NASCAR / ARCA Race Weekend Recap (Talladega)

Winners: Austin Cindric (Cup); Austin-Hill (Xfinity); plus Lawless Alan (ARCA)

Recap Graphic by Rolando Ramirez - RTR Graphics

NASCAR Cup

Austin Cindric Edges Out Ryan Preece, Captures Talladega Victory

 

Austin Cindric’s dramatic last-lap pass provided exactly the sort of Talladega Superspeedway thrill that NASCAR fans have come to expect at the sport’s biggest track, earning the 2022 Daytona 500 winner Cindric — and Team Penske — their first trophy of the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series season.

 

Cindric’s No. 2 Team Penske Ford pulled ahead of Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing driver Ryan Preece’s No. 60 Ford by the length of a front hood to claim a 0.022-second victory in Sunday’s Jack Link’s 500 — the two Ford Mustangs exchanged the lead five times in the final six laps and ultimately finished side-by-side holding off a pair of hard-charging Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet teammates just behind in Kyle Larson and William Byron.

 

“I’m just so proud of this team from the [pit] cycles to the fast cars to the fuel-only stops,” said the 26-year old Cindric, whose team — with 17 laps remaining — turned in the fastest final pit stop putting him back out front and able to contend for the win in a race that featured 67 lead changes among 23 drivers.

 

“It definitely wasn’t easy,” Cindric said of holding off the Hendrick teammates for the checkered flag. “I give a lot of credit, Kyle [Larson] did a lot to take care of me, pushing me at the right times in the tri-oval, and as mad as I was at him after Atlanta [race], I feel like we’re good now. That was great and having a photo-finish at Talladega and get in the playoffs in front of this amazing crowd, beautiful day in Alabama.”

 

Grabbed what he came for.#JackLinks500 pic.twitter.com/CWCuw4tCXP

— Talladega Superspeedway (@TALLADEGA) April 28, 2025

Pole: Zane Smith

Click Here for Race Results

Next Race: The Cup Series will return on Sunday, May 4, 2025 at 3:30 pm ET for the ‘Würth 400 presented by LIQUI MOLY’ at Texas Motor Speedway.

 

NASCAR Xfinity

Austin Hill Tames Talladega

 

Richard Childress Racing’s Austin Hill prevailed in a three-wide photo finish in the Ag-Pro 300 NASCAR Xfinity Series race Saturday at Talladega Superspeedway — edging ahead of Jeb Burton and his RCR teammate Jesse Love at the time the field was frozen with an electronic timestamp approaching the checkered flag.

 

The caution flag and checkered flag flew simultaneously after Love’s No. 2 Chevrolet made contact with the rear of then-race leader, JR Motorsports rookie Connor Zilisch’s No. 88 Chevrolet just after the white flag came out signaling one lap to go. Zilisch’s car spun down into the track apron, hitting the wall, leaving Hill, Burton and Love to sort out the trophy.

 

“Man, we really had to work for that one,” said Hill, who now has a series-best three victories this year and 13 in his career. “It just seemed like our car was really good. Everyone at RCR and RCR engines are bad to the bone, like always. We had to work. I thought the 2 (Love) was really good and when we got the push from the 2 going into [turn] one, he got inside of me and I thought that was a bad mistake and I should have covered it. So I thought we were done. But I just locked in and kept pushing the heck out of the 2 car.

 

“I knew it was either me or the 27 [Burton],” he said of the photo finish. “Man, to win them — any way you win them is always great — and finally to conquer Talladega, that’s something I’ve really wanted to do for a long time.

 

“We’ve won at all these other superspeedways and to finally get it done at all the different superspeedways we go to, it just shows the 21 team can win at any of them and we’re really good at this style of racing.”

 

King of the Hill … and the superspeedways. 👑 pic.twitter.com/crQWfLkCFI

— NASCAR Xfinity (@NASCAR_Xfinity) April 26, 2025

Pole: Jesse Love

Click Here for Race Results

Next Race: The Xfinity Series will return on Saturday, May 3, 2025 at 2:00 pm ET for the ‘Andy's Frozen Custard 300’ at Texas Motor Speedway.

