1 week agoAustin Cindric qualified 20th for Sunday's Martinsville race. Although he seems to be starting to become something of a weekly threat, Martinsville will probably be an exception to that. He did actually finish fourth in last fall's race, but unlike his No. 2 car predecessors Rusty Wallace, Kurt Busch, and Brad Keselowski, short tracks have hardly been his best discipline. That race was his only top-five finish on a short track, although his other top-10 showing also came here in 2023. It's certainly possible that his uptick in speed that we have seen elsewhere will show up here, but his current statistical record at the track suggests it probably won't, therefore he isn't likely one of the best DFS options.
--Sean Wrona - RotoBallerSource: Racing Reference
2 weeks agoAlthough Austin Cindric had a reputation of fading to mid-pack in most of the races where he qualified well, that definitely seems to have stopped in 2025 as he has seemed to have a lot more staying power up front. In last week's race at Las Vegas, he overcame a loose wheel after winning Stage 1 to finish 6th. Such a recovery was not typical of him in previous seasons and the Team Penske cars seem faster on a race-by-race level than they have the past couple years. Given the fact that he qualified 8th at Homestead, Cindric will still probably lose positions in the race but he has been leading enough including at Las Vegas that there is a distinct possibility he might accumulate some leader and/or fastest lap points in this race, but he likely needs to lead to have any DFS value.
--Sean Wrona - RotoBallerSource: Racing Reference
3 weeks agoIn a race where all the Team Penske drivers and their Wood Brothers satellite entry for Josh Berry seemed quite fast, Austin Cindric outdueled Alex Bowman to win Stage 1 at Sunday's Las Vegas race -- his first stage win on a non-drafting oval since Gateway in 2022. He still continuously ran in the top 10 until he had to pit a second time during the caution for Shane van Gisbergen's crash for a loose wheel, but he eventually worked his way up to sixth. If all the cars that stayed out of the pits on the eighth caution had ended up running out of fuel, which seemed very possible at one point, Cindric might've been in the hunt for the win since there were times he was ahead of William Byron and Kyle Larson -- the latter of whom he out-finished. Perhaps this suggests he has more staying power after strong qualifying sessions than he did in previous years.
--Sean Wrona - RotoBallerSource: Racing Reference
3 weeks agoAustin Cindric tends to qualify well on flat intermediates, and Las Vegas is no exception, as he has now qualified third here for the third time, including three of the last four winter Las Vegas races. However, he also has a history of sliding back through the pack when he qualifies well on an intermediate and he has lost positions in every Las Vegas start, except for the 2023 winter race, when he started ninth and finished sixth, but he ran significantly worse in that race since his average running position was 18th. Despite having four top-10 qualifying runs at Las Vegas, he has never had an ARP better than 13th in six previous starts, so starting from third, he is almost certain to lose positions. While he could lead a few laps in the beginning, there's not enough value to start him, even at $7,200.
--Sean Wrona - RotoBallerSource: Racing Reference
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