He only led seven laps in Sunday's race at Talladega, but Team Penske's Austin Cindric prevailed by 0.022 seconds over Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing's Ryan Preece to win the Jack Link's 500. However, Preece and fifth-place finisher Joey Logano failed post-race inspection due to spoiler infractions, dropping them to 38th and 39th, respectively, in the running order. It is Cindric's first win of the season and only the third of his career, but should come as no surprise given he led 59 laps in the Daytona 500 and 47 laps at Atlanta, the season's prior two races on drafting-style tracks.
Cindric was 25th before he made his final stop under green late in the race, but cycled to the lead after the Toyotas were forced to check up trying to get around Trackhouse Racing's Ross Chastain as they tried to form back up into a pack. After the disqualifications of Preece and Logano, the rest of the top five behind Cindric are Hendrick Motorsports teammates Kyle Larson (second), William Byron (third), Front Row Motorsports' Noah Gragson (fourth) and HMS driver Chase Elliott (fifth).
Updated Cup Series standings after Jack Link's 500 at Talladega
Driver Standings | Points | Behind |
|---|---|---|
1. William Byron | 389 | 0 |
2. Kyle Larson | 358 | -31 |
3. Denny Hamlin | 337 | -52 |
4. Chase Elliott | 317 | -72 |
5. Christopher Bell | 307 | -82 |
6. Tyler Reddick | 303 | -86 |
7. Bubba Wallace | 296 | -93 |
8. Ryan Blaney | 276 | -113 |
9. Alex Bowman | 274 | -115 |
10. Ross Chastain | 246 | -143 |
With 19 stage points and a second-place effort at Talladega, Larson leapfrogs Bell and Hamlin to go from fourth to second in points, but still behind points leader William Byron (+31). Hamlin drops to third while Hendrick Motorsports' Chase Elliott moves ahead of Bell in fourth. Tyler Reddick and Bubba Wallace surpass Ryan Blaney in the standings due to the Team Penske driver's disappointing 37th-place finish after getting collected in the Stage 1 crash coming to pit road. HMS driver Alex Bowman moves up to ninth while Trackhouse Racing's Ross Chastain rounds out the top 10.
Notable drivers outside the top 10 include Joey Logano, who drops two spots to 11th after the post-race DQ. Kyle Busch (16th), Ty Gibbs (22nd) and Brad Keselowski (32nd) are facing a larger deficit. Keep in mind, a win will most likely guarantee a driver a playoff berth with 16 spots up for grabs. After Talladega, Byron, Bell, Josh Berry, Larson, Hamlin and Cindric are the season's six winners. Currently, that 16th and final spot for postseason eligibility goes to Kaulig Racing's AJ Allmendinger (+6) over Busch. Busch is 16th in the overall standings, but Berry (21st) vaults ahead of him in the playoff standings due to his Las Vegas win earlier this season. Obviously, things are going to change, but that is the position drivers currently find themselves in after Talladega.
One thing to keep in mind is the importance of both regular-season points standings and playoff standings. While drivers with wins vault to the top of the points standings and guarantee themselves a playoff spot, assuming there are no more than 16 winners, the overall points are equally important. The regular-season champion by season's end will earn an additional 15 playoff points, second place will get 10 and drivers third-10th in points will receive points in descending order all the way down to one point for 10th.