Ryan Preece, Joey Logano disqualified for illegal modifications at Talladega
Ryan Preece, who finished P2, and Joey Logano, who finished P5 at Talladega on Sunday (April 27), have been disqualified for reportedly making illegal modifications to their cars. Veteran FOX journalist Bob Pockrass recently dropped the news on X (formerly Twitter).
Team Penske driver Austin Cindric’s win earned him an automatic spot in the 2025 playoffs. Kyle Larson, who originally finished third, was pushed to second. William Byron, Noah Gragson, and Chase Elliott were promoted to third, fourth, and fifth, respectively.
As per Pockrass, the issue for both Preece and Logano’s cars was their spoilers. While Preece’s ride had an extra shim (three instead of two), Logano’s No. 22 Ford Mustang was missing a bolt in its rear spoiler. Detailing the same through his post, Pockrass wrote,
“Ryan Preece (three shims instead of two on its spoiler) and Joey Logano (missing a spoiler bolt) have been disqualified.”
Preece was awarded a P38, while Logano had to settle for a disappointing 39th-place finish. Additionally, they were docked stage points: nine for Logano and five for Preece. This left them with one stage point each.
The drivers will meet again next week (May 4) for the Würth 400 at Texas Motor Speedway. Hendrick Motorsports ace, Chase Elliott, happens to be the defending track champion. The 267-lap race will be televised on Fox Sports 1, 3:30 pm ET onwards. Fans can listen to live radio updates on PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio as well.
Austin Cindric bests Joey Logano in the playoff picture, bringing home his first win of the season
Austin Cindric became the first Team Penske driver to make the playoffs this year, something that his teammate Joey Logano has not been able to do yet. He held off Ryan Preece to win the Jack Link’s 500 at Talladega Superspeedway, marking his inaugural victory of the 2025 season. With that, he became the 33rd driver in the NASCAR Cup Series to win races at both Daytona and Talladega.
During a post-race interview, the Mustang maestro said,
“The challenge of winning a cup race at any racetrack is massive. But to be able to do it here at Talladega and be able to have such a fast car, and as many laps as we have in events past here and be able to get it done finally is a huge testament to the team, total team effort."
Per reports, Cindric finished 0.022 seconds ahead of Ryan Preece, driver of the No. 60 for RFK Racing. The 26-year-old is now 14th on points, 27 points behind teammate and reigning series champion, Joey Logano.