Cindric gives Team Penske its first
win of NASCAR season with victory at unusually calm Talladega
[April 28, 2025]
By JENNA FRYER
TALLADEGA, Ala. (AP) — Austin Cindric celebrated his first win of
the season by wearing Talladega's Superspeedway traditional victory
wreath all around the track.
A wreath like he just won the Indianapolis 500.
He thought so, too.
“Feels like I just won the Indy 500,” he said of Sunday's NASCAR
race. “I'm trying to walk on the plane with this."
Cindric wasn't even concerned how such a gesture might be received
by Team Penske teammate Joey Logano, who raged on his radio after
the second stage when Cindric didn't push him and it allowed Bubba
Wallace in a Toyota to win the segment and its valuable bonus
points.
“Way to go Austin,” seethed Logano, who used multiple expletives in
his anger over his Penske radio. “You just gave it to him. Gave a
Toyota a stage win. Nice job. Way to go ... put that in the book.”
Cindric was unconcerned by the idea Logano might take issue with the
wreath on the Penske plane.
“I think that would be very immature,” Cindric said. “I don't see
him doing that. We'll see.”
It was a celebratory day for Cindric, who gave Team Penske its first
NASCAR victory of the season by holding off a huge pack of
challengers over the closing lap in a rare drama-free day at
Talladega Superspeedway.
“Rock on, guys,” Cindric said over his radio. “Rock and roll. Let's
go!”
Ford drivers went 1-2, with Ryan Preece finishing second. But Preece
and Logano were disqualified following postrace inspections because
of spoiler infractions. Logano had crossed the finish line in fifth.
After the DQ's, Kyle Larson moved up to second and William Byron
third for Hendrick Motorsports. The two Chevrolet drivers pushed
Cindric and Preece from the second row rather than pull out of line
on the final lap and make a third lane in an attempt to win.
It was Larson's best career finish at Talladega, where drafting and
pack racing is required and neither suits his style. He said he
wanted to make a move to try to take the win from Cindric but there
was never any room.
“I wanted to take it, but I felt like the gap was too big,” Larson
said. “I was just stuck inside and just doing everything I could to
advance our lane and maybe open it up to where I then could get to
the outside. But we were all just pushing so equally that it kept
the lanes jammed up.”
Noah Gragson ended up fourth in a Ford, while Hendrick driver Chase
Elliott was fifth — two spots ahead of teammate Alex Bowman, with
Carson Hocevar of Spire Motorsports sandwiched in between them.
Wallace was the highest-finishing Toyota driver in eighth.
Cindric led five times but for only seven of the 188 laps in an
unusually calm race for chaotic Talladega. The track last fall
recorded the largest crash in the NASCAR history when 28 cars were
collected in a demolition derby with four laps remaining.
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NASCAR Cup Series driver Austin Cindric celebrates after winning a
NASCAR Cup Series auto race at Talladega Superspeedway, Sunday,
April 27, 2025, in Talladega, Ala. (AP Photo/Butch Dill)
On Sunday, there were only four cautions — two for
stage breaks — totaling 22 laps. It was the fourth consecutive
Talladega race with only four cautions, the two for stage breaks and
the two for natural cautions.
But, Sunday featured season-highs in lead changes (67) among
different drivers (23). Only five cars failed to finish from the
40-car field, and a whopping 30 drivers finished on the lead lap.
Cindric marked the 10th consecutive different winner at Talladega,
extending the track record of no repeat winners. And, by the time it
was over, Logano seemed to have calmed down.
“About time one of us wins these things,” Logano said of the Penske
trio. “When you think about the amount of laps led by Team Penske
and Ford in general, just haven't been able to close. To see a
couple of Fords on the front row duking it out, I wish one of them
was me, in a selfish way. But it's good to see those guys running up
there and being able to click one off.”
Larson sets NASCAR record for stage wins
When he won the first stage at Talladega, it was the 67th of
Larson's career and made him NASCAR's all-time stage winner. He
broke a tie with Martin Truex Jr. with the stage win.
Stages were introduced in 2017 as a way to ensure natural breaks
during races that allowed fans to rush to the bathroom or concession
stand without missing any action. Cars typically make a pit stop
during a stage break.
Teammate-on-teammate collision
Joe Gibbs Racing drivers Christopher Bell and Denny Hamlin, who
combined to win five of the first nine races this season, had a
collision on a restart that ensured Bell would not win his fourth
race of the season.
It happened in the first stage of the race with Bell on the front
row next to Chris Buescher on his inside, and with Hamlin behind
him. As the cars revved to get up to speed at the green flag, Hamlin
ran into the back of Bell, which caused him to turn into Buescher
and create the second caution of the race.
Bell went to the garage, where he joined Ryan Blaney, Buescher and
Brad Keselowski, all betting favorites who were done for the day
before the end of the first stage.
“What in the hell? Man, apologies if that's on me,” Hamlin radioed.
“We weren't even up to speed yet. I don't know why that would have
wrecked him. When he shot down to the bottom, I wasn't even sure I
was actually on him.”
Up Next
NASCAR races next week at Texas Motor Speedway, where Elliott scored
his only win of the 2024 season last April.
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