NASCAR SERIES

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nascar cup series

NASCAR cup series

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The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR) is the sanctioning body for the No. 1 form of motorsports in the United States and owner of 14 of the nation’s major motorsports entertainment facilities. NASCAR sanctions races in three national series (NASCAR Cup Series™, NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series™, and NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series™), four international series (NASCAR Brasil Series, NASCAR Canada Series, NASCAR Euro Series, NASCAR Mexico Series), four regional series (ARCA Menards Series, ARCA Menards Series East & West and the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour) and a local grassroots series (NASCAR Local Racing Series Powered by O’Reilly Auto Parts). The International Motor Sports Association™ (IMSA®) governs the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship™, the premier U.S. sports car series. NASCAR also owns Motor Racing Network, Racing Electronics, and ONE DAYTONA. Based in Daytona Beach, Florida, with offices in five cities across North America, NASCAR sanctions more than 1,200 races annually in 11 countries and more than 30 U.S. states.

Denny Hamlin Overcomes Adversity to Win in Nashville

Getty images

By Holly Cain

NASCAR Wire Service

LEBANON, Tenn. – Call it victorious whiplash.

Race polesitter Denny Hamlin took the lead at the drop of the green flag – was penalized and re-set to last in the 38-car field for jumping that start – then rallied his way forward again in the ensuing 300 laps to be in front for the checkered flag of Sunday night’s NASCAR Cup Series Cracker Barrel 400 at Nashville Superspeedway.

After a back-and-forth among teammates on a final restart with four laps remaining – featuring a three-wide last-lap challenge for the win among three Joe Gibbs Racing Toyotas – Hamlin delivered the manufacturer its first victory at the 1.33-mile Nashville concrete oval, his No. 11 Toyota finishing a slight .115-second ahead of teammates Christopher Bell and Chase Briscoe.

“The 20 [Bell] and 19 [Briscoe] were battling so hard on that first corner it just let me get to the inside of the 20 at the first corner after the restart and from there, side-by-side with the 20,’’ Hamlin, 45, said describing the dramatic final laps that resulted in his 62nd career win.

“He [Bell] drove in so deep on that last lap into [turn] one that it just allowed me to barely clear off of [turn] two.

“What an unbelievable day starting first, going to last and then back to first.’’

For Bell, the close finish marked his second runner-up showing in as many weeks – simultaneously frustrating and encouraging. As with Hamlin, he recovered from an early race challenge – a pit stop miscue dropping his No 20 JGR Toyota from running among the top five to 30th place for a restart just before the finish of Stage 1.

“It was great racing, I hope the fans enjoyed that,’’ Bell said. “Just disappointed in myself, disappointed for my team. We brought a great race car and I didn’t get the job done.’’

The finish was certainly indicative of the close racing, important strategy calls and just flat-out team speed ultimately necessary to finally settle a race that featured a race record 31 lead changes among a record 15 drivers.

The race was delayed almost two hours because of weather, but when the action resumed, there was plenty of drama and intrigue.

The sold-out Nashville crowd issued a silent salute on lap eight to the late two-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Kyle Busch, 41, a beloved four-time Nashville winner (twice each in the CRAFTSMAN Trucks and O’Reilly Auto Parts Series), who passed away last week of sepsis.

In the laps thereafter, the intense action quickly settled in. Hamlin’s 57 laps out front were a race high, but nine different drivers led double digit laps. And 11 caution flags affected strategy throughout the night.

Hyak Motorsports’ Ricky Stenhouse Jr finished fourth in the No. 47 Chevrolet, followed by a career-best fifth-place effort by Trackhouse Racing’s Shane van Gisbergen. The popular New Zealand road course ace turned in one of his best flag-to-flag oval performances running among the top 10 all night. His 12 laps led in the No. 97 Trackhouse Chevrolet were most for him on an oval track.

Reigning championship leader, 23XI Racing’s Tyler Reddick and Hendrick Motorsports’ Chase Elliott were scored sixth and seventh but were collected in an accident just after taking the checkered flag in a hard push by the field to the finish.

Last year’s race winner, Ryan Blaney was eighth followed by Zane Smith, whose No. 38 Front Row Motorsports Ford was leading until 12 laps to go. Spire Motorsports’ Carson Hocevar was 10th. Hendrick’s Kyle Larson – the reigning series champion – led 56 laps (only one lap less than Hamlin) but finished 23rd.

The race featured two first-time stage winners on the season – Kaulig Racing’s A.J. Allmendinger (Stage 1) and last week’s Charlotte race winner, Spire Motorsports’ Daniel Suárez (Stage 2).

With his sixth-place finish Reddick remains atop the standings, 97 points ahead of Hamlin and 174 points up on Blaney in third place.

The series moves a few hours north to Michigan Speedway for next Sunday’s FireKeepers Casino 400 (3 p.m. ET, Amazon Prime, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). Denny Hamlin is the defending race winner.

