Denny Hamlin capped off an extended night of racing from dropping the lead after leaping the begin to outdueling teammates Christopher Bell and Chase Briscoe throughout a four-lap shootout to win the Cracker Barrel 400 at Nashville Superspeedway on Sunday, Could 31.
The three-time Daytona 500 champion from Chesterfield, Virginia, led twice for a race-high 57 of 300-scheduled laps. He was awarded the pole place because of inclement climate canceling Saturday’s qualifying session. Then, on the occasion’s begin, Hamlin obtained a drive-through penalty for launching earlier than the restart zone. Regardless of beginning on the rear of the sector within the early phases, he weathered by the occasion. It was mired with a delayed begin because of inclement climate. There have been additionally quite a few on-track incidents and numerous pit methods amongst the sector to cycle again in the direction of the entrance.
After main by the beginning of the ultimate stage interval, Hamlin spent a lot of the stage interval battling with Bell and Briscoe on the monitor amid a late fuel-mileage battle. As soon as Hamlin pitted below inexperienced with 43 laps remaining, he cycled behind his Joe Gibbs Racing teammates and was racing in fourth place when a late-race warning flew with 13 laps remaining. Throughout a four-lap shootout, Hamlin dueled with Bell for 3 full consecutive laps as each remained in entrance of Briscoe.
Then on the ultimate lap, Hamlin took benefit of Bell diving by the primary flip too deep for an advantageous try and clear Bell. With the lead in his possession, Hamlin fended off Bell and Briscoe to cruise to his first NASCAR Cup Collection victory in Music Metropolis on a last-lap move.
The occasion’s beginning lineup was set by a qualifying metric components as inclement climate canceled Saturday’s qualifying session. t, Denny Hamlin was awarded the pole place, sharing the entrance row with Tyler Reddick.
When the inexperienced flag waved and the occasion commenced following a delay that lasted greater than an hour because of inclement climate, Denny Hamlin launched his No. 11 Progressive Toyota Camry XSE entry forward of Tyler Reddick and the sector. Nevertheless, he obtained a drive-through penalty. As Hamlin served his penalty by the third lap, Reddick cycled to the lead as he had Christopher Bell, Daniel Suarez, Kyle Larson and Ty Gibbs trailing within the high 5, respectively.
By means of the primary 10 laps, Reddick maintained the lead by seven-tenths of a second. Bell, Larson, Ty Gibbs and Ryan Blaney trailed within the high 5. William Byron, Suarez, Shane van Gisbergen, Erik Jones, and Joey Logano adopted, respectively. Behind, Zane Smith occupied eleventh place in entrance of AJ Allmendinger, Carson Hocevar, Brad Keselowski and Bubba Wallace. Michael McDowell, Alex Bowman, Riley Herbst, Todd Gilliland and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. trailed within the high 20 forward of Corey Heim, Chase Elliott, Chris Buescher, Cole Custer and Austin Hill, respectively. In the meantime, Chase Briscoe was mired in twenty sixth place. Ross Chastain was in twenty ninth place, rookie Connor Zilisch was in thirty second place behind Ryan Preece, Austin Dillon was mired in thirty fourth place in between brother Ty Dillon and Austin Cindric and Denny Hamlin was mired on the tail finish of the sector in thirty eighth place, although the latter remained on the lead lap.
Ten laps later, Reddick stabilized his early benefit to eight-tenths of a second over Bell whereas Larson, Ty Gibbs and Byron adopted swimsuit within the high 5, respectively. By then, Blaney and Suarez dropped to sixth and ninth, respectively, whereas Erik Jones moved as much as seventh place. As well as, Zane Smith moved into tenth place and Logano dropped to thirteenth place. In the meantime, Hamlin was in thirty seventh place, trailing the lead by 28 seconds. Suarez was outdueled by Zane Smith for ninth place by Lap 29. In the meantime, Reddick retained the lead by nine-tenths of a second on the Lap 30 mark.
