Austin Cindric, son of Team Penske President Tim Cindric, has picked up a full-time NASCAR ride for 2017.
The 18-year-old will race full-time for Brad Keselowski Racing in one of its two NASCAR Camping World Truck Series entries in 2017.
“This is a massive opportunity from Brad and everyone at BKR who trust me and believe in my abilities as a driver to move on to the next level for a full season,” said Cindric. “The number one thing is you’ve got to get results on the racetrack, and that’s something that BKR has done consistently year after year. One of the things I’ve learned in my short career is that it’s all about people. You must have good equipment, but you can’t have success without good people, and they definitely have that.”
The opportunity for Cindric will fill one of the two empty slots at BKR as it’s been announced Daniel Hemric will be moving to the XFINITY Series for Richard Childress Racing next year, and Tyler Reddick also won’t be returning to the team.
Cindric has already made five Truck Series starts sporadically for Keselowski’s team over the course of the last two seasons, and has a best finish of 14th at Phoenix International Raceway last year.
“One of the things we wanted to do at BKR is give talented young drivers an opportunity to take the next step in their career,” said team owner Brad Keselowski. “Austin Cindric has already had success in various forms of racing and he has shown a lot of potential in our truck. We’re happy to give him an opportunity to compete full-time at a high level in NASCAR next season.”
Sponsorship details among other specifics regarding to the team are expected to be announced at a later date.