Cendric Wins Talladega — Byron’s 3rd place finish keeps the No.24 Driver P1 in the GFT AI Rankings

27 April 2025
By Bob Francis, Managing Editor
Go Full Throttle Racing News

TALLADEGA, AL — Austin Cindric’s Talladega triumph, combined with many favorites getting caught up in wrecks or failing post-race inspection, shakes up the rankings, the Playoff picture, and crushes the GFT NASCAR Fantasy LIVE winning streak.

Austin Cindric won Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Talladega. He’s now has a win in three of his first four full-time seasons. (Image Credit: Logan Riely | Getty Images)

Go Full Throttle NASCAR Cup Series AI Driver Rankings following the Jack Link’s 500 on April 27, 2025 at Talladega Superspeedway (Image Credit: GFT Digital)

HOW IT HAPPENED
Austin Cindric delivered a victory at Talladega Superspeedway for Team Penske, clinching the Jack Link’s 500 in a dramatic last-lap pass. Driving the №2 Team Penske Ford, Cindric outdueled Ryan Preece by a mere 0.022 seconds, securing his third career NASCAR Cup Series win and his first of the 2025 season. The race, marked by 67 lead changes and 23 different leaders, showcased the unpredictable outcomes that define Talladega racing. Despite expectations of a “Big One” wreck, the race remained unusually clean, based partly on fuel-saving strategy, with only four cautions, two for stage ends, setting the stage for a frenetic final sprint.

Cindric’s win was a game-changer, vaulting him eight spots to 14th in the Cup standings and locking in a playoff berth. However, the post-race narrative was complicated by the disqualification of Preece and Joey Logano for spoiler violations, stripping them of their second- and fifth-place finishes. This penalty dropped Preece from 14th to 19th in the standings, and up 11 spots in the GFT NASCAR AI Driver Rankings. Meanwhile, Hendrick Motorsports placed all four cars — Kyle Larson P2, William Byron P3, Chase Elliott P5, and Alex Bowman P7, in the top 10, a feat not accomplished at Talladega since 2011.

Austin Cindric (left) celebrates his Talladega win with crew chief Brian Wilson (right). (Image Credit: Sean Gardner | Getty Images)

Cindric’s victory, coupled with Ryan Preece's and Joey Logano's disqualifications, reshaped the playoff picture and underscored the fine margins in NASCAR’s technical inspections.

GFT Box Scores after Talladega

The worst week ever for GFT AI Race Prediction Models

Sometimes it ALL goes wrong, and by definition, AI can’t consistently predict SuperSpeedway/Drafting track races. Our “Fast Five” picks for Talladega were:
— Blaney (Crashed early, we pulled Buescher from the Garage to replace)
— Preece (2nd, but DQed, finished P38)
— Buescher (Crash, finished P34)
— Logano (DQed, finished P39)
— Hamlin (Finished P21)
— Busch (Crash, repaired damage, and finished P27)

The Go Full Throttle AI BOT falls to P596 but remains in the Top 12% of all players in the #TMDNASCAR League of NASCAR Fantasy LIVE.

NEXT:
The series heads to Texas Motor Speedway for the Wurth 400 on Sunday May 4, 2025 at 3:30pm Eastern