On Lap 35, a contest warning flag flew with Reddick main by greater than a second over Bell, Larson, Ty Gibbs, Byron, Blaney, Erik Jones, van Gisbergen, Zane Smith and Hocevar, respectively. Throughout the competitors warning, the lead lap subject of 36 led by Reddick pitted. Following the pit stops and with combined pit methods ensuing across the subject, van Gisbergen, Logano and Brad Keselowski all utilized two-tire pit companies to exit off of pit street within the top-three spots, respectively. Reddick and Larson, each of whom pitted for 4 recent tires, adopted swimsuit within the high 5 as Bell, Alex Bowman, Chase Briscoe, Byron and Blaney exited within the high 10.
The subsequent restart on Lap 41 featured van Gisbergen and Logano dueling for the lead by the frontstretch and the primary two turns as the sector behind fanned out. Van Gisbergen managed to motor his No. 97 Tootsie’s Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 entry forward of Logano and lead for the remaining turns and the subsequent lap whereas Logano maintained the runner-up spot in entrance of Reddick, Larson, Bell and Keselowski. Reddick then assumed the runner-up spot from Logano previous to Lap 43 as each he and Larson used their 4 recent tires to maneuver into second and third. As Bell overtook Logano for fourth place, Larson then drag-raced and dueled with Reddick by the frontstretch on Lap 44. Each Larson and Bell then overtook Reddick for second and third simply previous the Lap 45 mark as van Gisbergen maintained the lead together with his two recent tires.
On Lap 48, Larson used a robust run from the skin lane in Turns 3 and 4 to drag-race with van Gisbergen by the frontstretch and the primary two turns. With each making slight contact within the backstretch, they continued to duel in entrance of Bell till van Gisbergen fended off Larson and stormed with the lead by Lap 50 by the frontstretch. Each Larson and van Gisbergen then dueled for the lead for a full lap for a second time earlier than Larson assumed the lead by the backstretch on Lap 53. With Larson main, van Gisbergen, who briefly stepped off the throttle by the backstretch, was overtaken by a hard-charging Bell and he was left to problem Reddick for third place.
On Lap 57, Bell, who spent the earlier a number of laps reeling in Larson for the lead, briefly made a transfer to Larson’s inside and one other to the skin, however the latter retained the highest spot as van Gisbergen fended off and began to construct a slight hole between himself and Reddick in third place. Behind, Byron overtook Logano for fifth place whereas Keselowski, Briscoe, Blaney and Erik Jones occupied the remaining top-10 spots over Bowman, Zane Smith, Ty Gibbs, Carson Hocevar and Suarez, respectively. On the entrance, Larson continued to steer by three-tenths of a second over Bell by Lap 60.
On the Lap 70 mark, Larson continued to steer by four-tenths of a second over Bell, third-place van Gisbergen trailed by greater than three seconds and the remaining top-five opponents of Reddick and Byron trailed by way back to 5 seconds. A lap later, the warning flew because of Connor Zilisch scrapping and damaging the fitting facet of his No. 88 Pink Bull Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 entry in opposition to the skin wall by the primary flip. The incident was the results of a damaged brake rotor, and Zilisch was the primary competitor to be taken out of competition.
Throughout the warning interval, AJ Allmendinger and Riley Herbst remained on the monitor whereas a lot of the leaders pitted. Herbst led the sector with 11 laps remaining within the first stage interval. Allmendinger fended off Herbst earlier than being challenged by Blaney. Two laps later, the warning flag flew once more. Ross Chastain skilled an identical destiny to teammate Zilisch.
He had a damaged right-front brake rotor and wrecked his No. 1 Busch Mild Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 entry in opposition to the skin wall by the primary two turns. Amid the chaos, Michael McDowell spun beneath Buescher however continued. Chastain joined teammate Zilisch within the storage.
Throughout a one-lap sprint to conclude the primary stage interval, Allmendinger battled with Blaney and Larson earlier than he then edged Larson to seize his first Cup stage victory of the 2026 season. Larson settled in second forward of Blaney, Elliott and Reddick. Wallace, Byron, Briscoe, Herbst and Heim adopted within the high 10, respectively. Underneath the primary stage break interval, some led by the chief Allmendinger and together with Chase Elliott and Riley Herbst pitted whereas the remaining led by Larson remained on the monitor. In the meantime, Ryan Preece, who was having points together with his water temperature, took his No. 60 Kroger/Celsius Ford Mustang Darkish Horse entry to the storage to have a radiator changed.
