By: Andy DeLay, Seriously Fast Motorsports
When Team Penske’s Austin Cindric turned his first laps in the No. 5 Tickford Racing Ford Mustang at Sandown Raceway this week, it wasn’t just a photo op. It was a collision of two technical worlds that look identical on the surface but behave radically differently on the asphalt.
You know the story: The NASCAR Cup Series “Next Gen” car was heavily inspired by the Australian V8 Supercar. They both have 18-inch wheels, independent rear suspension, and sequential transaxles. However, Cindric’s test revealed just how far apart these cars really are.
1. The “Blue Tent” Factor: Ride Quality & stiffness
The most telling comment Cindric made after his test at Sandown was a joke with a serious technical reality behind it.
“I’ve really had to talk myself into using the kerb as much as I can with this car… if I hit some of these kerbs in a Cup car, I’d be in the blue tent [medical center]!” — Austin Cindric
The Tech Breakdown:
NASCAR Next Gen: Designed first for high-speed ovals, the Cup car is very rigid. To handle the aerodynamic loads at 190mph on a bank, the suspension travel is limited, and the spring rates are extremely stiff. When you take a Cup car to a road course and hit a turtle kerb, the car doesn’t absorb it… It launches. The shock is transferred directly to the driver’s spine (hence the “blue tent” comment).
V8 Supercar (Gen3): These cars are pure road racers. They have far softer suspension geometry. They are designed to aggressively attack kerbs to straighten corners. Cindric found he could maul the kerbs at Sandown in ways that would wreck a NASCAR chassis or knock the wind out of him in the States.
2. The Transmission Trap: The Lost Art of the “Blip”
This is the single biggest hurdle Cindric faces before the Adelaide 500.
Both cars have a stick-shift sequential gearbox. You pull back to upshift, push forward to downshift. However, the internal mechanics are different.
In NASCAR: The Xtrac transaxle in the Next Gen car is robust and relatively forgiving. While some drivers still use the clutch, you can often bang downshifts without perfect rev-matching because the driveline components are heavy-duty enough to absorb the shock, and the engine mapping helps.
In Supercars: The Gen3 Mustang requires the driver to manually “blip” the throttle on downshifts to match the engine revs to the gearbox speed. If you don’t, you risk locking the rear wheels or damaging the gearbox dogs.
The Challenge: Cindric admitted he hasn’t had to heel-and-toe (braking with the ball of the foot while blipping the throttle with the heel/side of the foot) in years. He has to unlearn his muscle memory of left-foot braking (which is standard in NASCAR) and relearn right-foot braking with a heel-toe blip—all while learning a new track.
3. “It Just Drives Better”
Cindric was surprisingly candid, stating the Supercar simply “drives better” than the Cup car.
Weight: The Supercar is lighter (approx. 2943lbs vs. NASCAR’s ~3300lbs).
Tire: The Dunlop control tire used in Australia is widely considered “grippier” and provides more feedback than the Goodyear Eagle used in NASCAR.
Aero: The Supercar generates more efficient overbody downforce, planting the car better in high-speed corners without the turbulence issues often cited with the Next Gen car.
The Bottom Line for Adelaide
Cindric isn’t just fighting a new track; he is fighting his own instincts. Every time he enters a braking zone, his brain will want to left-foot brake. He has to consciously override that split-second reaction to execute a perfect heel-toe downshift.
If he masters the footwork, he has the raw speed to compete. If he misses a shift or locks the rears, the unforgiving concrete walls of the Adelaide street circuit will be waiting.
Image via Austin Cindric X