The NASCAR Cup Series visited Nashville Superspeedway on Sunday night for the Cracker Barrel 400. Qualifying was rained on Saturday. Denny Hamlin started on the pole, and Tyler Reddick started second.
Denny Hamlin jumped the initial start and had to do a drive-through penalty, and Tyler Reddick led the opening 37 laps. NASCAR threw a competition caution on the same lap. It was one of 12 cautions throughout the race. Kyle Larson led 23 laps in the first stage. As the first stage nearing an end, many drivers went to pit road. A.J. Allmendinger would go on to win the first stage.
Throughout the race, many drivers were having brake issues that took them out of the race, including Trackhouse teammates Ross Chastain and Connor Zilisch. In the second stage, Daniel Suarez stayed out during a late caution. Suarez would win the second stage under caution after Todd Gilliland spun at Turn 1 after contact with Corey Heim. Cole Custer was also involved.
In the final stage, there were a ton of crashes that took out several drivers including Brad Keselowski, Alex Bowman, Bubba Wallace, Chris Buescher, Josh Berry, and William Byron. Late in the race, it came down to Joe Gibbs Racing teammates Denny Hamlin, Christopher Buscher, and Chase Briscoe, with Shane van Gisbergen and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. not far behind.
In the closing laps, Briscoe, Hamlin, and Bell had a three-wide battle for the lead. With two to go, Denny Hamlin got in front of Bell and did not look back. Hamlin would go on to win his second race of the season by 0.115 seconds over Christopher Bell. Hamlin led a race-high 57 of 300 laps. It was his 62nd career Cup Series win, which is one shy of tying Kyle Busch (63) for ninth on the all-time wins list.
After both drivers crossed the finish line, there was a multi-car crash involving Chase Elliott getting turned into Tyler Reddick, who then hit the wall head on. Reddick was evaluated and released from the care center.
Chase Briscoe, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., and Shane van Gisbergen rounded out the top five. Tyler Reddick, Chase Elliott, Ryan Blaney, Zane Smith, and Carson Hocevar completed the top ten. Click here to see the full results.
The Cup Series heads to Michigan International Speedway next Sunday at 3 pm on Prime Video.