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NASCAR Cup Series Race - Cracker Barrel 400

Nashville Superspeedway

Nashville, Tennessee

Sunday, May 31, 2026

1. (1) Denny Hamlin, Toyota, 300.

2. (4) Christopher Bell, Toyota, 300.

3. (31) Chase Briscoe, Toyota, 300.

4. (15) Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Chevrolet, 300.

5. (10) Shane Van Gisbergen, Chevrolet, 300.

6. (2) Tyler Reddick, Toyota, 300.

7. (29) Chase Elliott, Chevrolet, 300.

8. (7) Ryan Blaney, Ford, 300.

9. (11) Zane Smith, Ford, 300.

10. (17) Carson Hocevar, Chevrolet, 300.

11. (13) Erik Jones, Toyota, 300.

12. (30) Ty Dillon, Chevrolet, 300.

13. (6) Ty Gibbs, Toyota, 300.

14. (9) Joey Logano, Ford, 300.

15. (14) Michael McDowell, Chevrolet, 300.

16. (26) Noah Gragson, Ford, 299.

17. (23) Riley Herbst, Toyota, 299.

18. (32) Austin Dillon, Chevrolet, 299.

19. (3) Daniel Suarez, Chevrolet, 299.

20. (21) Todd Gilliland, Ford, 299.

21. (20) Cole Custer, Chevrolet, 299.

22. (34) Cody Ware, Chevrolet, 299.

23. (5) Kyle Larson, Chevrolet, 299.

24. (27) John Hunter Nemechek, Toyota, 298.

25. (24) Corey Heim(i), Toyota, 298.

26. (36) Austin Cindric, Ford, 296.

27. (25) Austin Hill(i), Chevrolet, 293.

28. (37) Chad Finchum(i), Ford, 289.

29. (22) Chris Buescher, Ford, Accident, 286.

30. (8) William Byron, Chevrolet, Accident, 231.

31. (33) Josh Berry, Ford, Accident, 214.

32. (18) Bubba Wallace, Toyota, Accident, 203.

33. (19) Alex Bowman, Chevrolet, Accident, 203.

34. (12) Brad Keselowski, Ford, Accident, 192.

35. (16) AJ Allmendinger, Chevrolet, Accident, 172.

36. (28) Ryan Preece, Ford, Radiator, 90.

37. (35) Ross Chastain, Chevrolet, Accident, 81.

38. (38) Connor Zilisch #, Chevrolet, Accident, 71.

Average Speed of Race Winner: 106.424 mph.

Time of Race: 3 Hrs, 44 Mins, 57 Secs. Margin of Victory: .115 Seconds.

Caution Flags: 11 for 77 laps.

Lead Changes: 31 among 15 drivers.

Lap Leaders: D. Hamlin 0;T. Reddick 1-37;C. Bell 38;S. Van Gisbergen 39-40;J. Logano 41;S. Van Gisbergen 42-48;K. Larson 49;S. Van Gisbergen 50-52;K. Larson 53-75;C. Bell 76;A. Allmendinger 77-78;R. Herbst 79;R. Blaney 80;A. Allmendinger 81;R. Blaney 82-89;A. Allmendinger 90-93;K. Larson 94-125;C. Briscoe 126-139;R. Blaney 140-146;C. Elliott 147;R. Blaney 148-177;C. Elliott 178;D. Suarez 179-188;D. Hamlin 189-244;C. Bell 245-259;C. Elliott 260;T. Reddick 261-265;T. Gibbs 266;E. Jones 267-269;Z. Smith 270-287;C. Bell 288-299;D. Hamlin 300.

Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Lead, Laps Led): Denny Hamlin 2 times for 57 laps; Kyle Larson 3 times for 56 laps; Ryan Blaney 4 times for 46 laps; Tyler Reddick 2 times for 42 laps; Christopher Bell 4 times for 29 laps; Zane Smith 1 time for 18 laps; Chase Briscoe 1 time for 14 laps; Shane Van Gisbergen 3 times for 12 laps; Daniel Suarez 1 time for 10 laps; AJ Allmendinger 3 times for 7 laps; Erik Jones 1 time for 3 laps; Chase Elliott 3 times for 3 laps; Ty Gibbs 1 time for 1 lap; Joey Logano 1 time for 1 lap; Riley Herbst 1 time for 1 lap.

Stage #1 Top Ten: 16,5,12,9,45,23,24,19,35,67

Stage #2 Top Ten: 7,48,47,2,11,71,24,20,19,6

Hamlin to start from pole position after Cup Series qualifying canceled at Nashville Superspeedway

May 30, 2026

By Holly Cain

NASCAR Wire Service

LEBANON, Tenn. – Intermittent light rain showers forced the cancellation of Saturday’s NASCAR Cup Series Busch Light Pole Qualifying at Nashville Superspeedway, resulting in Joe Gibbs Racing driver Denny Hamlin starting from pole position in Sunday night’s Cracker Barrel 400 (7 p.m. ET, Amazon Prime, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

Championship points leader Tyler Reddick will start his No. 45 23XI Racing Toyota alongside Hamlin’s No. 11 JGR Toyota on the front row as Toyota hopes to earn its first ever series win at the 1.33-mile concrete oval.

