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TALLADEGA, Ala. — If there’s beef between teammates Austin Cindric and Joey Logano — and none other than Major League Baseball Hall of Famer Chipper Jones is convinced there is — then Team Penske has some work to do to smooth things over.

At the end of the second stage of Sunday’s race at Talladega Superspeedway, Cindric didn’t help Logano enough to Logano’s liking, and it allowed rival Toyota driver Bubba Wallace to win the stage and valuable bonus points that come with it. Logano launched into an expletive-laden rant on his team radio in which he seethed at fellow Ford driver Cindric.

“Way to go Austin,” said Logano in the part suitable for print. “You just gave it to him. Gave a Toyota a stage win. Nice job. Way to go … put that in the book.”

Cindric and Team Penske management seemed to understand. Jones was not so forgiving in a series of social media posts.

“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,” Jones wrote. “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.”

And, just in case “anyone is confused, lemme be clear,” Jones wrote as he tagged Logano as the target of his ire. Jones, who grew up not far from Daytona International Speedway and apparently is a NASCAR fan, continued his rant by calling Logano “selfish” in another post and celebrated in yet another when Logano was disqualified for failing post-race inspection.

At Team Penske, the reaction was more muted.

“I felt like I kind of just got pinched, was trying not to wreck the cars in front of me, including Joey. It was a messy end of the stage … Joey could have probably done better, we let one slip there,” Cindric said. “I can understand his frustration without kind of seeing the whole picture. These are the types of things that when you’re expecting someone to have your best interest, those are the challenges, right? We have a lot of meetings centered around that. I feel like it requires constant maintenance. It’s not always pretty. The conversations aren’t always easy.

“I do feel like as a team we do it better than most. I think that’s something we’ll definitely be talking about [Monday] as far as how to do it better, understand all sides, be better for it.”

Michael Nelson, named president of Team Penske’s NASCAR program earlier this year when Cindric’s father, Tim, relinquished some of his roles at the organization, thought the situation would be cleared up internally.

“It’s just like a normal family,” he said. “We have to go in and close the door when we’re not in front of everybody else and work through the issues that we have. There was obviously some frustration there. Heat-of-the-moment situation, for sure. I think we’ve done a better job than most. It just shows you that there’s still more work to do, that it’s something you have to continually work on race after race.”

As Cindric wore Talladega’s traditional winner’s wreath all around the track, he didn’t seem bothered by any potential beef with NASCAR’s only active three-time Cup Series champion. It’s been tough going for Cindric, who won the Daytona 500 in his 2022 rookie season, went winless in 2023, won once last year and on Sunday snapped a 30-race losing streak and became the first Team Penske driver to win a race through the first 10 this season.

As Cindric tried to find his footing, teammates Logano and Ryan Blaney combined to win the past three Cup Series championships. As his teammates won races and title, Cindric was fighting to prove he wasn’t a nepo baby and deserved his seat at one of NASCAR’s top teams.

Cindric said the success of his teammates was motivation to him. At 14th in the Cup Series standings, he’s now the only Penske driver locked into the playoffs as the series heads to Texas Motor Speedway this weekend.

“Anytime you can have an example set you try at a bare minimum not to just meet that example — I want to be better. I want to be the best, right?” Cindric said. “Just being as good in my mind, as far-fetched as it might be as a two-, three-year Cup driver to say I want to be better than the champion, that’s how you have to think.

“I commit way too much of my time. I ask a lot out of the people I work with. I try to reciprocate with that. The ‘as good’ is not good enough in my mind. I look at it as an example, as a competitive advantage for us to be able to have that type of example in-house.”

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Canes’ Andersen, 35, secures deal before Round 2

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Canes' Andersen, 35, secures deal before Round 2

RALEIGH, N.C. — The Carolina Hurricanes have signed goaltender Frederik Andersen to a one-year contract for next season, worth $2.75 million for the 35-year-old veteran.

General manager Eric Tulsky announced the deal Saturday, a little over 48 hours before his team starts the second round of the playoffs against the Washington Capitals.

Andersen could earn up to $750,000 in incentives for games played and his participation in a potential run to the Eastern Conference finals next season. He would get $250,000 for playing 35 or more games, another $250,000 for getting to 40 and $250,000 if the Hurricanes reach the East finals and he plays in at least half of the playoff games.

“Frederik has played extremely well for us and ranks in the top 10 all-time for winning percentage by an NHL goalie,” Tulsky said. “We’re excited that he will be staying with the team for next season.”

Andersen and the Hurricanes, the No. 2 seed in the Metropolitan Division, advanced past the New Jersey Devils in Round 1 last week. They will meet the Capitals, who won the division crown, for the right to make the NHL’s final four.

Extending Andersen could give the team a goaltending tandem with Pyotr Kochetkov for less than $6 million combined.

Anderson, a Denmark native who previously played for the Anaheim Ducks and Toronto Maple Leafs, has become coach Rod Brind’Amour’s most trusted option in net. He is expected to return to the starting role for Game 1 of the Capitals series after getting injured in the first round against New Jersey.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Sovereignty outduels Journalism to capture Derby

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Sovereignty outduels Journalism to capture Derby

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Sovereignty outdueled 3-1 favorite Journalism down the stretch to win the 151st Kentucky Derby in the slop on Saturday.

Trainer Bill Mott won his first Derby in 2019, also run on a sloppy track, when Country House was elevated to first after Maximum Security crossed the finish line first and was disqualified after a 22-minute delay.

This time, he knew right away.

Sovereignty won by 1½ lengths and snapped an 0-for-13 Derby skid for owner Godolphin, the racing stable of Dubai ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum.

It was quite a weekend for the sheikh. His filly, Good Cheer, won the Kentucky Oaks on Friday and earlier Saturday, Ruling Court won the 2,000 Guineas in Britain.

Sovereignty covered 1¼ miles in 2:02.31 and paid $17.96 to win at 7-1 odds.

Journalism found trouble in the first turn and jockey Umberto Rispoli moved him to the outside. He and Sovereignty hooked up at the eighth pole before Sovereignty and jockey Junior Alvarado pulled away.

Baeza was third, Final Gambit was fourth and Owen Almighty finished fifth.

Rain made for a soggy day, with the Churchill Downs dirt strip listed as sloppy and horse racing fans protecting their fancy hats and clothing with clear plastic ponchos.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Zilisch to miss Xfinity race in Texas after wreck

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Zilisch to miss Xfinity race in Texas after wreck

FORT WORTH, Texas — Connor Zilisch, the 18-year-old driver already with two NASCAR Xfinity Series race wins, will miss Saturday’s race at Texas because of lower back injuries sustained in a last-lap wreck at Talladega.

Trackhouse Racing said Wednesday that its development driver will return as soon as possible to the No. 88 JR Motorsports Chevrolet. The team didn’t provide any additional details about Zilisch’s injuries.

Cup Series regular Kyle Larson will drive the No. 88 in Texas. After that, the Xfinity Series has a two-week break before racing again May 24 at Charlotte.

Zilisch, sixth in points through the first 11 races, was driving for the win at Talladega Superspeedway when contact on the backstretch sent his car spinning, and head-on into inside wall.

Zilisch won in his Xfinity debut at Watkins Glen last Sept. 14. He added another win this year at Austin, the same weekend that he made his Cup Series debut. He has six top-10 finishes in his 15 Xfinity races.

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