LEBANON, Tenn. — Call it victorious whiplash.
Pole starter Denny Hamlin took the lead at the drop of the green flag, was penalized and reset to last in the 38-car field for jumping that start, then rallied his way forward again over the rest of the 300-lap race to be in front for the checkered flag in Sunday night’s NASCAR Cup Series Cracker Barrel 400 at Nashville Superspeedway.
RELATED: Race results | At-track photos
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 Toyota its first victory at the 1.33-mile Nashville concrete oval, with his No. 11 Toyota finishing 0.115 seconds 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] 1 that it just allowed me to barely clear off of [Turn] 2.
“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. 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 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 over an hour because of weather, but when the action kicked off, there was plenty of drama and intrigue.
The sold-out Nashville crowd issued a silent salute on Lap 8 to the late two-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Kyle Busch, 41, a beloved four-time Nashville winner twice each in the Craftsman Truck Series and O’Reilly Auto Parts Series, who died May 21 due to severe illness.
SHOP: Denny Hamlin winner gear
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. Eleven caution flags affected strategy throughout the night.
Hyak Motorsports’ Ricky Stenhouse Jr. finished fourth in the No. 47 Chevrolet, followed by a career-best oval effort of fifth 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 nearly all night. His 12 laps led in the No. 97 Trackhouse Chevrolet were the most for him on an oval track.
Championship leader Tyler Reddick of 23XI Racing 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 led until 12 laps to go. Spire Motorsports’ Carson Hocevar was 10th. Hendrick Motorsports’ Kyle Larson, the reigning series champion, led 56 laps, one lap fewer than Hamlin, but finished 23rd.
The race featured two first-time stage winners on the season: Kaulig Racing’s AJ Allmendinger in Stage 1 and last week’s Charlotte race winner, Spire Motorsports’ Daniel Suárez, in Stage 2.
With his sixth-place finish, Reddick remains atop the standings, 97 points ahead of Hamlin and 174 points ahead of Blaney in third place.
The series heads north to Michigan International Speedway for next Sunday’s FireKeepers Casino 400 (3 p.m. ET, Prime Video, HBO Max, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). Hamlin is the defending race winner.
Stage 2 recap
Last week’s winner, Daniel Suárez, won Stage 2 of Sunday’s Cup Series race at Nashville Superspeedway after staying out during a late caution. The strategy nearly mirrored Ryan Sparks’ winning call in the Coca-Cola 600, when Suárez fired off on a restart on old Goodyear rubber while others pitted for fresh tires.
Alex Bowman finished second, followed by Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Austin Cindric and Denny Hamlin. Michael McDowell, William Byron, Christopher Bell, Chase Briscoe and Brad Keselowski completed the top 10.
MORE: Full Stage 2 results
Kyle Larson led from the jump in the segment until Lap 126, when Briscoe passed him to take his first lead of the night. The No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing driver entered Sunday without a finish better than 17th in his career at the 1.33-mile concrete oval.
The first batch of drivers pitted on Lap 139, led by Reddick coming in from third followed by Larson from second a lap later. Briscoe pitted from the lead on Lap 141, telling his team he was battling a loose condition like many other drivers.
Toward the end of the pit cycle, Austin Dillon went for a wild spin down the frontstretch on Lap 145, causing a caution. He spun off the bumper of Chris Buescher as the cars were tied up after slowing for Ricky Stenhouse Jr., who made a move for pit road.
The rest of the cars who hadn’t made a pit stop came for service under the yellow, led by Ryan Blaney, who paced the race when the caution came out.
After wave-arounds, Blaney restarted from the lead with 34 to go in the stage, followed by Chase Elliott in second.
With 12 laps to go in Stage 2, AJ Allmendinger crashed entering Turn 1 with what appeared to be the third brake rotor failure of the night. He ran third before the accident and won Stage 1 earlier in the night.
“I had no warning signs of like, the pedal going soft,” Allmendinger told reporters after being evaluated and released from the infield care center. “That was gonna be two really good stages, and you know, at that point, if you can finish in the top 20, I mean, that’s a big points day. Disappointing, but nobody’s fault.”
Six drivers — Suárez, Bowman, Stenhouse, Cindric, Keselowski and Byron — stayed out for a four-lap dash to end Stage 2. A lap after the restart, Corey Heim contacted Todd Gilliland, causing a three-car crash that also collected Cole Custer to effectively end Stage 2.
Additionally, Ryan Preece went behind the wall with a radiator issue between Stages 1 and 2.
Stage 1 recap
AJ Allmendinger won Stage 1 of Sunday’s Cup Series race at Nashville in a 90-lap segment that included a pair of Trackhouse Racing drivers crashing with brake issues.
Kyle Larson finished second, followed by Ryan Blaney, Chase Elliott and Tyler Reddick. Bubba Wallace, William Byron, Chase Briscoe, Riley Herbst and Corey Heim completed the top 10.
MORE: Full Stage 1 results
Reddick led the first 37 laps until pit stops under the first yellow of the night, a competition caution for teams to check tire wear. He started the race second next to Denny Hamlin, who jumped the initial start and needed to serve a pass-through penalty on Lap 4. Hamlin finished 19th in the opening frame.
Shane van Gisbergen restarted from the lead on Lap 41 after his No. 97 Trackhouse Racing team elected to take just two tires during the yellow. He led 12 laps out front, battling with Kyle Larson for the top spot before finally surrendering the lead on Lap 54.
On Lap 72, Connor Zilisch blew a right-front brake rotor, forcing him hard into the Turn 1 wall for the first for-cause caution. He ran 24th before the incident, becoming the first retiree of the evening and finishing 38th, where he started after the cancellation of Saturday’s qualifying session. Zilisch was evaluated and released from the infield care center.
That forced all but three lead-lap cars down pit road with 14 laps remaining in the stage. Ryan Blaney and Elliott took two tires, while all the other leaders elected for four fresh Goodyear tires. Christopher Bell, who was second at the time of the caution, dropped to 29th under yellow after a slow stop.
Allmendinger, Herbst and Cole Custer stayed out for the restart with 11 to go, but it was Blaney who ultimately took the lead.
Two laps later, a second Trackhouse driver, Ross Chastain, suffered a brake rotor failure, causing another caution as Michael McDowell spun behind him as well. Chastain, the 2023 Nashville winner, started 35th but had the quickest 15-, 20- and 25-lap averages in practice. He was evaluated and released from the infield care center.
Neither Trackhouse driver had any indication their brake rotors were set to fail. Chastain believes added horsepower at Nashville could be part of the cause.
“We’re accelerating faster, so we must have to slow down faster,” Chastain told reporters. “We haven’t had the issues others have had here. We’ve seen others have these issues in the past. Miscalculation somewhere.”
“Definitely something that we need to look at as a team,” Zilisch said.
The race restarted for a one-lap dash to the end of the stage, where Allmendinger won in a photo finish.
NOTE: Inspection in the Cup Series garage was completed without issues, confirming Hamlin as the winner.
Contributing: Staff Reports, Zach Sturniolo