Austin Cindric’s crystal clear take on the ‘awkward’ meeting after Joey Logano drama: “You have to have those conversations”

Things got awkward between Team Penske drivers Austin Cindric and Joey Logano after the Talladega Superspeedway race. The duo had a bit of a spat during the Jack Link's 500 held on April 27, 2025. During an interview with NASCAR on Fox, Cindric expressed his true feelings on the matter ahead of the Texas Motor Speedway race.

The incident occurred during the final lap of Stage 2 when the duo was competing for the stage win. However, Cindric slowed down to let 23XI Racing driver Bubba Wallace pass, killing Logano's chance to secure the stage win. Following the same, the #22 Ford Mustang Dark Horse driver lost his cool and blasted his teammate on the team radio, calling him "stupid."

Following the incident, Joey Logano came in for criticism from MLB legend Chipper Jones over his radio message, and Austin Cindric had an awkward team meeting with Logano afterwards. Reflecting upon the meeting, Cindric told NASCAR [01:05]:

"It's always awkward, right? I mean, it's one of the larger challenges of doing races like that, when you expect so much out of each other and rely so much on each other. and I think there are way more times that I've had success on tracks like that because I've had my teammates around me and vice versa. So I think that's really important for us; it's something we put a ton of focus on, and as a race team, you have to have those conversations."

Austin Cindric won the Jack Link's 500 race with a margin of 0.056 seconds over Kyle Larson and led seven laps. Meanwhile, his teammate Logano originally finished in P5 but was disqualified from the race for missing a spoiler bolt, ultimately violating the rules 14.5.8.E and 14.1.P. Following the penalty, the governing body awarded him the last spot on the grid (P38).

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Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s reaction to Austin Cindric's move to avoid further complications with Joey Logano

After wrapping the Jack Link's 500 Cup Series driver, Austin Cindric was featured on former NASCAR star driver Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s podcast "Dale Jr. Download." The duo talked about the Talladega Superspeedway drama.

During the podcast, Dale Jr. revealed that MLB legend Chipper Jones criticized Logano for calling Cindric "stupid." This resulted in a heated bout between Jones and Logano. Amid the situation, Team Penske held a team meeting, and Cindric mentioned he had a Braves hat in his truck, but he decided not to wear it to the team meeting to keep things cool with his teammate.

Reflecting on Austin Cindric's decision, Dale Earnhardt Jr. said [00:52]:

"That would've been awesome!"

Austin Cindric is 14th on the Cup Series drivers' standings with 219 points. He has secured one win at Talladega Superspeedway, followed by three top-10 finishes. On the other hand, defending champion Joey Logano and his teammate rank 11th with 246 points.