Austin Cindric Asserts Legacy Format Won’t End Championship Credibility Debate

One of the biggest point of debates in the NASCAR community at the moment is the playoffs format and the demands to return to the legacy format, champion crowned based on full-season points. 2022 Daytona 500 champion Austin Cindric though doesn’t think going back to the original format is going to settles the talks about integrity of the champion.

Austin Cindric’s teammates Joey Logano and Ryan Blaney, the only drivers to win titles in the Next-Gen era, are the racers that often get disrespected amidst this debate. Talking about all these drama and discussions, ahead of the Talladega race, the No:2 Ford driver highlighted how the playoffs make racing exciting. He also pointed out that the old format isn’t going to make or break the fanbase.

There’s no denying that the current playoff format creates excitement. You see what happened at the end of the round at the ROVAL, and I think at the end of the day, our on-track product is exciting. I’m not sure a points format for the championship is going to make or break the fanbase as far as if they’ll enjoy the racing or not.

Austin Cindric said via Cup Scene.

The former Xfinity Series champion isn’t a fan of the hyperfocus that has been given to the notion that going back the old format solves everything. He believes that debate over the credibility of the champion is never going to end as the NASCAR community isn’t going to agree on one format that could crown a winner without debates. Hence, he doesn’t care about what format the sanctioning body is going to adapt from 2026.

I feel like we are hyperfocusing on something like this. But as far as what’s fair and deserving of a champion? No one’s going to agree, and that’s kind of where I’ve come to… So, at the end of the day, I respectfully say that I don’t care.

Austin Cindric added.

Talking about the potential new format, the Team Penske Racing driver pointed out that he nor his team cares about the format, as they have just one goal for every season, win as many races as well as championship as possible. The star racer dents have a strong opinion on the debate as he sees the positives and negatives of both the formats.

I don’t think our team necessarily cares, because we just want to go race, and whatever the format is, we would like to excel. That’s kind of the basis of it. But I don’t really have a strong opinion on what I think would be the best or what makes the most sense, because I think there are pros and cons either way.

Austin Cindric asserted.

Austin Cindric blames steering rack issue for disappointing Talladega results

The second race of R-8 was a massive dissepiment for Austin Cindric and his teammate. He finished the race at P34, earning just three points. He had a good qualifying, and was showing signs of progress before getting involved in a multi-car wreck with just ten laps left on stage one.  The No:2 team was only able to fix the car with just 15 laps left in the race.

Talking about the disappointing result, Cindric pointed out that one of the reasons that took him a lot of time to get back on the track was the steering rack issue. At the same time, he also sees the positive side of his team being able to get the car back on running as fast as they could.

Yeah, so then it was just seeing whether we could get it fixed enough to go back out or not, but we had a steering rack issue so I couldn’t drive it out and had to get towed back to the garage. The Discount Tire team did a great job with damage repair to get us back out there towards the end of the race.

Austin Cindric said.

The comments from the Ford drivers shows there was nothing he could to once the No:2 car got caught up in the mess. It would be interesting to see how the last two races of the 2025 season is going to playout for the racer and his teammates, with their streak of winning all the titles in the regular season is at stake.

Also Read: Corey LaJoie Brands Chase Briscoe “the Championship Favorite” After Impressive Talladega Win

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