“It’s wild,” said Denny Hamlin, referring to Joey Logano’s rant at Talladega Superspeedway. The Joe Gibbs Racing driver always says it like it is, but even he was taken aback by the reigning Cup Series champion’s words at the 2025 Jack Link’s 500. While the ‘Dega’ is no stranger to tempers flaring in the past, it’s rare to see a driver vent out in such a way against his teammate on the radio. But that’s exactly what the No. 22 Ford driver did, with Austin Cindric being at the receiving end.
Denny Hamlin couldn’t help but feel perplexed at Logano’s reaction. With Team Penske looking for their first win at the 2.66-mile tri-oval, was the reaction justified, or was the Connecticut native too harsh on his teammate?
Denny Hamlin criticizes Logano’s reaction
The standards are high at Team Penske. After all, they’ve dominated the Next-Gen era, winning the Cup Series championship the last three years in a row. However, the 2025 campaign hasn’t gotten off to the perfect start, with the team still looking for their first win going into Talladega Superspeedway for the Jack Link’s 500. Reigning champ Joey Logano came up just short of winning Stage 2 during the race and was extremely livid at his teammate, Austin Cindric, for not giving him a push in the closing moments.
Venting out on the team radio, Logano was heard saying, “Way to go, Austin, way to go, you dumb f-ck! Way to f-cking go. What a stupid sh-t. You just gave it to him. Gave a Toyota a stage win. Nice job. Way to go. What a dumb-ss. Put that in the book again.” The reaction was shocking, and Denny Hamlin went on to say during the Actions Detrimental podcast, “He was just going on and on. It was like, he thought it was a given that he would have won this thing if Cindric would have done his job properly.”
At that time, what Joey Logano didn’t know was that if Cindric gave the No. 22 Ford a push at the speed at which it was closing, it would have caused a massive wreck. That’s the justification the No. 2 driver gave as well, going on to say, “That was all I could do not to wreck Joey.” However, Logano wasn’t having any of it and went on to say in the post-race interview that he would “absolutely” discuss the situation with his teammate later on.
However, the reaction seemed bizarre to Denny Hamlin, who went on to say, “These guys. They got their wires crossed when they put their helmet on.” The veteran racer’s empathy for Cindric may be coming from a personal blunder. His No. 11 Toyota accidentally turned Christopher Bell from the lead while attempting to push on his bumper, making the Oklahoman spin towards the inside and collect Chris Buescher in the process.
Ultimately, Joey Logano missing out on the Stage 2 win didn’t matter. The No. 22 Ford was disqualified because of a loose spoiler, relegating him to 39th place, securing just one point. Meanwhile, Austin Cindric, who was at the receiving end of Logano’s wrath, secured a historic triumph at Talladega Superspeedway, breaking his 30-race winless streak. That’s NASCAR for you, where the tables can turn in the blink of an eye.
Austin Cindric weighs in on Logano’s radio rant
Talladega Superspeedway is known for multi-car wrecks for a reason. It’s the fastest track on the calendar, with cars running at 190 mph regularly. Unlike other tracks where cars can space out, the ‘Dega’ keeps vehicles bunched together, and drivers are often seen running three-wide for almost the whole race. One mistake, and a big crash becomes inevitable, a situation Austin Cindric was hoping to avoid by not pushing teammate Joey Logano at high speed.
Speaking on Kevin Harvick’s Happy Hour podcast, Cindric said, “Y’all saw it correctly. Delivering a pretty big push going into the tri-oval is a tough moment.” Explaining how Team Penske will approach the situation, the No. 2 Ford driver went on to say, “We’ll have meetings about where to be better and where to be honest with ourselves. My duty is to go into those meetings and give my own honest feedback on what I can do better.”
While Roger Penske would have hoped that Logano’s tirade wouldn’t have become public, the damage is already done. It’s a sentiment that was echoed by Cindric as well, who went on to say, “In the heat of the moment, the emotions, whatever you want to call it, I think those are things you like to keep in the family as much as you can and sometimes that bleeds out.” Eventually, the 26-year-old had the last laugh at the ‘Dega’, securing a win that was long overdue for the racer after months of struggles.
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