NASCAR penalizes Austin Cindric for having a fan too close to car during weather delay
After the more than hour-long weather delay, Austin Cindric was hit with a big penalty before he even got on the track again. The Team Penske driver was penalized by NASCAR and made to restart at the tail end of the field.
Austin Cindric was having a solid day. He qualified in the top-10 and was running 17th at the end of the first stage. He hung around the top-15 and top-10 throughout the first part of this race.
The No. 2 team had a fan on their pit box to help dry it after the rain came through. NASCAR felt it was too close to the car and could have been used to help cool the car off. So, they issued a penalty.
Austin Cindric has a win this season. So, this penalty isn’t going to sink his chances of making the playoffs. That is the good news. At least, if you’re the No. 2 team. It is going to be frustrating and annoying to have to race through the field once again.
Team Penske has been having some issues today. Joey Logano was running well early thanks to some cheeky pit strategy. Ryan Blaney was consistently running in the top-10 throughout the afternoon as well. It would have been the same for Cindric if not for this penalty.
If NASCAR felt the fan was close enough to the car to cool it down, then that is their ruling. It seems a bit silly, but you have to be careful about that kind of thing if you’re a race team.
Austin Cindric waited around to get a penalty
Austin Cindric sat around for that entire weather delay just to get penalized. What a shame. It’s like waiting in line for something just to find it is sold out when you get to the counter.
The weather delay was lifted and cars were back and racing on track right around 6:45 PM EST. NASCAR worked quickly to dry the track and it worked out in their favor. The recent heat and concrete of the track helped that process.
As far as weather delays go, this one was relatively painless. Here at the track, the rain came down hard and fast. It was a wild half hour or so. However, the bad weather was through with soon and we knew racing wouldn’t be too far away.
Bad news for Austin Cindric. But the race isn’t over until it’s over. Let’s see if this one gets interesting in the end and if we see some caution flags fly.