Austin Cindric wins wild Talladega race with last-lap pass: Austin Cindric’s dramatic last-lap pass provided exactly the sort of Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway thrill that NASCAR fans have come to expect at the sport’s biggest track, earning the 2022 Daytona 500 winner Cindric – and Team Penske – their first trophy of the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series season. Cindric’s No. 2 Team Penske Ford pulled ahead of Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing driver Ryan Preece’s No. 60 Ford by the length of a front hood to claim a .022-second victory in Sunday’s Jack Link’s 500 – the two Ford Mustangs exchanged the lead five times in the final six laps and ultimately finished side-by-side holding off a pair of hard-charging Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet teammates just behind in Kyle Larson and William Byron.[Read More]
#2-Austin Cindric won the Jack Link’s 500 NASCAR Cup Series race at Talladega Superspeedway. The win is his first win of the year, first at Talladega and third career win.
#60-Ryan Preece finished 2nd followed by ##5-Kyle Larson, #24-William Byron, #22-Joey Logano, #4-Noah Gragson, #9-Chase Elliott, #77-Carson Hocevar, #48-Alex Bowman, and #23-Bubba Wallace.
Cindric led just 7 laps but ran up front during the end of the race and was able to get ahead of Preece on the final lap to get the win by .022 second.
Pole sitter #38-Zane Smith finished 21st.
The fastest lap bonus was earned by #71-Michael McDowell.
Stage 1 was won by #5-Kyle Larson. Stage 2 was won by #23-Bubba Wallace.
There were 67 lead changes among 23 drivers and 4 cautions for 22 yellow flag laps.
The average speed of the race was: 157.203mph.
See race details at: Race Results, Driver Points Standings, Owner Points Standings, Cumulative Report, Penalty Report.
UPDATE: #60-Ryan Preece and #22-Joey Logano have been disqualified.
Race Fast Facts – Talladega:
Austin Cindric won the Jack Link’s 500, his third victory in 125 Cup Series races.
This is his first victory and third top-10 finish in 2025.
This is his first victory and third top-10 finish in seven races at Talladega Superspeedway.
Ryan Preece (second) posted his fourth top-10 finish in 11 races at Talladega Superspeedway. It is his fourth top-10 finish in 2025.
Kyle Larson (third) posted his fifth top-10 finish in 21 races at Talladega Superspeedway.
Riley Herbst (24th) was the highest finishing rookie.
William Byron leads the point standings by 32 points over Kyle Larson.
(NASCAR)
Cup Series Playoff Standings after Talladega:
Race 10 of 36 in the season
1) #20-Christopher Bell, 3 wins, 306 points [16 playoff points]
2) #5-Kyle Larson, 2 wins, 356 [15 playoff points]
3) #11-Denny Hamlin, 2 win, 335 [12 playoff points]
4) #24-William Byron, 1 win, 388 points [regular season points leader], [8 playoff points]
5) #2-Austin Cindric, 1 win, 218 points [6 playoff points]
6) #21-Josh Berry, 1 win, 189 points, [6 playoff points]
7) #9-Chase Elliott, 315, +107 ahead of 17th
8) #45-Tyler Reddick, 299, +91 ahead of 17th
9) #23-Bubba Wallace, 294, [2 playoff points], +86 ahead of 17th
10) #12-Ryan Blaney, 276, [2 playoff points] +68 ahead of 17th
11) #48-Alex Bowman, 272, +64 head of 17th
12) #22-Joey Logano, 246, [2 playoff points], +38 ahead of 17th
13) #1-Ross Chastain, 244, +36 ahead of 17th
14) #19-Chase Briscoe, 233, +25 ahead of 17th
15) #17-Chris Buescher, 228, +20 ahead of 17th
16) #16-A.J. Allmendinger, 213, +5 ahead of 17th
Outside the top 16:
17) #8-Kyle Busch, 208, -5 behind 16th
18) #47-Ricky Stenhouse, Jr., 207, -6 behind 16th
19) #60-Ryan Preece, 202, [1 playoff point], -11 behind 16th
20) #71-Michael McDowell, 199, -14 behind 16th
See the Driver Points Standings and Owner Points Standings.
