Road America the site for Austin Cindric's Xfinity debut

You’d have thought Team Penske would have announced its driver for the NASCAR Xfinity Series Johnsonville 180 well over a week before the event.

You might have thought Sam Hornish Jr. would have got the call to race at Road America, especially after he won the series’ other stand-alone road-course race at Mid-Ohio three weeks earlier.

You’d have been wrong. But suddenly that all makes sense.

Penske announced over the weekend via social media it would have Austin Cindric make his Xfinity debut in its familiar No. 22 Ford in the Aug. 27 race.

The soon-to-be-18-year-old son of Penske president Tim Cindric has raced anything he could on his way up from vintage cars to Global Rallycross (four victories) to Pirelli World Challenge to NASCAR trucks.

Here’s a profile from the Journal Sentinel from last year that includes one detail about Cindric’s first book report that helps explain who he is.

Meanwhile, the car has quite a history at Road America.

Since A.J. Allmendinger launched his NASCAR comeback with a victory in the 2013 race, Penske’s No. 22 has finished second, second and an extremely disappointing seventh (last year after Alex Tagliani was spun while leading). Penske also has finishes of third, fourth and fifth in Xfinity races at the track.

Cindric won in the ARCA Series last year at Kentucky — look for him in the Road America prelim, as well — plus both of his NASCAR K&N starts. In his first full season in the Camping World Truck Series, Cindric has three top-five finishes through 14 races.