Bob Pockrass
FOX Motorsports Insider
TALLADEGA, Ala. — For nearly the first four months of 2025, the only side of the Team Penske shop that could feel great was the sports car side, after wins at Daytona and Sebring.
The INDYCAR teams have gone winless in their first three events. The NASCAR teams had gone winless in the first nine, although Josh Berry’s victory at Las Vegas kind of counted, since the Wood Brothers Racing cars are prepared at the Penske shop.
That was until Sunday at Talladega Superspeedway, where Austin Cindric outlasted the field for the win.
“We’ve had fast cars on the NASCAR side,” said Mike Nelson, the president of NASCAR operations for Penske. “I felt like almost every weekend, just something ends up happening, costing us a win.
“We weren’t down, but there’s definitely a level of frustration that builds when it just doesn’t come through, doesn’t happen at the end.”
Cindric ended that frustration and needed his full team to do it, as a fast pit stop in the final stage put him in position to be among the leaders.
Austin Cindric’s post-race interview after winning Jack Link’s 500 at Talladega Superspeedway
The victory moved Cindric to 15th in the standings, although that includes a 50-point penalty for intentionally spinning Ty Dillon earlier this year. He’d be 10th in the standings without that penalty.
Cindric’s victory was a bright spot in an otherwise frustrating day for Penske.
Ryan Blaney got collected in an early wreck and sits eighth in the standings. Joey Logano finished fifth at Talladega before his car failed post-race inspection because one of its spoiler bolts was loose.
The team will not appeal the penalty and Logano sits 11th in the standings.
On the INDYCAR side, after three races, the three Penske drivers are eighth, ninth and 10th in the standings. Each of the drivers has had a situation in a race where they were involved in a wreck or another malady that left them near the back of the field. They were fast in Indianapolis 500 testing last week, though, and a win in the Indianapolis 500 can make a season.
For a proud organization, having no driver higher than eighth in the standings is not the best of times. They also know that it can be a long season and Penske — especially on the NASCAR side — has performed its best when it matters most with Logano (2022 and 2024) and Blaney (2023) having won championships.
So they aren’t going to get too worried this early in the season. And for Cindric, it could be said he is the one who needed the win the most.
He won at Gateway last year but finished the season with just three top fives and seven top 10s. The victory on Sunday was Cindric’s first top five and third top 10 of the year.
“It’s kind of been a roller coaster, kind of been one thing keeping us from excellence on a lot of weekends in a row,” Cindric said.
“I think there’s a lot of different avenues you can take with it. … How difficult it is to win in the Cup Series, be in the playoffs. How many of these races I feel like we would put ourselves in position, as a company — let alone just on the [No.] 2 car [of myself]. All those stacked up together definitely have some emotions behind it when it’s all over.”
Cindric angered teammate Joey Logano at the end of the second stage, as he ended up helping Bubba Wallace to the win in the stage instead of insuring that either Cindric or Logano won. Logano went on an expletive-laden rant on his in-car radio, but Cindric said he had to make a move to avoid wrecking Logano and others.
But Cindric is still a relatively young driver at age 26. And as the young driver in the Penske stable, he seems that he’s able to roll with the punches.
“He’s the type of guy that he takes all information in, he really retains it, he wants to study it,” crew chief Brian Wilson said. “I think the type of driver he is really fits the way that Team Penske operates.
“We’re data-driven really. We love to provide things for him to be able to study. I think he’s really done a great job applying it.”
Cindric will just appreciate winning a race at a drafting track. At these tracks, he’s often been in contention, but victories have seemed tough to come by (except in the 2022 Daytona 500).
He didn’t have to survive a late-race caution. All he had to do was be out front and in position.
“For that to go green at the end, have a car capable, a team capable, have it all come together, it’s really gratifying,” Cindric said.
“It’s definitely a relief, given how a lot of these have gone. It doesn’t make me any special or different. These things go up in flames for most. I’m super grateful for the opportunity to be able to come through and win.”
Bob Pockrass covers NASCAR and INDYCAR for FOX Sports. He has spent decades covering motorsports, including over 30 Daytona 500s, with stints at ESPN, Sporting News, NASCAR Scene magazine and The (Daytona Beach) News-Journal. Follow him on Twitter @bobpockrass.
Get more from NASCAR Cup Series Follow your favorites to get information about games, news and more
