MOORESVILLE, N.C. — Austin Cindric believes he let an opportunity get away last week at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. As a result, he and his No. 2 Team Penske Ford outfit is behind the eight-ball entering this weekend’s NASCAR Cup Series event at Kansas Speedway.

Cindric finds himself in 10th place, 19 points behind the final transfer spot with two races remaining in the Round of 12 of the Cup Series Playoffs.

“I definitely view it as a missed opportunity in a few ways,” said Cindric, who finished 17th while teammate Ryan Blaney won the race. “Obviously, having great runs from all of the cars that came out of that shop, I think, one, it starts in qualifying. I think a lot of that was on me, just not getting the lap.

“Honestly, just getting a little impatient exiting a lap that would have been pretty strong, but I thought we had some strengths in the race. We got some damage and probably more than I thought as far as from a performance standpoint, kind of reviewing things looking at the car. The snorkel was pinched off, so that’s power and the splitter was separated from the nose and that’s downforce, so it was a pretty challenging stage three to come back up through the field after doing some repairs for that.

“I definitely see it as a missed opportunity to start the round off well and that’s what we’re gonna need to do,” Cindric said. “Us and many others like us have very few points or very similar points, so I think there are about six or seven guys that I’m on the same playing field with and I look at it and think I could be further ahead than I am, but that’s how it went and that’s what we’ve got. We’ve got two races to keep going.”

Cindric has two races to work his way above the cutline, including the final race of the round at the ROVAL at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

“I think that anything we can do to get points. I mean, we’re obviously gonna have to go out and have two really good days and just as likely that the others do the same or get into trouble,” Cindric said. “Kansas and the Charlotte road course have been two very challenging race tracks as far as getting in wrecks or getting behind, so I think there’s a lot of opportunity for us and 19 is totally not out of the question, especially in two race events.

“I’m not getting ahead of my skis here at all, but I think from our standpoint you have to look at it realistically and think that we’re gonna have to go out and have two of our best weeks of the year to go make this happen on points, but I think those are two tracks that we’re capable of doing that,” Cindric said. “I’m excited for this weekend. It pumps me up. We’ve got nothing to lose and everything to go out and gain. I think that’s kind of where my head’s at.”

Four races into the playoffs and Cindric broke down how his team wound up below the cutline heading to Kansas’ 1.5-mile track this weekend.

“I don’t think any race has really gone the way we wanted it to so far, which put us in a very tight window for Bristol,” Cindric explained. “I thought we had a lot of potential for a good finish at Bristol. A lot of potential for a good finish at Darlington. We definitely had speed at Gateway. I can sit here and list off all the reasons why and a lot of ways I feel like that’s how our season has gone this year.

“If I looked at my season from the perspective of a top 10 means I’m good or not, I’d go crazy because we’ve had a lot more than just that, but we have to go out and put it up there. We need to get results and results equal points, whether that’s in the stages or at the end of the races. My pit crew has probably been doing the best job they have all year and been super consistent and super reliable through the playoffs.

“I’d say that’s probably one of my overwhelming positives” he continued. “Past that, we’ve done what we needed to, but we did in the last round is not going to be enough to get us through, and I also don’t feel like we’ve been able to achieve our maximum in those races, either. I think that’s really where my head’s at and where my focus is because I do feel like if we achieve the maximum of what we’re capable of as a group, or much closer to it, I feel like we’ll find ourselves in a very favorable position to continue fighting for a championship.”

 

 

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