NASCAR Trucks

No Truck Track Action Last Weekend

The Safelite Foundation welcomes @FosterLove alongside @CoreyHeim_ for a four-race collab, turning his truck blue to support National Foster Care Month this May! 🩵

Every 2 minutes a child enters foster care in the U.S., so now’s the time to make a difference 🫶 pic.twitter.com/Eg7IxhgpXx

— TRICON (@TRICONGarage) April 28, 2025

Next Race: The Truck Series will return on Friday, May 2, 2025 at 8:00 pm ET for the SpeedyCash.com 250 at Texas Motor Speedway.

ARCA

Lawless Alan Captures First ARCA Menards Series Win

 

When Lawless Alan joined Venturini Motorsports at the start of the 2025 season, his goals were simple.

 

He wanted to win races and contend for the ARCA Menards Series championship. After just three races, he can put a checkmark alongside one of those goals.

 

Alan, driving the No. 20 Toyota, was the leader on the final lap when a multi-car crash brought a premature end to the General Tire 200 at Talladega Superspeedway and Alan was declared the winner.

 

“First thing I’ve got to say is God is so good,” Alan said after his first ARCA Menards Series victory in his 10th start. “I didn’t have any sort of plan after Phoenix last year. Then Toyota called me, and we put this deal together with Venturini and AUTOParkIt and I am so thankful to them.”

 

🎉 THERE’S NOTHING LIKE THAT FIRST WIN FEELING!

🥳 CONGRATS @lawlessalan25! pic.twitter.com/BsAwArJzPM

— ARCA Menards Series (@ARCA_Racing) April 26, 2025

Pole: William Sawalich

Click Here for Race Results

Next Race: The ARCA Series East will return on Saturday, May 3, 2025 at 8:30 p.m. CT for the ‘Music City 150’ at Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway

source: NASCAR Media

Lawless Alan Leads the 2022 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Sunoco Rookie of the Year Race

 

Lawless Alan took the 2022 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Sunoco Rookie of the Year points lead following COTA and this past weekend at Martinsville expanded his points lead to 15 points over second place Corey Heim. 

 

Finished p20, just figured out the track a bit too late and wore out my tires. Learned a ton, almost time to play in the dirt at Bristol🔥 https://t.co/EQCUV0agm8

— Lawless Alan- CEO of Racing (@lawlessalan25) April 8, 2022

 

In five starts this season, Alan has posted an average finish of 21.6.

 2022 Race Stats

Race	Site	St	Fin
1	Daytona	10	25
2	Las Vegas	26	19
3	Atlanta	24	33
4	Austin	24	11
5	Martinsville	15	20

 

“I’ve had a tough start to the season,” Alan said after the Circuit of the Americas (COTA) race. “I’m very happy to finally not be involved in someone else’s mess and to leave with a good finish. It’s a long season and today really showed how competitive we are and what we can do. We were knocking on the door of a top 10 today despite starting at the back three times. That says a lot about my team and my AUTOParkit, Niece Motorsports, Chevrolet Silverado. It was tough coming through the field over and over, but my truck was good from the start, and it was a lot of fun making all those passes.”

 

All four rookies this season will be making their NASCAR Camping World Truck Series track debuts at Bristol Motor Speedway Dirt this weekend.

 

Lawless Alan No. 45
Niece Motorsports,  Chevrolet

• Age: 22 
• Hometown: Los Angeles, California Racing
• Series: 
• NASCAR Camping World Truck Series
• The Trans Am presented by Pirelli
• NASCAR Late Model
• Legends 
• Favorite Track: VIR because I’ve never experienced speed like going through those esses. 
• Favorite Race: The 2018 final at Irwindale to clinch the championship. 
• Biggest Win: My first win because it proved to me that I belonged up front. 
• Oval or Road Racing: I love road racing, but there is something about ovals that I can’t walk away from.

