubles in the closing laps, followed by Blaney running out of fuel in sight of the white flag.
Cindric led 53 laps in that race and ran well overall, but that win came largely through the misfortune of other drivers. Without that victory, he would have been left out of the playoffs.
Three months later, Cindric is in a better position to compete. A 27-point cushion with two races to go is not foolproof, but it gives the No. 2 team a good chance to avoid the early elimination that some fans predicted for them. So, if Cindric can make it through the first round of the postseason, how far could he realistically go?
Next up for the Cup Series is Watkins Glen International, which will host a playoff race for the first time. A trip to The Glen is good news for Cindric, who comes from a road course background and won a NASCAR Xfinity Series race there in 2019. His two Cup Series races there have resulted in finishes of 13th and 16th. It is too small a sample size to glean much information, except that Cindric should at least be able to stay out of trouble.
Perhaps a better clue is Cindric’s previous road course finishes this season: 15th on the streets of Chicago,…
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at …