TALLADEGA, Ala. — Austin Cindric’s dramatic last-lap pass provided exactly the sort of Talladega Superspeedway thrill that NASCAR fans have come to expect at the sport’s biggest track, earning the 2022 Daytona 500 winner Cindric – and Team Penske – their first trophy of the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series season.
Cindric’s No. 2 Team Penske Ford pulled ahead of Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing driver Ryan Preece’s No. 60 Ford by the length of a front hood to claim a .022-second victory in Sunday’s Jack Link’s 500 – the two Ford Mustangs exchanged the lead five times in the final six laps and ultimately finished side-by-side holding off a pair of hard-charging Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet teammates just behind in Kyle Larson and William Byron.
“I’m just so proud of this team from the [pit] cycles to the fast cars to the fuel-only stops,’’ said the 26-year old Cindric, whose team – with 17 laps remaining – turned in the fastest final pit stop putting him back out front and able to contend for the win in a race that featured 67 lead changes among 23 drivers.
“It definitely wasn’t easy,’’ Cindric said of holding off the Hendrick teammates for the checkered flag. “I give a lot of credit, Kyle [Larson] did a lot to take care of me, pushing me at the right times in the tri-oval and as mad as I was at him after Atlanta [race], I feel like we’re good now. That was great and having a photo-finish at Talladega and get in the Playoffs in front of this amazing crowd, beautiful day in Alabama.’’
As thrilling as the win was Cindric, it was a heartbreaking runner-up for the 34-year-old Preece, who came a literal split-second away from his first NASCAR Cup Series victory.
“I’m happy, but as a racer, you want to win, right,’’ Preece said. “Coming through the tri-oval I felt like, all right, we’re all sticking together and nobody was leaving me.
“It’s not easy,’’ he conceded. “I felt like this was the most aggressive I’ve raced on a superspeedway and really pushing the issues because you’ve got to figure out who’s gonna have that fast car and obviously, it was all Fords today. The right holes opened at the right times but ultimately, just 22-hundreths short.’’
The Hendrick teammates Larson and Byron acknowledged lapped traffic in front of the lead pack, looming just beyond the finish line, certainly created an extra consideration. Yet the third place showing for Larson, who won Stage 1 and led three laps on the day, was a career best effort at Talladega. It was a major move forward personally on the large drafting tracks such as Talladega, Daytona and Atlanta where the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series champion and 31-race winner has yet to earn a trophy.
“I wanted to take it, but just felt like the gap was too big,’’ said Larson, who ran directly behind Cindric in the closing laps, adding. “I was just second row inside and just going to do everything I could to try and advance our lane and maybe open it up so maybe then I could get to the outside, but we were all pushing so equally that it kept the lanes kind of jammed up.
“I needed something else to kinda happen, maybe them to get blocking each other or something, but still a great day. A stage win, P3 in the second stage and P3 in the final, so great points day and best career finish on a superspeedway so happy with the performance in the Hendricks.com Chevy.”
Cindric is the 10th different winner in the last 10 Talladega races — a record streak at the iconic 2.66-mile high-banked track. Yet Sunday’s race was relatively calm compared to some previous editions at the high-action drafting track. It marked the fourth time a Talladega race had only four caution flags – two of which were scheduled stage caution breaks.
As encouraging as Cindric and Preece’s runs were — it was an gut-wrenching afternoon for their teammates, Ryan Blaney (Penske) and Brad Keselowski (RFK Racing).
The two former champions and past multi-time Talladega winners were collected in an accident on lap 43 during a pit stop cycle before the first Stage break. Keselowski and Chevy’s Kyle Busch collided on track as Keselowski was moving toward pit road – their contact collected Blaney spinning him out as well.
The owner-driver of the No. 6 Ford, Keselowski, who was already mired in a disappointing early season, finished 38th and is now ranked 32nd in the championship standings.
“It was just a stack of guys trying to come to pit road as fast as they could and we were kind of the ham in the sandwich that got squeezed,’’ said Keselowski, who leads all active drivers with six Talladega wins. “I waved down the backstretch to let everybody know I was gonna pit and I came off of four and everybody was so tight behind me that I didn’t even have a chance to turn left. I hate that it ruined not just our day, but several other people’s day. I don’t think I could do anything different.”
Blaney, who drives the No. 12 Penske Racing Ford was scored as 39th, or last in the field. It marked his fourth DNF in the 10-race season and the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series champion is now ranked ninth in the standings.
“Another DNF – it just sucks,’’ Blaney said. Just when we were kind of getting our momentum and didn’t even get to race today. We’ll just move on to Texas.”
With his fourth place finish, Byron continues to lead the championship standings, now 32 points ahead of his teammate Larson. Joe Gibbs Racing’s Denny Hamlin, who had been second in points going into Talladega is now ranked third, 53 behind Byron.
