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Austin Cindric spoke publicly for the first time Saturday about Carson Hocevar‘s brake-checks at Martinsville, saying the penalties are up to Hocevar’s team and NASCAR, and that the incident cost him three spots in the Chase standings.
Cindric left Martinsville without talking to reporters after his No. 2 Team Penske Ford was knocked out of the race. On his radio, he had said, “NASCAR, what are we doing? Like, we’re just weaponizing cars here.”
Cindric: ‘My focus is on this weekend’
Asked about Hocevar’s suspension by Spire Motorsports and NASCAR’s $100,000 fine and 25-point penalty, Cindric kept it short.
“Yeah, I mean obviously that’s between him and the team really,” Cindric said at Homestead-Miami Speedway. “Obviously I don’t have much of an impact on any of those decisions, so yeah, my focus is on this weekend.”
Pressed on NASCAR’s penalty, since he had called on NASCAR to act, he said, “Sure, that’s definitely a position I’ve never been in, but as far as NASCAR’s decision, that’s kind of up to them on a case-by-case basis.”
https://x.com/STaranto92/status/2119169961645998102
‘Super frustrating’
Cindric said the crash hurt his season.
“Sure, I mean obviously a super frustrating event for us to drop three spots and points at a critical point in the year,” he said. “I think that’s really the highlight for me is being able to go out to this weekend and maximize what’s been a really strong couple of months for us.”
Asked how he and Hocevar had raced each other before the incident, Cindric said, “Somewhat nonexistent. We weren’t even on the same lap.”
No personal apology yet
Hocevar apologized to Cindric in a video, but had not reached out to him personally. Hocevar said Friday that the reason behind the brake-checks does not matter because his actions were uncalled for, and that “maybe the stove wasn’t hot enough” with his earlier fines, as Pit This Time reported.
Cindric has had a strong fall, including second at Kansas and fourth at Las Vegas. He starts today’s Cup finale out of title contention.
The Straight Talk Wireless 400 starts at 3 p.m. ET on NBC.
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