April 27, 2025 | By Holly Cain, NASCAR Wire Service

Austin Cindric wins wild Talladega race with last-lap pass

TALLADEGA, Ala. — Austin Cindric’s dramatic last lap pass provided exactly the sort of Talladega (Ala.) 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 trophies of the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series season.

Cindric’s No. 2 Team Penske Ford pulled ahead of Roush Fenway Keselowski 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 exchanging the lead five times in the final six laps.

However, the Fords driven by Preece and fifth place finisher, Cindric’s Penske teammate Joey Logano were subsequently disqualified following post-race inspection for technical violations. NASCAR officials found an illegal spoiler on Preece’s Mustang and a spoiler violation on Logano’s No. 22 Mustang that also violated Overall Assembled Vehicle Rules.

The disqualifications moved Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet teammates Kyle Larson and William Byron into second and third place in the race’s final standings.

“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.’’

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 runner-up 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 for the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series champion drafting tracks such as Talladega, Daytona and Atlanta – all venues where the 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 Tallladega race had only four caution flags – two of which were scheduled stage caution breaks.

With the two disqualifications, Front Row Motorsports’ Noah Gragson and Hendrick’s Chase Elliott round out the top-five.

Chevrolet drivers, Spire Motorsports’ Carson Hocevar and Hendrick’s Alex Bowman finished sixth and seventh with former Talladega winner, and Sunday’s Stage 2 winner Bubba Wallace eighth in the No. 23 23XI Racing Toyota. Trackhouse Racing’s Daniel Suárez and Richard Childress Racing’s Austin Dillon completed the updated top-10.

Although their teammates ran well and earned stage points, it was a frustrating afternoon for Penske’s Ryan Blaney and Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing’s Brad Keselowski.

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 to pit road for a stop – 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 36th 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 Team Penske Ford was scored as 37th – ahead of the two disqualified drivers. It marked his fourth DNF in the 10-race season, but the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series champion has led 198 laps on the season and is still ranked eighth 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 third-place finish, Byron continues to lead the championship standings, now 31 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, 52 points behind Byron.

The NASCAR Cup Series now heads West to Texas Motor Speedway for next Sunday’s Wurth 400 presented by LIQUI MOLY (3:30 p.m. ET, FS1, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). Elliott is the defending race winner.



UPDATED: Update: The Nos. 60 and 22 were DQ'd.
NASCAR Cup Series Race Number 10
Race Results for the Jack Link's 500 - Sunday, April 27, 2025
Talladega Superspeedway - Talladega, AL - 2.66 - Mile Paved

Total Race Length - 188 Laps - 500.08 Miles

Provided by NASCAR Statistics - Sunday, 4/27/2025 @ 09:13 PM Eastern

Fin Str Car Driver Team Laps Stage 1 Pos Stage 2 Pos Pts Status Tms Laps Playoff Pts
1 7 2 Austin Cindric Menards/Quaker State Ford 188  3 48 Running 5 7 5
2 25 5 Kyle Larson HendrickCars.com Chevrolet 188 1 2 54 Running 1 3 1
3 16 24 William Byron Valvoline Chevrolet 188 2  43 Running 3 10
4 27 4 Noah Gragson Rural King Ford 188   33 Running  
5 30 9 Chase Elliott Amazon Prime Video Chevrolet 188 4  39 Running 1 1
6 28 77 Carson Hocevar Chili's Ride the 'Dente Chevrolet 188  4 38 Running 3 3
7 18 48 Alex Bowman Ally Chevrolet 188   30 Running  
8 20 23 Bubba Wallace Leidos Toyota 188 5 1 45 Running 3 5 1
9 24 99 Daniel Suarez Wendy's Frosty Chevrolet 188   28 Running 2 2
10 5 3 Austin Dillon Bass Pro Shops/Winchester Chevrolet 188   27 Running  
11 14 71 Michael McDowell GUNK Chevrolet 188   27 Running 5 10
12 35 47 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. NOS Energy Chevrolet 188 3  33 Running  
13 12 41 Cole Custer Haas/Andy's Ford 188   24 Running 1 2
14 26 45 Tyler Reddick Xfinity Mobile Toyota 188  5 29 Running  
15 17 19 Chase Briscoe Bass Pro Shops Toyota 188   22 Running 3 20
16 15 34 Todd Gilliland Love's Travel Stops Ford 188  6 26 Running  
17 10 54 Ty Gibbs SAIA LTL Freight Toyota 188   20 Running 2 32
18 34 43 Erik Jones Massey Motor Freight Toyota 188   19 Running  
19 1 38 Zane Smith TitleMax Ford 188  7 22 Running 3 5
20 32 1 Ross Chastain Jockey Chevrolet 188   17 Running 6 11
21 13 11 Denny Hamlin Progressive Toyota 188 6  21 Running 1 7
22 23 35 Riley Herbst # Monster Energy Toyota 188 9  17 Running  
23 21 10 Ty Dillon Sea Best Chevrolet 188 10  15 Running 1 1
24 19 16 AJ Allmendinger Grizzly Nicotine Pouches Chevrolet 188 7 10 18 Running  
25 37 7 Justin Haley Gainbridge Chevrolet 188  9 14 Running  
26 8 21 Josh Berry Motorcraft/Quick Lane Ford 188  8 14 Running 6 12
27 2 8 Kyle Busch Nicokick Chevrolet 188   10 Running 1 3
28 31 62 * Anthony Alfredo(i) Fortify Building Solutions Chevrolet 188   0 Running 7 19
29 36 88 Shane Van Gisbergen # Safety Culture Chevrolet 187   8 Running  
30 29 42 John Hunter Nemechek Jack Link's Toyota 187   7 Running 1 1
31 33 51 Cody Ware Arby's x AC Barbecue Sauce Ford 186 8  9 Running  
32 39 44 * JJ Yeley Barnett Southern Corporation Chevrolet 186   5 Running 2 2
33 38 78 * BJ McLeod Pigeon Forge Racing Coaster Chevrolet 71   0 Overheating  
34 6 17 Chris Buescher Travel Centers of America Ford 51   3 Accident 1 2
35 11 20 Christopher Bell Sport Clips Haircuts Toyota 51   2 Accident  
36 22 6 Brad Keselowski BuildSubmarines.com Ford 42   1 Accident  
37 9 12 Ryan Blaney Advance Auto Parts Ford 42   1 Accident  
38 4 60 Ryan Preece Kroger/Celsius Ford 188   1 Running 4 6
39 3 22 Joey Logano Shell Pennzoil Ford 188   1 Running 6 24

