HAMPTON, Ga. – Team Penske announced late Saturday morning that Austin Cindric will practice the No. 2 Autotrader Ford Mustang during Happy Hour at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
Cindric, a regular in the NASCAR Xfinity Series for Team Penske, replaces Brad Keselowski, who woke up experiencing flu-like symptoms on Saturday and will miss the start of final practice. The 20-year-old starts fifth in Saturday afternoon’s NASCAR Xfinity Series event.
Though Keselowski was shown walking into his hauler in uniform on FS1 roughly 10 minutes into the session, Cindric will help Paul Wolfe and the No. 2 team get the Autotrader Mustang prepared for Sunday’s Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 at Atlanta.
Saturday’s on-track activity at Atlanta marks the first time for Cindric, who is contesting the full Xfinity Series for Team Penske this year, behind the wheel of a Cup Series machine.
Keselowski will still start Sunday’s event, the second race in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series season. He’s coming off a 12th-place finish in the season-opening Daytona 500.
The Rochester Hills, Mich., native and 2012 Cup Series champion has back-to-back top-two finishes at the 1.54-mile Atlanta quad-oval, including a victory in 2017.
In all, Keselowski has three top-five and six top-10 finishes at Atlanta in 10 starts. However, he’ll have to come from 19th on Sunday to earn his second victory at the facility.
