In 2021, Austin Cindric was announced as the next driver of the #2 Penske Ford as Brad Keselowski went onto own his own team. In his first ever full time Cup Series race, he was crowned a Daytona 500 champion. Three years later, he’s gotta have a good amount of wins under his belt, right? 

Well, it would take another two years for the Penske driver to find victory lane again, but not at a superspeedway, despite consistent success at the tracks. Whatever the reason, building off of the best possible start a driver could have in the Cup Series was a hard task to manage. 

Sitting at 22nd in points coming into the weekend, 2025 wasn’t shooting any fireworks for the #2 team, but after 500 laps and a masterful pit call, Cindric and company captured their third victory in four seasons. 

The entire weekend remained cordial for such a chaotic track, with the Xfinity series race finding a similar groove, ending with only two natural cautions all day. 

Ford flexed their muscles early on, as Zane Smith captured the pole along with six other mustangs rounding out the top 10. As stage one began, the group began to save fuel as these cars do at superspeedways, leading three wide. 

It didn’t take long for Toyota to change the tune, pushing almost full throttle around the track and grabbing the top 5 spots in a group away from Ford. 

The first of only two natural cautions all day unfolded on lap 43, as Brad Keselowski checked up and collected himself, Kyle Busch and Ryan Blaney, ending the two Fords days. It was the series leading fourth DNF for the #12 team. 

The race resumed on lap 53, then immediately found trouble again as Denny Hamlin gave Christopher Bell a bad push, sending him down the track, collecting Chris Buescher. Buescher found himself able to slow his car before contacting the wall, however Bell found no such fortune, flying into the wall almost head on and showing why SAFER barriers are one of sports greatest inventions for athlete safety. 

Kyle Larson navigated his way through the restart after the wreck and held on to win his first ever stage at a superspeedway, maybe a sign of change for the driver of the #5, who historically has struggled at plate tracks in his career. Unfortunately, a speeding penalty immediately after made things difficult for the 2021 champion. 

Utilizing pit strategy, the #67 of Anthony Alfredo led the field at the start of stage two, and gave Beard Motorsports their most laps ever led with 30 before pitting. Ford would begin the green flag stops and as they ensued, mistakes began to pile up for various drivers, including notable contenders like Chase Elliott and Daniel Suárez, who were too fast exiting and entering pit road respectively. 

Toyota continued their strong day as Hamlin and Bubba Wallace found themselves at the front of the pack with stage two ticking down. After Hamlin pitted for tires, Wallace would improve on his blocking skills after a rough stage one, securing his second stage win of 2025 and getting a nice points boost in the standings. 

Joey Logano, who was behind the #23 fighting for the stage win, was very displeased with the #2’s efforts to help Ford win the stage. Unbeknownst to him, Cindric had to check up to avoid wrecking Logano. 

“Way to go Austin, way to go you dumb f**k, way to f***ing go. Just gave it to him. Gave a Toyota stage one,” Logano said. “Nice Job, way to go, what a dumba**.” 

The final stage saw Toyota’s grand plan throughout the day work to perfection early on, with the #54 of Ty Gibbs leading his first laps of 2025 along with five other TRD drivers. Things remained as calm as they did in stage two, save for Carson Hocevar’s tire changer getting hip checked by his own tire after Josh Berry nudged him on pit cycles.

Hocevar hung around the Toyotas for the remainder of the race, pitting with them on their money stop and leading the group off of pit road with hopes of regaining the lead from the Fords and Hendrick Chevrolets. 

The plan for the group worked flawlessly until a massive check up by pack leader Hocevar caused an accordion effect, disabling a huge amount of momentum for the drivers that they never seemed to rebound from. 

With this changing the effect of the comers and goers, it was the two Fords of Cindric and Ryan Preece who knew barring caution, it was a drag race on lap 182 with six laps to go. 

No way we don’t see a caution though right? This is Talladega after all. 200+ MPH packs battling on the edge for a ticket at the playoffs. We’ve seen this song and dance plenty of times before. 

Except this time, it wouldn’t be the case. Austin Cindric battled and defended his lead with precision and went on to beat Preece by a mere 0.022 seconds. No big one, no overtime, just an old school duel to the line. 

“I’m just so proud of this team, I mean, from the cycles to the fast cars to the fuel only stops. I’ve been trying for three, four years now to get a Cup win for John Menard and Menards. I’m just so thankful for everyone’s support” said Cindric. 

Cindric locks himself in the playoffs and rockets from 22nd to 15th in series standings. The win comes after a growing consistency at drafting tracks for Cindric, and is a milestone in the Ford drivers young career. 

23XI enjoyed a strong points day, especially from the #23 of Bubba Wallace. Save for the mix up that disintegrated the TRD camps momentum late, Wallace was a threat to seize the lead all day. The good day notches Reddick and Wallace to 6th and 7th in points standings, respectively. 

Next Sunday, the Cup Series will look to make the most out of Texas Motor Speedway, a track known for its limited passing ability and snoozefest style. The green flag for the Würth 400 flies at 12:30 PM PST