 

source: NASCAR Media

Truck Series Welcomes a New Class Of Rookies

Jack Wood, Dean Thompson, Lawless Alan, Corey Heim and Blaine Perkins

Last season, we saw Chandler Smith take home the Sunoco Rookie of the Year honors in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, beating some tough competition: Carson Hocevar, Hailie Deegan, Chase Purdy, Kris Wright and Tim Veins.

 

.@CSmithDrive is trucking along!

To the top for qualifying at @DAYTONA. pic.twitter.com/96KYjWpPnd

— NASCAR Camping World Trucks (@NASCAR_Trucks) February 18, 2022

 

This year, there’s a new class of rookies looking to add their name to the Sunoco Rookie of the Year winners list: Jack Wood, Dean Thompson, Lawless Alan, Corey Heim and Blaine Perkins.

 

Jack Wood

Wood made his NASCAR Camping World Truck Series debut last season with GMS Racing on a part-time basis. In his 12 starts, he posted one top-10 finish at Gateway.

 

This season, he’s back with GMS Racing and will be driving the No. 24 Chevrolet.

 

Other Racing History

In 2021, he made eight starts in the ARCA Menards Series for GMS Racing posting one top fives and four top 10s. Also made two ARCA Menards Series East starts for GMS finished 13th in both. … From 2019 – 2021, Wood competed in the ARCA Menards Series West making 17 starts posting one top five and eight top 10s and finished a career-best 11th in 2020 driver points. … From 2016-2018, Wood won the Legends of the Pacific Rookie of the Year, the Pacific Chalenge Series Rookie of the Year. … Wood started his racing career at the age of 14 years old. In 2016, he was able to capture the Legends of the Pacific Young Lion Championship.

 

Dean Thompson

Thompson made one start in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series last season and was just shy of a top-20 finish, placing 21st.

 

This season, he’s back for a full season and will be behind the wheel of the No. 40 Niece Motorsports.

 

Other Racing History

In 2021, he made seven ARCA Menards Series West starts for High Point Racing. He posted two poles, one top fives and two top 10s. He also made two ARCA Menard Series starts posting a one top-10 finish … In 2020 and 2021, he won the Irwindale Speedway LKQ Pick Your Part Late Model Championship with 6 wins and 14 top 5 finishes in 2020, and one win and 13 top fives in 2021. … In 2019, he ran full-time in late models and got a win at Irwindale Speedway. … He also won rookie of the year in the Spears SRL Southwest Tour Series. Thompson began racing at the age of 5, racing quarter midgets at Orange Show Speedway. After taking a break from racing, he returned in 2018 to race late models at the age of 16.

 

Lawless Alan

Alan’s first stint in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series was last season at the Daytona Road Course. He made nine starts that season posting a best finish of 18th at Bristol.

 

He’s joining Niece Motorsports this season and will pilot the No. 45 Chevrolet.

 

Other Racing History

For 2021, Alan competed in the World Racing League (WRL) endurance series in select endurance events with past champions Hammer-Motorsports, driving their Audi RS3 LMS touring car. … The 2020 season began with Alan selected to join the Toyota Driver Development Program driving the Bill McAnally Racing, Toyota Camry, in the ARCA Menards West series. The Fall of 2020 found Alan racing a Legends car. At season’s end, he was the winner of the Legends Pro Road Racing Series championship at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. … In 2019, Alan moved to the Trans Am Series presented by Pirelli to focus on his road racing skills. Running all 13 Trans Am TA2 events, Alan took home “Rookie of the Year” and finished fifth overall in the championship. Over the season Alan competed on many of America’s top road courses including Sebring, Road Atlanta, Lime Rock Park, Laguna Seca, The Detroit Grand Prix, Mid-Ohio, Road America, Indianapolis, Circuit of the Americas, and Daytona. … In 2018, Alan won the Late Model Winter Showdown at Kern County Raceway. Alan qualified on pole and set a new track record in the process. In his second season at Irwindale Raceway, Alan took NASCAR’S Home Track Championship with five wins, two Poles and multiple podiums. … In 2017, his first full season in Legends, Alan enjoyed quick success winning Legends’ “Young Lions Division” on the Las Vegas Motor Speedway’s Road Course. 2017 also marked Lawless Alan’s rookie season in the NASCAR Whelen Late Model Series at Irwindale Speedway. Alan had finished fourth in points in California’s NASCAR Home Track Series and forty fourth of more than 1,000 drivers across America. Alan led all rookies in points at Irwindale Speedway with one win, six podiums, a dozen top fives, and more than 20 top 10s.

