How Austin Cindric got Kyle Larson’s number after Atlanta crash and how he continued to disappoint

Austin Cindric deliberately holds a very limited offer from the phone numbers of his fellow cup, but he needs a few figures on Sunday after crashing at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

Kyle Larson’s, of course.

While Cindric helps to load his battered number 2 Ford into the truck, team Penske driver Jeff Andrews and Chad Know saw Hendrick Motorsports vicinity. Cindric hit his contact information to Larson’s superiors with a message: Call me.

“I thought it was a great way to ensure that I would get my conversation and that it would be much healthier than just showing up on the racetrack,” Cindric, 26, told reporters on Tuesday afternoon. “Sometimes guys will reach out to you, and sometimes guys won’t. In no way do I have a very close relationship with Kyle, so it is not as if he has my number. I think it was my way of saying, “Hey, we really have to talk about this,” in a way that wouldn’t be emotional to me, because I was pretty frustrated at the time. ‘

Cindric soon scheduled a Monday afternoon call with Larson, who pleaded for the blame for pushing him into the wall while struggling around the lead.

“I thought we were talking well,” Cindric said. ‘Kyle took responsibility at the end of the race, which of course ended our race and talked about it, not really my race car. But I think we are on the same page as expectations move forward. I think it’s important. That’s just about all I can affect is talking about it, but I hope to chase Kyle, and I definitely have a lot of respect. But I know if I want to win in this series, I will definitely have to run a lot more against him, so I definitely expect us to be at that level throughout the year, and I expect it to be better than we had Sunday. ‘

In what Cindric acknowledges is a ‘social sport’ in which the driver’s text chains are uninterrupted, it may seem surprising that he will have to obtain any driver’s number. Especially a star like Larson who is expected to chase this season in his second consecutive Indianapolis 500 (the son of Tim Cindric, president of Team Penske Have been at the Indy 500 since childhood).

But Austin Cindric is more an introvert.

“I don’t have many of my competitors’ phone numbers,” he said. “First of all, I’m not a very social person. I do not believe to get to know people from the racetrack, if it is something, it is a competitive distraction for me. I have people with whom I am kind. I have guys with which I enjoy spending time. I feel like I have a good relationship with my teammates on and off the racetrack, but I would say the majority of the cups I do not get in touch with at all.

“Honestly, it doesn’t take much to realize. I mean, you look at the driver’s intro stage and you see who likes to talk to each other, and most of the time I just sit at the front of it and wait for the race to start, so it’s the only thing that really matters to me. Because at the end of the day, I think it is easier for me to separate it all. If we are only competitors and this is the only relationship that exists, I feel like it’s much simpler to me. ‘

Already, the call with Larson was still ‘fantastic’ to share perspectives, even though Cindric still felt a little resentful.

“It’s still something I’m relatively upset about and the blood pressure gets a little going on, but it’s chasing,” Daytona 500 said in 2022. “I am not the only one in those positions and felt that they could not use an opportunity to win a race, or that someone else would be the cause of it. It doubles that it is two weeks in a row and at this level, race does not fall out of the sky, so you have to work with them and it is difficult to put yourself in that position. ‘

If not for the late wreckage in Atlanta and the Daytona 500, Cindric can easily be unbeaten to open the 2025 season.

His strong performance still finished fourth in the cup points, but it is hardly a comfort after missing two golden opportunities to close in the playoffs.

“It’s definitely frustrating,” he said. “Even if people say,” Ah, you’re still fourth in points. “It’s just as much of a kick between the legs as losing all the points we could have had. So it’s difficult, but it’s just the sport we are in. I’d rather have the big opportunities missed, than not to have the opportunities at all, and my team has done a special job. I was able to match the attempt at this race, and I see no reason why we can’t do it. ‘

Cindric said he started the disappointment behind him shortly after completing his business card.

“That’s why I like to have a thirty-plus racing schedule, because I can only absolutely dive into my preparation work,” he said. “If I was going to use Atlanta as an example, by the time our plane ended up from a relatively short flight, I was already with all my notes and my debriefs and documented all my thoughts for the team.

‘By Tuesday, I’m at least the work to be done for it, so it’s kind of how I process things. I think by the time I get to the racetrack, it’s back to business and there are many other things to focus on. ‘