Friday promises to be an eventful day for NASCAR Camping World Truck Series rookie Austin Cindric. The driver of the No. 19 LTi Printing Ford F-150 for Brad Keselowski Racing will become the first Truck Series competitor to graduate from high school and race on the same day.
Cindric - who will receive his diploma from Cannon School in Concord, North Carolina, in the morning - will compete in the NC Education Lottery 200 on Friday evening at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Fresh off his first top-10 finish of the season, a 10th-place result at Kansas Speedway last week, Cindric believes he's ready for the challenge ahead.
"Usually race day is exciting enough for me but I get to graduate high school and check that box," Cindric said. "It's also my mom's birthday and it's my hometown race, which is cool. … I'll be (at school) at 8 a.m., done at 10 a.m. and I'll be here when the garage opens. After I get on the stage and I pick up what I call 'my glorified receipt,' I'm off to the real world and my job."
Cindric - the son of Team Penske President Tim Cindric - has high expectations on graduation day.
"If we can get a solid top-five, that's going to be a pretty good day," he said. "We're kind of down there in the points (in 15th) but we have the trucks and we have the equipment. We just need to have the kind of days that we want."
