It’s likely going to take Joe Gibbs a moment or two to recover from the intense finish of Sunday’s Cracker Barrel 400 at Nashville Superspeedway, after three of his drivers (Denny Hamlin, Christopher Bell, and Chase Briscoe) were locked in a close-quarters battle for the victory.
The three drivers sparred it out between themselves on the final restart of Sunday’s event, breaking away from the pack behind to decide it for Joe Gibbs Racing. Bell and Hamlin were side-by-side for several laps, and even made contact a couple of times, allowing Briscoe to zero in and shoot to the outside three wide coming to the white flag.
Bell lobbed the No. 20 DEWALT Toyota Camry XSE into Turn 1, hoping to clear his teammates, and was successful for a couple of seconds, until Hamlin snuck back to the inside at the exit of Turn 2 and took the lead away, holding off a final corner lunge by Bell.
It’s the 62nd win in the NASCAR Cup Series for Denny Hamlin, just one shy of matching his long-time teammate at Joe Gibbs Racing, Kyle Busch, who passed away unexpectedly on May 21. Hamlin, after winning on Sunday, honored Busch with his signature bow on the front straightaway.
Hamlin started Sunday’s 400-miler from the pole in his No. 11 Progressive Toyota Camry XSE, inheriting a first-place starting spot after qualifying was axed due to inclement weather, but he didn’t get to enjoy the perks that come with that for very long after egregiously jumping the initial start.
“I definitely jumped the start, no doubt about that,” Hamlin said post-race. “Yeah, just looking back on it, just didn’t wait quite long enough.”
The Chesterfield, Virginia-native was one of a record 15 leaders on Sunday at Nashville Superspeedway, pacing the field for a race-high 57 circuits. However, the lead changed hands several times throughout the closing laps, helping the race reach a record 31 lead changes.
At the checkered flag, Hamlin had a lead of 0.115 seconds over Bell, with Chase Briscoe sitting in third place, the seventh-ever 1-2-3 finish for Joe Gibbs Racing in the NASCAR Cup Series.
Finishing in fourth place was Ricky Stenhouse, Jr., who strapped four fresh tires on his No. 47 NOS Energy Chevrolet during the final caution and gained a ton of spots late to record his second top five of the year. The result is Stenhouse’s best on a non-drafting oval since Bristol Dirt in Spring 2023.
Completing the top five after a banner day, was Shane Van Gisbergen, who led laps early on (following a two-tire call by Stephen Doran) and finished inside the top five, in fifth. It’s the first top five for the Auckland, New Zealand-native on an oval, and his 10th in NASCAR Cup Series competition.
Behind Shane Van Gisbergen (or, beside him, I should say) is where chaos rained down…
NASCAR Cup Series points leader Tyler Reddick finished the race in sixth place, but the front end of his No. 45 Pinnacle Toyota Camry XSE was obliterated after a head-on impact into the outside wall. That wreck started when eighth-place finisher Ryan Blaney tipped Reddick into the side of seventh-place finisher Chase Elliott and shot the 23XI Racing driver back into the outside SAFER Barrier.
Zane Smith attempted to make a fuel-saving strategy work and had just been passed for the lead inside the final 20 laps of the race, when the caution came out, drawing the Front Row Motorsports driver to pit road. The No. 38 Ford Mustang Dark Horse finished ninth. Carson Hocevar, after some mid-race incidents and concern over the heating of the brakes, rounded out the top 10 in the No. 77.
Kyle Larson led the early portion of Sunday’s event, pacing the field for 46 laps, but was relegated to a 23rd-place finish after the brake rotor exploded on his No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet on the final restart, forcing him to come down pit road, where he spun in the process.
Leaving Nashville, Tyler Reddick holds a 97-point lead over his boss and fellow Toyota driver, Denny Hamlin. Ryan Blaney, Chase Elliott, and Ty Gibbs are the top five in points with 12 races until “The Chase”.
The NASCAR Cup Series continues its season at Michigan International Speedway with the FireKeepers Casinos 400 next Sunday, June 7, at 3:00 PM ET on Prime Video.
