The sound of the crowd at Daytona Beach still echoes in Austin Cindric‘s ears. Not from his iconic rookie triumph at the 2022 Daytona 500, but from the deafening silence that followed a winless 2023 season. Gone are the sophomore jitters, replaced by a steely resolve, a burning desire to reclaim his glory under the Florida sun on Monday. This year’s Daytona 500 isn’t just another race for Cindric; it’s a personal odyssey, a long ‘walk’ back from the shadows of disappointment.

Last season, the checkered flag remained elusive. A string of just 5 top-10 finishes left Cindric yearning for the taste of victory. Yet, beneath the veneer of an underwhelming year simmered a resolute determination. “I won’t go home,” he declared recently to SiriusXM’s NASCAR radio, speaking of his unorthodox coping mechanism – long walks to process the highs and lows of the NASCAR world.

Austin Cindric ‘Walks Back’, Armed with ‘Introspections’ from a Bumpy Season

Cindric’s commitment to separating the highs and lows of racing from his personal space sheds light on the mental resilience required in a sport known for its unpredictable twists. “If I’m still not happy or okay with how it is. I just won’t go home. I’ll park my car on the side of the road and go for a walk, I’ll park in my driveway and sit in my driveway. Whatever it is, I just don’t let myself go home or go to sleep ‘cus I don’t bring racing in the house. At the end of the day, anything, I don’t bring racing into the house,” he said.

“So for me, it’s, sometimes I’m gonna walk for an hour, sometimes I’m gonna walk for fifteen minutes,” declared the driver of the #2 Ford Mustang Dark Horse for Team Penske. Additionally, Tim Cindric, father to Austin Cindric, holds the prestigious title of president within Roger Penske‘s organization.

Recounting his stories of being ‘self-critical’ in the past, the #2 Team Penske driver picked his favorite, a remarkable anecdote, indicating the true deep, and reflective nature of Cindric. A native of Columbus, Ohio, narrated, “So the Ohio Xfinity race, 2021. My mom’s family is from Ohio and I decided to stay the day after I spend Sunday with my grandmother. So the race… I had a ten-second lead, caution comes out with two laps to go. Greenlight, checkered, I get shoved off the racetrack. I finished… I don’t remember, I was not happy though, at all.” 

A remarkable reflection on overcoming losses on the racetrack

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“And my mum’s family actually owned the racetrack at a certain amount of time, my grandma was at the race. She doesn’t get to come to many of my races and like, I was so upset that I wasn’t able to get Grandma victory lane,” he recalled regretfully, the weight of a missed opportunity abundantly clear. Unable to shake the disappointment, Cindric sought solace in his trusted walking routine. “Anyways, my grandma lives on a farm, acreage outside of Columbus and so I’m just gonna put my shoes on, go walk the property and I ended up walking for four hours and I ended up at like a Walmart like 20 minutes away  And my mom had to come pick me up because I had no idea where I was at that point… You gotta walk it off,” chuckled the 25-year-old Cindric.

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Nevertheless, this incident as well as a triumphant 2020 Xfinity Series title would be left in the past as the next season would be the year that he finally made his debut as a full-time rookie for Team Penske going on to win the 2022 Cup Series season-opener. However, after a lackluster 2023 season, Austin Cindric kickstarted 2024 with a strong performance at the Daytona Duel races. His impressive 6th-place qualifying run, coupled with a second-place finish in the Duel #2 race behind Christopher Bell, signals a year of resurgence for the Ohio native.

Watch out next time Cindric vanishes after a race. He might not be heading straight for the team debrief, he might just be taking a long walk, his own introspective journey paving the way for future triumphs.

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