Austin Cindric
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NASCAR News: Will Austin Cindric keep his Penske ride now that daddy has been sacked? (Update)

Posted by AR1 staff

Roger Penske says Austin Cindric has a contract through 2026

Let me say, as far as Austin Cindric is concerned, I had a good talk with him. He’s been a great young guy. I’ve known him as he’d grown up. And I said, “Austin, you’ve got a job to do here, you’ve got a contract with us, and you’ve got a contract for next year.” So as far as I’m concerned, we don’t need to be talking about Austin Cindric. We need to be talking about Austin Cindric in the winner’s circle.

May 22, 2025 

Tim Cindric, father of Cup Series driver Austin Cindric, and a longtime Penske executive, was fired Wednesday after illegal modifications were discovered on their Indy 500 cars. The move has fans questioning whether Austin’s seat in Roger Penske’s team is now in jeopardy.

“Nothing is more important than the integrity of our sport and our race teams,” Penske said in a statement. “We have had organizational failures during the last two years, and we had to make necessary changes. I apologize to our fans, our partners and our organization for letting them down.”

One user posted, “Austin Cindric losing his ride because his dad cheated in IndyCar would be very unfortunate but incredibly hilarious.” Others speculated the scandal could “impact NASCAR,” citing Austin’s struggles relative to teammates Joey Logano and Ryan Blaney.

Some say Austin Cindric has that seat on Penske’s NASCAR Cup team because his daddy was the President of Team Penske until recently – overseeing both the NASCAR and IndyCar teams.  His father Tim stepped down from the NASCAR side of the business last year because he previously hired his son to drive for him – i.e. nepotism. Whether that is fair or not, the optics are there.