NASCAR Dodges the Big One in Talladega
The typical chaos of a Talladega race weekend was replaced by a lengthy run to the checkered flag in Sunday's Cup race.
The Morning Warmup
If nothing else, you can always count on Talladega Superspeedway to be eventful.
From the shenanigans in the infield to the action on track, race weekends at the iconic oval remain unpredictable. This weekend was no exception, with races determined by both the timing of a caution and a massive green-flag run.
There was a little of everything, but each race left fans yearning for more in a different way. It was a complicated weekend in that way.
Let’s get into it.
April 28, 2025
Race Recaps
NASCAR
Cup Series: In the opening two superspeedway races, Austin Cindric was among the top contenders - even earning praise from veteran Denny Hamlin. But he had nothing to show for it after both events went awry.
Third time’s the charm.
Cindric beat RFK Racing’s Ryan Preece to the checkered flag in a tight drag race between the bottom and middle lane to claim Sunday’s Jack Link’s 500 at Talladega Superspeedway. The result was Cindric’s third Cup win and second on a superspeedway, locking the Team Penske ace into the playoffs for the third time in four Cup seasons.
As it turned out, the race to the line didn’t matter. Preece and Cindric teammate Joey Logano were each disqualified for infractions tied to their rear spoilers.
The race was uneventful by superspeedway standards. There were no massive crashes or overtimes after a lengthy, clean run to the finish. That was met with mixed reactions after an event filled with fuel saving where marching through the field proved difficult.
(Source(s): Holly Cain / NASCAR.com, NASCAR.com)
Xfinity Series: Austin Hill remains the king of the superspeedways in NASCAR’s second series. The Georgian found himself surging to the outside of Jeb Burton and Jesse Love on the backstretch when the caution flag flew on the final lap. He was narrowly ahead of Burton at the time of caution and was declared the victor.
Love dominated a big portion of the race, but settled for third after turning friend Connor Zilisch on the last lap. Zilisch suffered a massive hit into the inside wall, but was ultimately cleared from the infield care center. Burton was left dismayed after coming close to a season-altering win, alleging that he led at the time of caution.
(Source(s): Holly Cain / NASCAR.com, Zack Albert / NASCAR.com)
ARCA Menards Series: Venturini Motorsports’ final trip to Talladega Superspeedway ended with another win, courtesy of Lawless Alan. An untimely caution shortly after the final restart saw Alan credited with the win after he narrowly surged ahead of Thad Moffitt, with a friendly push from teammate Isabella Robusto - Talladega’s top-finishing female in third. (Adam Fenwick / ARCARacing.com)
YouTube sensation Cleetus McFarland came home 10th. His post-race interview was as entertaining as you’d hope.
Talladega Takeaways:
Here’s what drivers had to say after Sunday’s Cup race in Talladega. (Dustin Long / NBC Sports)
Hendrick Motorsports had a strong afternoon in Alabama, but its lead drivers were stuck pushing in the run to the checkered flag. (Kelly Crandall / RACER)
Christopher Bell was unhurt after his massive crash from the lead during Sunday’s race. (Nick DeGroot / Motorsport)
Frustrations were high with the No. 17 RFK Racing team after Chris Buescher was crashed out from contact in the lane above him. (Kelly Crandall / RACER)
Sports Cars
GT World Challenge America:
They weren’t first across the line, but Random Vandals Racing’s Kenton Coch and Connor De Phillippi scored a last-to-first victory in the Circuit of the Americas opener after De Phillippi closed within 1.745 seconds of the leading JMF Motorsports Mercedes, who was issued a penalty for not meeting minimum pitstop times. (John Dagys / Sportscar365)
It was a weekend for come-from-behind winners, with Regulator Racing’s Philip Ellis and Jeff Burton (no, not that one) rallying to beat the same JMF Motorsports squad. (John Dagys / Sportscar365)
DTM:
Lucas Auer snagged the first win of the DTM season from pole at Oschersleben. (Daily Sportscar)
Turkey has its first DTM winner. Ayhancan Güven picked up his maiden DTM victory in a sunny second race on the weekend, moving to the front with the timing of his pit sequence. (Daily Sportscar)
British GT: The Silverstone 500 has gone to 2023 series champion Dan Harper for the second time. Harper withstood pressure from Kiern Jewiss to give himself and Darren Leung the win. (Daily Sportscar)
Dirt
World of Outlaws Sprint Cars: In between an Indy 500 testing crash and successful NASCAR run in Talladega, Kyle Larson ventured to Jacksonville Speedway and bested the Outlaws from sixth for his 38th series victory. (Alex Nieten / WorldofOutlaws.com)
World of Outlaws Late Models:
Rain washed out the opening night of competition. But in the Saturday showcase, Bobby Pierce bested the field to score a $50,000 prize in the Talladega Dirt Track’s Alabama Gang 100. (Spence Smithback / WorldofOutlaws.com)
Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series:
In the weekend opener, Devin Moran beat Ricky Thornton Jr. to the line by .077s to secure a victory at Georgetown Speedway. (LucasDirt.com)
Thornton didn’t go without a win, though. He surged past Garrett Alberson on the following night to score his first win at Hagerstown Speedway. (LucasDirt.com)
USAC:
In a postponed opener due to weather, Jacob Denney kicked off his Keith Kunz/Curb-Agajanian Motorsports tenure with a USAC National Midget win at Kokomo Speedway.
