Austin Cindric doubles down, wins K&N race at Watkins Glen

The 17-year-old son of Team Penske president Tim Cindric, started from the pole and led all 41 laps in winning Friday’s BullyHill Vineyards 100 at Watkins Glen (N.Y.) International.

Austin also started from the pole and won on the road course at Virginia International Raceway earlier this season. He has also competed in ARCA, Pirelli World Challenge and Continental Tire Series this season.

Justin Hayley finished second, Cole Custer was third, Gaz Grala was fourth and Collin Cabre ended up fifth.

Said Cindric: “When you come into a weekend like at VIR when I’ve never been in the series and never raced a stock car on a road course, there were a lot of unknowns for me and that’s why I got beat on some restarts and had to race my way up through the field.

“I came into this weekend fully knowing what I needed to do. That’s a huge credit to this team. It’s just a lot of fun to do these weekends. It’s great because it’s a way to make my name in stock car racing since I’m very new.

“Hopefully, it will transfer over when I start to do some oval stuff.”

Hayley, who leads the series standings, got to the back of Cindric’s bumper late in the race but could never get in position to attempt a pass for the lead.

“I think he was driving his car to its potential and I was driving it over to my potential. I was just driving super-hard and I’m sure his radio keyed up and somebody told him I was catching him,” Hayley said. 

“It’s unfortunate we didn’t have a car to pass him there but I’m still super proud of my team and what we have accomplished this year.”