Austin Cindric, the dude driving the #2 Menards/Quaker State Ford, snagged the checkered flag at the NASCAR Cup Series Jack Link’s 500 at Talladega Superspeedway on April 27, 2025, in Talladega, Alabama. Credit goes to Logan Riely / NASCAR/Getty Images for capturing the epic moment.
Yo, Talladega was lit when Austin Cindric nabbed his first win of the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series season in the Jack Link’s 500 on April 27, 2025. This dude made a sick last-lap pass at Talladega Superspeedway, beating Ryan Preece by a tiny .022 seconds. Crazy stuff went down after the race when Preece and Joey Logano got disqualified for messing around with their spoilers. That bumped Kyle Larson and William Byron to second and third place, totally shaking up the final results and sending Cindric’s Team Penske Ford into playoff mode.
Cindric’s No. 2 Ford was trading the lead back and forth with Preece’s No. 60 Ford in the final laps, leading up to a photo-finish. “I’m just so proud of this team — from the pit stops to the fast cars to the fuel-only stops,” Cindric said, giving props to a mega quick pit stop with 17 laps to go. “It definitely wasn’t easy,” he added, shouting out Larson for his moves in the tri-oval. The race was a wild ride with 67 lead changes among 23 drivers, but surprisingly only four cautions, two for stage breaks, kept things relatively clean.
Preece’s illegal spoiler and Logano’s spoiler violation bumped Larson and Byron into the top three. Larson, who snagged a career-best finish at Talladega, was like, “I wanted to take it, but just felt like the gap was too big.” Byron held onto the championship lead, 31 points ahead of Larson.
Noah Gragson and Chase Elliott held down the top five, followed by Carson Hocevar, Alex Bowman, Bubba Wallace, Daniel Suárez, and Austin Dillon. Wallace, who won Stage 2, led five laps, while Larson took Stage 1. The race had 80,000 fans soaking up the sun, averaging 157.203 mph over 3 hours, 10 minutes, and 52 seconds.
A wreck on lap 43 wrecked the day for Brad Keselowski and Ryan Blaney, former Talladega champs. Keselowski spun out, collecting Blaney after a pit stop, leaving them in 36th and 37th place, respectively. “It was just a stack of guys trying to come to pit road as fast as they could,” Keselowski said, bummed about the crash that also involved Chris Buescher and Christopher Bell. Blaney, with his fourth DNF of 2025, said, “Another DNF – it just sucks.”
Cindric’s win marked the 10th different winner in Talladega’s last 10 races, securing his spot in the playoffs. “Having a photo-finish at Talladega and getting into the Playoffs in front of this amazing crowd, beautiful day in Alabama,” he said. The disqualifications, reported by NASCAR.com, showed how strict the sport’s rules are, messing with Preece and Logano’s points.
Next up, the NASCAR Cup Series is heading to Texas Motor Speedway for the Wurth 400 on May 4, with Elliott as the defending champ. Byron’s consistent finishes kept him on top, but Cindric’s win shows Team Penske isn’t messing around. “TALLADEGA DELIVERS AGAIN!” posted @NASCARInsider on X, catching all the excitement.
