Austin Cindric snags narrow win over Ryan Preece at Talladega

Austin Cindric held off Ryan Preece down the stretch to win the Jack Link’s 500 as the NASCAR Cup Series returned to action after a bye week on Sunday at Talladega Superspeedway in Talladega, Ala.
The Fords of Cindric and Preece ran 1-2 side-by-side in front of the Chevrolets of William Byron and Kyle Larson with 17 laps to go. The pair raced tight but clean off Turn 4 for the final time, with Cindric’s No. 2 Team Penske car edging Preece’s No. 60 by 0.022 seconds for his third career win in his 125th start.
On the day’s final pit stop, Cindric’s crew turned in the quickest service on the No. 2 car, which gridded 25th as it hit pit road.
The victory was just Ford’s third in the past 10 Talladega events.
Larson and Byron finished third and fourth, while Joey Logano ended up in fifth.
Polesitter Zane Smith was 21st. Ryan Blaney, the 2023 series champion, wrecked out in the first caution and was 39th in his fourth DNF this season.
After Smith led them to green following his first career pole qualifying spot, his No. 38 Ford was quickly under attack for the lead by Austin Dillon, Michael McDowell and Kyle Busch.
However, the Toyota contingent soon formed on the top line of the 2.66-mile superspeedway and blew past the Fords and Chevys toward the front in the 60-lap Stage 1.
Two laps after pitting, Busch and Brad Keselowski wrecked coming toward pit road. Three-time Talladega winner Blaney and Alex Bowman also received damage.
With 10 laps to go in the segment, there was more trouble after Christopher Bell and Chris Buescher spun down to the apron while running side by side on the front row. Bell’s No. 20 crashed into the inside wall in the 188-lap race’s hardest hit.
In a four-car bowtie brigade, Larson recorded his first Talladega stage win, though he was soon sent to the back for speeding on pit road. The Chevys of Byron, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Chase Elliott took the next three spots.
Bubba Wallace maxed the bonus points by holding off Logano and Larson, who overcame his speeding infraction, to win Stage 2. Cindric was fourth.
With 50 laps to go, five Toyotas led five Fords and two Chevrolets as the manufacturers teamed up and went two-wide instead of three abreast.