Ryan Blaney rules Nashville Superspeedway
Photo by Sean Gardner/Getty Images
LEBANON, Tenn.—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 commanding, 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 random racing bad luck 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 ties 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.
Joe Gibbs Racing’s Denny Hamlin, who won the opening stage and led 79 laps, finished third despite his 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 is expecting to deliver the couple’s third child at any time.
Logano, the defending race winner also led laps but ultimately wasn’t able to 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 in all among nine drivers with Hamlin (stage one) and Blaney (stage two) claiming the stage wins.
New this year, the Nashville race sets the 32-car field for the inaugural NASCAR In-Season Challenge – a bracket-style tournament taking place during the TNT broadcast’s 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 Firekeeper’s Casino 400 at Michigan International Speedway (2 p.m. ET, Amazon Prime, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). Reddick is the defending winner at the two-mile speedway – traditionally one of the drivers’ favorite venues on the schedule.
NASCAR Cup Series Race Number 14
Race Results for the Cracker Barrel 400 - Sunday, June 1, 2025
Nashville Superspeedway - Nashville, TN - 1.33 - Mile Concrete
Total Race Length - 300 Laps - 399. Miles
Provided by NASCAR Statistics - Sunday, 6/1/2025 @ 10:51 PM Eastern
Fin Str Car Driver Team Laps Stage 1 Pos Stage 2 Pos Pts Status Tms Laps Playoff Pts
1 15 12 Ryan Blaney Menards/Cardell Cabinetry Ford 300 7 1 54 Running 5 139 6
2 26 77 Carson Hocevar Zeigler Auto Group Chevrolet 300 7 39 Running
3 2 11 Denny Hamlin Progressive Toyota 300 1 3 53 Running 5 79 1
4 9 22 Joey Logano Shell Pennzoil Ford 300 9 4 42 Running 1 10
5 3 24 William Byron Raptor High Heat Chevrolet 300 4 2 48 Running 1 1
6 12 23 Bubba Wallace Chumba Casino Toyota 300 31 Running
7 14 43 Erik Jones Dollar Tree Toyota 300 5 36 Running
8 28 5 Kyle Larson HendrickCars.com Chevrolet 300 29 Running
9 4 45 Tyler Reddick Pinnacle Toyota 300 2 37 Running 2 7
10 7 20 Christopher Bell DEWALT Toyota 300 5 10 34 Running
11 5 1 Ross Chastain Busch Country Chevrolet 300 10 27 Running
12 25 8 Kyle Busch zone Chevrolet 300 25 Running
13 27 38 Zane Smith Mystik Lubricants Ford 300 8 27 Running
14 10 17 Chris Buescher Kroger/OIKOS Ford 300 23 Running
15 11 9 Chase Elliott Kelley Blue Book Chevrolet 300 6 27 Running
16 32 99 Daniel Suarez Tootsies Orchid Lounge Chevrolet 300 21 Running
17 1 19 Chase Briscoe Bass Pro Shops Toyota 300 3 28 Running 2 51
18 16 2 Austin Cindric Discount Tire Ford 300 6 24 Running 1 2
19 29 41 Cole Custer HaasTooling.com Ford 300 18 Running
20 17 16 AJ Allmendinger LeafFilter Gutter Protection Chevrolet 300 17 Running
21 8 71 Michael McDowell Delaware Life Chevrolet 300 8 19 Running
22 35 34 Todd Gilliland Love's Travel Stops Ford 300 15 Running
23 6 6 Brad Keselowski Solomon Plumbing Ford 300 14 Running 1 3
24 37 35 Riley Herbst # Monster Energy Toyota 300 13 Running
25 23 88 Shane Van Gisbergen # Red Bull Chevrolet 300 12 Running
26 31 10 Ty Dillon Grizzly Nicotine Pouches Chevrolet 299 11 Running
27 36 42 John Hunter Nemechek DriveValue.com Toyota 299 10 Running
28 19 60 Ryan Preece Trimble Ford 299 9 Running
29 21 3 Austin Dillon Toys for Tots Chevrolet 299 8 Running 1 8
30 20 21 Josh Berry Freightliner Ford 299 9 9 Running
31 22 54 Ty Gibbs Interstate Batteries Toyota 299 6 Running
32 18 7 Justin Haley Garner Trucking Chevrolet 299 5 Running
33 34 51 Cody Ware Arbys Ford 297 4 Running
34 38 44 * JJ Yeley(i) Fanatics Sportsbook Chevrolet 297 0 Running
35 39 66 * Chad Finchum Aires Ford 288 2 Running
36 24 48 Alex Bowman Ally Chevrolet 188 1 Running
37 33 67 * Corey Heim(i) Chief's Toyota 130 0 Accident
38 30 4 Noah Gragson Rush Truck Centers Ford 112 1 Accident
39 13 47 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. NOS Energy Chevrolet 110 1 Accident
Fastest Lap Bonus: # lap 126 / 29.663
11
Time of Race: 3 Hrs, 5 Mins, 29 Secs. Average Speed: 129.068 MPH Margin of Victory: 2.830 Seconds
Stage 1 Top 10: 11, 45, 19, 24, 20, 9, 12, 71, 22, 1
Stage 2 Top 10: 12, 24, 11, 22, 43, 2, 77, 38, 21, 20
Race Comments: Ryan Blaney won the Cracker Barrel 400 at Nashville Superspeedway, his 14th NASCAR Cup Series victory. Prior to the start of the race, the following vehicle(s) dropped to the rear of the field under penalty for the reason(s) indicated: No. 16 (unapproved adjustments).
Failed to Qualify: None.
Caution Flags: 7 for 35 laps; Laps: 92-97 (Stage 1 Conclusion [35]); 107-111 (No. 47, 77 Incident Turn 4 [23]); 114-118 (Nos. 4, 5, 48 Incident Turn 3 [44]); 120-123 (Nos. 20, 43 Incident Turn 1 [44]); 132-136 (Nos. 6, 67 Incident Frontstretch [45]); 187-192 (Stage 2 Conclusion [44]); 195-198 (No. 60 Incident Turn 1 [66]).
Lead Changes: 18 among 9 drivers; C. Briscoe 1-39; D. Hamlin 40; T. Reddick 41-46; R. Blaney 47-70; C. Briscoe 71-82; D. Hamlin 83-92; T. Reddick 93; R. Blaney 94-107; D. Hamlin 108-166; W. Byron 167; D. Hamlin 168; R. Blaney 169-188; J. Logano 189-198; R. Blaney 199-247; D. Hamlin 248-255; A. Cindric 256-257; A. Dillon 258-265; B. Keselowski 266-268; R. Blaney 269-300.
(i) Ineligible for driver points in this series
Next Race: June 8, 2025 - Michigan International Speedway
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