Cup Series: Cindric beats out Preece for first Talladega victory

Sean McKean
Apr 27
4 min read

Written by Sean McKean

In a thrilling finish to the end, Austin Cindric barely beat Ryan Preece to his outside to take his third career Cup Series win. It breaks an over 30-race winless streak.

As it unfolded

From his first career pole, Zane Smith led the way with help from OEM teammate Joey Logano. But by the end of Lap 3, the field spread out four-wide in every single row to save fuel – similar to the formation from last fall’s race.

It took many laps for a clear leader to emerge, and on Lap 29, Chase Briscoe took the lead with five other Toyotas back until sixth, with Toyota noticing that they could push the pace. They fanned out to single-file.

The Toyotas plus others peeled into pit road on Lap 41.

On Lap 43, the Fords came in, but this brought out the first caution. On the entrance to pit road, Kyle Busch and Brad Keselowski came together and spun. This resulted in Keselowski spinning into Ryan Blaney, hooking the Penske driver, and heavily damaging both cars. Kyle Busch was the only one with minimal damage.

The rest of the Top 15 who were yet to pit came down for service under caution. Of this bunch, Chase Elliott, Zane Smith and Kyle Larson came out ahead.

Chris Buescher led the way on Lap 52, but only two corners later, he and Bell crashed hard into the inside wall. This happened after a faulty push from Denny Hamlin to Bell off of Turn 2. Both drivers crashed heavily – Bell even hitting the wall head-on – but emerged unhurt.

Hamlin led the way this time on Lap 57 – with four laps remaining in the first stage. Kyle Larson, however, found his way to the front and won the first stage. He was followed by William Byron and Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

Stage 1 Results:

No. 5 - Kyle Larson (Hendrick Motorsports)
No. 24 - William Byron (Hendrick Motorsports)
No. 47 - Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (Hyak Motorsports)
No. 9 - Chase Elliott (Hendrick Motorsports)
No. 23 - Bubba Wallace (23XI Racing)
No. 11 - Denny Hamlin (Joe Gibbs Racing)
No. 16 - AJ Allmendinger (Kaulig Racing)
No. 51 - Cody Ware (Rick Ware Racing)
No. 35 - Riley Herbst (23XI Racing)
No. 10 - Ty Dillon (Kaulig Racing)

Most drivers took to pit road under the break. Leading this bunch was Larson, Byron and John Hunter Nemechek. Larson faced a speeding penalty though, being sent to the back of the field.

Anthony Alfredo led the way on Lap 67. Alfredo kept the lead after one lap with the field fanning back out to three-wide.

Green flag pit stops began on Lap 99 with Kyle Busch and Anthony Alfredo. The Chevrolet’s first followed nine laps later, with Shane van Gisbergen and Chase Elliott facing a speeding penalty in this bunch. The Fords followed on Lap 111. Everyone else came down on Lap 112.

Coming out of pit road, John Hunter Nemechek went for a spin after running over a puddle. He lost all of his track position with no caution coming out.

Carson Hocevar and Joey Logano emerged as lane leaders when pit stops cycled through with seven laps to go in the stage.

Bubba Wallace found his way through to win the second stage of action. He was followed by Joey Logano and Kyle Larson.

Stage 2 Results:

No. 23 - Bubba Wallace (23XI Racing)
No. 22 - Joey Logano (Team Penske)
No. 5 - Kyle Larson (Hendrick Motorsports)
No. 2 - Austin Cindric (Team Penske)
No. 77 - Carson Hocevar (Spire Motorsports)
No. 60 - Ryan Preece (RFK Racing)
No. 45 - Tyler Reddick (23XI Racing)
No. 34 - Todd Gilliland (Front Row Motorsports)
No. 21 - Josh Berry (Wood Brothers Racing)
No. 38 - Zane Smith (Front Row Motorsports)

Chase Briscoe and Riley Herbst began the final stage as leaders on Lap 127. When the jostling for position settled down, Ty Gibbs led the pack followed by Hamlin and Herbst.

The final batch of green flag stops unfolded on Lap 164 with the Toyotas. The Fords and Chevrolets followed on Lap 172 and 173. Josh Berry and Kyle Busch faced speeding penalties as Austin Cindric cycled as leader with only 16 laps to go.

As the race breached the 10 to go mark, the race was firmly between Cindric. Despite the lead consistently swapping on his outside, Austin Cindric remained a constant, and he barely edged out Ryan Preece for only his third career victory.

Provisional Results: