Austin Cindric wins in dramatic NASCAR Cup photo finish at Talladega

Sunday’s NASCAR Cup race at Talladega ended in a dramatic, but clean photo finish. Austin Cindric and Ryan Preece drag-raced to the line with a pair of Hendrick cars pushing them, but it was Cindric who edged ahead at the finish line in a thrilling photo finish. The Ford driver also had the help of a draft from two lapped cars on the inside line, right in front of him.

“I’m just so proud of this team,” said an excited Cindric. “From the cycles to the fast cars to the fuel-only stops. Doug — my spotter, everybody. I’ve been trying for three, four years now to get a Cup win for John Menard and Menard’s. That bright yellow car looks good out front. I’m just so thankful for everyone’s support. The Ford Performance, Roush Yates engine package at these types of race tracks are second to none. We talk about in every single one of these meetings why we haven’t won one of these races. Just really proud of this effort.”

Speaking on the run to the finish, he said: “Definitely wasn’t easy. I give a lot of credit. 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 (when Larson wrecked Cindric in the battle for the lead), I feel like we’re good now. That was great too have a photo finish at Talladega, to be able to get into the playoffs, (and to do it) in front of this amazing crowd on a beautiful day in Alabama.”

Watch: Austin Cindric ‘so proud’ to finally win at Talladega

Cindric now has three wins in the Cup Series and, just like last year, he is the first of the three Team Penske cars to reach Victory Lane. His other victories at the Cup level came at Gateway in 2024 and in the 2022 Daytona 500. Cindric is now the sixth different driver to win this year, and he was 22nd in the championship standings before this critical victory.

Preece and Logano fail post-race inspection

The driver he beat was RFK Racing’s Preece, who scored a career-best finish of second. Despite the relatively clean race, Preece was the only RFK driver left in the running after both of his teammates [Chris Buescher and Brad Keselowski] fell out of the event due to earlier incidents. Preece has never won at the Cup level in nearly 200 starts, but 2025 is shaping up to be the best year of his career.

Unfortunately, this career-best effort did not stand as Preece was later disqualified after failing post-race inspection. Issues were found surrounding the rear spoiler of his car, and fellow Ford driver Joey Logano, who originally finished fifth but was also disqualified.

Austin Cindric, Team Penske Ford

Photo by: Logan Riely / Getty Images

Kyle Larson won the opening stage and finished second in what now stands as his best result at Talladega. Following the disqualifications of Preece and Logano, William Byron officially finished third, Noah Gragson Noah Gragson fourth, and Chase Elliott fifth. Carson Hocevar, Alex Bowman, Stage 2 winner Bubba Wallace, Daniel Suarez, and Austin Dillon filled out the remainder of the top ten.

The race was very clean with just five drivers failing to finish and two cautions for on-track incidents. Brad Keselowski and Ryan Blaney were eliminated in a crash at pit entry during Stage 1, which also collected Kyle Busch. Soon after, Christopher Bell and Chris Buescher wrecked from the lead after a bad bump on a restart.