On Sunday evening, the celebs of the NASCAR Cup Collection 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).
Here is what you have 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 resulting from 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 high 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 would simply come on Sunday evening.
Underdog: Carson Hocevar (+2200, per BetMGM)
Hocevar didn’t have the race he was in search of at Charlotte as tire points compelled him to play from behind all evening 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 greatest amongst all tracks and an indication that win No. 2 might be within the playing cards.
Toyota trying to capitalize on velocity
Toyota received 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 stated, Toyota had 4 of the highest six finishers within the Coca-Cola 600 and has been stout all over the place the sequence has visited. Nashville is just not a typical intermediate-style observe like Charlotte, however with 4 of the highest 5 drivers in Saturday’s follow session, count on a Toyota driver to be combating for the win as soon as once more.
Ross Chastain exhibits tempo in follow
Chastain solely has two top-10s up to now and has been one of the biggest surprises outdoors the 16-driver Chase area as issues at present 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 might be a season-defining race for Chastain. He was additionally second-quickest in follow and posted the perfect 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.
Because of this, the lineup was set by by NASCAR’s metric, putting 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 fascinating race underneath the lights.
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