Fastest Lap Bonus:  # lap 120 / 47.896
71                                                                   

Time of Race: 3 Hrs, 10 Mins, 52 Secs. Average Speed: 157.203 MPH Margin of Victory: .022 Seconds

Stage 1 Top 10: 5, 24, 47, 9, 23, 11, 16, 51, 35, 10
Stage 2 Top 10: 23, 5, 2, 77, 45, 34, 38, 21, 7, 16

Race Comments: Austin Cindric won the Jack Link's 500 at Talladega Superspeedway, his third victory in the NASCAR Cup Series. Prior to the start of the race, the following vehicle(s) dropped to the rear of the field under penalty for the reason(s) indicated: No. 44 (Unapproved Adjustments).

Failed to Qualify: None.

Caution Flags: 4 for 22 laps; Laps: 44-51 (#12, 6, 8, 17, 48 incident frontstretch [None]); 53-56 (#11, 20, 17 incident backstretch [8]); 62-66 (Stage 1 Conclusion [None]); 122-126 (Stage 2 Conclusion [99]).

Lead Changes: 67 among 23 drivers; Z. Smith 1-3; J. Berry 4; J. Logano 5; M. McDowell 6-7; J. Berry 8; M. McDowell 9-10; Z. Smith 11; J. Berry 12-14; R. Preece 15; M. McDowell 16; R. Preece 17; M. McDowell 18-20; Z. Smith 21; J. Berry 22; K. Busch 23-25; C. Briscoe 26-40; C. Custer 41-42; J. Logano 43-48; D. Suarez 49; C. Buescher 50-51; D. Hamlin 52-58; B. Wallace 59; K. Larson 60-62; C. Hocevar 63; *. Yeley 64; *. Alfredo(i) 65; W. Byron 66-69; *. Alfredo(i) 70-73; R. Chastain 74; J. Nemechek 75; *. Alfredo(i) 76; R. Chastain 77-80; *. Alfredo(i) 81; R. Chastain 82-83; *. Alfredo(i) 84-85; R. Chastain 86; D. Suarez 87; *. Alfredo(i) 88-93; R. Chastain 94-95; *. Alfredo(i) 96-99; R. Chastain 100; J. Logano 101-108; C. Hocevar 109; J. Logano 110; B. Wallace 111; M. McDowell 112-113; C. Hocevar 114; J. Logano 115-119; B. Wallace 120-122; *. Yeley 123; C. Elliott 124; C. Briscoe 125-127; T. Gibbs 128; C. Briscoe 129-130; T. Gibbs 131-161; J. Logano 162-164; J. Berry 165-166; T. Dillon 167; J. Berry 168-171; A. Cindric 172-174; W. Byron 175; A. Cindric 176; W. Byron 177-181; A. Cindric 182; R. Preece 183-185; A. Cindric 186; R. Preece 187; A. Cindric 188.

