NASCAR Insights: Erik Jones strings top-10 tunes at Nashville

Posted on June 3, 2025 by John Crane

With Erik Jones’ seventh-place result at Nashville Superspeedway, the 29-year-old Michigan native has now wheeled the No. 43 Legacy Motor Club Toyota to finishes of 13th or better in three of the last four NASCAR Cup Series races. In the case of Sunday’s Cracker Barrel 400, though, the top 10 might have been the most convincing performance to date for the team.

How so? Let’s dive into the metrics.

According to NASCAR Insights — which analyzes multiple data points and conceptualizes performance trends — Jones’ seventh-place result at Nashville was not just a solid finish, but also a dominant one. Look no further than the No. 43’s top-ranked Defense Rating, which evaluates a driver’s ability to hold their position when under pressure. With such sturdy footing (or in this case, driving), Jones held strong against fellow Toyota pilots, including Tyler Reddick and Christopher Bell, who finished ninth and 10th, respectively. Jones was the third highest-finishing Toyota Sunday, with Denny Hamlin (third) and Bubba Wallace (sixth) the only Toyotas to wheel ahead of the No. 43.

The No. 43’s dominance didn’t stop at defense. A fifth-ranked Speed Rating also played a part, especially as the race continued into the middle and late portions; Jones finished fifth during Stage 2 and battled Joey Logano — who finished fourth — for second during the contest’s final stage. Sixth-ranked results in Passer Rating, Restart Rating and Pit Crew Rating rounded out Jones’ statistical masterpiece, cementing his position inside the top 10.

Such a well-rounded performance stands out even more when factoring in that Jones was the only driver to finish sixth or better in all five statistical categories at Nashville. Although the end result wasn’t a race victory, there is plenty of upside if this elite performance continues, beginning at Michigan International Speedway, Jones’ home track, Sunday (2 p.m. ET, Prime Video, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

MORE: Michigan schedule

“We didn’t have any mistakes,” Jones said. “We had good pit stops. It just is cleaning everything up and continuing to improve on these cars. Like at the end there, that was all we had. Our balance was pretty good, so we still need to get a little faster. We’ve done a great job. We are getting there. We are optimizing the speed.”

Other notables from Sunday:

— After finishing 19th or worse in all five metrics during the Coca-Cola 600, Logano finished ninth or better in each category at Nashville.

— William Byron finished sixth or better in four of the five metrics at Nashville; the No. 24 ranked 23rd in Pit Crew Rating.

— Despite early-race woes, Kyle Larson rebounded to finish eighth, thanks in part to a fifth-ranked Restart Rating.

Posted on June 2, 2025June 2, 2025 by Staff Report

The NASCAR Cup Series storms into Michigan International Speedway for the FireKeepers Casino 400 on Sunday (2 p.m. ET, Prime Video, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

ENTRY LISTS: Cup Series | Truck Series

With the In-Season Challenge seeding set to begin this weekend, 36 cars will take to the 2-mile oval in Brooklyn, Michigan.

MORE: How to watch NASCAR on Prime Video

See the full entry list for Sunday’s 200-lap feature:

Posted on June 2, 2025June 5, 2025 by Staff Report

The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series is back in action at Michigan International Speedway this Saturday (noon ET, FOX, NASCAR Racing Network Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

ENTRY LISTS: Cup Series | Truck Series

Carson Hocevar, fresh off his runner-up finish at Nashville Superspeedway in the Cup Series, will be behind the wheel of the No. 7 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet. Ross Chastain will also pilot the No. 44 Chevrolet for Niece Motorsports.

See the full entry list for the DQS Solutions & Staffing 250 Powered by Precision Vehicle Logistics:

Posted on June 2, 2025 by Brandon White

A healthy crowd of Super Late Model competitors are making a mid-week trek to Michigan for the second of Berlin Raceway’s three annual crown-jewel races, the Money in the Bank 150 (Tuesday, 7 p.m. ET on FloRacing).

Since its inception in 2017, this race has served as an opportunity for local heroes to showcase their talent against the elites of the Super Late Model discipline. Prevailing in Tuesday’s event now yields a race-winning paycheck of $15,000, an increase from $10,000 last year.

