The news of the day for Penske, as it relates to Austin Cindric, was his confirmation that he is under contract for the 2027 NASCAR Cup Series season. That said, the most hard-hitting and interesting piece of the news is the mystery surrounding Cindric’s hair.

It’s been a year of hair, facial or otherwise, for Team Penske. Joey Logano’s hair is gone. Ryan Blaney’s mustache keeps growing.

And now, Austin Cindric is strutting around the track with a full head of hair after keeping it buzzed tight for most of recent memory. And since Cindric has been on a roll of late, many have wondered if the new hair is powering his surge in the Chase standings.

Austin Cindric with hair is rolling

Cindric entered the Chase in 15th. After the first five races in the Chase, he’s now in 9th and coming on strong.

He was asked on Saturday in Charlotte, after the cancelation of practice and qualifying, about the correlation between his hair growth and his recent run of success on the track.

“I’ve been growing my hair out since May,” said Cindric. “So I’ve had plenty of bad races since then too.

“So yeah, other than just boredom and curiosity to see what’s up there. Whatever you guys pick up on it is not up to me.

“No, I don’t feel like there’s a whole lot of correlation, but whatever suits the scenario.”

Pressed on why, Cindric responded.

“Why not? Because I can, because it’s a free country.”

Asked if he has new sponsorship with a shampoo or hair care product coming up as the root cause of the new do …

“No. Nothing.”

This week, it was highly meme’d with pics of buzz-cut, bow-tie, and glasses Cindric with full head of hair Cindric as Clark Kent and Superman.

Seems fitting, but Cindric has been Elvis comparisons.

“Yes, I got a lot of Elvis references, especially from some of our sponsors last week at AutoTrader. There could be way worse comparisons.”

Confirming return

For the better part of two months, Cindric has fielded questions about 2027 with Penske since he is currently in a contract year. Each time, Cindric played coy and said he would be back without confirming a new deal or where he would be back.

That ended on Saturday. He matter-of-factly confirmed the new deal by simply saying, “That’s correct,” when asked if he is returning to Penske in 2027. When asked if he will be in the No. 2 Penske car, Cindric said, “Yes.”

“It’s obviously come up in question, and I’m not entirely certain why it’s come into question, but there you go,” he added.

“I feel like consistency is kind of due to necessity with where we were regular-season points-wise for really the last two or three months. So definitely critical for us to be able to execute at that high of a level.

“And obviously, it’s that time of year to bring our best stuff and be able to come to race tracks for a second time and apply good notebooks throughout the regular season and into The Chase.

“Obviously it’s shown, and we’ve got to keep it rolling for the next five weeks.”