Daytona 500 winner Austin Cindric set to compete in Supercars race in Australia

By Canadian Press on September 3, 2025.

ADELAIDE, Australia (AP) — Former Daytona 500 winner Austin Cindric will race in a Supercars event in Adelaide, Australia at the end of November.

Cindric became the first rookie to win the Daytona 500 in just his eighth start on the NASCAR Cup series in 2022.

This year’s NASCAR circuit concludes at Phoenix Raceway on Nov. 2. Team Penske ‘s Cindric will then shift his attention to the newly rebranded Adelaide Grand Final that runs from Nov. 28-30. He will be in a Tickford Racing Ford Mustang wild-card entry.

Supercars are custom-built race cars used on the Australian circuit that resemble regular street cars but have high-end chassis and body panels made for racing at high speeds on mostly road and street circuits.

“I’ve been a fan of the Supercars Championship since I was a kid,” said the 27-year-old Cindric, who raced in the Bathurst 12-Hour race at Mount Panorama, 200 kilometers (125 miles) west of Sydney, in 2015.

“I’ve always rated the drivers and teams in the category highly. So needless to say my interest has been high for an opportunity to test myself against the best. I can’t think of a better way to finish off a full year of racing than an adventure like this.”

Cindric has more than 140 starts in the NASCAR Cup with three wins, including his 2022 victory at Daytona. He is one of 16 drivers who made the 10-race playoffs this year.

He is also a former champion of the NASCAR Xfinity Series, winning the title in 2020.

Ford Performance is supporting the American driver in Adelaide, with global director Mark Rushbrook crediting the “cross-pollination of talent and machinery” as a win for everyone involved.

“We are particularly eager to see how Austin measures up against the formidable Supercars drivers on their home turf,” Rushbrook said in a statement.

Marcos Ambrose and Shane van Gisbergen are among the Supercars champions who have previously moved from the Australian series into NASCAR racing.

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AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing

The Associated Press