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Austin Cindric was ticked off with Kyle Larson after his night ended early at the Ambetter Health 400 at Atlanta Motor Speedway in Hampton, Ga., on Sunday.
Cindric was driving well in the No. 2 Ford Mustang Dark Horse for Team Penske. He led for 47 laps and was battling Larson’s No. 17 Chevrolet Camaro for Hendrick Motorsports for first place late in the race. Cindric was in the lead with two laps to go and heading into Turn 3 when Larson tried to pass him from the inside. The problem is the No. 17 was not clear and ran Cindric into the wall.
Though he looked like he would contend for the win, Cindric wound up finishing 28th. It was an awful break for him, especially after he finished 8th in the Daytona 500 despite having a good car in that race too.
“I got put in the wall and wrecked and didn’t win,” Cindric said after the race in a video shared by Bob Pockrass.
Cindric was asked about Larson bumping him.
“Not clear. I don’t know what information he’s getting, but obviously my car was on his outside. It definitely merits conversation. It’s unfortunate, because we led a lot of laps and had four of the fastest cars in Atlanta and didn’t win one of them,” Cindric vented.
Austin Cindric said Kyle Larson was not clear. Clearly disappointed. pic.twitter.com/zeHl9FxzrI
— Bob Pockrass (@bobpockrass) February 23, 2025
Here is what it looked like from Cindric’s perspective.
Cindric POV: pic.twitter.com/HSbDxOSr7q
— American Autosport (@americanautospo) February 23, 2025
You watch that video and it’s pretty obvious it was Larson’s fault for some bad driving. Of course, you’re not about to hear any complaints from Larson, who finished third behind Christopher Bell and Carson Hocevar. Hocevar got himself into hot water for his driving as well.
More must-reads:
- Final 2025 NASCAR power rankings: Major shake-ups after Phoenix finale
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