Austin Cindric addresses Chipper Jones defending him in controversy with Joey Logano

Austin Cindric won the race this past weekend at Talladega, and the affection of Atlanta Braves legend and Baseball Hall of Famer in Chipper Jones. Now, the Team Penske wheelman is a bigger baseball fan than ever.

Jones came to the defense of Cindric, criticizing after Joey Logano for his radio tirade directed his Team Penske teammate during Sunday’s race in Alabama. Coming to the end of Stage 2, multiple drivers and teams were vying for the stage win. Logano lost out to Bubba Wallace, and it all happened after Cindric had to check up while trying to push the No. 22.

“Way to go Austin, way to go, you dumb fu*k! Way to fu*king go. What a stupid sh*t. You just gave it to him. Gave a Toyota a stage win,” Logano exclaimed, via his radio. “Nice job. Way to go. What a dumbass. Put that in the book again.”

That prompted a post from Jones on social media, where he congratulated Cindric on his win and took a shot at Logano: “Congrats to @AustinCindric on his @TALLADEGA win,” Jones wrote. “Good teammates are hard to come by, Boss! Remember that one of urs MFed u on national tv, when in all actuality, u did everything possible to keep from wrecking him.

“Hate to be #dueces in the ‘team’ meeting on Monday. Some people are ‘hooray for our team as long as I’m the star’ as every team has them. Hendrick, RCR, JGR, Penske, etc. Sometimes karma is glorious. Enjoy this one! In case anyone is confused, lemme be clear….@joeylogano.”

As it would turn out, Jones’ post broke the internet, at least in the NASCAR world. It came across Cindric’s desk, and it’s evident the Team Penske wheelman got a kick out of it, despite the shot at his teammate in Logano.

“I did. That’s been fairly entertaining, to be honest,” Cindric responded, regarding whether he caught Jones’ post on X, via the Dale Jr Download. “I don’t follow baseball much, but I would say I’m a very casual Braves fan. I do have a Braves hat in my truck, but it’s not something I wore into the meeting yesterday, by any means. The thought crossed my mind, but it was not the right moment. It was cool though.

“I didn’t know that he was such a big race fan. I triple checked it. I love that (he’s a big race fan). I mean the comments and all that, wow, yeah, but like, just the passion, he’s a NASCAR fan, clearly. If you’re that engaged with the race,  it’s only good for our sport, from that standpoint. So, I love the support. But yeah, the rest of it is a bit noisy.”

Austin Cindric is a bit more reserved than most in NASCAR, but he’s certainly enjoying his win at Talladega and the support he’s received from teammates, media members and Chipper Jones alike. He’s locked into the playoffs, and looking for more wins in 2025. We’ll see if he can get it done.