INDIANAPOLIS – Now that he no longer needs the seat – nor really does anyone else at Indianapolis Motor Speedway – Austin Cindric can share his secret location for watching the Indy 500.
Before becoming a Daytona 500 winner and budding NASCAR star, the son of Team Penske president Tim Cindric annually attended the Greatest Spectacle in Racing and staked out his spot in the Tower Terrace.
At the end of the suites and grandstands facing the entry to Turn 1 at the Brickyard from behind the pit lane, there’s a small gap between a railing and a platform for a mobility railing just large enough to squeeze into for prime viewing of the Indy 500.
Upon arriving at IMS between 5-6 a.m. with the Team Penske motorcade, Austin Cindric would cordon off the area using a trash can, a few zip ties and a couple of security poles and straps. After spending race morning on the starting grid, he would slip back up to his makeshift barricade during the pace laps, remove the zip ties with snips that he stashed in the trash can and then take in the world’s greatest race.
“You could find me sitting on the railing for all 200 laps because you have a great view of the exit of Turn 4 all the way to really midway through the apex of Turn 2,” Cindric told NBC Sports. “Anybody that I was friends with on the spotter stand in Turn 1 would directly look at me and text me pictures or wave at me.”
But two things since have ended the Indy 500 routine for Cindric, who estimates watching from that spot for at least five years as a teenager.
—Becoming a full-time NASCAR Cup Series driver last season, Cindric will have obligations that will preclude his presence at the Indy 500 for the foreseeable future.
—Roger Penske bought IMS in 2020 and subsequently invested more than $30 million in upgrades, which have included more than two dozen large videoboards providing replay access for vast swaths of the 252,000 grandstand seats previously without vantage points.
“That was the thing that the spot I had had a direct view of the screen, and the TV screens they used to have around the racetracks weren’t much bigger than a car windshield,” Cindric said. “Now there’s no need to position yourself in front of a screen because there’s really access to video screens everywhere, which was one of the best things (Penske) did at the speedway, among a number of other things.”
Cindric’s viewing location also has improved under the IMS stewardship of Penske, the owner of his No. 2 Ford in the Cup (along with being his father’s employer since 2000).
When he watched Helio Castroneves win his record-tying four Indy 500 on May 30, 2021, Cindric was atop the track’s famous pagoda with Penske, Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb and four-time Indy winner Rick Mears.
“That was definitely the best place I’ve ever watched the 500 from, but I know most people don’t quite have the access to that,” Cindric said with a laugh.
It also held sentimental value as perhaps the last time Cindric, 24, will watch the race in person for a while. His streak of consecutive Indy 500s ended the past two seasons because he was racing in the Coca-Cola 600. This year, he watched the race in the Charlotte Motor Speedway infield as Josef Newgarden (whose strategy was called by Tim Cindric) won the 19th Indy 500 for Penske.
“Certainly it’s a trade-off that I’m living my dream as a professional race car driver and racing at the highest level, but it’s really, really, really weird the two years that I’ve watched the Indy 500 from Charlotte,” Austin Cindric said. “This year was really difficult because I had FOMO. I’m not that kind of person, but watching Josef win was super weird.
“The last two years, I’ve just gone to the track early in Charlotte just so I can be undisturbed watching the whole race. I just get there in the morning and chill out at the Penske bus. It’s not my favorite, but it’s the best of both worlds at the moment.”
His role as a Penske driver did afford the opportunity to own a slice of track history. When he won the 2021 Xfinity Series race at Indianapolis, Cindric became the first Team Penske NASCAR driver to win at IMS since Roger Penske took ownership — which he celebrated with a rendition of “Back Home Again in Indiana” on his team radio.
So will Cindric be singing again Sunday if he wins the Cup race on the 2.439-mile road course?
“You can count on it,” he said. “Tune into the 2 radio.”
During a recent interview with NBC Sports, Cindric discussed his earliest memories and family’s history at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, his relationship with Team Penske IndyCar drivers and his level of comfort with being considered a NASCAR driver. Here were some highlights (this interview has been condensed and slightly edited for clarity):
Q: What are your earliest memories of IMS?
Cindric: “I don’t remember a year in my life that I wasn’t at the Speedway, and that racetrack hasn’t been a part of my life. My older brother Tanner, we were always in Indy Kids (a daycare center at the track). That’s really where it all started. We were regulars. All our family vacations were mostly at IndyCar races. Indianapolis and Mid-Ohio and St. Pete and Toronto. Those were all pretty consistent vacations we’d do as a family. The day I decided that I no longer wanted to spend the Indy 500 with all the kids is when my brother watched from the grandstands when (Sam) Hornish won in ’06. He was sitting up there with my dad’s college roommates and his kids. Hornish passed (Marco) Andretti right at the line in a photo finish, and Tanner got to celebrate in the grandstands, they sprayed Sprite all over each other. I was really, really jealous that I could not experience that, so after that I was always watching in the stands. That was the day I realized that I was way too old to be not watching the race.”
