Talladega Superspeedway’s weekend turned out to be one to forget for the leading Team Penske superstar, Joey Logano. The three-time Cup champion crossed the finish line in fifth, only for NASCAR to revoke his hard-earned points by handing him a disqualification. However, that wasn’t even the most memorable moment of Logano’s drama-filled day at The ‘Dega.
Joey Logano Goes Crazy on the Radio, Bashes Austin Cindric
Right after the second stage came to an end, Logano unleashed a furious radio rant, tearing into his Team Penske teammate Austin Cindric for botching a potential team play that could have brought down Bubba Wallace. Indeed, on a track like Talladega, teamwork is definitely a massive X-factor in claiming both stage and race wins.
Similarly, during the final laps of Stage 2, both Logano and Cindric were busy controlling the draft lines, doing just enough to hold Wallace and the others behind. However, Cindric had to lift slightly to avoid pushing Logano into the wall, which broke the momentum of Team Penske’s line.
SEE MORE: NASCAR Cup Talladega Results — Cindric Holds Off Kyle Larson for 3rd Career Win at Jack Link’s 500
Seeing an opening, Wallace dove underneath and surged past both Cindric and Logano on the final lap. Cindric lost his momentum and quickly began falling back, leaving Logano to fend for himself. Somehow, the reigning champion managed to hold off the rest of the field to cross the line in second place while his teammate dropped to fourth.
Despite securing a respectable second place, Logano didn’t hold back from blasting his own teammate over the radio.
“Way to go Austin, way to go, you dumb f***! Way to f***ing go. What a stupid s***. You just gave it to him. Gave a Toyota a stage win. Nice job. Way to go. What a dumb***. Put that in the book again,” he said.
In the end, the very driver Logano blasted ended up in victory lane, while Logano himself finished second to last, leaving with just a single point compared to Cindric’s 48. There’s absolutely no doubt that Logano will sit down with Team Penske, and possibly even with Cindric, to address his heated radio outburst.
While Logano’s frustrations are understandable, there are growing concerns about the impact of making such harsh statements about his own teammate, which could significantly damage team dynamics and potentially create animosity within the camp. Therefore, will Logano patch things up with Cindric, or could this be the beginning of a rocky intra-team rivalry?