By: Mitchell Breuer

Memorial Day weekend is usually one of the biggest weekends of the year for motorsports, with Formula One, IndyCar, and NASCAR running some their biggest races of the season.

This year though due to the COVID-19 pandemic, NASCAR is alone in racing, and even with the weekend races still being ran at Charlotte Motor Speedway, it is still not the same as there is no fans that will be allowed in attendance.

For NASCAR Xfinity Series driver, Austin Cindric, the change to the weekend is significantly different, as his family is tied to both the NASCAR and IndyCar with his father, Tim, being the president of Team Penske. In past years, Cindric would leave Charlotte following the Xfinity race Saturday and head to Indianapolis Motor Speedway for the Indianapolis 500. Sunday would not be just about watching the Indy 500, but also serve as a family reunion of sorts for him.

“Right now (Sunday), on this day, I would usually be in Indianapolis watching the end of the Indy 500 and then getting ready to turn on the Coke 600 on the TV,” Cindric told POPULAR SPEED in a media video conference. “It’s kind of weird for my whole family. My brother comes in from London where he lives, and we all go to the 500 and it’s a family event and obviously, root on Team Penske and my teammates, but also my dad as well. He’s got a big passion for that event.”

While the weekend has changed, one thing has not – Cindric’s readiness to compete. Although driver of the No. 22 will race Monday instead of Saturday, he is still thankful for the opportunity, especially when some of his Team Penske counterparts are still waiting for their respective series to start back up.

“With the Xfinity Series,we usually get to kick it off in that respect, racing on Saturday and all the rest of the big races are on the Sunday but, right now, I honestly just feel lucky to be back racing no matter what the weekend is,” Cindric said.“Obviously there’s a very special meeting with Memorial Day weekend and what it means to our sport and how much our sports supports our men and women overseas and in the military.”

When Cindric gets back behind the wheel Monday, he will look to continue a streak of four straight top-10’s, which included a fourth-place finish in last Thursday’s race at Darlington Raceway. He will start Monday’s Alsco 300 at Charlotte Motor Speedway from the sixth position.

EMAIL MITCHELL AT Mitchell.Breuer@popularspeed.com

Twitter: @MitchellB66

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