Short Tracks
CARS Tour:
For the first time this year, Jared Fryar has won with the CARS Tour. The former champ dominated late to prevail in the Late Model Stock feature at Orange County Speedway. (Andy Marquis / Short Track Scene)
Luke Baldwin struck for the Pro Late Model win, leading the final 45 laps for a victory over dirt racing transplant Jade Avedisian. (Scotte Sprinkle / Short Track Scene)
One side story: Orange County was pure chaos for the LMSC class’ early frontrunners. (Andy Marquis / Short Track Scene)
Moto
MotoGP: It was a weekend to remember for the Marquez brothers:
Marc Marquez kept up the status quo in the Sprint, taking victory while Fabio Quartararo crashed. (MotoGP.com)
But when Marc crashed during the feature, younger brother Alex Marquez struck to take his first series victory over Quartararo and Francesco Bagnaia. He now leads Marc atop the standings by one point. (MotoGP.com)
A quick note from Jerez:
VR46’s Franco Morbidelli suffered an injury in an unseen crash during the Spanish Grand Prix. (Valentin Khorounzhiy / The Race)
Monster Energy Supercross:
Drag Racing
NHRA: The country’s top drag racing series saw its 1000th Top Fuel race in Charlotte. Shawn Langdon took top honors, beating Tony Stewart, Justin Ashley and Antron Brown to win the American Rebel Light NHRA 4-Wide Nationals in Charlotte. Other class winners included Austin Prock (Funny Car), Dallas Glenn (Pro Stock) and Matt Smith (Pro Stock Motorcycle). (NHRA.com)
News and Notes
NASCAR
Spire Motorsports co-owner Jeff Dickerson claims the dismissal of veteran crew chief Rodney Childers wasn’t tied to his team’s results. (Jeff Gluck / The Athletic)
F1
George Russell has worked his way out of Lewis Hamilton’s shadow as the lead driver at Mercedes. Now he’s ready to become an F1 champion. (Luke Smith / The Athletic)
Supercars
Supercars is reviewing its pit lane procedures after Will Brown dodged a penalty at Taupo Motorsport Park. (Stefan Bartholomaeus / Speedcafe)
Moto
Injured defending champ Jorge Martin has impressed MotoGP doctor Angel Charte after returning home from Qatar. (Richard Asher / Motorsport)
Justin Barcia will miss the final rounds of the Supercross season after suffering a knee injury in New Jersey. (Dan Beaver / NBC Sports)
Jerez is set to remain on the MotoGP schedule through the end of the 2031 season after a new deal between the track and series. (Richard Asher / Motorsport)
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On Track
It’s another quiet start to the racing week. But there will be some racing to enjoy from Millbridge Speedway on Tuesday evening.
All Times ET
Monday, April 28
No races scheduled.
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Tuesday, April 29
Dirt
Weekly Racing (Millbridge Speedway): 6:15 p.m., DirtVision
Number of the Day: 4
While Austin Cindric celebrated Team Penske’s first Cup win of the year, teammate Ryan Blaney was left reckoning with a series-high fourth DNF. That’s more DNFs than Blaney endured in the full season during 2021, 2022 or 2023. Unless he can avoid chaos moving forward, Blaney could be poised for just his second season with more than five DNFs.
But all may not be lost. Blaney’s worst DNF season came just last year, when the 2023 champ suffered seven early exits. But he still came within .33s of the championship at year’s end. As long as his No. 12 team finds pace, they’ll still be in the running when it counts.