Cindric has much-needed night at Richmond to give breathing room on Chase cut

Austin Cindric and his Team Penske team had their most complete race of the season Saturday night at Richmond Raceway with a third-place effort.

“Yeah, absolutely, I think from an execution standpoint,” said Cindric, whose team also had the right strategy. “But also, just car speed all weekend. With the exception of qualifying, I’m really proud of the race car and this package.”

Cindric qualified 23rd, which was the only blemish. But he averaged a top-five running position throughout 400 laps.

The No. 2 team of Cindric was the second-best Penske car on the night as Joey Logano went to victory lane. Josh Berry, the Wood Brothers Racing teammate, ran up front and finished eighth while Ryan Blaney won the pole, the first stage, and finished 13th.

“Everybody at Team Penske, all four cars that came out of that building this week were super strong,” said Cindric. “I felt like I had a car that could have won tonight, and we didn’t, and that’s my only frustration. But as far as the big picture goes for the season, it was a very important night for us to capitalize on a good car.”

With two races left in the regular season, Cindric’s performance gave him more of a buffer on the Chase cutline. Entering the night, he was 16th in the championship standings, the final spot, with a 29-point advantage.

Cindric is now 15th in the championship standings, but his gap is 57 points.

“We could fire off good enough, but I thought I was one of the best cars, especially after about 30 laps,” Cindric said. “We were a little too good too late in the runs, but, overall, it was a much-needed run for our Quaker State/Menards Ford Mustang.”