Austin Cindric, the champion of the Daytona 500, claims that his nerve-wracking entry into the Round of 12 of the NASCAR Cup Series in Bristol last Saturday night “clears the mindset” as he attempts to advance to the following playoff round.

Cindric’s Team Penske Ford Mustang experienced two blown right-front tyres during the tense Bristol night race, which caused him to fall behind the leaders by several circuits.

However, Kyle Busch’s Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota engine blowing up during the last stage eventually ended his chances of moving on to the Round of 12. Cindric gained the additional spots he required late in the competition after spending most of the evening below the cutline to assure he remained in championship contention.

Cindric, who is in his first season driving the #2 car full-time, is confident that the experience will make him better in upcoming races as he works to move up the playoff standings.

“I think it’s more of a motivator to anyone that had any doubts like within the team like, ‘Oh, man, we’re done’,” said Cindric. “You have to have those thoughts in that situation. You’ve got a right-front down and you go four laps down and you get trapped.

“You’re like, ‘Oh, my gosh. We’re done. We can’t do this.’ To anyone that would have had those thoughts in the race, I can have those thoughts in the car as well. I didn’t. I had to drive my heart out for the next 350 laps or whatever it was after we went all those laps down, but I think within the team it almost clears the mindset that we can do it.

“We’ve already proven that you cannot give up in these situations. You don’t know what’s gonna happen, so I think going through that experience certainly helps but, obviously, the team dealt with the situation great and we were able to put ourselves in position to advance to the next round.”

After the points were reset, Cindric stands at 3006 and must move up four spots over the course of the following three races, beginning this weekend at Texas Motor Speedway. He is 7 points behind the cutline and 34 points behind leader Chase Elliott, whose position is presently held by teammate Ryan Blaney.

“I think it’s certainly possible for us to point our way into the Round of 8,” he said. “But I think anyone who is in the Round of 8, I think you have to win a race.

“I think, especially someone in my points position, I’m gonna have to win and I think I’m gonna have to be competitive enough to be racing for wins to expect to be in the Championship 4.

“That kind of goes without saying, but I think anyone that thinks they’re gonna make the Championship 4 has to be winning races in the Round of 8.”

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