The second stage interval began on Lap 99 as Larson and Blaney occupied the entrance row in entrance of Reddick, Wallace, Byron and Briscoe. At the beginning, Larson motored forward of Blaney, Reddick and Briscoe as the sector fanned out by the primary two turns. Amid the battles throughout the subject, Larson proceeded to steer on the Lap 100 mark.
By Lap 110, Larson, who has led because the begin of the second stage interval, was main by six-tenths of a second over Briscoe whereas Reddick, Blaney, Erik Jones, Heim, Wallace, Hamlin, Byron and Bell have been racing within the high 10 forward of van Gisbergen, Logano, Ty Gibbs, Buescher, Keselowski, Austin Dillon, Zane Smith, Bowman, John Hunter Nemechek and Hocevar, respectively. Fifteen laps later, Briscoe, who spent the earlier a number of laps stalking and reeling in Larson, challenged Larson for the lead from the within lane as he dueled with the latter for a full lap.
Regardless of main Lap 126, he remained locked on in a side-by-side battle with Larson for an additional lap earlier than he motored his No. 19 Bass Professional Retailers Toyota Camry XSE entry forward by the frontstretch and led one other lap for himself. As Briscoe led, Reddick and Blaney remained in third and fourth. Erik Jones challenged Heim for fifth place. In the meantime, Briscoe prolonged his benefit to a second over Larson by Lap 130 earlier than he added one other second to his lead on Lap 135.
Then on Lap 138, a cycle of inexperienced flag pit stops commenced as Reddick pitted from the top-five mark. Ty Dillon additionally pitted with Reddick earlier than Larson surrendered the runner-up spot to place through the subsequent lap. Wallace, Jones, Byron, Logano, Cindric, Noah Gragson, Heim, Hamlin, Buescher, Keselowski, Hamlin and the chief Briscoe all pitted by Lap 140.
Extra drivers, together with Keselowski, Austin Dillon, Josh Berry, and Nemechek, pit through the subsequent lap. Amid the pit stops, Briscoe managed to mix again on the monitor in entrance of Larson.
On Lap 145, the warning flew once more. Austin Dillon spun by the frontstretch after he was bumped by Buescher, who was making an attempt to carry off the throttle and keep away from hitting Keselowski. Dillon’s crew was displeased with the contact from Keselowski. The incident occurred amid a stack-up that occurred in entrance of Dillon as a handful of opponents needed to take evasive motion to keep away from hitting Ricky Stenhouse Jr. as Stenhouse was peeling off the monitor to pit below inexperienced. By then, the top-eight opponents, led by Blaney, had but to pit. Briscoe and Larson have been mired in ninth and tenth.
Throughout the current warning interval, a few of the drivers, led by Blaney, pitted their respective entires. This included Elliott, McDowell, Allmendinger, Suarez, Todd Gilliland, Austin Hill and Cole Custer. However all cycled forward of Briscoe as Briscoe was the primary competitor who was scored a lap down. Briscoe obtained the free move. All different opponents scored a lap down, took the wave-around to cycle again on the lead lap.
Because the occasion restarted on Lap 151 and simply previous the midway mark, Blaney motored forward of Elliott by the frontstretch and the primary two turns as the sector fanned out and jostled for spots by the backstretch. Blaney led the subsequent lap over Elliott whereas a three-wide battle between McDowell, Allmendinger and Suarez ensued for third place. Suarez then managed to clear each by the backstretch as Custer, Gilliland and Austin Hill trailed behind.
Larson and Briscoe ultimately navigated their method as much as eighth and ninth. Hamlin was mired in thirteenth after battling Heim, Bell and Erik Jones, all whereas Blaney continued to steer by greater than a second over Elliott by Lap 160. Blaney proceeded to increase his result in two seconds over Elliott by the Lap 170 mark.
