Austin Cindric celebrated his first victory of the season at Talladega wearing the track’s traditional laurel wreath, a gesture that evoked the victory at the Indianapolis 500.
I feel like I just won the Indianapolis 500. I’m trying to get on the plane with this.
Austin Cindric
Cindric led on five occasions, though only for seven of the 188 laps of a race that was unusually calm by Talladega standards. The victory represented Team Penske’s first win of the season.
Ford drivers achieved a 1-2 finish, with Ryan Preece in second place. However, both Preece and Joey Logano were disqualified after post-race inspections for spoiler infractions.
Following the disqualifications, Kyle Larson moved up to second place and William Byron to third, both from Hendrick Motorsports. Larson, whose style doesn’t suit Talladega, expressed his desire to fight for the victory, but the opportunity never arose.
I wanted to take it, but I felt the gap was too big. I was stuck on the inside and trying my best to move up in our lane and maybe open it up to get out. But we were all pushing so equally that the lanes got stuck.
Kyle Larson
Noah Gragson finished fourth in a Ford, while Hendrick’s Chase Elliott was fifth. The best-ranked Toyota was Bubba Wallace’s, in eighth place.
Sunday’s race, although less chaotic than usual, offered a record of 67 lead changes among 23 different drivers. Only five cars were unable to finish the race, and 30 drivers finished on the lead lap.
Cindric became the tenth different consecutive winner at Talladega, extending the track record. Cindric’s teammate, Joey Logano, seemed to calm down after the race.
It was about time one of us won these things. When you think about the amount of laps led by Team Penske and Ford in general, we just haven’t been able to close it out. It’s good to see a couple of Fords on the front row battling, I wish one of them was me, selfishly. But it’s good to see those guys run up there and be able to get one.
Joey Logano
Larson sets stage win record
By winning the first stage at Talladega, Kyle Larson secured his 67th stage victory, becoming NASCAR’s all-time leader in this category, surpassing Martin Truex Jr.
In the race, Christopher Bell and Denny Hamlin, both from Joe Gibbs Racing, suffered a collision that prevented Bell from fighting for his fourth win of the season. The incident occurred in the first stage, and Hamlin apologized for the contact.
The next NASCAR race will be at the Texas Motor Speedway.