Last week’s Charlotte race winner Daniel Suarez will start third in the No. 7 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet with JGR’s Christopher Bell (No. 20 Toyota) and reigning two-time series champion, Hendrick Motorsports Kyle Larson (No. 5 Chevrolet) rounding out the top five on the 38-car grid.

Defending race winner, Team Penske’s Ryan Blaney will start his No. 12 Ford seventh.

Bell, who was fastest in the practice session, said he didn’t expect the cancelled time trials to make a big difference in either the run of the 400-miler or ultimately the outcome of the race. Especially with the field getting some time on track with practice.

“Well, it’s good for me today, because I have a good metric, so I’m okay with that,’ Bell said smiling of the formulation NASCAR used to set the field in lieu of qualifying.

His competitors were not overly concerned with the cancellation of qualifying, either – instead just glad to turn some laps and dial in their cars.

“They put a lot of resin down in both corners, more than they’ve done in the past and we’re really curious how the cars are going to drive,’’ said Roush Fenway Keselowski owner-driver Brad Keselowski. “So it’s semi-important [to qualify] although we’ve been racing here for the last three or four years, so we all have a pretty good feel for it.’’

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nascar cup series

NASCAR Cup Series schedule 2026

(All times Eastern)

Date	Race	Track	Time
Feb. 1	Cook Out Clash at Bowman Gray	Bowman Gray Stadium	8 p.m.
Feb. 12	Duel 1 at Daytona	Daytona International Speedway	7 p.m.
Feb. 12	Duel 2 at Daytona	Daytona International Speedway	8:45 p.m.
Feb. 15	Daytona 500	Daytona International Speedway	2:30 p.m.
Feb. 22	Autotrader 400	EchoPark Speedway	3 p.m.
March 1	DuraMax Grand Prix	Circuit of the Americas	3:30 p.m.
March 8	Straight Talk Wireless 500	Phoenix Raceway	3:30 p.m.
March 15	Pennzoil 400	Las Vegas Motor Speedway	4 p.m.
March 22	Goodyear 400	Darlington Raceway	3 p.m.
March 29	Cook Out 400	Martinsville Speedway	3:30 p.m.
April 12	Food City 500	Bristol Motor Speedway	3 p.m.
April 19	AdventHealth 400	Kansas Speedway	2 p.m.
April 26	Jack Link's 500	Talladega Superspeedway	3 p.m.
May 3	Wurth 400	Texas Motor Speedway	3:30 p.m.
May 10	Go Bowling at the Glen	Watkins Glen International	3 p.m.
May 17	All-Star Race	Dover Motor Speedway	3 p.m.
May 24	Coca-Cola 600	Charlotte Motor Speedway	6 p.m.
May 31	Cracker Barrel 400	Nashville Superspeedway	7 p.m.
June 7	FireKeepers Casino 400	Michigan International Speedway	3 p.m.
June 14	Cup Series race at Pocono	Pocono Raceway	3 p.m.
June 21	Anduril 250	Naval Base Coronado	4 p.m.
June 28	Toyota/Save Mart 350	Sonoma Raceway	3:30 p.m.
July 5	Cup Series race at Chicagoland	Chicagoland Speedway	6 p.m.
July 12	Quaker State 400	EchoPark Speedway	7 p.m.
July 19	Window World 400	North Wilkesboro Speedway	7 p.m.
July 26	Brickyard 400	Indianapolis Motor Speedway	2 p.m.
Aug. 9	Iowa Corn 350	Iowa Speedway	3:30 p.m.
Aug. 15	Cook Out 400	Richmond Raceway	7 p.m.
Aug. 23	Cup Series race at New Hampshire	New Hampshire Motor Speedway	3 p.m.
Aug. 29	Coke Zero Sugar 400	Daytona International Speedway	7:30 p.m.

NASCAR Cup Series playoff race schedule 2026

(All times Eastern)

Date	Race	Track	Time
Sept. 6	Southern 500	Darlington Raceway	5 p.m.
Sept. 13	Enjoy Illinois 300	World Wide Technology Raceway	3 p.m.
Sept. 19	Bass Pro Shops Night Race	Bristol Motor Speedway	7:30 p.m.
Sept. 27	Hollywood Casino 400	Kansas Speedway	3 p.m.
Oct. 4	South Point 400	Las Vegas Motor Speedway	5:30 p.m.
Oct. 11	Bank of America ROVAL 400	Charlotte Road Course	3 p.m.
Oct. 18	Freeway Insurance 500	Phoenix Raceway	3 p.m.
Oct. 25	Yellawood 500	Talladega Superspeedway	2 p.m.
Nov. 1	Xfinity 500	Martinsville Speedway	2 p.m.
Nov. 8	Cup Series Championship Race	Homestead-Miami Speedway	3 p.m.

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