NASCAR Cup Series: 3 possible Team Penske drivers for 2021
By Asher Fair
Austin Cindric
The departure of the “Big 3” of Tyler Reddick, Cole Custer and Christopher Bell from the NASCAR Xfinity Series left Team Penske’s Austin Cindric as one of the championship favorites heading into the 2020 season, his third season as a full-time driver in the series, his third season with the team and his second season as a full-time driver with the team.
The son of Team Penske president Tim Cindric, Austin broke a lengthy win drought to start his career last season by winning two races in a row to vault himself into championship contention. An even stronger 2020 season could prove he is ready for a bigger opportunity.
Promoting Cindric would be the logical choice for Team Penske, especially in the midst of a youth movement which has featured several drivers such as their very own Ryan Blaney come to the Cup Series and have success at a young age.
But given the fact that Cindric is only 21 years, it may make sense for Team Penske to either keep the Columbus, Ohio native in the Xfinity Series or promote him to the Team Penske-affiliated Wood Brothers Racing also.
After all, Blaney spent two full seasons with Wood Brothers Racing and won a race before he was promoted to the flagship Team Penske organization at the age of 24 back in 2018.
In case either one of those two scenarios plays out, who would replace Keselowski?