Race updates:
Checkered flag for Austin Cindric. He beats Preece to the line by .022 second. Larson third, then Byron and Logano.
White flag for Preece. Just ahead of Cindric.
Lap 187 – Two to go. Cindric leads Preece by .001 second at the line. Bryon and Larson still behind them.
Lap 186 – Three laps to go. Preece leads Cindric, Byron, Larson, and Bowman. Toyotas have not been able to move up and still stuck in the back.
Lap 184 – Preece to the lead on the outside. Cindric back to second, then Larson, Byron and Logano. 5 to go.
Lap 183 – Cindric the leader at the line.
Lap 182 – Eight laps remaining. A mix of Chevys and Fords up front. The top Toyota is Briscoe in 18th. Byron still leads with Cindric on the inside in second.
Lap 179 – Ten laps to go. Byron leads Cindric, Bowman, Larson, and Preece. Double wide up front as the action is picking up.
Lap 176 – Byron the leader by .003 second over Cindric at the line. Hamlin now told he’s a half lap short on fuel. He’s currently 25th.
Lap 174 – With pit stops complete, the top 10 are Cindric, Byron, Larson, Bowman, Preece, Logano, TDillon, Elliott, Gragson, Suarez. 15 laps remaining.
Lap 172 – The rest of the lead lap cars pit. Cindric now the leader.
Lap 171 – The Ford teams come to pit road. Ware too fast on pit road. Berry and Busch also speeding.
Lap 170 – Hamlin’s team tells him they did not get the car full and he is two laps short on fuel.
Lap 169 – Berry back to the lead with Preece second. 20 laps remaining.
Lap 168 – Ty Dillon leads for the first time today. Now 57 lead changes among 22 drivers.
Lap 166 – Berry leads Logano, Smith, TDillon and Preece.
Lap 165 – Green flag stops kick off with the Toyota teams (and Spire Motorsports) coming in. 24 laps remaining.
Lap 163 – Field is now double file.
Lap 162 – Logano gets a push from Smith and takes the lead from Gibbs.
Lap 160 – Still no change up front. Drivers starting to develop pit strategies and get into position.
Lap 154 – 35 laps to go. The top 5 Toyotas are single file. The rest of the field is two wide behind them.
Lap 149 – 40 laps remaining. Everyone is now in their pit window They all need to stop once more before the end. Gibbs still leads.
Lap 144 – 45 laps remaining. Toyotas still in the top 5, then Gilliland, Gragson, Logano, Ware and Smith. Top 32 still on the lead lap.
Lap 136 – Gibbs leads Hamlin, Herbst, Wallace, and Briscoe. Toyotas in the top 5.
Lap 129 – Gibbs takes the lead for the first time today.
Lap 127 – Green flag for the start of the final stage. 62 laps remaining. Briscoe, Herbst, Gibbs, Hamlin, Larson, Wallace, Logano, Reddick, Smith and Cindric the top 10.
Lap 126 – Several drivers come back to pit road to top off on fuel.
Lap 124 – Pit road open. Off pit road: Briscoe, Herbst, Gibbs, Hamlin, Larson.
Lap 122 – Caution out for the end of stage 2. Wallace wins it over Logano, Larson, Cindric, Hocevar, Preece, Reddick, Gilliland, Smith, and Berry. The free pass is Suarez.
Lap 118 – Hamlin, Briscoe, Gibbs and Herbst pit just before the end of the stage.
Lap 116 – Logano to the lead over Hocevar.
Lap 115 – Six laps remaining in stage 2. Pit stops now complete. Hocevar now leads Logano, Reddick, Wallace, Custer, Gilliland, Cindric, Haley, Berry, and Smith.
Lap 113 – Toyotas now pit. McDowell now up front. Nemechek spins off pit road. No caution.
Lap 112 – Fords now come to pit road for service. Wallace, Reddick and Herbst now the top 3.
Lap 110 – More pit stops this time including Elliott, Larson, Byron, Bowman, Chastain, Van Gisbergen. SBG was too fast getting on pit road. Elliott also too fast.
