Joey Logano’s Choice Words for Teammate Austin Cindric
What should’ve been an iconic day for Team Penske at Talladega Superspeedway quickly turned sour. Emotions ran high during the second stage of the Jack Link’s 500 between Team Penske’s Joey Logano and teammate Austin Cindric at Talladega Superspeedway. On lap 113, Logano was leading the field of 23 until a throttle-happy Bubba Wallace blew past him to win stage 2. Cindric was only a single car length behind, and naturally, Logano thought his teammate would push him in front of the 23XL driver.
Yet, at the last minute, No. 2 Cindric pulled back, allowing No. 23 Wallace to pass Logano. An enraged Joey Logano could be heard verbally bashing his Team Penske teammate over his radio. The exchange was heated and left a bad taste in Cindric’s mouth, but he had one thing in mind. Moving back to the top of the field, but he’d have to remain patient. Lucky for Cindric and the other drivers on the field, 23XL’s Wallace would soon fall off his lead.
Chase Briscoe then teased the lead, only refueling once until Riley Herbst pushed him from behind into turn two. Then, without warning, comes Ty Gibbs, who takes the lead with a heavy bump draft by teammate Denny Hamlin. At this point, Zane Smith is coming up fast, pushing Joey Logano to the top, giving him hope for the final stage. That is, until a brief pit stop with 25 laps to hand the lead over to JR Motorsports’ Carson Hocevar, soon to be squashed by Ross Chastain.
Then out of nowhere comes Austin Cindric again, with William Byron barely, not giving him much breathing room. It’s neck and neck until Ryan Preece tries nabbing his lead, but he cannot hold it. Cindric proved too tough to be tamed and captured the checkered flag at Talladega! It was a historic moment for Team Penske and the No. 2 driver, marking his first win at the Superspeedway. The win has only furthered the beef with teammate Joey Logano, but it’s not sitting well with fans. Here’s why.
Joey Logano: In the Heat of the Moment
Joey Logano is notorious for his unsportsmanlike behavior and on-track aggression, and there’s no doubt he put it on full display at Sunday’s Jack Link’s 500. He tore into teammate Austin Cindric at the end of stage 2 because he didn’t surrender in helping him block Bubba Wallace. Logano could be heard over his radio spouting expletives at Cindric. He blamed his teammate for Wallace’s gain and suggested he essentially handed him the stage 2 win. All else aside, Logano had a pretty upstanding day during the first half of the race, finishing P2 in Stage 2.
His reaction was shocking and honestly little to be desired. Post-race fans have been fuming over the No. 22 Team Penske driver’s exchange with his teammate, who secured a late race win over Ryan Preece. Though it marked his third career win in the Cup Series, and Team Penske was rejoicing, things were far from celebratory for Joey Logano.
“Way to go, Austin,” “Way to go you dumb f—. Way to f—ing go. What a stupid s—. God! He just gave it to him. Gave it to him. Gave a Toyota the stage win. Nice job. Way to go. What the f—,” A riled-up Joey Logano said, concluding stage 2.
Post-Race Disqualification
After overcoming a Stage 2 loss to 23XL’s Bubba Wallace, Joey Logano still managed to finish the Jack Link’s 500 inside the top five. However, his No. 22 Ford Mustang Dark Horse failed a post-race inspection, and Logano was cited for having loose spoiler braces. Therefore, he was disqualified and relegated to P39. According to race officials, the Team Penske driver violated section 14.5.8E in the NASCAR Rulebook, stating the spoiler braces must be secured at Superspeedway Events.
RFK driver Ryan Preece, who nailed his best finish yet in P2, was also disqualified due to the spoiler on his No. 60 Mustang Dark Horse not being flush to its base. Team Penske has since spoken out post-Talladega, stating they do not plan to appeal Joey Logano’s disqualification from the Jack Link’s 500. They explained that the loose spoiler on Team Penske No. 22 was unintentional and that they had accepted the disqualification.
“One of the 18 bolts on the surface of the spoiler that connect to the base was found to be loose, and NASCAR penalized the team as a result.”This was not intentional and happened throughout the course of the race event. Team Penske accepts the disqualification.”
Final Thoughts
In the wake of the Jack Link’s 500 at Talladega Superspeedway, tempers are still running high after Joey Logano verbally bashed teammate Austin Cindric. Nonetheless, Logano still had the presence of mind to congratulate Cindric on his first win of 2025. As the NASCAR Cup Series heads to Texas Motor Speedway for the Würth 400, Logano is sitting 14th in playoff standings. Can he redeem himself after last week’s disqualification set him back?