Q: And your family would sit on the wall to watch drivers walk to their cars on the starting grid before the race?
Cindric: “Yeah, I’d say that’s definitely our most consistent family tradition. We’d be out of school for the year, and me and Tanner would spend the week in Indianapolis and go terrorize the Circle City Mall. We’d go to the arcade and winning these little parachute pens that we’d drop from the highest floor of the Hyatt Hotel in the middle of the night.
“But probably the most consistent Cindric family tradition was on race day. My dad has a ton of priorities and obligations of running the team, being on the stand and whatever else. The only time he would get to just sit and relax and get his thoughts together is when all the cars were lined up on the front straightaway, and we’d just sit on the outside wall when everyone’s getting together, just the four of us sitting there at some point and just talking to people we know. There are a lot of close friends and family, and you just talk to whoever passes by, so we’d always do that. And then my mom would usually watch in the suite with Kathy (Penske) and whoever else. I’d usually sit in the same spot in the corner of the infield and watch the whole race. The prerace on the pit wall, it was a norm for us. And now I’m a Cup driver, I can’t do that on race day.”
Q: What is it like to win for Roger Penske at Indianapolis Motor Speedway now?
Cindric: “In the heat of the moment, I can’t say it’s much different. You can feel it with the guys for sure. When I’ve raced there driving for Team Penske, you can definitely feel there’s an added performance or some nerves. When you go there and feel like you’re almost under more of a microscope than ever. I feel like that’s in the race team just as much as anybody. But from a competition standpoint, once in the race car, I don’t feel any different than most weeks. But watching the end of the Indy 500 this year, my heart was beating so fast at the end of that race, and I have zero impact on anything that happens. To paraphrase Al (Unser) Jr., Indy means just that much more to everybody.”
Aug 14, 2021; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Xfinity Series driver Austin Cindric (22) reacts after winning the Pennzoil 150 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Mandatory Credit: Mike Dinovo-USA TODAY Sports
Austin Cindric celebrated after winning the 2021 Xfinity race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway (Mike Dinovo/USA TODAY Sports Images).
Q: Your dad described your Xfinity victory at IMS as “This is Roger’s favorite place in the world, and now Austin is a part of that.” Does that sum it up?
Cindric: “Yeah, I couldn’t really say it any better. It’s weird going in there knowing that I’m driving a race car. I’d say the parallels for that for me are Charlotte and Indy. Those are the two racetracks I’ve gone to the most and Charlotte being different because I raced Bandoleros and Legends cars there, and it’s just weird to think that I’m driving in the big track every time I show up there. IMS is the same way for me. I don’t feel like I’m going in there to drive a race car. I feel like I’m going in there to experience a race. Because that track’s been my priority or my life up to this point.”
Q: Do you feel you belong there more as a driver now with the 2022 Daytona 500 victory and as a Cup veteran? Now that you’ve won there, is it more like you’re meant to be racing there now?
Cindric: “No, to me that sounds like I’m bigger than Indy (laughs), and I don’t feel like winning a support series race is enough to feel like I’m part of that if I’m being 100 percent honest. A Cup series win would definitely mean that much more. Not to downplay an Xfinity Series win by any means. That’s one of my favorite days as a race car driver, having my whole family there, but in the grand scheme of things, I have to be realistic, and I think Indy means a lot more than just one race win.”
Q: Because of other obligations, Roger Penske couldn’t celebrate with you immediately after the 2021 victory. When, where and what was that eventual moment like with Roger?
Cindric: “All of my bosses had a dinner in one of the Indy hotels that night. I hadn’t eaten yet. I was at the track until 7 or 8 o’clock, and I had to race Cup the next day. I was a little stressed because I’ve got to hydrate, and I’ve got to get ready. I’ve enjoyed this, and I’ve celebrated this, but I’ve got another job to do. But I still want to appreciate it. They saved me a seat at this dinner with probably seven or eight people there. Roger did stop in, and in classic fashion, he said, ‘All right, you’ve got to go do that tomorrow now.’ It’s always on to the next thing. That’s why he’s so successful. That’s not a surprise to anyone that’s the mentality. That’s what you’ve got to have. You can’t bask in your own glory for too long.”
Roger Penske and Austin Cindric at the induction of the winning Daytona 500 car at the Motorsports Hall of Fame at Daytona International Speedway, Tuesday, March 8, 2022. Daytona 500 Car03
Roger Penske and Austin Cindric at the induction of the winning Daytona 500 car at the Motorsports Hall of Fame at Daytona International Speedway on March 8, 2022 (Nigel Cook/News-Journal / USA TODAY Sports Images Network).
Q: Could you tell the victory meant more to him, as it did with the emotion he showed atop the pagoda this year when Newgarden won?
Cindric: “Yeah, I think so. It’s tough sometimes because you almost don’t know. You’re not going to ask him in the moment, ‘Hey, how’s this win rank for you?’ But just his support in general and to know that even on the Xfinity program, that’s so impactful. A win is a win, and it’s hard to do at that high of a level and let alone to do it at a place like Indianapolis. So I know that any win there is pretty big. I remember how big of a deal it was when (Team Penske) got our first win on the Indy oval in the Xfinity program. I wasn’t even driving race cars yet, and I remember how big of a deal that was.”
Q: What’s your relationship with the IndyCar drivers, particularly having known Will Power for more than a decade, how has that evolved since you’ve become an official teammate on the NASCAR side?
Cindric: “It’s probably not as strong as what it was when I was a kid, if I’m being honest. When I was a kid, I knew every mechanic, every engineer, all of the team personnel by name, and I’m terrible with names. I knew everybody. And I probably know a fraction of the people on the IndyCar program now. Things change, people change, the industry evolves. As far as the drivers go, I’d say my closest relationship is probably with Will.
“There’s been times we go to the kart track together, and Will is a very different person. I’ve just wrenched for him on go-karts as his mechanic for the day, and he’ll go drive. He’ll treat a 13-year-old, a 16-year-old kid with the same respect inside and outside the go-kart as he would if he was racing Scott Dixon. There’s no difference for him in the way he treats people, whether that’s good or bad. Whether he’s yelling at you or complimenting you or picking you up off the ground. That’s one of my favorite qualities about Will. He’s very simple, and it doesn’t matter who you are. It doesn’t really change how he acts, which I think is really cool. I can’t say I’ve spent enough time around Josef, probably more time around Scott (McLaughlin). We’ve got obviously some world-class drivers. It’s cool to have guys like that in house that you can bounce ideas off of and obviously root for week in and out.”
Austin Cindric (22) prepares on the grid Saturday, Aug. 14, 2021, before the NASCAR Xfinity Series Pennzoil 150 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Nascar Xfinity Series Pennzoil 150 Race At Indianapolis Motor Speedway Saturday Aug 14 2021
Austin Cindric sits on the pit wall at Indianapolis Motor Speedway before the 2021 Xfinity race (Jenna Watson/IndyStar/USA TODAY Sports Images Network).
Q: Your maternal grandfather is Indy 500-winning team owner Jim Trueman, and your paternal grandfather helped build Indy 500 engines. How much of your family’s history at Indy have you explored?
Cindric: “In pieces. There’s a box set collection of the speedway through the decades, and my dad had them on rotation while he was cleaning out the house during my childhood, and that’s when I learned about my grandfather winning the 500 and that whole story. I never met Jim Trueman, he passed away when my mom was in high school. I didn’t really know much about it. I don’t think it really was on purpose from my parents’ side. It’s just something that never really came up or we ever really discussed. But since then, I kind of get it in bits and pieces. I’ve learned more about Carl Cindric, my dad’s father, I knew him until his passing. I learned a lot about him as most people do after he passed. Just his story and what kind of influenced him and the pioneers of motorsports in that era of engine mechanic or racer. But I didn’t really understand the full scope until you ask a lot of questions. After that, I recognized that I needed to ask some questions if I wanted to know the answers, and I think it’s important for me to know because some day I’ll have a family, and I’m sure racing will be inevitably unavoidable, whether you’ve got the bug as bad as I do, or whether you’re like my brother and casually love it. So I feel like it’s important for me to know those things.”
Q: Has it reaffirmed that racing is hereditary to some degree and passed on through genes and otherwise?
Cindric: “There’s no doubt. Human nature is you’re a product of the environment you grow up around or you know. So it’s very unavoidable. But there’s a reason why racing is such a family sport because it’s an industry that takes a lot of dedication and hard work. It’s not like regular sports when you just have to be talented and physically able to perform at a high level at that task or job. There’s a mechanical element involved, and that takes dedication, whether from sweat equity or finding the right pieces and parts, the intelligence, the people around you and the team and the funding. There’s a lot of opportunity for great challenges in motorsports. And I feel like the people that embrace those, that stay for a while and don’t know any better or don’t know anything else, that’s your way of life. There’s no other option. That’s how I view what I’ve gotten myself into. I don’t see as there’s any other option for something I’d want to do.”
Q: When you joined the NASCAR on NBC Podcast in 2018, you said you didn’t consider yourself a full NASCAR driver yet. Has that changed five years later?
Cindric: “I feel like sometimes people in (Penske PR) might cringe when I say it, but I still feel that way. I don’t think of it from a respect vantage point. When I first started in Xfinity, I needed to earn some respect for sure. That comes with success and being able to make the most of your opportunities, which I feel like I did at the end of my career in the Xfinity Series. But I think I’ve always viewed myself as a race car driver and not only a NASCAR driver just because I have other ambitions and that’s also the mentality that has gotten me this far. I love what I do, but also there are other things I want to do just outside of just our garage area.”