Lap 109 – ADillon pits. Everyone else should be in within the next few laps.
Lap 102 – Logano to the lead. Fords are in the top 5 positions now. Busch had to pit early due to a vibration. It was reportedly tire trouble.
Lap 101 – Chastain leads Gragson at the line by .002 second. Alfredo pits from the lead.
Lap 97 – Alfredo leads. So far today there has been 39 lead changes among 19 drivers.
Lap 95 – Chastain takes the lead. Field is three wide as teams are starting to get into position for pit stops.
Lap 89 – Alfredo takes the lead back. Teams are about 10 laps from pit stops.
Lap 88 – Suarez is the leader over Gragson, Alfredo, Ware and Chastain.
Lap 83 – McLeod officially out of the race – overheating.
Lap 82 – Now Alfredo out front
Lap 78 – Back to Chastain out front.
Lap 77 – Alfredo back to the lead.
Lap 76 – Nemechek leads at the line.
Lap 75 – Chastain now the leader. Nemechek second.
Lap 72 – Alfredo still leads with Byron, Suarez, Nemechek and Chastain trailing.
Lap 68 – Bell and Buescher officially out of the race.
Lap 67 – Green flag back out.
Lap 66 – Alfredo now the leader as Yeley pits. Then Byron Nemechek, ADillon, and Suarez.
Lap 65 – NASCAR announces 7:15pm local time is the cut-off time if the race should run that long (certainly not likely at this point since that’s nearly 3.5 hours away). Hocevar pits and Yeley becomes the leader.
Lap 64 – Much of the field pits. Off pit road: Larson, Byron, Nemechek, ADillon, Suarez, Chastain, Cindric, Gilliland. However, Larson was too fast and will have to fall to the rear for the start. Drivers that stayed out include Hocevar, Yeley, Busch, Alfredo, McLeod.
Lap 61 – Caution for the end of stage 1. Larson wins it. He’s followed by Byron, Stenhouse, Elliott, Wallace, Hamlin, Allmendinger, Ware, Herbst, and TDillon.
Lap 60 – Wallace the leader on the final lap of stage 1.
Lap 59 – Two laps remaining in stage 1. Hamlin leads.
Lap 57 – Back to green. Hamlin, Preece, Wallace, Ware, Herbst, Custer, Reddick, Stenhouse, Haley, McDowell the top 10. Blaney is done for the day and will finish last.
Lap 53 – Busch is the free pass. Keselowski is officially done for the day.
Lap 52 – Green flag with 9 laps remaining in stage 1. Caution out again after an accident on the backstretch involving Bell and Buescher into the inside wall. Very hard hit for Bell but he gets out of the car. Hamlin may have started that by getting into the back of Bell.
Lap 51 – Suarez pits. Top 10 now are Buescher, Preece, Ware, Custer, Bell, Hamlin, Wallace, Herbst, Reddick, and Haley.
Lap 50 – Pit road is open and much of the field is in. Suarez says out and take the lead over Buescher. Off pit road: Elliott, Smith, Larson, Byron, Logano.
Lap 45 – Under caution it’s Logano, Elliott, Cindric, Larson, and Gilliland the top 5.
Lap 44 – Caution is out. Frontstretch accident involving Keselowski, Blaney, Busch. Bowman also with some damage. Logano the leader as Custer had come in to pit before the caution.
Lap 41 – Custer takes the lead as green flag stops kick off with Toyota teams coming in, as well as some others.
Lap 38 – No change up front with Toyotas still single file. Green flag pit stops expected in a few laps.
Lap 33 – The top 6 are single file with the rest of the field two wide as the pace has picked up.
Lap 31 – Toyotas now up front with Briscoe, Bell, Hamlin, Wallace, Herbst, and Reddick the top 6.
Lap 27 – Briscoe now leads with the race nearing the halfway point of stage 1.
Lap 24 – Busch leads for the first time today.
Lap 23 – Berry to the lead. Still all 39 cars on in the lead draft.
Lap 22 – Smith back out front over McDowell, Logano, Busch, and Berry.
Lap 19 – McDowell back to the lead.
