Hamlin battles teammates to win at Nashville
Photo by Sean Gardner/Getty Images
LEBANON, Tenn.—Call it victorious whiplash.
Race polesitter Denny Hamlin took the lead at the drop of the green flag – was penalized and re-set to last in the 38-car field for jumping that start – then rallied his way forward again in the ensuing 300 laps to be in front for the checkered flag of Sunday night’s NASCAR Cup Series Cracker Barrel 400 at Nashville Superspeedway.
After a back-and-forth among teammates on a final restart with four laps remaining – featuring a three-wide last-lap challenge for the win among three Joe Gibbs Racing Toyotas – Hamlin delivered the manufacturer its first victory at the 1.33-mile Nashville concrete oval, his No. 11 Toyota finishing a slight .115-second ahead of teammates Christopher Bell and Chase Briscoe.
“The 20 [Bell] and 19 [Briscoe] were battling so hard on that first corner it just let me get to the inside of the 20 at the first corner after the restart and from there, side-by-side with the 20,’’ Hamlin, 45, said describing the dramatic final laps that resulted in his 62nd career win.
“He [Bell] drove in so deep on that last lap into [turn] one that it just allowed me to barely clear off of [turn] two.
“What an unbelievable day starting first, going to last and then back to first.’’
For Bell, the close finish marked his second runner-up showing in as many weeks – simultaneously frustrating and encouraging. As with Hamlin, he recovered from an early race challenge – a pit stop miscue dropping his No 20 JGR Toyota from running among the top five to 30th place for a restart just before the finish of Stage 1.
“It was great racing, I hope the fans enjoyed that,’’ Bell said. “Just disappointed in myself, disappointed for my team. We brought a great race car and I didn’t get the job done.’’
The finish was certainly indicative of the close racing, important strategy calls and just flat-out team speed ultimately necessary to finally settle a race that featured a race record 31 lead changes among a record 15 drivers.
The race was delayed almost two hours because of weather, but when the action resumed, there was plenty of drama and intrigue.
The sold-out Nashville crowd issued a silent salute on lap eight to the late two-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Kyle Busch, 41, a beloved four-time Nashville winner (twice each in the CRAFTSMAN Trucks and O’Reilly Auto Parts Series), who passed away last week of sepsis.
In the laps thereafter, the intense action quickly settled in. Hamlin’s 57 laps out front were a race high, but nine different drivers led double digit laps. And 11 caution flags affected strategy throughout the night.
Hyak Motorsports’ Ricky Stenhouse Jr finished fourth in the No. 47 Chevrolet, followed by a career-best fifth-place effort by Trackhouse Racing’s Shane van Gisbergen. The popular New Zealand road course ace turned in one of his best flag-to-flag oval performances running among the top 10 all night. His 12 laps led in the No. 97 Trackhouse Chevrolet were most for him on an oval track.
Reigning championship leader, 23XI Racing’s Tyler Reddick and Hendrick Motorsports’ Chase Elliott were scored sixth and seventh but were collected in an accident just after taking the checkered flag in a hard push by the field to the finish.
Last year’s race winner, Ryan Blaney was eighth followed by Zane Smith, whose No. 38 Front Row Motorsports Ford was leading until 12 laps to go. Spire Motorsports’ Carson Hocevar was 10th. Hendrick’s Kyle Larson – the reigning series champion – led 56 laps (only one lap less than Hamlin) but finished 23rd.
The race featured two first-time stage winners on the season – Kaulig Racing’s A.J. Allmendinger (Stage 1) and last week’s Charlotte race winner, Spire Motorsports’ Daniel Suárez (Stage 2).
With his sixth-place finish Reddick remains atop the standings, 97 points ahead of Hamlin and 174 points up on Blaney in third place.
The series moves a few hours north to Michigan Speedway for next Sunday’s FireKeepers Casino 400 (3 p.m. ET, Amazon Prime, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). Denny Hamlin is the defending race winner.
NASCAR Cup Series Race Number 14
Race Results for the Cracker Barrel 400 - Sunday, May 31, 2026
Nashville Superspeedway - Nashville, TN - 1.33 - Mile Concrete
Total Race Length - 300 Laps - 399. Miles
Provided by NASCAR Statistics - Monday, 6/1/2026 @ 12:57 AM Eastern
Stage 1 Stage 2
Fin Str Car Driver Team Laps Pts Pos Pos Status Tms Laps
1 1 11 Denny Hamlin Progressive Insurance Toyota 300 5 62 Running 2 57
2 4 20 Christopher Bell DeWalt Toyota 300 8 38 Running 4 29
3 31 19 Chase Briscoe Bass Pro Shops Toyota 300 8 9 39 Running 1 14
4 15 47 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. NOS Energy Chevrolet 300 3 41 Running
5 10 97 Shane Van Gisbergen Tootsie's Orchid Lounge Chevrolet 300 32 Running 3 12
6 2 45 Tyler Reddick Pinnacle Toyota 300 5 37 Running 2 42
7 29 9 Chase Elliott NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet 300 4 37 Running 3 3
8 7 12 Ryan Blaney Advance Auto Parts Ford 300 3 37 Running 4 46
9 11 38 Zane Smith Speedy Cash Ford 300 28 Running 1 18
10 17 77 Carson Hocevar Chili's Ride the 'Dente Chevrolet 300 27 Running
11 13 43 Erik Jones Dollar Tree Toyota 300 26 Running 1 3
12 30 10 Ty Dillon Grizzly Nicotine Pouches Chevrolet 300 25 Running
13 6 54 Ty Gibbs Monster Energy Toyota 300 24 Running 1 1
14 9 22 Joey Logano Shell Pennzoil Ford 300 23 Running 1 1
15 14 71 Michael McDowell Garner Trucking Chevrolet 300 6 27 Running
16 26 4 Noah Gragson Rush Truck Centers Ford 299 21 Running
17 23 35 Riley Herbst Monster Energy Toyota 299 9 22 Running 1 1
18 32 3 Austin Dillon BREZTRI Chevrolet 299 19 Running
19 3 7 Daniel Suarez Freeway Insurance Chevrolet 299 1 28 Running 1 10
20 21 34 Todd Gilliland Love's Travel Stops/Fleetguard Ford 299 17 Running
21 20 41 Cole Custer HaasTooling.com Chevrolet 299 16 Running
22 34 51 Cody Ware Jacob Construction Chevrolet 299 15 Running
23 5 5 Kyle Larson HendrickCars.com Chevrolet 299 2 23 Running 3 56
24 27 42 John Hunter Nemechek Pye-Barker Fire & Safety Toyota 298 13 Running
25 24 67 * Corey Heim(i) Chief's Toyota 298 10 0 Running
26 36 2 Austin Cindric Menards/Richmond Water Heaters Ford 296 4 18 Running
27 25 33 Austin Hill(i) BetMGM Chevrolet 293 0 Running
28 37 66 * Chad Finchum(i) Garrison Homes Ford 289 0 Running
29 22 17 Chris Buescher Castrol Ford 286 8 Accident
30 8 24 William Byron Raptor Chevrolet 231 7 7 15 Accident
31 33 21 Josh Berry eero Ford 214 6 Accident
32 18 23 Bubba Wallace Hardee's Toyota 203 6 10 Accident
33 19 48 Alex Bowman Ally Chevrolet 203 2 13 Accident
34 12 6 Brad Keselowski Trimble Ford 192 10 4 Accident
35 16 16 AJ Allmendinger 12 Spire Academy powered by VensureHR 172 1 Accident 3 7
36 28 60 Ryan Preece Kroger/Celsius Ford 90 1 Radiator
37 35 1 Ross Chastain Busch Light Country Chevrolet 81 1 Accident
38 38 88 Connor Zilisch # Red Bull Chevrolet 71 1 Accident
Time of Race: 3 Hrs, 44 Mins, 57 Secs. Average Speed: 106.424 MPH Margin of Victory: .115 Seconds
Stage 1 Top 10: 16, 5, 12, 9, 45, 23, 24, 19, 35, 67
Stage 2 Top 10: 7, 48, 47, 2, 11, 71, 24, 20, 19, 6
Race Comments: Denny Hamlin won the Cracker Barrel 400 at Nashville Superspeedway, his 62nd NASCAR Cup Series victory. Prior to the start of the race, no cars dropped to the rear of the field under penalty.