(i) Ineligible for driver points in this series

Next Race: May 4, 2025 - Texas Motor Speedway

NASCAR Integrated Marketing Communications @ P.O. Box 2875, Daytona Beach, FL 32120-2875 UPDATED
UPDATED


NASCAR Cup Series Points Report
Talladega Superspeedway
Jack Link's 500

UNOFFICIAL Provided by NASCAR Statistics - Sunday, 4/27/2025 @ 09:14 PM Eastern UNOFFICIAL

Rank Driver Car Starts GL Points Ldr Nxt Race Wins Stage Wins Playoff Pts
1. William Byron 24 10 0 389 0 0 1 3 8
2. Kyle Larson 5 10 2 358 -31 31 2 5 15
3. Denny Hamlin 11 10 -1 337 -52 21 2 2 12
4. Chase Elliott 9 10 1 317 -72 20 0 0 0
5. Christopher Bell 20 10 -2 307 -82 10 3 1 16
6. Tyler Reddick 45 10 1 303 -86 4 0 0 0
7. Bubba Wallace 23 10 1 296 -93 7 0 2 2
8. Ryan Blaney 12 10 -2 276 -113 20 0 2 2
9. Alex Bowman 48 10 1 274 -115 2 0 0 0
10. Ross Chastain 1 10 1 246 -143 28 0 0 0
11. Joey Logano 22 10 -2 246 -143 0 0 2 2
12. Chase Briscoe 19 10 1 235 -154 11 0 0 0
13. Chris Buescher 17 10 -1 230 -159 5 0 0 0
14. Austin Cindric 2 10 8 219 -170 11 1 1 6
15. AJ Allmendinger 16 10 1 216 -173 3 0 0 0
16. Kyle Busch 8 10 -1 210 -179 6 0 0 0
17. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. 47 10 1 209 -180 1 0 0 0
18. Ryan Preece 60 10 -4 202 -187 7 0 1 1
19. Michael McDowell 71 10 0 201 -188 1 0 0 0
20. Carson Hocevar 77 10 5 195 -194 6 0 0 0
21. Josh Berry 21 10 -4 193 -196 2 1 1 6
22. Ty Gibbs 54 10 -2 191 -198 2 0 0 0
23. Zane Smith 38 10 1 183 -206 8 0 0 0
24. Austin Dillon 3 10 2 182 -207 1 0 0 0
25. Daniel Suarez 99 10 2 179 -210 3 0 0 0
26. John Hunter Nemechek 42 10 -5 178 -211 1 0 0 0
27. Justin Haley 7 10 -4 178 -211 0 0 0 0
28. Todd Gilliland 34 10 0 176 -213 2 0 0 0
29. Ty Dillon 10 10 0 161 -228 15 0 0 0
30. Erik Jones 43 10 0 158 -231 3 0 0 0
31. Noah Gragson 4 10 1 155 -234 3 0 0 0
32. Brad Keselowski 6 10 -1 133 -256 22 0 0 0
33. Riley Herbst # 35 10 0 118 -271 15 0 0 0
34. Cole Custer 41 10 1 109 -280 9 0 0 0
35. Shane Van Gisbergen # 88 10 -1 106 -283 3 0 0 0
36. Cody Ware 51 10 0 54 -335 52 0 0 0
37. Jimmie Johnson  1 0 34 -355 20 0 0 0
38. Corey Lajoie  3 0 24 -365 10 0 0 0
39. * JJ Yeley 44 4 1 9 -380 15 0 0 0
40. Katherine Legge  1 -1 7 -382 2 0 0 0
41. Casey Mears  1 0 2 -387 5 0 0 0
42. Burt Myers  1 0 1 -388 1 0 0 0
43. Martin Truex, Jr.  1 0 1 -388 0 0 0 0
44. Justin Allgaier(i)  1 0 0 -389 1 0 0 0
45. * BJ McLeod(i) 78 2 0 0 -389 0 0 0 0
46. * Anthony Alfredo(i) 62 1 4 0 -389 0 0 0 0
47. Austin Hill(i)  1 -1 0 -389 0 0 0 0
48. Jesse Love(i)  1 -1 0 -389 0 0 0 0
49. Connor Zilisch(i)  1 -1 0 -389 0 0 0 0
50. Helio Castroneves  1 2 0 -389 0 0 0 0
51. Josh Bilicki(i)  1 -2 0 -389 0 0 0 0
52. Chandler Smith(i)  0 -1 0 -389 0 0 0 0

UPDATED UPDATED UPDATED

-Ldr/-Nxt = Points behind Leader/Next higher, (i) Ineligible for driver points in this series