Then on Lap 172, the warning flew once more. AJ Allmendinger, who was having a stellar run in third place, drove his No. 16 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 entry lifeless straight into the skin wall by the primary two turns. His broken entry was engulfed in flames on the right-front space because of a damaged brake rotor. Throughout the warning interval, combined pit methods ensued whereas a majority of the sector that included McDowell, Briscoe, Gilliland, Hamlin, Bell, van Gisbergen, Elliott and Blaney pitted. In the meantime, Suarez, Bowman, Stenhouse, Cindric, Keselowski and Byron didn’t pit, with Suarez main the occasion.
The subsequent restart, with 4 laps remaining within the second stage interval, solely lasted a single lap earlier than the warning returned because of van Gisbergen making contact and sending Todd Gilliland for a spin as Gilliland then hit the skin wall with the rear finish by the primary two turns. Heim and Cole Custer would additionally wreck with Gilliland as they slid by the turns. The multi-car incident was sufficient for the second stage interval to formally conclude below warning.
Because of this, Suarez gained his first Cup stage victory of the 2026 season. Bowman, Stenhouse, Cindric, Hamlin, McDowell, Byron, Bell, Briscoe and Keselowski completed within the high 10, respectively. Thirty of 38 starters completed on the lead lap. Throughout the second stage break interval, a majority of the sector remained on the monitor. Some, together with Bowman, Stenhouse and Byron, pitted.
With 109 laps remaining, the ultimate stage interval commenced as Hamlin and McDowell occupied the entrance row. At the beginning, Hamlin motored forward of McDowell by the primary two turns to clear the sector that had fanned out by the backstretch with the lead. Seconds later, the warning returned. Keselowski was racing throughout the mid-pack area amongst a stacked group of opponents. Then, Noah Gragson acquired free coming into the frontstretch and was bumped by Austin Dillon whereas making an attempt to steer just under the apron. Keselowski then made contact with Austin Cindric earlier than he slid backwards and hit the skin wall exhausting on the left facet as Cindric additionally spun sideways.
Hamlin outdueled Briscoe to steer through the subsequent restart with 99 laps remaining, however the warning returned two laps later when Hocevar rubbed and made contact with Buescher. This despatched Buescher up the monitor by the primary two turns and he was hit by Bubba Wallace. The carnage resulted in each Wallace and Byron hitting the skin wall earlier than Wallace’s wrecked No. 23 Hardee’s Toyota Camry XSE entry got here down the monitor with no brakes and clipped Bowman, which despatched Bowman’s No. 48 Ally Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 entry backwards and again throughout into the skin wall.
As the sector restarted with 89 laps remaining, the warning returned when Hocevar acquired Nemechek sideways by Turns 3 and 4, with Nemechek bouncing off the entries of Herbst and Berry earlier than he proceeded to spin his No. 42 Pye-Barker Toyota Camry XSE entry by the frontstretch’s grass.
Throughout the subsequent restart with 80 laps remaining, Hamlin motored forward of teammates Bell and Briscoe to retain the lead for a full cycle. As Hamlin proceeded to stabilize his benefit, Briscoe and Bell fiercely dueled for the runner-up spot over the subsequent 4 laps earlier than Briscoe managed to clear and motor forward of Bell with the runner-up spot by the backstretch. As Briscoe and Bell settled in second and third, Elliott and Larson have been racing within the high 5 as Hamlin stretched his benefit to just about a second with 74 laps remaining. Whereas each Briscoe and Bell tried to reel of their teammate who was main, Hamlin stabilized his result in inside six-tenths of a second with lower than 70 laps remaining.
Right down to the ultimate 60 laps of the occasion, the battle on the entrance began to brew as Briscoe and Bell reel in and trailed Hamlin by two- and three-tenths of a second by the turns and straightaways. Three laps later, Bell dueled with Briscoe from the skin lane after Briscoe tried to get beneath Hamlin coming into the primary flip, however ended up clipping the apron when Hamlin blocked and stalled Briscoe’s momentum. As Bell overtook Briscoe for the runner-up spot, Bell then made a daring transfer in between a lapped competitor and Hamlin from Turns 3 and 4 and the frontstretch to overhaul Hamlin for the lead coming into the primary two turns with 55 laps remaining. Bell proceeded to construct a bonus as he led by a second over Hamlin with 50 laps remaining whereas third-place Briscoe and fourth-place Elliott each additionally trailed by a second.
