By: Zach Catanzareti, Staff Writer
The stats show the tale: Austin Cindric is among the most improved drivers year-over-year in not just the Xfinity Series, but any national NASCAR series in 2019.
That statement continued Friday night at Richmond Raceway, as the No. 22 Team Penske Ford qualified on pole and finished second behind the blazing fast Christopher Bell.
Passing Cole Custer for the runner-up spot in the last handful of laps, Cindric earned his 11th top-five finish of 2019 and his second consecutive second-place finish at Richmond.
Furthermore, Cindric has topped nearly every statistic in the book with more wins, top fives, top 10s, poles, lead-lap finishes and a drastically improved average finish (17.1 to 9.1).
“We’re peaking at the right time that’s for sure. That’s what I know,” Cindric said. “I’m really proud of the progress we’ve made, the progress I’ve made and the things I’ve understood to put races like this together.”
Leaving Richmond 34 points above the cutline, Cindric now heads into Race No. 2 of the opening playoff round… the Charlotte Roval.
And with two road course wins already on his resume in 2019, Cindric is happy to have a little room to have some fun.
“To have a buffer over a race that has a lot of variables as far as strategy, the racetrack itself, the aggression,” he said. “It’s a great buffer but we’re also chasing speed, wins and what it takes to not just be as good as the Nos. 20, 00 and 2. We’re chasing what it takes to be better.
“We’ve obviously been strong on the road courses this year, there is no sugar-coating that. For us to have one of those in the playoffs, somewhere local, somewhere where not a lot of people have a notebook on — it’s a great opportunity for us to have an advantage.”