Cindric's Bristol NASCAR Cup drama 'clears the mind' heading into round 12

Cindrick suffered a nerve-wracking race at the night race in Bristol when his Penske Ford Mustang suffered two right front tire bursts, leaving him many laps behind the leader .

But when playoff rival Kyle Busch’s Joe Gibbs raced a Toyota in the closing stages, it effectively saved him to round 12 of hope. Staying below the critical line for most of the night, Cindrick got the extra spot he needed to ensure he remained in the title race.

Cindrick was a full-time driver in the No. 2 car in his rookie season, and he believes this experience will make him stronger for the rest of the race as he works to bring himself from the season Promoted from the bottom of the playoffs.

“I think it’s more of a motivator for anyone who has any questions inside the team, like ‘Oh man, we’re done,'” Cindrick said . “In that situation, you have to have these thoughts. You have a front right, you run four laps, you’re stuck.

“You’re like, ‘Oh my Omg. We are done. We cannot do this. For anyone who has these thoughts in the race, I can have them in the car too. I do not have. After the next 350 laps or if we run all those laps, I have to give it my all, but I think within the team it pretty much clears the mentality of what we can do.

“We’ve shown that you can’t give up in these situations. You don’t know what’s going to happen, so I think going through that experience definitely helps, but obviously the team handled it well Well, we can put ourselves in a position to advance to the next round.”

Kyle Busch, Joe Gibbs Racing, M&M’s Toyota Camry, Austin Dillon, Richard Childress Racing, Bass Pro Shops /TRACKER Off Road Chevrolet Camaro, Austin Cindric, Team Penske, Freightliner Ford Mustang, Harrison Burton, Wood Brothers Racing, Motorcraft/Quick Lane Ford Mustang

Photo: John Harrelson / NKP / Motorsport Images

After the points reset, Cindric is 3006th and needs to move up four places to be in the The next three events make it to the next round of the quarterfinals – starting the weekend at Texas Motor Speedway. He’s 34 points behind leader Chase Elliott and seven points off the tangent – with teammate Ryan Blaney currently in the last place to make the cut.

“I think we definitely have a chance of reaching the quarterfinals,” he said. “But I think anyone who’s in the top 8, I think you have to win a game.

“I think, especially people in my points position, I have to win I think I have to have Competitive enough to win a championship to get a championship 4.

“It’s self-explanatory, but I think anyone who thinks they’re” to regain Champions 4 must win in 8 rounds. ”