With plenty of incentives on the line, Berlin’s weekly drivers are looking to bring the coveted trophy back to their home track. Over the past five years, a current NASCAR Cup Series competitor or Super Late Model interloper has emerged victorious at the end of the 150-lap event.

Bubba Pollard enters as the most recent Money in the Bank 150 champion, but he will have to fend off many other talented names to add another Super Late Model crown jewel win to his stellar resume.

Below is everything to know about Tuesday’s Money in the Bank at Berlin Raceway in Marne, Michigan.

Tuesday’s Money in the Bank 150 features plenty of talented drivers such as Erik Jones, Carson Hocevar and others. (Photo: Julia Schachinger/NASCAR)

How to watch the Money in the Bank 150 at Berlin Raceway

All feature racing action for the 2025 Money in the Bank 150 at Berlin Raceway can be viewed live on FloRacing, the official streaming home for all NASCAR Regional properties.

The race will not be shown on a traditional television network.

Below is the complete schedule for coverage on FloRacing. The broadcast starts at 5:45 p.m. ET as Super Late Model qualifying commences. Feature racing is scheduled to start at 7 p.m. ET.

Date	Start Time	How to Watch
Tuesday, June 3	5:45 p.m. ET	FloRacing

2025 Money in the Bank schedule

This year’s Money in the Bank 150 is scheduled for Tuesday, June 3. The event was preemptively moved up from its planned green flag on Wednesday due to an unfavorable forecast.

Below is the complete race-day schedule for Tuesday at Berlin Raceway.

(All times ET)

Time	Event
7 a.m.	Pit Pass Window Opens
8 a.m.	Pit Area Opens
9 a.m.	Super Late Model Tech/Race Tires Sold and Impounded
11 a.m.	Super Late Model Drivers/Spotters Meeting
12-1:15 p.m.	Super Late Model Practice
1:30-2:45 p.m.	Super Late Model Practice
3:45 p.m.	Super Late Model Tech
4:30 p.m.	Sportsman Tech
5-5:30 p.m.	Sportsman Practice
5:45 p.m.	Super Late Model Qualifying
6:30 p.m.	Invocation/National Anthem
7 p.m.	Money in the Bank 150 (Sportsman feature: 40 laps, Driver Introductions, Super Late Model feature: 150 laps)

Bubba Pollard enters Tuesday’s Money in the Bank 150 as the event’s most recent winner. (Photo: Eric Bronson/NASCAR)

Entry list

The entry list for the 2025 Money in the Bank 150 stands at 28 cars. Leading the way is NASCAR Cup Series competitor Carson Hocevar, a Michigan native who won a track championship at Berlin during his formative years.

Some of Hocevar’s other Berlin accomplishments include a Battle at Berlin victory last year and consecutive Money in the Bank wins in 2020 and 2021.

To obtain a third Money in the Bank checkered flag, Hocevar will have to deal with another Michigan resident who races against him on Sundays in Erik Jones. Like Hocevar, Jones is familiar with Berlin’s Victory Lane, with his most notable achievement being a Money in the Bank 150 victory in 2023.

Standing in the way of both Jones and Hocevar is Super Late Model stalwart Bubba Pollard, who is chasing a third Money in the Bank victory this week. Flawless tire conservation on Pollard’s behalf enabled him to pass Blake Rowe with six laps remaining last year and join Jones and Hocevar as a winner in both the Money in the Bank and the Battle at Berlin.

Another driver with victories Berlin’s last two crown jewels is Brian Campbell, the defending Super Late Model track champion. Campbell earned his two Money in the Bank checkered flags at the end of the 2010s and is looking to lead the charge for the Berlin contingent Tuesday.

Other drivers set to compete in the Money in the Bank 150 include Evan Shotko, Derek Kneeland, Treyten Lapcevich, Leland Honeyman Jr., Max Reaves and Boris Jurkovic.

Below is the complete entry list for Tuesday’s main event.

Car No.	Driver
4	Erik Jones
4	Tyler Lupton
4	Tyler Rycenga
12	Brian Bergakker
14	Michael Atwell
15	Seth Christensen
18	Chase Burda
18	Max Reaves
18	Keith Herp
20	Austin Hull
22	Evan Shotko
24	Dylan Stovall
26	Bubba Pollard
27	Ken Womba
28	Scott Thomas
32	Treyten Lapcevich
32	Chris Shannon
39	Andrew Morrissey
45	Sean Gipson
47	Brian Campbell
53	Boris Jurkovic
54	Leland Honeyman Jr.
57	Blake Rowe
66	Kendrick Kreyer
71	Carson Hocevar
88	Andrew Scheid
90	Derek Kneeland
101	Joe Bush

Erik Jones celebrates his 2023 Money in the Bank 150 victory. (Photo: Emily Elconin/NASCAR)

Past winners

Year	Winner
2017	Bubba Pollard
2018	Brian Campbell
2019	Brian Campbell
2020	Carson Hocevar
2021	Carson Hocevar
2022	William Byron
2023	Erik Jones
2024	Bubba Pollard

Posted on June 2, 2025 by Zack Albert

Among the questions Ryan Blaney fielded after his first NASCAR Cup Series win of the season Sunday night, one of the most innocuous was … what’s with the cigar?

A sponsor or partner at Nashville Superspeedway was handing them out, Blaney explained, so in a Red Auerbach-style flourish, he fired it up. The well-savored stogie made it with him all the way to the 1.33-mile track’s media center after the Victory Lane compulsories. The prop wasn’t as outlandish or oversized as the horseshoe-shaped wreath of flowers that teammate Austin Cindric brought from the post-race celebration to his news conference at Talladega Superspeedway back in April, but the sentiment was there all the same.

Spare Blaney the indulgence after what had been a ragged first one-third of the Cup Series season for the Team Penske driver. The accomplishment was a boon to the former series champion and his No. 12 Ford team, but it also made his organization the first to place all four of its cars — including affiliates — into the Cup Series Playoffs, leaving it well-positioned for another postseason push.

“Just been pretty rocky this year and had a lot of misfortune and a lot of down times, just crappy things happening to us,” Blaney said, “and it’s like, ‘man, what do we got to do to just finish these races or close one out and just kind of things go our way.’ So I think that was more — it’s kind of like, I don’t want to say relief, but just like, OK, finally nothing crazy happened and we were able to just run our own race and bring the speed and execute and do our job very, very well.”

“Rocky” might be an odd description to hear from a driver who topped the early Cup Series standings after netting top 10s in the first two races, but consider the wild mood swings that his results have endured since. The three consecutive DNFs that followed took their toll, from an engine failure at Phoenix, a crash at Las Vegas and another mechanical blow-up at Homestead. The rest of the way has yielded almost an alternating cascade of top-five finishes or early exits, with two more wrecks (Talladega, Charlotte) offsetting the high points.

Riding those undulations has come slightly easier, Blaney said, thanks to a no-panic approach to each race weekend from the team that surrounds and supports him. Aside from a slight shuffle to the No. 12 team’s pit-crew personnel back in April, the group has been unflappable, Blaney said, keeping a steady mindset that tries not to dwell on the negatives that the Cup Series circuit tends to serve up.

“I think just trying to maintain the energy of the group is probably the biggest challenge,” said No. 12 crew chief Jonathan Hassler, who boosted the team’s fortunes with a masterful Stage 1 pit strategy that gave Blaney much-needed track position. “My message to them and even to myself has been that we’re perfectly capable. We’ve been in position. A lot of things have happened that are outside of our control. We just need to keep doing what we can, controlling what we can control, and things will finally turn around, and it’s nice that they did today.”

Outside of their control was a theme on multiple fronts just one week earlier in the Coca-Cola 600, a race that Blaney won in dominant fashion two years ago on the way to his first Cup Series crown. A Stage 3 jam-up snared his No. 12 Ford in this year’s Memorial Day classic at Charlotte Motor Speedway, saddling him with his fifth finish outside of the top 25 this season.

MORE: Cup Series standings | In-Season Challenge field set

Compounding that misstep was the chatter surrounding Team Penske’s IndyCar effort, which absorbed severe penalties in qualifications for the Indianapolis 500. Those infractions led to a housecleaning by team owner Roger Penske, and the dismissal of the organization’s top IndyCar brass rippled through the motorsports world.

Though that operation runs on a separate circuit, the IndyCar and NASCAR programs share a roof under the Team Penske banner in North Carolina. With that fallout still relatively fresh, Blaney was more than happy to provide some welcome good news to his owner and captain.

“Yeah, we had to hear all week that Penske cars are bad because the IndyCar guys got caught and that’s why we were bad at Charlotte and then we come here tonight and kick everyone’s ass,” Blaney said. “Ebbs and flows of this sport, it’s crazy.”

Those flows have now primed the postseason opportunity for Team Penske to extend its run of three consecutive Cup Series titles. The closely allied Wood Brothers Racing team became the first to cash in with Josh Berry’s breakthrough in Vegas, and Penske pilots Cindric (Talladega) and Joey Logano (Texas) came next on consecutive weeks that bridged April into May.

“Huge,” said Blaney after he rounded out Penske’s playoff-clinch sweep with his Nashville dominance, noting how synced the organization’s teams are at this point of the season. With that long-ranging goal secured, the pressure for the rest of the regular season is mostly off and the organization can devote at least some of its attention to the final 10-race stretch.

That doesn’t mean fading any of the focus or altering the approach for the weeks ahead. Keeping victory cigars at the ready, though, might be a needed change.

“Honestly, I don’t think that like anybody lays up after they win a race,” Blaney said. “It’s not like they go on this whole science experiment type of thing because being top 10 in points matter in the regular season. It’s playoff points. You still want to run well and you still want to win races. But it does matter. It just kind of sets it all at ease, like OK, we’re in the playoffs. All that stuff is good. Nice to finally get the monkey off your back and win a race and then move on and go try to win more.”

Posted on June 2, 2025 by Staff Report

Contact on Lap 106 of Sunday’s Cracker Barrel 400 left Ricky Stenhouse Jr. out of the race and earned Carson Hocevar another competitor frustrated with his driving etiquette.

Entering Turn 3 shortly after Stage 2 began at Nashville Superspeedway, Hocevar bumped Stenhouse, sending the No. 47 Hyak Motorsports sliding sideways and right-rear-first into the outside SAFER barrier. Although the team attempted to repair the vehicle, the damage proved too severe, and Stenhouse was dealt his first DNF of 2025, dropping to a last-place result in 39th.

“Not real thrilled with that exit, especially (in) Stage 2 there,” Stenhouse told reporters after being evaluated and released from the infield care center. “He (Hocevar) had tried to dive-bomb me two laps before that from about 10 or 12 car-lengths back, and then he finally was close enough that time to just wipe us out.”

Hocevar, the sophomore driver of the No. 77 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet, continued to tie a career-best result, taking the checkered flag second at the Tennessee track. The Michigan native has made prior enemies on track for his aggressive style of racing, but explained post-race he thought he was in position to make the pass on Stenhouse.

“I kind of got a run and felt like I was kind of there,” Hocevar said. “I felt like I was there enough to get a call (from Stenhouse’s spotter) inside and have him just run the middle. Honestly, he probably could have cleared me, so that’s just what I expected him to do. And he didn’t. And by the time I checked up, I almost spun, too.”

Stenhouse disagreed with that assessment, believing Hocevar hadn’t yet earned the real estate to get to Stenhouse’s left-rear corner entering the turn.

“I think it’s definitely overaggressive. I think that’s Carson,” Stenhouse said. “Maybe I should have just hung a right, let him go. I’m not sure. If he would have got to my inside, I would have let him go. But just to keep dive-bombing me, you can’t just give up spots just to give up spots. So I felt like it was definitely overaggressive.”

MORE: Hocevar rebounds to runner-up result | Hocevar praises No. 77 team

Stenhouse has made previous frustrations known, most recently in the 2024 NASCAR All-Star Race when, after an early bump from Kyle Busch ousted him, Stenhouse got into a physical confrontation with Busch post-race and received a $75,000 fine for his actions. Stenhouse confirmed he would talk with Hocevar after their Nashville collision but didn’t want to wait for him after the race: “No, that costs too much money.”

Hocevar welcomes any pending conversation.

“If he wants to talk, I’ll gladly talk,” Hocevar said. “But I feel like it’s just a product of this, unfortunately. Everybody just kinda tries to get there. There were a bunch of people who got shipped that either didn’t wreck or didn’t get wrecked.”

Hocevar conceded he could have cut Stenhouse a break on corner entry and instead attempted the pass differently later.

“But at the same time,” he said, “maybe I could have gotten cut a break too with how big of a run I had. So I think it goes both ways or it could go both ways, and maybe that’s what we talk about.”

Exiting Nashville, Hocevar now sits four points beneath the provisional elimination line and gained four spots to the line — while also gaining five spots in the regular-season standings. Stenhouse, meanwhile, is now on the outside of the 16-driver bracket by six points, losing 16 points to the elimination line. Some of Hocevar’s aggression can be tied to the desperation of making the playoffs.

“I just know we’re running out of opportunities for this year (in) the regular season, right?” Hocevar said. “You’re running out of opportunities and it’s not every week you’re gonna be up front. Statistically, we don’t have that luxury. Every opportunity, you don’t know how long in between you’re gonna be when you have a shot at running up front.”

Posted on June 2, 2025June 2, 2025 by Dustin Albino

LEBANON, Tenn. — Costly mistakes have hindered Bubba Wallace in recent weeks, and the No. 23 23XI Racing Toyota had more to overcome with a pit-road speeding penalty early in Sunday’s Cracker Barrel 400 at Nashville Superspeedway.

Entering “Music City,” Wallace had dropped five positions in the Regular Season Championship standings over the previous three races to 12th. The damage could have been worse with three straight DNFs.

While battling in the top 10 amid a caution-free opening stage, Wallace sped entering pit road on Lap 44. The No. 23 Toyota went a lap down, missing out on the free pass at the conclusion of the stage to 23XI Racing teammate Riley Herbst.

With the help of a flurry of cautions in Stage 2, Wallace propelled up the leaderboard after getting back on the lead lap. He was able to reach 18th position at the conclusion of the stage, directly in front of his other 23XI teammate, Tyler Reddick.

Rookie Cup Series crew chief Charles Denike played the strategy flawlessly during the final stage, as Wallace found speed in his car. He leaped a handful of competitors during the final green-flag pit cycle, closing on William Byron for fifth place as the laps dwindled.

When the checkered flag flew, Wallace was sixth; his first top-10 result since the end of April at Talladega Superspeedway. It was his best overall finish since earning consecutive third-place results in March at Homestead-Miami Speedway and Martinsville Speedway.

MORE: Cup Series standings | In-Season Challenge field set

“God almighty, it was a great day,” Wallace said in relief. “I hate that we got our speeding penalty. I thought I ran my lights [on the dash]; we can go back to the shop and double-check it to see if I messed up. It’s frustrating because I knew our car was fast. It was nice to methodically carve our way through the field and make passes.

“I’ll never understand strategy. I thought we were pitting from 12th, and they were like that’s fourth and fifth in front of you and I’m like, ‘How the hell did that happen?’ It was a good night.”

The speeding penalty was Wallace’s third of the 2025 season, barely past the one-third mark. He knows how detrimental it can be to recover from such a penalty. He also knows it can do wonders for the No. 23 team by rebounding to a respectable showing as the season progresses.

Sitting 12th on the playoff grid with a 54-point buffer above the elimination line, Wallace sees glimpses of the potential that 23XI has built. He is one of six drivers to have 100 stage points through the opening 14 races of 2025. However, the team has bled points in the final stage, as his 19.7 average finish ranks 21st in the field of full-time drivers.

“After those back-to-back top-three finishes, I was expecting it every week,” Wallace said. “I think that may have jinxed us. I have the utmost confidence in this team to continue getting finishes like this on a consistent matter. Not the bouncing back and forth that everyone is used to for the 23. We had [expletive] luck the last month. I’m glad May is over with. We will go on and see if we can continue clicking momentum.

“Getting our morale back and confidence back is big for us. We knew we could do it; we just needed to close it out, execute, and we did it tonight.”

Aside from winning, the next goal for the No. 23 team is to pad its cushion over the elimination line. It begins next weekend at Michigan International Speedway, where Wallace has experienced the highs of a runner-up finish in 2022 and the lows of three of his four finishes with 23XI being 18th or worse.

Posted on June 2, 2025June 2, 2025 by Dustin Albino

LEBANON, Tenn. — Luke Lambert, crew chief of Carson Hocevar’s No. 77 Chevrolet, won’t sugarcoat that the Spire Motorsports entry had a bitter defeat last weekend at Charlotte Motor Speedway. The sophomore driver was in contention to win a crown-jewel race until experiencing a rare engine failure.

That made a runner-up finish in Sunday’s Cracker Barrel 400 at Nashville Superspeedway that much sweeter.

“After last week, I will admittedly say, it was pretty crushing to feel like we were so close to having a great night in the Coke 600 and to come away with a DNF was heartbreaking,” Lambert said. “Coming back here, rebounding, getting the type of run that proves we are capable of putting ourselves in contention to win a race is very reassuring. It’s a lot of confidence boost moving forward.”

Hocevar rallied from a 26th-place starting position after Saturday’s qualifying session. In a rocky Stage 2 where the No. 77 car turned Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and handed the No. 47 team its first DNF of 2025, Hocevar drove to seventh position to score stage points. That set him up well for the final stage.

“I got a run and felt like I was there,” Hocevar said of his run-in with Stenhouse. “I felt like I was there enough to get a car inside. He probably could have cleared me, so that’s what I expected him to do, and he didn’t. When he checked up, I almost spun, too. I feel like it’s just a product of this.

“I feel like I could have gotten cut a break, too. I think it goes both ways or could go both ways.”

Hocevar chugged along with a fairly green final stage, finishing the event on a 102-lap run. Knowing the importance of fuel mileage, Lambert set the No. 77 car up to have a shorter final stop. Of the lead cars to make their final stops, Hocevar was second, pitting for the last time on Lap 244.

“The fueling thing right now is a very big part of the puzzle,” Lambert stated. “One miscue on the fuel play, the fueler doesn’t have a good plug, that sets the team back for the stops following it. Our guys were super clean, and we have a great fueler that does a great job.”

Pitting early helped Hocevar leap four spots in the running order, trailing only Ryan Blaney, who escaped with a nearly six-second advantage. While the No. 12 car was stuck in lapped traffic, Hocevar ate into the deficit. Ultimately, he finished 2.83 seconds behind Blaney, shy of scoring his first big-league win though he held off Denny Hamlin, a veteran making his 700th Cup start.

“It feels really good,” Hocevar added. “It sucks when you finish second, knowing the difference. All of those bad races earlier [in the season] don’t matter in this race today. It feels really good, especially going to Michigan. That’s going to fit us even better than here. It stings, but it normally stings until Monday or Tuesday. I feel good about the speed and execution we have.”

The second-place finish ties the best finish of Hocevar’s young Cup career (Atlanta, February). It’s his first top-10 result on a non-drafting track since placing ninth at Homestead-Miami Speedway last fall. The uptick in speed has been evident at Spire in 2025, but that doesn’t make the loss any easier.

“My dream and expectation is to be here, win races and run up front,” Hocevar said. “You’re disappointed because I feel like if I wasn’t disappointed, I don’t deserve this seat. It’s tough to live by when you’re constantly not winning, but I’m proud of the execution.

“I don’t think we were better than [Blaney], or anything I could have done differently. You still want to win.”

MORE: Cup Series standings | In-Season Challenge field set

Lambert, who has worked with three rookie drivers throughout his career, has had to take Hocevar under his wing more and guide the 22-year-old through what’s just his second full Cup Series season.

