CONCORD, N.C. — After two of Team Penske’s IndyCar teams were penalized for illegal parts modifications during last weekend’s Indianapolis 500 qualifying, the team announced the firings of its IndyCar team president Tim Cindric, IndyCar managing director Ron Ruzewski and IndyCar general manager Kyle Moyer.
Saturday at Charlotte Motor Speedway, Team Penske NASCAR Cup Series driver Austin Cindric addressed the fallout of a situation that ultimately cost his father, Tim, his job.
“When family’s involved, you’ve got to understand it from both sides,” Cindric told reporters ahead of Sunday’s Coca-Cola 600 (6 p.m. ET, Prime Video, PRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). “And I feel like from every step of the way, since I started racing for the team in 2018, I feel like between myself, my pops and (team owner) Roger (Penske) and most involved, I feel like we’ve done a pretty good job at separating personal life and professional life. And I see this as no different.
“Racing can be a cool industry. It can be an incredibly rewarding industry. And past that, it’s not something that I have weighing on me heavily for this weekend and for my pops. I love my dad, and that’s kind of about all I have to say.”
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Tim Cindric served as the president of all of Team Penske’s racing efforts from 2005 through 2024. In February, Cindric stepped back from that role to focus solely on the organization’s IndyCar program. His son, Austin, is the 2022 winner of the Daytona 500 and 2020 NASCAR Xfinity Series champion.
Austin Cindric, driver of the No. 2 Team Penske Ford in the NASCAR Cup Series, has already won in 2025 to lock his way into the playoffs, thanks to an April win at Talladega Superspeedway, the third of his career. The fourth-year racer — now a veteran at 26 years old — said his job security remains unchanged at the company at which his father played an integral role.
“Professionally, I’m in a no different place than I was a week ago,” Cindric said. “You know, I feel like we have a lot of momentum on our team right now on the 2 car. I’ve never felt better. I’ve never had a better start to a season. So for me, I’m just more focused on execution, really. I feel like we’ve had some really fast race cars and some good opportunities.
“The interesting thing for me about my first three years in Cup was the first time I actually was in meetings with my dad. And that ended at the beginning of this year, so I feel like there really is only a personal connection to any of the news from this week.”