NASCAR Cup Series News & Notes – Nashville Superspeedway

NASCAR Cup Series
Next Race: Cracker Barrel 400
The Place: Nashville Superspeedway
Track Length: 1.33 Mile Concrete Paved Oval
The Date: Sunday, June 1
The Time: 7 p.m. ET
The Purse: $11,055,250
TV: Amazon Prime, 6:30 p.m. ET
Radio: PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR (Channel 90)
Distance: 399 miles (300 Laps); Stage 1 (Ends on Lap 90),
Stage 2 (Ends on Lap 185), Final Stage (Ends on Lap 300)

Where To Watch NASCAR This Week:

Friday, May 30

NCTS Practice & Kennametal Pole Qualifying (FS1 at 4:30 p.m. ET)

NCTS Race: Rackley Roofing 200 (FS1, NRN, SiriusXM at 8 p.m. ET)

Saturday, May 31

NXS Practice & Kennametal Pole Qualifying (CW App at 2 p.m. ET)

NCS Practice & Busch Light Pole Qualifying (Amazon Prime, PRN, SiriusXM at 4:30 p.m. ET)

NXS Race: Tennessee Lottery 250 (CW Network, PRN, SiriusXM at 7:30 p.m. ET)

Sunday, June 1

NCS Race: Cracker Barrel 400 (Amazon Prime, PRN, SiriusXM at 7 p.m. ET)

Nashville Storylines and Insights:

• This weekend marks the fifth running of a NASCAR Cup Series race at Nashville Superspeedway (2021-2025).
• At 1.33 miles, Nashville is the longest concrete oval on the NASCAR schedule.
• Four different drivers have won at Nashville Superspeedway in the NASCAR Cup Series – Kyle Larson (2021), Chase Elliott (2022), Ross Chastain (2023) and Joey Logano (2024).
• 42 Cup Series races were held at the Nashville Fairgrounds between 1958 and 1984.
• Three drivers won the last six concrete races (Denny Hamlin – 3, Kyle Larson – 2, Joey Logano – 1).
• Kyle Larson won the last four stages on concrete.
• This race last year went 31 laps past the scheduled distance, the most extra laps ever in a Cup race due to five overtime finishes.
• The 2024 Nashville race was 4hrs, 3 min, 54 seconds, the longest race of the 2024 season.
• Joey Logano got his first win of 2024 in this race last year, his five wins since winning this race last year (including Nashville) rank second to only Kyle Larson with six.
• Five of Joey Logano’s eight top-five finishes since the start of 2024 are wins including a win at Nashville last year.
• Kyle Larson is the only driver to finish top-10 in all four races at Nashville, his average finish of 4.5 there is his best of all tracks.
• Joe Gibbs Racing as a team has only two top-five finishes at Nashville in the four races and failed to have a car finish top-10 in this race last year despite leading 203 of the 331 laps.
• The 2025 Cup season is halfway through the regular season.
• The largest cutline deficit overcome in in the stage era to point into the Playoffs after 13 races is 20 points by Ryan Newman in 2019, the only time a driver pointed his way in by more than 10 points below the cutline after 13 races.
• This weekend’s race is the 2,800th NASCAR Cup Series race.
• Eight different drivers have won the 13 races in 2025, three of the last four races were won by drivers getting their first win of the season.
• Seven of the 13 races in 2025 were won by drivers leading 10 laps or less; including four of the last six races.
• The race winner led less than 10 laps seven times this year, more than any other season through 13 races.
• The pass for the win came in the final eight laps in 10 of the 13 races in 2025.
• Four races ended with a last lap pass in 2025, the most ever through 13 races.
• Hendrick Motorsports drivers won 11 of the last 13 stages over the last six races but won only two of the six races.
• A Hendrick Motorsports driver led the regular season point standings following each of the last 11 races, Byron was the point leader following 10 of the 11.
• A Hendrick Motorsports driver led the most laps in five of the last six races, the team led 1,391 of the 1,923 laps raced in the last six races (72%).
• Hendrick Motorsports’ 14 stage wins in 2025 are the most ever by a team through 13 races.
• Hendrick Motorsports’ 1,706 laps led in 2025 leads all teams by 989 laps and are the team’s most since 1996 through 13 races.
• Hendrick Motorsports’ 31 top-10 finishes are tied for their most ever through 13 races.
• Hendrick Motorsports lead all teams in 2025 with five poles, 19 top fives, 31 top 10s, 1,706 laps led and 14 stage wins.
• Hendrick Motorsports won the pole for five of the last nine races of 2025, never won the pole at Nashville.
• Hendrick Motorsports is the only team with at least one car finishing in the top-five in all 13 races in 2025, no other team had at least one car finish top-10 in all 13 races this year.
• Kyle Larson leads all drivers with 851 laps led and William Byron ranks second with 669, combined the two drivers led 41% of all laps raced this season.
• William Byron’s average start of 8.85 in 2025 is the best of all drivers, his average finish of 9.54 also leads all drivers.
• Alex Bowman will make his 268th start with Hendrick Motorsports this weekend, passing Ken Schrader for sixth on the team’s all-time starts list.
• There were eight engine DNFs in 2025, there were only 10 in all of 2024.
• 27 different drivers finished in the top-five in 2025, the most through 13 races in a season since 27 in 2011 and tied for the most through 13 races in the last 59 seasons (27 in 2025, 2011 and 2003).
• Over the last seven races, Ross Chastain is finishing 20.7 positions better than his starting position.
• Chase Elliott is the only driver yet to finish worse than 20th this season.
• Denny Hamlin will become the 22nd driver to start 700 Cup races this weekend, none of the previous 21 won in their 700th career start.
• Ricky Stenhouse Jr will make his 450th Cup start this weekend and can become the fourth driver to win in their 450th start; joining Dale Earnhardt Jr. (Michigan, 2012), Jimmie Johnson (Michigan, 2014), Kyle Busch (Bristol, 2017).
• Three drivers have won a pole in the NASCAR Cup Series at Nashville – Denny Hamlin (2022, 2024), Aric Almirola (2021), Ross Chastain (2023).
• Richard Childress Racing has only one top-five finish after 13 races for the first time since 2019.
• Alex Bowman (two), William Byron (two) and Chase Briscoe (two) are the only repeat pole winners in 2025.
• Ryan Preece has five top-10 finishes this season, tied for his most ever in an entire season.
• Denny Hamlin finished outside the top-15 in the last four races after finishing top-five in the prior four.
• 23XI Racing as a team has one top-10 finish in the last five races of 2025 (eighth by Wallace at Talladega).
• The last nine night races were won by nine different drivers.
• Wiliam Byron leads all drivers with four night race wins in the Next Gen car.
• Despite being 32nd in speed, 31st in passing, and having the 35th ranked pit crew, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. sits 15th in the Playoff standings, 17 points above the cutline.
• Four different drivers have finished runner-up in the four Nashville Cup races – Ross Chastain (2021), Kurt Busch (2022), Martin Truex Jr. (2023) and Zane Smith (2024). Smith’s career-best finish.
• Corey Heim will be making his second career NASCAR Cup Series career start this weekend with 23XI Racing.
• The top three pit crews are all Toyota teams – #23, #11, and #54.
• Since making a roster change before the Talladega race, Ryan Blaney’s #12 team has been the best rated pit crew.

Historical & Significant Events at Nashville Superspeedway:

• Nashville Superspeedway is a 1.33-mile long concrete D-shaped oval located in Lebanon, Tennessee approximately 30 miles southeast of Nashville.
• Nashville Superspeedway was built in 2001 and was originally owned by Dover Motorsports Inc.
• Nashville is the longest concrete oval on the NASCAR schedule at 1.33 Mile.
• From its first year of operation Nashville Superspeedway was host to all forms of racing – NXS, NTS, ARCA, K&N East and IndyCars all raced there starting in 2001.
• The NASCAR Xfinity Series made two visits to the track from 2002 until its closure in 2011.
• Thew NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series made two stops in Nashville in 2010 and 2011 after the closure of Memphis Motorsports Park.
• As attendance to events dwindled and the prospect of gaining a NASCAR Cup Series event seemed unlikely Dover Motorsports announced the track would not sanction events for the 2012 NASCAR season. The track was put up for sale but remained available for rental for private use.
• The track became a prime filming location for various television and commercial shoots. Nashville Superspeedway also became a testing facility for NASCAR teams.
• In 2014 a potential sale of the track was announced with NeXovation for $27 million but the deal eventually fell through. In 2016, Dover Motorsports agreed to sell a portion of the property to Panattoni Development Company which would be used as a commercial real estate and logistics facility.
• With the move of the NASCAR Cup Series Championship banquet weekend to Nashville in 2019 a campaign for a race in Nashville began.
• On Sunday June 20, 2020, Dover Motorsports announced that Nashville Superspeedway would host a Cup Series race in 2021 taking one of Dover Motor Speedway’s race dates.
• Speedway Motorsports purchased Nashville Superspeedway in 2021 for a total of $131.5 million.
• A Goodyear tire test was held in March of 2021 at Nashville Superspeedway with each manufacturer represented Toyota (Christopher Bell), Ford (Chase Briscoe), Chevrolet (Kurt Busch).
• A tradition at Nashville Superspeedway is that in place of a conventional trophy race winners are presented with a specially-designed Gibson Les Paul guitar. The Gibson headquarters is located in Nashville.
• Prior to the Cup Series racing at Nashville Superspeedway, the Nashville Fairgrounds hosted 42 Cup Series races from 1958-1984. Richard Petty is the all-time wins leader at the Fairgrounds with nine wins, followed by Darrell Waltrip with eight and Cale Yarborough with seven. Those three drivers combined to win 57% of the races ran there.
• The first NASCAR Cup Series race at Nashville Superspeedway was on June 20, 2021. The event was won by Hendrick Motorsport’s driver and Kyle Larson in a Chevrolet.
• Nashville Superspeedway has hosted four NASCAR Cup Series races total (2021-2024).

Nashville City Facts

• Its well-known nickname was first uttered in 1950, when WSM announcer David Cobb proclaimed Nashville “Music City, USA.”
• Originally named WSM Barn Dance, Nashville’s famous weekly country music show was renamed “the Grand Ole Opry” in 1927. It remains the world’s longest-running live music radio show.
• Nashville has over 180 live music venues. If a venue plays music for four or more nights a week, they are issued a guitar pick shaped sign with the words ‘Live Music Venue’ on it.
• The city has the highest concentration of music industry employees anywhere in the world, at nearly 60,000.

Latest News & Events at Nashville Superspeedway:

• NASCAR Cup Series driver Ricky Stenhouse Jr. visited Fort Campbell to engage with troops and experience military life firsthand ahead of Nashville Superspeedway’s Cracker Barrel 400 NASCAR triple-header race weekend (May 30-June 1). The visit highlighted the deep-rooted connection between NASCAR and the United States military while amplifying the NASCAR Salutes Together with Coca-Cola initiative, which reached over 250,000 military-affiliated individuals in the Clarksville area.
• The United States Marine Corps announced that “Marine Week Nashville” will take place June 1-7 as part of the service’s 250th birthday celebration. Marines will honor the legacy and tradition of service, celebrate Veterans, connect with fellow Americans and inspire the next generation of leaders to wear the cloth of the nation. Activations at the Cracker Barrel 400 include performances by the 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing Band and the silent drill platoon. United States Marine Corps equipment will be positioned throughout the venue, along with commemorations before and during the race.
• Cracker Barrel Old Country Store® has been named the entitlement partner for the June 1 NASCAR Cup Series race at Nashville Superspeedway — the first race in a multi-year agreement, officials have announced. The Cracker Barrel 400 will spotlight two Tennessee institutions, uniting them to celebrate rich community and authentic experiences on a national and international stage.