The regimen is beginning to pay off, particularly on the race track. The flashes of speed have come more regularly for the No. 77 group, which helped to lift Hocevar to his first career Cup pole position last month at Texas Motor Speedway.

“What I’ve learned working with different rookies is so much about managing the expectations and building the mental toughness to be a Cup driver,” Lambert added. “You can’t really develop that without driving in the series because guys that have been good in this series – they all are typically good drivers – but the mental toughness to manage Cup races is what the difference can be.

“It’s a 24/7 [job] on focus and discipline. Our focus is to develop the right amount of discipline for him and not holding his creativity back.”

Hocevar will return next weekend to his home state of Michigan, where he finished 10th last summer.

Posted on June 1, 2025June 12, 2025 by Staff Report

RFK Racing’s Brad Keselowski became the final driver to secure a spot in NASCAR’s inaugural In-Season Challenge with a 23rd-place finish in Sunday’s Cup Series race at Nashville Superspeedway.

Keselowski beat out Trackhouse Racing’s Shane van Gisbergen by 21 points for a chance at $1 million in the knockout-style bracket. Among full-time drivers, 23XI Racing’s Riley Herbst, Haas Factory Team’s Cole Custer and Rick Ware Racing’s Cody Ware all failed to qualify. The top 32 drivers in Cup Series points after 14 races are eligible.

Drivers will be seeded in the challenge by their best overall finish over the next three weeks at Michigan International Speedway (June 8), Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez (June 15) and Pocono Raceway (June 22). The first tiebreaker is a driver’s second-best finish, with the next tiebreaker being the driver’s overall points position. All three seeding races will air on Prime Video.

Once the challenge officially begins at Atlanta Motor Speedway (June 28), it’s simple: drivers will be placed in head-to-head matchups based on seed, and whoever finishes better in each race advances. The last driver standing after Indianapolis Motor Speedway (July 27) pockets $1 million.

All five races of the In-Season Challenge will air on TNT Sports and HBO Max with an alternate broadcast available on truTV.

2025 In-Season Challenge Field

Points position	Driver	Team
1	William Byron	No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
2	Kyle Larson	No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
3	Christopher Bell	No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
4	Denny Hamlin	No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
5	Chase Elliott	No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
6	Tyler Reddick	No. 45 23XI Racing Toyota
7	Ryan Blaney	No. 12 Team Penske Ford
8	Joey Logano	No. 22 Team Penske Ford
9	Ross Chastain	No. 1 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet
10	Bubba Wallace	No. 23 23XI Racing Toyota
11	Chase Briscoe	No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
12	Alex Bowman	No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
13	Austin Cindric	No. 2 Team Penske Ford
14	Chris Buescher	No. 17 RFK Racing Ford
15	Kyle Busch	No. 8 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet
16	Ryan Preece	No. 60 RFK Racing Ford
17	Carson Hocevar	No. 77 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet
18	Ricky Stenhouse Jr.	No. 47 Hyak Motorsports Chevrolet
19	AJ Allmendinger	No. 16 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet
20	Josh Berry	No. 21 Wood Brothers Racing Ford
21	Michael McDowell	No. 71 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet
22	John Hunter Nemechek	No. 42 Legacy Motor Club Toyota
23	Todd Gilliland	No. 34 Front Row Motorsports Ford
24	Erik Jones	No. 43 Legacy Motor Club Toyota
25	Zane Smith	No. 38 Front Row Motorsports Ford
26	Austin Dillon	No. 3 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet
27	Ty Gibbs	No. 54 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
28	Daniel Suárez	No. 99 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet
29	Justin Haley	No. 7 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet
30	Ty Dillon	No. 10 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet
31	Noah Gragson	No. 4 Front Row Motorsports Ford
32	Brad Keselowski	No. 6 RFK Racing Ford

Posted on June 1, 2025June 2, 2025 by Holly Cain

Ryan Blaney claimed his first victory of the 2025 season Sunday night in the Cracker Barrel 400 at Nashville Superspeedway. The 2023 NASCAR Cup Series champion led a race-best 139 of the 300 laps to finally secure that all-important playoff position.

