Austin Cindric beat Ryan Preece to the finish line on Sunday at Talladega in a 0.022 photo finish to conclude a race that did not feature a caution for the entire third stage.
There was no big multi-car crash, commonly called ‘The Big One,’ either.
Instead, it was a rare superspeedway race decided straight-up on fuel conservation strategy and pit stops on a day, like most superspeedway dats with this car, where passing came at a premium.
Cindric and Ryan Preece were able to successfully barricade the front row from any challenger. They had a pair of Hendrick Motorsports drivers behind them in Kyle Larson and William Byron but they were unable to make a move due to the passing challenges associated with this car.
“Yeah, I felt like the key to winning that race there for me, maybe not the key, but one of the keys, was (Preece) getting clear,” Cindric said. “I was in a position to where I don’t think that I would have been able to expect a Hendrick car to push me past another Hendrick car for a win. Shoe’s on the other foot, I don’t see that happening for us, either.
“Having (Preece) clear and basically having two Hendrick pushers, at that point those guys are selfishly trying to get points and push the line forward to where they can get clear. I thought that was pretty critical because I feel like those guys always find a way to the front together. They were definitely in a position to contribute for their own company.”
Preece crossed the line second but was disqualified for a spoiler violation. Larson and Byron also gor top-5s ahead of Joey Logano, who also suffered a NASCAR disqualification for issues pertaining to his rear spoiler.
