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,” Cindrick 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!”
Cindric was followed by Ryan Preece as Ford drivers went 1-2. Kyle Larson and William Byron finished third and fourth for Hendrick Motorsports, but 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.”
Logano was fifth and followed by Noah Gragson for two more Ford cars, while Hendrick driver Chase Elliott was seventh — two spots ahead of teammate Alex Bowman, with Carson Hocevar of Spire Motorsports sandwiched in between at eighth. Wallace at 10th was the highest-finishing Toyota driver.
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.
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.
NASCAR Cup Series Jack Link's 500 Results
Sunday
At Talladega SuperspeedwayTalladega, Ala.Lap length: 2.66 miles(Start position in parentheses)
1. (7) Austin Cindric, Ford, 188 laps, 47 points.
2. (4) Ryan Preece, Ford, 188, 40.
3. (25) Kyle Larson, Chevrolet, 188, 52.
4. (16) William Byron, Chevrolet, 188, 42.
5. (3) Joey Logano, Ford, 188, 41.
6. (27) Noah Gragson, Ford, 188, 31.
7. (30) Chase Elliott, Chevrolet, 188, 37.
8. (28) Carson Hocevar, Chevrolet, 188, 35.
9. (18) Alex Bowman, Chevrolet, 188, 28.
10. (20) Bubba Wallace, Toyota, 188, 43.
11. (24) Daniel Suárez, Chevrolet, 188, 26.
12. (5) Austin Dillon, Chevrolet, 188, 25.
13. (14) Michael McDowell, Chevrolet, 188, 24.
14. (35) Ricky Stenhouse Jr, Chevrolet, 188, 31.
15. (12) Cole Custer, Ford, 188, 22.
16. (26) Tyler Reddick, Toyota, 188, 25.
17. (17) Chase Briscoe, Toyota, 188, 20.
18. (15) Todd Gilliland, Ford, 188, 22.
19. (10) Ty Gibbs, Toyota, 188, 18.
20. (34) Erik Jones, Toyota, 188, 17.
21. (1) Zane Smith, Ford, 188, 18.
22. (32) Ross Chastain, Chevrolet, 188, 15.
23. (13) Denny Hamlin, Toyota, 188, 19.
24. (23) Riley Herbst, Toyota, 188, 15.
25. (21) Ty Dillon, Chevrolet, 188, 13.
26. (19) AJ Allmendinger, Chevrolet, 188, 15.
27. (37) Justin Haley, Chevrolet, 188, 10.
28. (8) Josh Berry, Ford, 188, 10.
29. (2) Kyle Busch, Chevrolet, 188, 8.
30. (31) Anthony Alfredo, Chevrolet, 188, 0.
31. (36) Shane Van Gisbergen, Chevrolet, 187, 6.
32. (29) John H. Nemechek, Toyota, 187, 5.
33. (33) Cody Ware, Ford, 186, 7.
34. (39) JJ Yeley, Chevrolet, 186, 3.
35. (38) BJ McLeod, Chevrolet, overheating, 71, 0.
36. (6) Chris Buescher, Ford, accident, 51, 1.
37. (11) Christopher Bell, Toyota, accident, 51, 1.
38. (22) Brad Keselowski, Ford, accident, 42, 1.
39. (9) Ryan Blaney, Ford, accident, 42, 1.
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Race Statistics
Average Speed of Race Winner: 157.213 mph.
Time of Race: 3 hours, 10 minutes, 52 seconds.
Margin of Victory: .022 seconds.
Caution Flags: 4 for 22 laps.
Lead Changes: 67 among 23 drivers.
Lap Leaders: Z.Smith 0-3; 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.Suárez 49; C.Buescher 50-51; D.Hamlin 52-58; B.Wallace 59; K.Larson 60-62; C.Hocevar 63; J.Yeley 64; A.Alfredo 65; W.Byron 66-69; A.Alfredo 70-73; R.Chastain 74; J.Nemechek 75; A.Alfredo 76; R.Chastain 77-80; A.Alfredo 81; R.Chastain 82-83; A.Alfredo 84-85; R.Chastain 86; D.Suárez 87; A.Alfredo 88-93; R.Chastain 94-95; A.Alfredo 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; J.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
Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Led, Laps Led): T.Gibbs, 2 times for 32 laps; J.Logano, 6 times for 24 laps; C.Briscoe, 3 times for 20 laps; A.Alfredo, 7 times for 19 laps; J.Berry, 6 times for 12 laps; R.Chastain, 6 times for 11 laps; W.Byron, 3 times for 10 laps; M.McDowell, 5 times for 10 laps; A.Cindric, 5 times for 7 laps; D.Hamlin, 1 time for 7 laps; R.Preece, 4 times for 6 laps; B.Wallace, 3 times for 5 laps; Z.Smith, 3 times for 5 laps; K.Larson, 1 time for 3 laps; C.Hocevar, 3 times for 3 laps; K.Busch, 1 time for 3 laps; D.Suárez, 2 times for 2 laps; C.Custer, 1 time for 2 laps; J.Yeley, 2 times for 2 laps; C.Buescher, 1 time for 2 laps; C.Elliott, 1 time for 1 lap; T.Dillon, 1 time for 1 lap; J.Nemechek, 1 time for 1 lap.
Wins: C.Bell, 3; D.Hamlin, 2; K.Larson, 2; W.Byron, 1; J.Berry, 1.
Top 16 in Points: 1. W.Byron, 346; 2. D.Hamlin, 316; 3. C.Bell, 305; 4. K.Larson, 304; 5. C.Elliott, 278; 6. R.Blaney, 275; 7. T.Reddick, 274; 8. B.Wallace, 251; 9. J.Logano, 245; 10. A.Bowman, 244; 11. R.Chastain, 229; 12. C.Buescher, 227; 13. C.Briscoe, 213; 14. R.Preece, 201; 15. K.Busch, 200; 16. A.Allmendinger, 198.
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NASCAR Driver Rating Formula
A maximum of 150 points can be attained in a race.
The formula combines the following categories: Wins, Finishes, Top-15 Finishes, Average Running Position While on Lead Lap, Average Speed Under Green, Fastest Lap, Led Most Laps, Lead-Lap Finish.
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