Lap 16 – Preece now leads McDowell. Field still 3-4 wide throughout, saving fuel at this point.
Lap 13 – Berry leads Logano at the line.
Lap 12 – Smith back to the lead, followed by Berry, Preece, Logano, Buescher, McDowell, Custer, Busch, Briscoe and Keselowski. All cars still in the lead draft.
Lap 7 – McDowell takes the lead, Logano back to 7th.
Lap 6 – Logano now the leader over McDowell. Smith back up to 3rd. Much of the field now 4 wide.
Lap 5 – Berry is the leader at the line over McDowell. Smith is back to 7th, Busch is 11th.
Lap 3 – Most of the field is three wide.
Lap 2 – Smith leads the first lap. Logano to second, then Busch, Berry, and ADillon.
3:20pm/et – Green flag. First stage is 60 laps. Smith and Busch on the front row.
3:08pm/et – Engines are fired.
3:04pm/et – NASCAR says Yeley will drop to the rear for unapproved adjustments.
3:00pm/et – Pre-race ceremonies are underway.
• Today’s forecast from the National Weather Service: A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms after 4pm Central time. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 84.
• As of Saturday night, there are no drivers falling to the rear for the start of the race.
Race details:
Broadcast: FOX, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio
Distance: 188 laps / 500.08 miles
Stages: 60 / 120 / 188
Average time of race: 3:22:55
Pit road speed: 55 mph
Caution car speed: 70 mph
Fuel Window: 45 laps
Timing (all times local & subject to change)
Drivers will be introduced on stage at 1:30 p.m.
Invocation: 2:00:20 p.m.
National Anthem: 2:01:00 p.m.
Command: 2:08:00 p.m.
Green Flag: 2:20:00 p.m.
Paint Schemes
Cars to the rear: #44-J.J. Yeley (unapproved adjustments)
Pit Stall Selections: The selections of pit stalls for the Jack Link’s 500 NASCAR Cup Series race at Talladega Superspeedway have been made.
Pole winner #38-Zane Smith chose pit stall 1.
Outside pole sitter #8-Kyle Busch took the sixth stall, with an opening in front of it.
See all pit choices on the Talladega Pit Stall page.
#38-Zane Smith won the Busch pole for the Jack Link’s 500 NASCAR Cup Series race at Talladega Superspeedway with a speed of 182.174mph for his first career pole.
#8-Kyle Busch will start second followed by #22-Joey Logano, #60-Ryan Preece, #3-Austin Dillon, #17-Chris Buescher, #2-Austin Cindric, #21-Josh Berry, #12-Ryan Blaney, and #54-Ty Gibbs.
See the complete qualifying results and the Jack Link’s 500 Starting Lineup.
Talladega Superspeedway – Qualifying Fast Facts:
Zane Smith won the Pole Award for the Jack Link’s 500 with a lap of 52.565 seconds, 182.174 mph.
This is his first pole in 55 NASCAR Cup Series races.
This is his first pole and third top-10 start in 2025.
This is his first pole in four races at Talladega Superspeedway.
Kyle Busch (second) posted his fifth top-10 start of 2025 and his 12th in 40 races at Talladega Superspeedway.
Joey Logano (third) posted his 15th top-10 start at Talladega Superspeedway. It is his sixth in ten races this season.
Riley Herbst (23rd) was the fastest qualifying rookie.
(NASCAR)
Pre-race inspection in the NASCAR Cup Series garage is complete. The No. 7 failed twice (loss of pit selection; crew member ejection).
Qualifying Order
There will be no practice at Talladega.
Crew Rosters
The entry list for the Jack Link’s 500 NASCAR Cup Series race at Talladega Superspeedway is posted, 39 teams/drivers [for 40 spots] are listed.
Open teams entered: #44-J.J. Yeley, #62-Anthony Alfredo, #78-B.J. McLeod.
See the full entry list on the Jack Link’s 500 Entry List page.
Statistical Advance
Goodyear Fast Facts — Talladega: Cup cars will run the same combination of left- and right-side tires that they ran at Daytona in February . . . they have run this left-side tire code at Talladega since 2022.
Race rules and information:
