Has Cindric really put his aches out of his heart or does resentment still persist?: This was a question we asked fans when the story unfurled. If you have been living under the rock, Austin Cindric has been heartbroken, again. The Team Penske driver was on the verge of ending his 22-race winless streak at Atlanta Motor Speedway before being pushed into the wall by Kyle Larson with just 10 laps to go.

Starting at P3, finishing 28th wasn’t the result the No. 2 Ford driver was hoping for at Atlanta Motor Speedway. But Lady Luck wasn’t on his side at the 1.5-mile oval. Despite leading 47 laps in the race, all he gathered for himself was a handful of dust. To hash things out with his HMS rival, Cindric spoke on a call with Larson to discuss the incident at the AmBetter Health 400. But, the approach he took to reach out might be a serious warning in disguise.

Austin Cindric buries the hatchet with a secret warning

‘Missed opportunities’- That’s what Austin Cindric will be feeling looking back at the opening two Cup Series races at Daytona and Atlanta. The Team Penske racer is known for his expertise in drafting tracks, and both venues play perfectly to his strengths. However, the 26-year-old has only secured one top-10 result so far despite leading 106 laps. At the AmBetter Health 400, the Ohio native was spun on the track, and into the wall by an aggressive Larson. Even William Byron was caught in the crossfire, taking away any chance he had of securing a respectable finish either.

Feeling the need to clear the air with Kyle Larson, Austin Cindric looked forward to a conversation with his rival and told journalist Claire B Lang, “I thought we had a good talk. Kyle took responsibility on the end of the race (contact off of turn 2) at Atlanta Motor Speedway, which obviously ended our race. Talking about it doesn’t really un-wreck my race car, but I think we’re on the same page as to what the expectations are moving forward racing together.” But, hold up. They must have connected immediately after the race like most sane (and insanely passionate) drivers, right?

Well, turns out Austin Cindric preferred an old-school approach to reach the solution. In a recent Stacking Pennies podcast, Kyle Larson took responsibility for his actions and paid respect to the Team Penske racer’s professional approach. What do fans usually see young drivers do after a crash? They burst out on social media seeking social justice for the mishaps, ranting their ways out, or, the classic: Post-race punches! But, Cindric did not let the situation get the better out of him.

As the incident goes, while Cindric was loading his battered No. 2 Ford into the hauler, his eyes fell on Hendrick Motorsports executives Jeff Andrews (HMS President and GM) and Chad Knaus (HMS Vice-President). Recollecting the events after that, Larson said, “This is the most Penske way of [doing] anything, but I guess Austin Cindric went up to Jeff Andrews and said, ‘Hey, Mr. Andrews, I’d really like a chance to speak to Kyle. Here’s my business card.’ So he gave Jeff Andrews his business card, and Jeff gave it to me.” They burst laughing in the podcast after imagining how Cindric carried a stack of business cards in his firesuits for such a situation. But, Larson admired the move.

“I have a lot of respect for him. It’s so old-school. He could’ve taken it to the internet but handled it the right way,” Larson said. It, of course, was the right thing to do. Getting on the internet creates nothing but fans to pick sides in a fight. Letting higher authorities know that he wanted to communicate made sure that even HMS officials knew that they were trying to reach a middle ground. We may not know what the executives told Larson behind closed doors, but if the dots are connected, things look a bit tight for him now. And Austin Cindric, the funny man of NASCAR social media is also known for being a ‘give-and-take’ guy.

Despite being frustrated at the outcome, the racer felt the need to speak to the 2021 Cup Series winner to be able to move forward from the incident in a healthy way. Explaining his reasoning and holding rationality, Cindric said, “I feel like having a more open relationship to talk about things is the first step to getting better.” Even though it’s unlikely that unfriendly words were spoken between the two professionals, it’s well within the realm of possibility that Larson would have been warned not to repeat such an incident, especially with the race at Circuit of the Americas on the horizon.

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Kyle Larson admits to his fault in Cindric’s crash

Kyle Larson often gets into a hurry during lap crunch and makes mistakes. In the past, he has not just landed his opponents in trouble, but also himself. Remember his dreadful crash at the 2013 Daytona 500? The crash was so violent that the engine flew to the grandstands and his car did not have anything on the front Bumper. What was left were 6000 lbs (2722 kg) of metal scrap remnants from his car, out of which he emerged to be taken to the ambulance. Last year at Atlanta, he could have suffered the same fate if God wouldn’t have saved him!

Larson burst a tire, rammed into the wall, burst into flames, and proceeded to the middle of the track where an unsuspecting Chase Briscoe rammed into him. Things turned ugly at Atlanta 2024 but, it was much better than 2013 at least! The Hendrick Motorsports driver had a point to prove at Atlanta Motor Speedway, especially after a disastrous result at the Daytona 500. Determined to prove himself on a drafting track, the No. 5 Chevy racer pushed his car to the limit at the 1.5-mile oval with the hope of securing his first win of the season. However, the single-minded objective came at the expense of Austin Cindric, who was driven into the wall and sent spinning on the racetrack.

Admitting to his mistake, Larson said on Corey LaJoie’s Stacking Pennies podcast, “That was that was definitely my fault for sure. I had that run and I just wanted to take it and there was a moment where I thought I was clear. It was gonna be tight. And then I heard clear and that’s [when] my angle gets bad. And now I can start to feel him there and I’m like I’m tight.” The California native went on to say, “Yeah, that was on me. I was hoping to just have that tight clear of the two. But then him be there to pick me up right there away. And it was just a misjudgment on my part.”

As for Austin Cindric, it was a case of being so close, yet so far. The Team Penske driver started the race in second place, just behind teammate Ryan Blaney. The incident occurred just when it looked like the Ohio native might break his longstanding winless streak to secure a playoff place. Instead, front-end damage to his No. 2 Ford forced his car to be towed into the garage, resulting in an early retirement (DNF). It might not be the result the 26-year-old hoped for, but he will pick himself up, dust himself off, and try again at the EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix.