On Sunday night time, the celebrities of the NASCAR Cup Sequence head to the 1.33-mile Nashville Superspeedway for the working of the Cracker Barrel 400 (7 p.m. ET, Prime Video, HBO Max, PRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
This is what it’s essential to know forward of the 14th race of the common season.
Favourite: Denny Hamlin (+350, per BetMGM)
Hamlin finally fell in need of a second Coca-Cola 600 victory and needed to accept third in a race that was lower brief on account of climate. Because the sequence treks to the “Music Metropolis” for simply the sixth Cup race on the 1.33-mile concrete oval, count on Hamlin to be proper again within the combine.
Whereas he and Toyota have been shut out of victory lane there, he has led 344 laps, completed prime three in two of the final three races and owns a stellar 9.0 common end in 5 begins. Hamlin is past due for a Nashville win, and it’d simply come on Sunday night time.
Underdog: Carson Hocevar (+2200, per BetMGM)
Hocevar didn’t have the race he was on the lookout for at Charlotte as tire points pressured him to play from behind all night time and led to a Twenty third-place end. Nevertheless, Hocevar’s Spire Motorsports teammate Daniel Suarez delivered an emotional win in wake of the sudden passing of Kyle Busch simply days earlier than the race.
Hocevar was runner-up to Ryan Blaney within the 2025 Nashville race and quietly sits ninth in factors. He has solely made two begins there, however his 9.0 common end is his finest amongst all tracks and an indication that win No. 2 may very well be within the playing cards.
Toyota seeking to capitalize on velocity
Toyota gained seven of the primary 9 races this season and has led probably the most laps in 9 of the primary 13 occasions on the 2026 schedule. Nevertheless, since Tyler Reddick’s fifth win of the season at Kansas on April 19, the producer has did not convert the velocity into wins every of the final 4 points-paying races.
With that mentioned, Toyota had 4 of the highest six finishers within the Coca-Cola 600 and has been stout in every single place the sequence has visited. Nashville just isn’t a typical intermediate-style monitor like Charlotte, however with 4 of the highest 5 drivers in Saturday’s follow session, count on a Toyota driver to be preventing for the win as soon as once more.
Ross Chastain reveals tempo in follow
Chastain solely has two top-10s to this point and has been one of the biggest surprises exterior the 16-driver Chase discipline as issues at the moment stand. Following a closing stage crash at Charlotte, Chastain is Twenty third in factors and is on tempo for his worst common end (21.2) of his Trackhouse Racing tenure.
As a earlier Nashville winner in 2023, it’s simple to see why this may very well be a season-defining race for Chastain. He was additionally second-quickest in follow and posted the most effective 15, 20 and 25-lap averages, so the long-run tempo is there for Chastain to get his season circled.
Qualifying rained out for second week in a row
After rain put Saturday’s follow and qualifying session in a holding sample, NASCAR made the choice to scrap qualifying and provides the drivers a 45-minute follow. That adopted a soggy weekend at Charlotte that additionally noticed qualifying get rained out.
Consequently, the lineup was set by by NASCAR’s metric, inserting Hamlin on the pole. Whereas Hamlin benefited from the session getting rained out, others like Chase Elliott (twenty ninth), Chase Briscoe (thirty first) and Chastain (thirty fifth) weren’t as lucky, setting the stage for an attention-grabbing race below the lights.
