Austin Cindric has had it rough ever since the start of 2025. At Daytona 500, he was the class of the field, leading race-best 59 of the 201 laps before a final-lap crash eliminated him. The next weekend in Atlanta, the No. 2 Penske Ford brought the heat again, and he was fighting tooth and nail against Kyle Larson. Late in the race, the HMS driver ran him up the wall, which led to Cindric wrecking, and he caught William Byron along with him.

These were two superspeedway races, and the Penske driver was taken out of commission on both occasions. But the law of averages finally worked out in his favor during the Jack Link’s 500 at the Talladega Superspeedway. He only led seven laps in the race and was able to navigate his way to keep his rivals at bay. But interestingly, Larson, who had wrecked him at Atlanta, seemed to have played a big role in this victory. So much so that Cindric credited him for lending him a hand while he beat Ryan Preece to the start-finish line.

Austin Cindric makes peace with Larson

In his post-victory statement to SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, Austin Cindric described, “It’s the best thing in the world. That’s what we’ve worked so hard for. Totally by the team effort to be able to get this car in victory lane. These cars have been so fast at these tracks and it’s nice to finally get it done.”

Notably, Cindric showed impressive consistency throughout the race. He was with the lead Ford team pack and made a sound strategy call to tackle Toyota’s plan for racing hard and forcing the field to pit. But when the race came down to the wire, he had to jostle with a fellow Ford driver, Ryan Preece. He and Preece exchanged the lead five times in the final six laps. But, on the last lap when all bets were off, Cindric surprisingly got the help he needed to keep his nose in front.

“The battle there was about understanding who had the better pushes and where the lanes were developing,” Cindric explained. “Being able to work it the way we needed to and getting advantage. I thought Larson was doing a great job, taking care of me and being efficient with his pushes. It was a team effort of high percentage from the cycle onwards.” Had it not been for the aggressive bumps on the back of the No. 2 car, Preece could’ve easily beaten him off the line.

After being in a rough space after the 2025 Ambetter Health 400 race, where an aggressive move by Kyle Larson had caused both drivers to lose positions, it looks like he has made up for that loss. “It’s still something I’m relatively upset about, and it gets the blood pressure going a little bit, but that’s racing,” Cindric said after the Atlanta race. “I’m not the only one that’s been in those positions and felt like they haven’t been able to capitalize on an opportunity to win a race or had somebody else be the cause of that.”

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Kyle Larson has his own frustrations!

While getting all the lauds for a fantastic push to Cindric, Kyle Larson’s dominant performance at Talladega didn’t come without its share of frustrations. Despite securing a second-place finish and keeping pace with the leaders, Larson didn’t hold back his criticism of the Next Gen cars, particularly their limitations when it comes to overtaking through the pack.

“I started the race in the back and couldn’t go anywhere. You need moments for the field to get choked up and fanned out, so you can pick your way through.” the driver explained, “There at the end, when you pick the pace up, it’s just two-wide racing, and really only the two guys on the front row have a shot to win.”

What Larson means to point out here is the ongoing problem with Next Gen cars. His frustration lies in how difficult it is to gain positions without key moments, like crashes or packs bunching up in these cars. This problem has led to less overtaking and more predictability! While Team Penske celebrates their third victory of the season, it looks like Kyle was confident in getting a better position if not for the limitations of his vehicle.

What are your thoughts on this week’s race? Will Austin and Larson continue to share a better dynamic as teammates? Share your opinions with us in the comment box below.