Doug Yates details plans to honor Roush Yates Engines’ 200th NASCAR triumph at Talladega: “It felt meant to be” 

NASCAR Cup Series driver Austin Cindric won last Sunday’s race at Talladega Superspeedway, snapping a 30-race winless streak and marking his first win of the season. Thanks to the victory, the Team Penske ace is now in the 2025 playoffs.

The triumph was special for yet another reason that Roush Yates Engines CEO Doug Yates spoke about during an interview with SiriusXM NASCAR Radio. It was the company’s 200th NASCAR Cup Series Points win.

Therefore, Yates and company have planned something special for Cindric. Revealing the same during his interview with SiriusXM, the veteran engine builder said,

“We're putting together a little heritage center for Robbie Yates racing and Roush Yates. And in that will be something special for this 200th win and a picture of Austin with a wreath. He talked about that a lot. You know, he wore that to the media center. You guys probably saw that. And that was kind of cool. Austin's a fun guy.”

Austin Cindric, driver of the No. 2 Ford Mustang Dark Horse, is currently in his eighth year driving for Team Penske and fourth in the Cup Series. Before switching to Cup racing, he used to compete in the Xfinity Series, where he bagged a championship in 2020.

“So we'll have some pictures,” Yates further detailed regarding the upcoming celebration. “We're trying to decide what to do with the flag. And then, you know, we're going to probably get all the flags from that race from NASCAR to capture that moment and celebrate that moment because it is so special. And it was just really felt meant to be in some ways. You know, my dad's (Robert Yates) had a lot of success at Talladega with his first win with Davey Allison, first win as a car owner, last win as a car owner.”

That being said, Austin Cindric is now ahead in his 10th race of the season, the Würth 400 at Texas Motor Speedway. Scheduled for this coming Sunday, May 4, the 267-lap race will be televised on Fox Sports 1, 3:30 pm ET onwards, with live radio updates on PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

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Back when NASCAR penalized Austin Cindric for wrecking Ty Dillon at COTA

During the Cup Series race at COTA (Circuit of The Americas) earlier this year, Austin Cindric and Ty Dillon got into a heated on-track exchange. As the pack entered the final corner, Dillon nudged his No. 10 Kaulig Racing Chevy into Cindric’s car, pushing him off the track.

Cindric returned the favor by hooking Dillon and sending him into the outside wall. Here is the footage as shared by journalist Steve Taranto on X (formerly, Twitter):

Things didn’t end well for Austin Cindric as the officials fined him $50,000 and docked him 50 points. This caused the Mooresville native to drop from 11th to 34th on points, 30 behind the lead.

However, in his next seven races, the speedster picked up 22, 41, 28, 29, 20, and 38 points, respectively (besides a DNF at Martinsville Speedway a few weeks ago). Today, he sits 14th in the driver standings with 219 points to his name. Notably, Cindric is the first Penske driver to make the postseason this year.