 

Corey Heim

Heim_made his NASCAR Camping World Truck Series debut last season with Kyle Busch Motorsports where he had three starts. He posted a best finish of 11th at Martinsville and had an average finish of 17.3.

 

He’ll be back with Kyle Busch Motorsports driving the No. 51 Toyota.

 

Other Racing History

From 2019-2021, Heim competed in the ARCA Menards Series, ran fulltime in 2021 making all 20 starts posting six wins, 16 top fives and 20 top 10s and three poles. Finished the season runner-up in points to Ty Gibbs. … In 2020, Heim won Speed fest. … In 2020-2021, Heim also participated in the ARCA Menards Series East, making six starts posting six top-10 finishes. He also competed in the ARCA Menards Series West posting two top 10s in as many starts. … In 2018, he finished third in the Bristol Motor Speedway U.S. Short Track Nationals Super Late Model event, also in the New Smyrna Speed Weeks finished third, was runner-up at the Martinsville Speedway Late Model Stock race. Also in 2018 he won the CARS Tour Super Late Model South Boston race and scored a second in the CARS Tour Super Late Model Championship Points. … In 2016 and 2017, Heim competed in Legends Cars becoming the U.S. Legend Car Winter Flurry Young Lion Champion (2016) and the U.S. Legend Car Pro Thursday Night Thunder Champion (2017). … Began racing career in quarter midgets, won the 2014 Quarter Midget Heavy World Formula Championship.

 

Blaine Perkins

Perkins is scheduled to run fulltime this season with CR7 Motorsports in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. Last season, he made his debut in the NASCAR Xfinity Series where he made eight starts for Our Motorsports.

 

He will be behind the wheel of the No. 9 CR7 Motorsports Chevrolet.

 

Other Racing History

In 2021, Perkins competed in eight NASCAR Xfinity Series events with Our Motorsports. At the Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway on October 2, 2021, Perkins earned the first stage win of his career. … In 2020, Perkins competed full-time in the ARCA Menards Series West. He captured three victories (Utah Motorsports Campus, Evergreen Speedway, and Douglas County Speedway), two pole awards, and led 282 laps en route to second place in the championship point standings. Perkins has a total of five starts in the ARCA Menards Series and 40 starts in the ARCA Menards Series West. … He is a three-time NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series champion (2019, California State Late Model, Irwindale Speedway Late Model, and Kern County Speedway Late Model). At the Irwindale Event Center, in the NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series, Perkins has a total of seven wins, 44 top-five finishes, and 57 top-10 finishes spanning three years (2015, 2018, 2019) across 59 starts. At 14 years old, he was named the youngest NASCAR sanctioned winner in California. … Perkins also has experience in the SPEARS Southwest Tour Series (2015, 2017), Racecar Factory Spec Late Model Touring Series (2014), SRL Legends Tour/Legends of the Pacific (2012, 2013, 2014) and other major asphalt late model events at the Idaho 208 (2016, 2017) and the Thanksgiving All-Star Classic (2021). …Perkins also has starts in U.S. Legend Cars International and INEX, with starts at the Irwindale Event Center (2010), and the Kern County Raceway Park (2013). For two years, in 2015 and 2016, Perkins had limited starts in the Lucas Oil Modified Series. He also has two starts in the Winter Showdown (2015, 2016) at Kern County (Calif.) Raceway Park.

 

Tonight, the @NASCAR_Trucks take center stage 👊 #NextEra250 pic.twitter.com/nBWlnjkrbV

— Daytona International Speedway (@DAYTONA) February 18, 2022

 

 

source: NASCAR Media