NASCAR

‘Frustrated’ Austin Cindric Refuses To Let Kyle Larson Avoid Convo About Dustup

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By
Jared Turner
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Jared Turner Sports Editor

Jared Turner is a motorsports writer who has covered NASCAR for 20 years. He has interviewed over 20 NASCAR Hall of Famers and around 100 drivers, crew chiefs, and team owners, both past and present. He has also covered the sport for FOX Sports (where he was a two-time recipient of the FOX “X” Award for “Xtraordinary” job performance), NASCAR.com, Sporting News, NASCAR Pole Position Magazine, the SPEED network, and plenty of other online and print-only publications throughout his career. Notably, Jared has penned dozens of articles for NASCAR souvenir programs, including several featured prominently in Daytona 500 keepsakes. A Virginia Press Association award winner and former member of the National Motorsports Press Association (NMPA), Jared has racked up accolades both for his writing and his academic work. He studied both Communication and Psychology at Virginia Tech, where he was permanently enshrined in Phi Beta Kappa — the nation’s oldest and most prestigious academic honor society. Jared excels at feature writing and opinion writing, much of which stems from his dedication to all levels of racing.

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Sports Editor

Published01 Mar 2025

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Austin Cindric

Before the green flag waves on this weekend’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Circuit of The Americas in Austin, Texas, Austin Cindric wanted to get on the same page with fellow driver Kyle Larson.

The two collided while racing for the lead in the final laps of last Sunday’s race at Atlanta Motor Speedway, with Cindric hitting the wall after Larson’s No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports crowded him up the track. The damage to Cindric’s No. 2 Team Penske car not only ruined his day, but it ruffled his feathers.

Not wanting to head to COTA before letting Larson know exactly how he felt about the incident, Cindric went to great lengths to request a conversation with the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series champion.

How Did Austin Cindric Go About Landing A Phone Call With Kyle Larson?

Once the race ended at Atlanta Motor Speedway, Cindric was hot behind the collar. He was also hell-bent on discussing his incident with Larson.

The only problem? Larson was nowhere to be found.

That didn’t stop Cindric’s pursuit, however. The Team Penske driver approached Hendrick Motorsports executives Jeff Andrews and Chad Knaus in the AMS garage with an old business card carrying his phone number.

Cindric’s message to them was clear.

“I can’t say I was really in a very good head space to want to talk to anybody, but at the same time, knowing that this is something I definitely wanted to discuss with Kyle, it was like, ‘OK, if somebody comes up to me, I’m just gonna give them my phone number and be done with it,’” Cindric said on a midweek Zoom call. “Then I realized in my backpack — and I haven’t used one of these since like 2016 — but I do have a stack of business cards.

“I saw Jeff Andrews and Chad Knaus standing over by the (No.) 24 hauler, so I figured that was a good way of ensuring that I would get my conversation.”

The plan worked. Cindric received a call from Larson the next day.

Before the call came in, Cindric didn’t know what to expect. He just knew he needed to make his feelings known.

“Sometimes guys will reach out to you, and sometimes guys won’t,” Cindric said. “I don’t have a super-close relationship with Kyle, by any means, so it’s not like he’s got my number. I guess that was my way of saying, ‘Hey, we really need to talk about this,’ in a way that was gonna be not emotional for me. Because at the time, I was pretty frustrated.”

Are Austin Cindric And Kyle Larson Ready To Move On After Discussing Differences?

Now that Cindric and Larson have chatted and Larson is aware of Cindric’s disapproval, Cindric feels a bit better. Not great, but better.

“I thought we had a good talk,” Cindric said. “Kyle took responsibility on the end of the race, which obviously ended our race. Kind of talking about it doesn’t really unwreck my race car, but I think we’re on the same page as to what the expectations are moving forward racing together. I think it’s important.”

Cindric is still far from OK with Larson’s costly late-race maneuver, though.

“I felt like I could have said a lot more than I did,” Cindric said of their conversation. “It’s still something I’m relatively upset about, and it gets the blood pressure going a little bit, but that’s racing.”

After crashing out of both the Daytona 500 and the race in Atlanta while in contention for the win, Cindric will certainly welcome a change in fortunes this weekend at the Circuit of The Americas road course. But even with the disappointment of the how the season’s first two races ended, he is thankful he’s at least been in the hunt.

He doesn’t take all the credit for it, though.

“I’d rather have the big opportunities become missed opportunities than not have the opportunities at all, and my team has done an exceptional job,” Cindric said. “I’ve been able to match that effort at these races, and I see no reason why we can’t continue to do that.”