The 2022 NASCAR Cup Series postseason is in the round of 12 after four drivers were eliminated after last week’s race. On Sunday, NASCAR will take over Fort Worth, Texas for the AutoTrader EchoPark Automotive 500 at Texas Motor Speedway. The race will start at 3:30 p.m. ET on the USA Network and NBC Sports App.
Austin Cindric qualified for the playoffs after winning the Daytona 500 to start the season. And he needs a strong performance on Sunday as he’s in 12th place in the standings. The playoffs will be down to eight drivers by Oct. 16, so Cindric knows performing well on Sunday will get him one step closer to winning a title.
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“I think it’s a great opportunity round for a team like us to be able to get some points,” Cindric said. “I think Texas went well for us in the All-Star Race. I’m not saying that’s gonna mean good things for the second one of the year, but we’ve got good notes and a good opportunity to improve from what was a fairly dominant race for our team between the three of us, so I think Talladega is obviously without saying a wild card and the Roval, even if you’re not good, you can probably strategize some ways to get points, so I think this round is exciting for someone in my position and try to maximize it.”
While Cindric is one of the playoff drivers on the outside looking in, Joey Logano is in a good position to win his second championship. He’s in second place in the standings and has fared well at Texas Motor Speedway, finishing fourth in two of the last three races at the track.
“This is the biggest race, I think, of this round,” Logano said, per NASCAR.com. “And maybe of the playoffs, depending on how your situation turns out. I think this is a week where guys got to look at the max amount of points you can possibly get, right? And to me, I think if you can walk out of here with a 40-point day minimum, you set yourself up for a better spot when you get to Talladega (Superspeedway) and how you race that race, and then obviously the (Charlotte Motor Speedway) Roval from there. So, it becomes very important. You have a bad race here, then you got to maybe be more aggressive at Talladega, which ups your chances of wrecking and it just kind of gets to be a tricky spot.”