Failed to Qualify: None.
Caution Flags: 11 for 77 laps; Laps: 37-41 (Competition Caution [51]); 73-79 (No. 88 Incident Turn 1 [66]); 83-89 (Nos. 1, 71 Incident Turn 2 [66]); 92-98 (Stage 1 Conclusion [None]); 146-151 (Nos. 3, 17 Incident Frontstretch [19]); 174-181 (No. 16 Incident Turn 1 [10]); 184-191 (Nos. 34, 41, 67 Incident Turn 2 / Stage 2 Conclusion [51]); 194-201 (Nos. 2, 3, 4, 6, 10, 47 Incident Frontstretch [34]); 205-211 (Nos. 17, 23, 24, 42, 48, 77 Incident Turn 2 [67]); 215-220 (Nos. 77, 35, 42, 21, 47 Incident Frontstretch [3]); 289-296 (No. 17 Incident Turn 4 [22]).
Lead Changes: 31 among 15 drivers; D. Hamlin 0; T. Reddick 1-37; C. Bell 38; S. Van Gisbergen 39-40; J. Logano 41; S. Van Gisbergen 42-48; K. Larson 49; S. Van Gisbergen 50-52; K. Larson 53-75; C. Bell 76; A. Allmendinger 77-78; R. Herbst 79; R. Blaney 80; A. Allmendinger 81; R. Blaney 82-89; A. Allmendinger 90-93; K. Larson 94-125; C. Briscoe 126-139; R. Blaney 140-146; C. Elliott 147; R. Blaney 148-177; C. Elliott 178; D. Suarez 179-188; D. Hamlin 189-244; C. Bell 245-259; C. Elliott 260; T. Reddick 261-265; T. Gibbs 266; E. Jones 267-269; Z. Smith 270-287; C. Bell 288-299; D. Hamlin 300.
(i) Ineligible for driver points in this series
Next Race: June 7, 2026 - Michigan International Speedway
NASCAR Integrated Marketing Communications @ P.O. Box 2875, Daytona Beach, FL 32120-2875
CURRENT NASCAR CUP SERIES STANDINGS
THrough May 31, 2026
UNOFFICIAL UNOFFICIAL
1. Tyler Reddick 45 14 0 657 0 0 5 0
2. Denny Hamlin 11 14 0 560 -97 97 2 4
3. Ryan Blaney 12 14 0 483 -174 77 1 1
4. Chase Elliott 9 14 1 460 -197 23 2 1
5. Ty Gibbs 54 14 -1 449 -208 11 1 1
6. Kyle Larson 5 14 0 409 -248 40 0 4
7. Christopher Bell 20 14 1 399 -258 10 0 3
8. Chris Buescher 17 14 -1 393 -264 6 0 0
9. Carson Hocevar 77 14 0 383 -274 10 1 0
10. Daniel Suarez 7 14 0 378 -279 5 1 1
11. William Byron 24 14 1 352 -305 26 0 1
12. Shane Van Gisbergen 97 14 2 348 -309 4 1 1
13. Brad Keselowski 6 14 -2 347 -310 1 0 2
14. Chase Briscoe 19 14 1 343 -314 4 0 0
15. Bubba Wallace 23 14 -2 338 -319 5 0 2
16. Austin Cindric 2 14 1 306 -351 32 0 1
17. Ryan Preece 60 14 -1 304 -353 2 0 1
18. Joey Logano 22 14 0 297 -360 7 0 0
19. Michael McDowell 71 14 1 275 -382 22 0 0
20. Zane Smith 38 14 1 272 -385 3 0 1
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