Blaney has come so close this season to hoisting a trophy only to have something break his heart and challenge his resolve. But Sunday, the sport’s popular 31-year-old, third-generation racer ultimately drove his No. 12 Team Penske Ford to a 2.830-second win over 22-year-old Spire Motorsports’ Carson Hocevar in a 103-lap green flag run that closed out the race.

Blaney was so thrilled to take the win, he climbed on top of his Ford, raised his arms in triumph and then jumped off the car and ran up and into the track’s front grandstands to claim the checkered flag before handing it off to an excited young fan.

“I never gave up hope that’s for sure,” said Blaney, whose victory puts all three drivers of the reigning champion Penske team into the 2025 playoffs.

“We’ve had adversity, and this hasn’t really been a good year for us in terms of good fortune, but the 12 boys are awesome. They stick with it no matter how it goes.”

Hocevar’s runner-up finish tied a career-best effort turned in at Atlanta in February.

“It just proves how strong this group is to go from the disappointment last week,” said Hocevar, who looked strong and led laps at Charlotte Motor Speedway last Sunday only to retire early with mechanical problems. “Sticking to it and having a shot, just proud of this group.

“We were one spot short again, but hopefully this is a step in the right direction,” he added.

SHOP: Winner’s gear

Joe Gibbs Racing’s Denny Hamlin, who won the opening stage and led 79 laps, finished third despite helmet hose and hydration system issues. Blaney’s Penske teammate Joey Logano finished fourth with current NASCAR Cup Series championship leader, Hendrick Motorsports’ William Byron, rounding out the top five.

“Just couldn’t run with the 12 there in the super long run, after 40 laps I could maintain with him, but after that, he’d just pull away and stretch it on us,” said Hamlin, whose fiancé, Jordan Fish, is expecting to deliver the couple’s third child at any time.

Logano, the defending race winner, also led laps, but ultimately couldn’t challenge at the end giving up positions to Hocevar and Hamlin.

“The 12 was just lights out, which gave them a huge lead, and we just weren’t able to hold onto second, the 11 [Hamlin] got by me,” Logano said, adding, “Good execution and proud of Team Penske. All our cars have a win now and that’s pretty impressive to have everybody with a win. All the teams are really strong.”

23XI Racing’s Bubba Wallace, Legacy Motor Club’s Erik Jones, Hendrick Motorsports’ Kyle Larson, 23XI Racing’s Tyler Reddick and JGR’s Christopher Bell rounded out the top 10. The effort marked a particularly significant comeback for Larson, who started 28th on the grid and was involved in an incident on Lap 115.

There were 18 lead changes among nine drivers with Hamlin (Stage 1) and Blaney (Stage 2) claiming the stage wins.

New this year, the Nashville race set the 32-car field for the inaugural NASCAR In-Season Challenge — a bracket-style tournament taking place during the TNT Sports’ five-race stretch this summer. The tournament starts June 28 at Atlanta followed by the races at Chicago, Sonoma, Dover, and Indianapolis with the winner receiving a $1 million prize.

Now, the next three races — Michigan, Mexico City’s Autodromo Hermanos Rodriquez and Pocono — will determine the bracket seeding based on a driver’s best finish out of those races.

Former series champion Brad Keselowski claimed the 32nd position for the competition by only 21 points over Trackhouse Racing’s Shane Van Gisbergen.

Byron continues to lead the NASCAR Cup Series championship standings, now 48 points up on Hendrick Motorsports teammate Larson with 12 regular-season races remaining to set the 16-driver playoff field. Their teammate Chase Elliott, who finished 15th Sunday, is the highest-ranked driver (fifth) without a win.

The NASCAR Cup Series returns to action next Sunday afternoon in the Firekeepers Casino 400 at Michigan International Speedway (2 p.m. ET, Prime Video, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). Reddick is the defending winner at the 2-mile speedway.

NOTE: There were no issues in post-race inspection, confirming Blaney as the winner. No cars were to be brought back to the NASCAR R&D Center in Concord, North Carolina.