Then, with 43 laps remaining, Hamlin surrendered his battle with Briscoe for the runner-up spot by pitting below inexperienced. Van Gisbergen and Ty Dillon additionally pitted earlier than Briscoe pitted from the runner-up spot two laps later. Bell then pitted from the lead a lap later, together with Larson as Elliott cycled to a short lead earlier than he pitted. In the meantime, Bell managed to cycle his No. 20 DeWalt Toyota Camry XSE entry forward of teammates Briscoe and Hamlin following gate pit stops as Reddick, who has but to pit, was main.
Right down to the ultimate 35 laps of the occasion, Reddick continued to steer Ty Gibbs and Erik Jones, although the trio had but to pit earlier than the occasion’s conclusion. In the meantime, Zane Smith and Blaney, each of whom have been making an attempt to stretch their gasoline tank to the scheduled distance after pitting through the newest warning interval, have been racing in fourth and fifth.
Bell was in eleventh place in entrance of teammates Briscoe and Hamlin, with all trailing the lead by greater than 24 seconds. As soon as Reddick, Gibbs and Jones pitted over the subsequent 4 laps, Smith and Blaney cycled atop the leaderboard with 30 laps remaining. By then, Blaney continued to stalk and intimidate Smith whereas Bell trailed the leaders by 16 seconds in sixth place.
Then with 26 laps remaining, Blaney pitted from the runner-up spot below inexperienced as Smith continued to steer. Buescher additionally pitted whereas Bell cycled as much as fourth place as he, Briscoe and Hamlin trailed by in between 12 and 16 seconds. A lap later, Smith’s benefit was 5 seconds over runner-up Herbst whereas Bell trailed by 11 seconds. Over the subsequent 10 laps, Smith stabilized his benefit to one-and-a-half seconds whereas Bell and Briscoe have been trailing in second and third, however each have been reeling in on Smith amid lapped site visitors. In the meantime, Hamlin trailed by six seconds in fourth place whereas Elliott trailed by 9 seconds in fifth place.
With 13 laps remaining, Bell overtook Smith and the lapped competitor of Logano to steer. Seconds later, the warning flew because of Buescher, who was racing simply behind the leaders, scraping the skin wall exiting the backstretch and coming into Turns 3 and 4 because of a damaged brake rotor on the right-front space of his No. 17 Castrol Ford Mustang Darkish Horse entry. Throughout this warning interval, Smith, Reddick, Blaney, McDowell, Stenhouse, Hocevar and Ty Dillon pitted whereas the remaining, led by Bell, remained on the monitor.
Because the occasion restarted with 4 laps remaining, Hamlin pushed Bell forward of Briscoe by the frontstretch. Bell led by the primary two turns as Hamlin outdueled Briscoe amid a side-by-side battle for the runner-up spot and he carried forth the momentum from the within lane to attract even and battle in opposition to Bell for the lead by the backstretch. As Briscoe trailed in third place by an in depth distance, Hamlin and Bell remained lifeless even for the lead over the subsequent two laps and thru each flip and straightaway.
When the white flag waved and the ultimate lap began, Bell and Hamlin continued to duel for the lead as Briscoe reeled in. Each Briscoe and Hamlin then pinned Bell in a decent three-wide battle by the frontstretch earlier than Bell briefly rocketed forward coming into the primary two turns. Bell then drifted up the monitor in entrance of Briscoe, which allowed Hamlin to make use of the within lane to overhaul and clear Bell coming into the backstretch. With Bell unable to reply by Turns 3 and 4, Hamlin was in a position to declare the checkered flag for an exhilarating victory and by a tenth of a second over Bell.
With the victory, Hamlin notched his 62nd profession win within the NASCAR Cup Collection division in his 735th collection begin. He additionally achieved his second victory of the 2026 season, his first since Las Vegas Motor Speedway in March and his first at Nashville Superspeedway. Hamlin’s Nashville victory was additionally the eighth victory of the 2026 season for the Toyota producer, with the manufacture reaching its first Cup victory at Nashville Superspeedway, and the third for Joe Gibbs Racing.
