LEBANON, Tenn. – On a blindingly hot day at Nashville Superspeedway, Justin Allgaier fulfilled a dream in one of the best race cars he’s ever had.
Leading five times for 134 laps and sweeping the first two stages of Saturday’s Tennessee Lottery 250, Allgaier breezed to his first NASCAR Xfinity Series victory at the 1.33-mile concrete track, his second of the season and the 18th of his career.
Allgaier’s No. 7 JR Motorsports Chevrolet crossed the finish line 4.513 seconds ahead of runner-up Trevor Bayne, who overcame an interference penalty on pit road, assessed when two of the tires from his No. 18 Toyota rolled behind the gas man in pole winner Riley Herbst’s neighboring pit stall.
“This guitar has been on my bucket list for a long, long time,” Allgaier said, who won in his eighth start at Nashville, dating to 2009. After a 10-year pause in racing at the track, Allgaier finished second last year.
Asked whether he had ever driven a better race car, Allgaier was quick to answer.
“I don’t think ever,” he said. “What a heck of a race, man. We’ve been coming here for a long time, and I love this race track. Been trying to get a win so bad and hadn’t been able to do it.
“Today was like a dirt race. It was slick, it was hot, we were sliding around… I’ve got a guitar to take home, and we’re going to enjoy it, for sure.”
Chevrolet drivers have won the last seven Xfinity Series races, with JR Motorsports drivers winning five of those. Allgaier’s two stage wins were the 11th and 12th-straight on oval tracks for JRM.
Herbst finished third, followed by Ty Gibbs and Sam Mayer, both of whom were involved in a late-race incident that turned Gibbs No. 54 Toyota sideways — setting up a masterful save.
Ryan Preece, Jeffrey Earnhardt, Austin Hill, Ryan Sieg and Brett Moffitt completed the top 10.
Sixteenth-place finisher AJ Allmendinger retained the series lead by 25 points over Gibbs in second place and 32 over Allgaier in third.
Mistakes cost Bayne a chance to race for the win.
“We drove to second twice, from the back,” he said. “The second stage, we came in with Riley (Herbst) and hit a pit crew member, not intentionally, but it can happen. Then fell back to 15th and drove back to second.”
“Then we had a loose wheel and had to go to the very back and drove back and was catching Allgaier. He’s my buddy, Gator, congrats to him. Happy for him, but, man, I wanted to win that guitar and win here at Nashville.”
“I feel like we did everything right on the car and feel like I did everything right behind the wheel. We have to clean up the mistakes and we’re going to win because it takes every piece of this deal.”
Herbst conceded that he wasn’t able to challenge Allgaier’s dominance.
“I don’t think the whole field had anything for the 7,” Herbst said. “I think he was on cruise control all day. I messed up on pit road a few times, myself and the team, so we’ve got to clean up a little stuff there, but all in all, it was a good day. We got a pole and good points. This is what we need to keep doing—just knock on the door, and eventually it will open.”
NOTE: There were no issues in post-race inspection, confirming Allgaier as the winner. The Nos. 6, 10, 31 and 44 cars each had one lug nut loose.
Ally 400 at Nashville Superspeedway
(⏰ 5 p.m. ET | 📺 NBC | 📻 MRN, SiriusXM, TSN)
Everything you need to know for Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Nashville Superspeedway, the 17th regular-season event of the 2022 campaign. NOTE: This race kicks off the NBC portion of broadcast coverage, lasting through the championship race in Phoenix.
Race-day info 📝
Where: Lebanon, Tennessee Approximate start time: 5 p.m. ET | Full weekend schedule TV/Radio: NBC, NBC Sports App, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, TSN; coverage continues on USA Network at 10 p.m. ET | Full TV schedule Forecast: A 50% chance of showers and thunderstorms after 1 p.m. ET. Mostly sunny and hot, with a high near 97 degrees, according to NOAA.gov | Weather tracker Race distance: 300 laps | 399 miles Stages: 90 | 185 | 300 Pit-road speed: 45 mph Caution car speed: 55 mph Nashville 101: Get the full lowdown
Starting lineup: Where drivers will start
Pit stalls:Where drivers will pit
Key things to watch 🔑
Big story line
Can Trackhouse Racing, specifically previous race winner Daniel Suárez, continue momentum heading into the rugged summer stretch? After showing speed early in the season, Suárez broke through at Sonoma Raceway and made NASCAR history as the first Mexican-born driver to win at the sport’s top level. The historic achievement also came on the brink of the Cup Series’ off weekend, allowing the 30-year-old driver to travel back to Mexico and soak in the victory with family and friends. For Suárez, the win was something he could feel coming for a long time, and he expects to build on it this weekend at Nashville Superspeedway — not just be a one-and-done.
“If I had to write it down, how I wanted to win and how I wanted things to happen, I feel like it was gonna be just like that,” Suárez told NASCAR.com. “I felt very fortunate to have had an opportunity to celebrate, not just with my team and with the people who helped me to get to that point, but also with my friends and family in Mexico. There is a difference between knowing you’re a winner, knowing you can win and actually being a winner. Right now, I feel like the entire team has a huge boost of confidence.”
Last season’s seventh-place run was the second-best finish of the entire season for Suárez and the No. 99 team. With a playoff berth secured, for now, expect the team to push even harder through the final 10 races to improve its standing, beginning Sunday.
Who’s hot? Who’s not?
Still in search of his first win of 2022, Ryan Blaney has picked up the pace in recent weeks, reeling off back-to-back finishes inside the top six. Based on raw speed, the No. 12 Team Penske Ford has been among the best this season, leading the fourth-most laps at 385 and earning a series-high three Busch Light Pole Awards. But can Blaney put it all together and extend his streak of consecutive seasons with a win to six? With the way the series is trending, his playoff chances might depend on it. Look for the No. 12 to keep the positive momentum rolling in Tennessee.
Across the aisle, Harrison Burton and Team Penske-affiliate Wood Brothers Racing have had a rocky start to the season. Burton has yet to finish inside the top 10 this season, including three DNFs, and is struggling to tame the tide in his rookie season. His three laps led in the Daytona 500 are one of the few highlights this year. However, his best finish of the season came at the last mile-plus oval in Charlotte Motor Speedway. This could bode well for Nashville. Plus, the Rookie of the Year battle is far from over — and in regards to playoff hopes, a win could change everything.
Driving under the radar
Have the wins come yet? No. But has the speed and performance improved? Yes. This comes as a shining light for Kevin Harvick fans as the veteran is beginning to round into more consistent form. Harvick has five top 10s in the last seven races and was contending for the win at Sonoma Raceway — a strong track for the Stewart-Haas Racing driver in recent history. Though the team has had its struggles, and heavily voiced concerns (to put it kindly), the team is trending upward somewhat consistently for the first time in a while. Look for the revamped No. 4 crew to buckle down and make a bold statement sooner rather than later. | Here is why Harvick will be the next winless driver in 2022 to reach Victory Lane
Practice and qualifying
Friday brought a 50-minute practice session to snap out of off-week mode, and Toyota came to play. Bubba Wallace was fastest in the session at 161.708 mph followed by Joe Gibbs Racing’s Kyle Busch. In fact, all six Toyotas posted practice laps inside the top 11 on the leaderboard. Ford struggled Friday though with Ryan Blaney posting the manufacturer’s only lap inside the top 15 on speed. Denny Hamlin carried Toyota’s momentum into qualifying Saturday afternoon and stormed to the pole at 160.413 mph, earning the top spot after rain washed out the second round of qualifying. Ford rebounded with Joey Logano posting the second-best qualifying lap ahead of the Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolets of Kyle Larson and Chase Elliott. Daniel Suárez, Ryan Blaney, Ross Chastain, Kevin Harvick, Christopher Bell and Martin Truex Jr. roll off from the top 10. | Starting lineup, qualifying results | Practice recap
Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
Race-day staples ✅
Our biggest pieces of the week — get covered for race day from all angles.
• Paint Scheme Preview: Rockin’ schemes for Nashville | Pick a favorite
• Staff predictions: Assessing the outlook for the rest of the regular season and Championship 4 | Read more
• Power Rankings: Who’s the current No. 1? | Latest Cup Series driver rankings
• Fantasy Fastlane: Home-field advantage for Trackhouse Racing at Nashville? | Top plays, sleepers
• NASCAR betting: Odds, favorites for Sunday’s race | BetMGM betting odds
• Backseat Drivers: Will Martin Truex Jr. retire after the 2022 season? | Watch the debate
Catch the pack 💨
Read up on the top headlines from the week leading up to Sunday’s race.
• Remembering Bruton Smith: Hall of Famer, visionary dies at 95 | Read more | Watch tribute
• Contract news: Ricky Stenhouse Jr. agrees to contract extension with JTG Daugherty Racing | Read more
• Crew shakeup: Kevin Harvick’s No. 4 team makes roster changes | More details
• Analysis: Alex Bowman’s career summer stretch at Hendrick Motorsports | Read more
• Award nominee: Bubba Wallace nominated for Sportsman of the Year | More details
• NBC Sports: Network announces commentary team for 2022 slate of races | Full list
• Suspension: Kevin Meendering stepping in for Cliff Daniels during time out | Read more
• Logano: Team Penske wheelman chasing regular-season title amidst roller-coaster campaign | Read more • eNASCAR: Ray Alfalla cruises to win at virtual Nashville Superspeedway | Full recap
• Dale Jr. design: Earnhardt lends a hand in setting up Bowman’s scheme for Nashville | See it here
• Partnership extension: Hendrick Motorsports, Valvoline reach agreement through 2027 | More details
• Seven-Time: Jimmie Johnson eyes potential involvement with Garage 56 entry at Le Mans | Read more • Playoff picture: Getting a look at how the Round of 16 is shaping up | Read more
• Future of practice: Steve O’Donnell chimes in on current state, future outlook of session | Listen in
• Off-week superlatives: Awards for 2022 standouts so far | See them here
• NASCAR films: Emmy-Award winning short film ‘Beyond the Wheel’ returns to FOX Sports | Learn more
• Reality show: Austin, Whitney Dillon set to star in new show | More details
Get in on the action 💰
Think you know NASCAR? Put your mettle to the test with gaming, fantasy.
• Backseat Bets: Teammate head-to-heads for Nashville | See experts’ picks
• BetMGM: Will Kyle Larson repeat his dominance in Nashville? | Read more
• More fantasy: Is Erik Jones a solid Hail Mary pick? | Experts debate
• The Action Network: Identifying underdogs with betting upside at Nashville | Full analysis
• Featured Matchup: How to bet the Daniel Suárez vs. Ross Chastain matchup| Learn more
• Play it LIVE: Full guide to 2022 NASCAR Fantasy Live game | Get the FAQ
• Going all the way: 2022 Cup Series championship odds | See them here
Music City memories 🎸
Before the NASCAR Cup Series returns to race at Nashville, look back at some track history and previous winners.
• Winner, winner: Active Cup Series drivers with wins at Nashville Superspeedway | See the list
• History lesson: Take a look at NASCAR’s history in Nashville | Learn more
• Last year: Kyle Larson pours it on, wins first Cup race at Nashville Superspeedway | Race recap
• Race Rewind: Kyle Larson dominates the 2021 Ally 400 | Watch the highlights
Fast facts ⏩
Hard-hitting, race-relevant statistics, brought to you by the experts at Racing Insights.
• At 1.33 miles, Nashville is the longest concrete oval on the NASCAR schedule. • Sunday’s race will be only the second Cup Series event held at Nashville Superspeedway.
• The race winner took the lead within the final 10 laps in 12 of 16 races in 2022.
• After winning at Kansas Speedway, Kurt Busch is the only driver to win Stage 2 and win the race this season.
Say what? 🎙
Notable quotes from the stars of the sport heading into Sunday’s race.
• “Nashville is a great market for our sport. The support last year was unbelievable when you think about the fans in the stands and how packed the infield was. They did an incredible job updating the facility from not having a race for 10 years to being just an all-around great weekend for the sport.” — Denny Hamlin, driver of the No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota and co-owner of 23XI Racing
• “I had a lot of fun at Nashville last year. I think we were fastest in practice. We had a tech issue, so we didn’t get to qualify, but I finished second in the (Trucks) race. It seemed like we were pretty fast last year right off the bat, so I’m excited for it. I think the resin on the race track made it really fun. Watching stuff in the past it seemed like it was really on the bottom, just one lane, so I think NASCAR did a really good job with the race track. Honestly, I’m super excited to go back.” — Todd Gilliland, driver of the No. 38 Front Row Motorsports Ford
• “We believe that we can win more races. We believe that the way we’ve been racing lately, the speed is there to be able to contend for more races. (Nashville) is gonna be fun. I think the Next Gen car is going to race very well here.” — Daniel Suárez, driver of the No. 99 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet
During the filming of a new commercial for the return of Toyota “Sponsafier” campaign, Kyle Busch got his first look inside North Wilkesboro Speedway, which will undergo a series of transformations later this year.
In the new ad titled “Alien,” Busch watches as his brother, Kurt, is beamed up into a spaceship and presumably carried away. (Spoiler alert: Kurt was back in time for practice and qualifying at Nashville Superspeedway.)
During the filming, however, Kyle Busch saw the potential of North Wilkesboro, which will return to action in August with a month of late-model races, after which the pavement will be removed to accommodate a slate of dirt races in October.
A repave will follow, with the hope of possible NASCAR racing at in the future of the historic track.
“It can be successful, and it can turn into something nice,” Busch said. “So I’m looking forward to it, if they put something there. I think it would be sweet. I know, from my understanding anyways, I know Dale (Earnhardt Jr.) is looking forward to running a late-model stock race if he can.
“And so, you know, it’d be nice to see that place come back to life, and whether it’s an All-Star Race or a Truck race or Xfinity, whatever, I think that we can make something happen there for sure.”
See where your favorite driver will pit in Sunday’s Ally 400 in the NASCAR Cup Series at Nashville Superspeedway (5 p.m. ET, NBC, NBC Sports App, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
LEBANON, Tenn. — Silly Season is in full swing, if you had not yet noticed.
A day after both Martin Truex Jr. and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. announced contract extensions, it appears another Cup Series veteran could be inking a fresh deal of his own in the near future.
No. 43 Petty GMS Motorsports driver Erik Jones offered a glimpse into his contract negotiations with the team for 2023 on Saturday at Nashville Superspeedway — hinting an agreement might be just around the corner.
“We’re getting close,” he said, before qualifying 23rd for Sunday’s Ally 400 (5 p.m. ET, NBC, NBC Sports App, MRN). “Obviously, I’ve been in talks with Petty GMS now for about a month I guess at this point. Just kind of finishing things up. Back and forth on all the little stuff, right, that makes a difference. We’re going through that but I feel like we’re getting close.”
After a down year in his first campaign with the No. 43 last season, the revamped and expanded Petty GMS has seen a bit of a resurgence in 2022 with Jones leading the charge. The 26-year-old managed just six total top 10s last year — after output in the teens in each of his four full-time seasons at Joe Gibbs Racing — but he’s nearly on pace to double that 2021 figure in ’22, with five already.
Seeing that year-over-year improvement — not to mention being able to bounce ideas and take feedback from his Hall of Fame team owner — helped Jones know he has found a comfortable home for the time being, and one that he can continue to build foundation with.
“I think (I’ll be back in the No. 43) as far at this point so we’ll see,” he said. “Obviously gotta button a few things up here, but I’ve been happy with the group and happy with where we’ve been going. We’ve been racing well. Want to stay over there for sure.
” … We’ve got stuff we can continue to get better on and keep getting better at, but I’ve been happy with my team, with Dave (Elenz, No. 43 crew chief) and everybody there.”
Given his pedigree as a top talent at the lower national series level — he has 16 combined wins between the Xfinity and Camping World Truck Series — and relatively young age to have the amount of Cup starts (199) that he does, there was some speculation Jones could be a hot prospect in the Silly Season market.
From the sounds of it, the Michigan native hasn’t dialogued at all with other teams — and might not have been interested, anyway.
“I haven’t heard from (the No. 10 Stewart-Haas Racing team, which has an opening for 2023),” he said.
“I can’t really talk to other teams at this point but I’ve been happy with being in the 43 car, especially this season with what we’ve done as far as as a group and the way we’re going, the direction we’re going.”
Denny Hamlin won the Busch Light Pole Award in Saturday’s qualifying session at Nashville Superspeedway.
A surprise rain shower put a halt to the final round of qualifying and Hamlin was the fastest of everyone in the two group sessions for Sunday’s Ally 400 (5 p.m. ET, NBC, NBC Sports App, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
With a lap at 160.413 mph, it’s the 35th Cup pole in Hamlin’s career and second in four races.
“It was a great run for us,” Hamlin said in a press conference. “We didn’t start off practice that stellar but with every run we made, we just kept getting better and better. Obviously today, it was even better. I thought I under-drove a little bit but still it was good enough.”
This is the fourth consecutive race the No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota will start inside the top 10 but Hamlin has finished outside the top 30 in his last two starts — 34th at World Wide Technology Raceway and 31st at Sonoma Raceway.
Manufacturer parity headlined Saturday’s qualifying session as three Toyotas, three Fords and four Chevrolets made the final round of 10 that was rained out.
Joey Logano joins Hamlin on the front row after dropping a 160.107 mph run while Hendrick Motorsports teammates Kyle Larson (159.963 mph) and Chase Elliott (159.931 mph) locked out Row 2.
It’s no surprise that Larson starts inside the top five as he led 264 of the 300 laps to win last year’s inaugural Cup race on the 1.33-mile oval.
Daniel Suárez, entering off his first career Cup Series win at Sonoma, rounded out the top five with a 159.877 mph qualifying lap.
Ryan Blaney (159.867 mph), Ross Chastain (159.722 mph), Kevin Harvick (159.659 mph), Christopher Bell (159.228) and Martin Truex Jr. (159.207 mph) made up the rest of the top 10.
The Fords improved their speed from Friday’s practice as Blue Ovals nabbed five of the top 15 starting spots.
Aric Almirola will start 11th while Chris Buescher starts 15th.
The Stewart-Haas Racing teammates Harvick and Almirola are separated by just seven points on the playoff cutline.
Bubba Wallace, who was fastest in practice, had a loose car in his qualifying run and landed a lap of 156.022 mph to put him 30th on Sunday’s grid. 23XI Racing’s qualifying woes continued as Kurt Busch’s 158.843 mph lap was only good enough for 19th.
LEBANON, Tenn. – His tires chattering with age over the final few laps, Ryan Preece held off charges from Zane Smith and Carson Hocevar to win Friday night’s Rackley Roofing 200 at Nashville Superspeedway.
The victory was the second straight for David Gilliland Racing, after Todd Gilliland won last Saturday’s NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race on dirt at Knoxville Raceway in the No. 17 Ford, the same number Preece drove on Friday.
The win was an encore performance for Preece, who scored his first Truck Series victory in last year’s Nashville race. A part-time utility player in the Ford camp this season, Preece triumphed for the second time in his eighth career start.
In addition to the traditional guitar trophy, Preece also earned a $50,000 bonus for winning the second event in the NCWTS Triple Truck Challenge.
“We got a second guitar — I may have to start a band!” Preece exulted after climbing from his truck. “These guys (in the shop) work their tails off, and I know what it takes to win races. They give me phenomenal race cars. I’m just proud to be the one holding the steering wheel.”
Preece took control of the race in the second stage, passing Smith for the lead on Lap 74. After winning the stage, which ended on Lap 95, Preece forged a comfortable lead before the trucks of Grant Enfinger, Corey Heim, Matt DiBenedetto and Ty Majeski hurtled into Turn 3 four-wide.
Contact between Heim and DiBenedetto ignited a bone-jarring wreck that ended the race for Enfinger, Heim and DiBenedetto. Majeski escaped without damage and rallied to finish fourth behind Preece, Smith and Hocevar.
“It was the end of the race, and everybody went crazy, just like always in these truck races,” Enfinger said.
Preece got the jump on the subsequent restart on Lap 135 of 150, but the green-flag action was short-lived. Moments after the restart, contact from Max Gutierrez’s Chevrolet sent Hailie Deegan’s Ford sliding into the outside wall.
On the restart with 10 laps left, Preece once again forged ahead, but both Smith and Hocevar closed dramatically with three laps left, forcing Preece to play defense.
“It was a little closer than I wanted it to be,” Preece said. “Just old tires, the heat cycles. They were chattering. I had clean air, and I put as much dirty air on him (Smith) as possible. I wasn’t going to give it up.”
Stewart Friesen finished fifth, followed by Christian Eckes, Tyler Ankrum, Gutierrez, John Hunter Nemechek and Matt Crafton.
Smith took the series lead by 21 points over Nemechek.
Truex, the 2017 Cup Series champion, provided his decision moments after practice to end months of speculation that the longtime mainstay might potentially be hanging up the fire suit at season’s end.
“I will be back in the 19 next year,” he said succinctly, within seconds of taking questions, in a very Martin-Truex-Jr.-esque manner.
Truex has competed for Joe Gibbs Racing since 2019, earning 12 of his 31 career wins for the storied organization. His tenure at JGR follows stints at Dale Earnhardt, Inc., Michael Waltrip Racing and Furniture Row Racing, the last of which he earned his championship with.
Gibbs, himself, was a strong voice in the contract negotiations, with Truex saying he’s “pretty good (at convincing),” but that the decision ultimately was a personal one with a litany of factors.
“We don’t have enough time,” Truex said, when asked to divulge some of them.
“I tried to just think about all this myself and figure it out. Friends and family helped as well. Just wanted to look and make sure I was doing the right thing.
“I never had my mind made up. I felt like it was an opportunity for me to look at everything. I’ve never really done that before. I’ve always just did what I was doing and I just wanted to make sure if I was going to keep going, I was going to be happy with that decision and I’ve got the opportunity to do the things on the race track that I want to do. It all feels great. I’m happy and we’ll see what we can do from here.
A Championship 4 driver in four of the previous five seasons, Truex has — by his standards — gotten off to a bit of a sputtering start in the Next Gen era, winless through 16 races while amassing an average finish that’s tied for his worst figure since missing the playoffs in 2014.
A perennial front-of-the-field driver, Truex has led double-digit laps in just four races this year with a total of just 172 on the season. At this point last year, he’d already done it seven times and paced 627 total circuits out front through 16 races.
Those numbers aren’t entirely concerning in their own right, but with a fast and furious Ty Gibbs — the team owner’s grandson — tearing it up in the Xfinity Series, the rumors grew louder and more frequent as the season carried on with no clarity on the soon-to-be 42-year-old’s future.
Internally, there didn’t appear to be any concern over whether Truex could still get the job done, however, with Toyota Racing Development president David Wilson telling NBC Sports on Thursday the manufacturer was putting forth a “truly remarkable” level of effort to retain one of its star drivers.
“We know he can get it done,” said Wilson. “I feel terrible because we haven’t given him the tools in many cases and haven’t let him exploit the handful of times he’s had a really good car.”
Truex, one of the most unshakable, even-keeled drivers of the past two decades, wasn’t worried about his performance being a negative factor on contract negotiations, either.
In fact, he feels they’re about to turn a corner.
“I don’t like not running good. I’m here to win,” Truex said. “I feel like everybody is working really, really hard right now. I’ve got an awesome team. They’ve got my back, I’ve got theirs. It’s an up-and-down sport. I’ve been a lot worse off than this before. We’re sitting in a good spot in points, just depends on how many guys win if we can’t. I feel like we’re getting closer and we’ll keep doing all we can.”
Truex also has 13 Xfinity Series victories and two NXS titles in 2004 and 2005. He also claimed his lone Camping World Truck Series triumph in March 2021 in the inaugural race on Bristol Motor Speedway’s dirt.
As for how long he’ll want to continue adding to his accolades, only time will tell.
“I’m sure I’ll know in six months. Big decisions are not easy,” Truex said.
“It took me six months to figure out this decision, give me six more to figure out the next one at least.”
