The NASCAR Cup Series makes one visit a year to the “Music City”, contesting on the 1.33-mile concrete Nashville Superspeedway, located in Lebanon, Tennessee. The Cracker Barrel 400 consists of 300 miles and just under 400 miles and this track challenges drivers every visit. Joe Gibbs Racing’s Chase Briscoe won the pole for the second weekend in a row, and for the third time in 2025. He was joined on the front row by teammate Denny Hamlin, who was making his 700th career NASCAR Cup Series start. Hamlin had Ryan Truex on standby in case he needed to leave for the birth of his newborn son back in North Carolina.
Stage 1
When the Green Flag dropped, Briscoe and Hamlin went wheel-to-wheel for the lead, as 37 other drivers fought for real estate before Stage 1 ended on lap 90. Kyle Larson found himself close to the wall on Lap 4, being shuffled to the tail of the field momentarily. When Green Flag Pit Stops began on Lap 40, Briscoe came in to take four fresh tires, as Hamlin caught Larson’s tail from the lead, prior to coming down pit road. After the pit cycles ended, Brsicoe held the lead, but a hard-charging William Byron followed closely behind, after losing the prior week’s Coca-Cola 600. With less than 10-to-go, Hamlin challenged Briscoe and Byron for the Stage 1 win, with 23XI’s Tyler Reddick eventually driving up to second, as Hamlin took home Ten Championship Points and a single Playoff Point towards the Championship. Rounding out the Top-5 were Hamlin, Reddick, Briscoe, Byron and Christopher Bell.
Stage 2
Stage 2 began with Team Penske teammates, Ryan Blaney and Austin Cindric on the front row. Blaney took the lead from there, but was interrupted when Carson Hocevar and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. collided coming out of Turn 3, on Lap 114. Stenhouse Jr. was not happy with Hocevar and let it be known that confronting Hocevar “costs too much money”, after he was fined $75K after last year’s All Star Race for punching Kyle Busch outside of his hauler.
Stage 2 resumed on Lap 112, but the caution flew back out not even a whole lap in, due to Alex Bowman and Noah Gragson slamming the outside retaining wall in Turns 3 and 4. Gragson’s day ended, while Bowman’s team, went to work to get his #48 Chevrolet back out on track. The chaos was only beginning, as Christopher Bell backed it up into the Turn 1 wall while trying to keep the inside lane from Erik Jones, as Jones did not want to give up any valuable real estate on track. Bell was able to continue.
The next restart took place on Lap 123 and the field was calm for five laps this time around. Corey Heim, who was making his second Cup start of the season in 23XI’s #67 Toyota, tried to close the gap on Brad Keslowski coming out of Turn 4, but got turned into the outside wall, feet away from the Start/Finish line, ending his day with a 37th-place finish. The Green Flag came out on Lap 137 and from that point on, drivers didn’t hold back in an effort to collect as many points as possible before Stage 2 came to a close. Stage 2 showcased a high level of masterclass driving, as Blaney, Byron and Hamlin went wheel-to-wheel with less than 20 laps to go in the second stage. Hamlin had to jump out of the gas on Lap 170, allowing Blaney to pass him and Byron, while simultaneously pulling away from the duo that put on a show the past weekend in Charlotte. Blaney won Stage 2, while Blaney, Hamlin, Joey Logano and Erik Jones rounded out the Top-5 to end Stage 2.
Final Stage
Before Stage 3 began, most of the field came onto pit road to take four tires and fuel up. Team Penske’s Logano and Blaney were first off pit road and led the field to green on Lap 193. The urgency kicked in throughout the field, as Ryan Preece slammed the outside wall on Lap 194. Another restart on Lap 199 provided another opportunity for Blaney to capitalize and bring home the hardware.
Green Flag Pit Stops took place with just over 50 laps to go in the Cracker Barrel 400 and Blaney’s crew hooked him up with four fresh tires, as the rest of the field did the same. With that, he was able to capture his first win of the season, leading 139 laps out of a possible 300, collecting 54 points towards the Championship Standings.
Post-race interviews and takeaways heading into Michigan
Leaving Nashville, a lot of the field was left either happy or disappointed with how their races went. You definitely can’t win them all and even the eventual winner of the race knows his team can improve in various areas before the next race.
“I never gave up hope, that’s for sure.” Blaney said after the race. “We’ve had great speed all year, just hasn’t been the best year for us as far as good fortune. The 12 boys are awesome; they stick with it no matter how it goes, and it was great to finish one out tonight” (Blaney).
Carson Hocevar finished second and has been oh-so-close to collecting his first-career win multiple times this season.
“Either I’m really dramatic or they’re really good on adjustments….. probably a little bit of both.” Hocevar said in the media center. “I’m proud of this No. 77 Zeigler Auto Group Chevrolet team and proud of this car. Nashville Superspeedway is a really, really difficult place to pass, and we were able to go from 26th to second and have a shot at it. Just really proud of this group. After how last weekend ended, this was a really good reset being able to put together a good and deserved finish” (Hocevar).
Corey Heim was also vocal about his early mistake in the race, as he signed a deal as a 23XI Racing development deal earlier this year.
“I’m pretty sure I just kind of cleared myself across the nose of the 6 (Brad Keselowski). A little bit too desperate. We were moving forward really quick and I had a lot of confidence in my Chief’s Camry and thought I could clear him by the time I got to the wall, and just used too much race track, so sorry to those guys.” Heim humbly admitted. “It looks like I kind of ruined his day too and never want to do that. Just can’t say enough about the speed we had. I think if we didn’t start in 33rd, we could have been battling in the top-10. A lot of positives just screwed it up on my part. Huge thank you to 23XI, Toyota, Chief’s for coming on board. Definitely had a lot of fun, and looking forward to doing again” (Heim).
The Firekeeper’s Casino 400 takes the Green Flag Sunday at 2:00PM EST/11:00AM PST on Prime, and Amazon Prime has a 30-day free trial for fans who want to catch this weekend’s action, as well as the last three races on Prime. You won’t want to miss the action as drivers tackle the 2-mile oval, an hour and a half from Detroit, Ford and Chevrolet’s hometown in the”Motor City”.
Works Cited:
Blaney, Ryan. Post-Race Media Notes. Nashville Superspeedway, 2025. Provided by Ford Performance.
Heim, Corey. Post-Race Media Notes. Nashville Superspeedway, 2025. Provided by Toyota Gazoo Racing.
Hocevar, Carson. Post-Race Media Notes. Nashville Superspeedway, 2025. Provided by Chevrolet.
Every Man on Every Crew, LLC. 
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