Austin Cindric spills the beans on why NASCAR drivers are reluctant to race in 24 Hours of Daytona

NASCAR racer Austin Cindric has shared his feelings about his fellow Cup racers not running in 25 Hours of Daytona.

Austin Cindric spills the beans on why NASCAR drivers are reluctant to race in 24 Hours of Daytona

Austin Cindric (Via @AustinCindric/X)

The 2025 edition of the IMSA season opener, the 24 Hours of Daytona, was an exciting event, as expected, with the No:7 Penske Porsche team securing the race victory. Despite the race being one of the most anticipated events in the world and attracting more drivers from around the world, the top NASCAR racers in the USA often don’t race. 

The 2025 edition featured three NASCAR drivers, Conor Zilisch, Shane van Gisbergen, and Austin Cindric. However, many of their counterparts could have been part of the event, and it would have attracted more views to the event run by the NASCAR-owned series. However, according to Austin Cindric, there is reluctance among stock car racers to participate in the event 

He pointed out to Bob Pockarss that it is easy for drivers like him and SVG with previous GT3 experience to race in such events. However, for other drivers, it takes time and effort to understand the car, which forces them to sacrifice time during the NASCAR off-season. So, only the drivers who dream of racing in the event come to Daytona.

FS Video

Obviously, a bit of an unknown value as far as the performance in the car and learning the car and this and that. So, obviously, Shane [van Gisbergen] and I are a bit different than most of the guys in the Cup field with the average GT3 experience…

Austin Cindric told Bob Pockarss.

Austin Cindric was long been looking forward to 24 Hrs of Daytona entry 

In the same conversation, Cindric admitted that NASCAR drivers need a strong passion to race in the event, and he has had it for a long time. Hence, he took the opportunity to replace Ben Barker in the race after he had a skiing accident and was forced to sit out.

Austin Cindric
Austin Cindric (Via IMAGO)

I think those who wanna do it really badly end up doing it. I definitely wanted to do it, really bad all these years.

Austin Cindric said. 

The comments from the Team Penske racer show his passion for sports cars and road course racing. Considering his parent’s team has IMSA operations, it would be interesting to see if he gets more opportunities in the future. The Daytona experience will surely help him in one way or another at the 2025 Daytona 500.