Cindric Comes Out On Top In Last-Lap Talladega Thriller

Austin Cindric celebrates in victory lane at Talladega Superspeedway. (Max Corcoran/Race Face Digital photo)

TALLADEGA, Ala. – After two dominant superspeedway races to open the season that ultimately didn’t fall his way, Austin Cindric finally put all the pieces together Sunday at Talladega Superspeedway.

With help from a lightning-quick, fuel-only pit stop during the waning moments of the Jack Link’s 500, Cindric cycled out at the head of the field with 17 laps to go and fought valiantly to maintain control the rest of the way.

Despite several late charges on his outside by Ryan Preece, Cindric stayed glued to the double-yellow line down the stretch and had drafting help from Kyle Larson during the decisive final circuit – as well as a bit of a tow from Kyle Busch and Josh Berry up ahead, who were on the tail end of the lead lap.

In the end, it all added up to just enough for Cindric, who surged ahead coming through the tri-oval and nipped Preece at the checkered flag by a scant .022-second margin to claim his third career NASCAR Cup Series victory.

Sunday marked Cindric’s first win since World Wide Technology Raceway in Madison, Ill., last June – ending a 30-race drought – and his first triumph on a drafting track since the 2022 Daytona 500.

That led to a vibrant celebration in victory lane, with a burst of emotion for the affable 26-year-old from Mooresville, N.C., as he exited his No. 2 Menards/Quaker State Ford Mustang Dark Horse.

“That definitely was not easy,” said Cindric. “I give a lot of credit to my pusher; Kyle (Larson) did a lot to take care of me, pushing me at the right times in the tri-oval. As mad as I was at him after Atlanta (Motor Speedway), I feel like we’re good now. That was great.

“Having a photo finish at Talladega, to be able to get in the playoffs in front of this amazing crowd on a beautiful day in Alabama … you can’t ask for much more than that.”

By typical Talladega standards, Sunday was about as calm as anyone could ask for. Other than two late incidents in stage one, there was no true “Big One” and stages two and three ran without interruption.

In fact, the 62-lap green-flag run that ended the race was the longest clean stretch to close out a drafting track event in the Cup Series since July of 2004 at Daytona (Fla.) Int’l Speedway.

“You’re waiting for it to go wrong, but you’ve got to stay in the zone,” said Cindric of his mentality late. “There are so many times at the end I was just focused on the feedback that (spotter) Doug Campbell was giving me and what I knew about our car and other cars I observed throughout the field today, so this outcome is proof of just an absolutely fantastic job by everybody involved.”

Notably, Cindric’s final fuel-only pit stop was a scant 3.26 seconds, courtesy of gas man Andrew Lackey.

Cindric tipped afterward that the decisive moment in the race came when Preece bullied his way from third on the inside lane up past the Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolets of William Byron and Alex Bowman, ultimately getting to the lead of the outside file and pulling it around the rest of the way.

Austin Cindric (2) and Ryan Preece (60) lead the NASCAR Cup Series field on the final lap at Talladega Superspeedway. (Max Corcoran/Race Face Digital photo)

That left the duel for glory to be settled between the Fords of Cindric and Preece, with no one able to materialize a third lane at the final bell.

“We had the opportunity to get to the top lane and then from there it was just managing those cars behind us and not giving up what we gained,” said Preece. “I’m disappointed (at not winning), but I’m proud of P2.”

The disappointment came hours later, when Preece was disqualified for an extra spoiler shim (three instead of the mandated two) discovered during post-race tech. He dropped to 38th in the final results.

Bottled up behind Cindric and Preece, neither Kyle Larson nor Byron could do anything at the end but push the cars in front of them. They were forced to settle for second and third place, respectively, after Preece was removed from the equation.

Defending Cup Series champion Joey Logano crossed the line fifth, for what would have been his best finish and just his second top 10 of the year, but Logano was also disqualified – though his DQ was for a missing spoiler bolt. Logano was credited with 39th, right behind Preece.

The DQs lifted Noah Gragson and Chase Elliott to fourth and fifth, with Carson Hocevar, Bowman, Bubba Wallace, Daniel Suarez, and Austin Dillon closing out the official top 10 finishers.

Sunday’s race had only four total cautions – two of which were the stage breaks at laps 60 and 120 – for 22 laps. The race was completed in three hours, 10 minutes, and 52 seconds at an average speed of 157.203 mph.

The two early yellows were catastrophic for some heavy hitters, however. A lap-43 mishap during an early green-flag pit cycle led to a five-car crash that eliminated the likes of Ryan Blaney and Brad Keselowski.

On the ensuing lap-52 restart, then-leader Christopher Bell was turned off the bumper of teammate Denny Hamlin, collecting Chris Buescher before Bell’s Toyota slammed the inside wall nose first.

All drivers walked away from those incidents, and after that, it was – surprisingly – smooth sailing the rest of the way.

Next for the NASCAR Cup Series is Texas Motor Speedway, where Elliott is the defending race winner.

Coverage of the Wurth 400 is slated for Sunday, May 4 at 3:30 p.m. ET, live on FS1, the Performance Racing Network, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, channel 90.