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Yahoo
2 days ago
- Automotive
- Yahoo
NASCAR results: Full finishing order of Cracker Barrel 400 race at Nashville Superspeedway
Ryan Blaney returned to Victory Lane for the first time in 2025 Sunday. The 31-year-old led a race-high 139 laps during the Cracker Barrel 400 at Nashville Superspeedway. It's the 14th win of the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series champion's career. He had not won since the penultimate race of last year's playoffs at Martinsville. Advertisement So far this season, nine different drivers have taken checkered flags and punched their postseason tickets. Behind Blaney, Carson Hocevar, Denny Hamlin, Joey Logano and William Byron filled in the rest of the top five. Here's the full finishing order: NASCAR standings: Results from Cracker Barrel 400 at Nashville today Ryan Blaney, No. 12 Carson Hocevar, No. 77 Denny Hamlin, No. 11 Joey Logano, No. 22 William Byron, No. 24 Bubba Wallace, No. 23 Erik Jones, No. 43 Kyle Larson, No. 5 Tyler Reddick, No. 45 Christopher Bell, No. 20 Ross Chastain, No. 1 Kyle Busch, No. 8 Zane Smith, No. 38 Chris Buescher, No. 17 Chase Elliott, No. 9 Daniel Suarez, No. 99 Chase Briscoe, No. 19 Austin Cindric, No. 2 Cole Custer, No. 41 AJ Allmendinger, No. 16 Michael McDowell, No. 71 Todd Gilliland, No. 34 Brad Keselowski, No. 6 Riley Herbst, No. 35 Shane van Gisbergen, No. 88 Ty Dillon, No. 10 John Hunter Nemechek, No. 42 Ryan Preece, No. 60 Austin Dillon, No. 3 Josh Berry, No. 21 Ty Gibbs, No. 54 Justin Haley, No. 7 Cody Ware, No. 51 JJ Yeley, No. 44 Chad Finchum, No. 66 Alex Bowman, No. 48 Corey Heim, No. 67 Noah Gragson, No. 4 Ricky Stenhouse Jr., No. 47 This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: NASCAR race today: Results, winner of Cracker Barrel 400 at Nashville
Associated Press
3 days ago
- Automotive
- Associated Press
Ryan Blaney races to first NASCAR Cup Series victory of the year at Nashville
Updated [hour]:[minute] [AMPM] [timezone], [monthFull] [day], [year] LEBANON, Tenn. (AP) — Ryan Blaney and Team Penske have been fast with his No. 12 Ford Mustang this year only to have races slip away when it mattered most. Not Sunday night. Blaney ran away down the stretch for his first Cup Series victory of the year Sunday night at Nashville Superspeedway, then he celebrated with a burnout in front of the roaring fans after what he called a rough year. 'I'm ready to go celebrate,' Blaney said. The 2023 Cup champ had been racing well with five top-five finishes over the first half of this season. He finally got to victory lane for his 14th career victory and first since Martinsville in November after leading a race-high 139 laps. 'I never gave up hope that's for sure,' Blaney said. 'We've had great speed all year. It just hasn't really been the best year for us as far as good fortune. But (No.) 12 boys are awesome. They stick with it no matter how it goes.' He became the ninth different winner this season and the fifth driver to win in as many races at Nashville. He also gave Team Penske a second straight Cup win at Nashville's 1.33-mile concrete track. Blaney, who started 15th, quickly drove his way to the front as he won the second stage. He easily held off Carson Hocevar by 2.83 seconds. Hocevar matched his career-best finish at Atlanta in February after complaining during the race that his No. 77 Chevrolet was undriveable. 'Either I'm really dramatic or they're really good on adjustments,' Hocevar said. 'Probably a little bit of both, but, yeah, proud of this group proud of this car. A place that is really, really difficult to pass, we're able to go 26th to second.' Denny Hamlin finished third in his 700th career Cup Series race, matching the third-place finish by Jeff Gordon at Darlington in 2013 for the best finish in a driver's 700th race. Joey Logano , who won here last year, was fourth and William Byron fifth. Hamlin was hoping for one more caution that never came after seven cautions for 35 laps. 'Just couldn't run with the 12 (Blaney) there in the super long run,' Hamlin said. 'After 40 laps, I could maintain with him. But then after that, he just pulled away and stretched it on us.' There was a sprint to the finish under green forcing teams and drivers to pick and choose went to pit. Blaney had led 107 laps when he went to the pits under green flag on lap 248. Hamlin took the lead before going to pit road on lap 256. Crew chief Jonathan Hassler said they decided on Blaney's fifth and final pit stop trying to make sure he could get back out into the cleanest air possible. 'It was really nice just to finish off a race,' Hassler said. Brad Keselowski had the lead when he went to the pits on lap 269. Blaney took the lead for the final 31 laps. Waiting on a call Hamlin raced Sunday night hoping to take advantage of his starting spot spot beside pole-sitter Chase Briscoe. Whether Hamlin would chase his third win this season had been in question with his third child, a boy, due the same day. Hamlin practiced and qualified well, so he drove his No. 11 Toyota even as Joe Gibbs Racing had Ryan Truex on standby in case Hamlin got the call that his fiancee was in labor. Hamlin won the first stage and survived the final stretch without water or fresh air. Tyler Reddick beat his boss Hamlin, a co-owner of his 23XI Racing team, to new parent status, which Reddick announced on social media earlier Sunday. His family welcomed their second son at 2:20 a.m. on May 25, then Reddick followed up hours later by finishing 26th in the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte . Early night Ricky Stenhouse Jr. didn't finish his first race this year. He was the first out when Hocevar tapped his No. 47 Chevrolet, spinning Stenhouse into the wall between Turns 3 and 4 for the second caution of the race on lap 106. Punishment and more penalties possible? AJ Allmendinger started at the back of the field and served a stop-and-go penalty after the green flag for an unapproved adjustment to the splitter during Saturday's practice. His No. 16 Chevrolet was sent back to the garage and then the scanning station before practice and qualifying. The No. 66 Ford of Chad Finchum failed inspection twice leading to engineer Austin Webb's ejection. The Garage 66 team also lost pit stall selection. Up next NASCAR heads to Michigan International Speedway for the Cup Series on June 8. ___ AP auto racing:
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Ryan Blaney won NASCAR Nashville race after nothing 'funky' happened
LEBANON − Ryan Blaney broke his NASCAR Cup Series Cracker Barrel 400 pattern on June 1 and broke through with his biggest race of the year at Nashville Superspeedway. Blaney finished 37th in Nashville with brake trouble in 2021 and then was third in 2022. He lost control and hit the wall in 2023 and did not finish and then was sixth after leading 26 laps in 2024. Advertisement This was not supposed to be his year. It had not been Blaney's year in any way before June 1. He had five DNFs in the first 13 races. Blaney won the Nashville NASCAR race on the 1.33-mile concrete oval for his first win of the year. His last win came on Nov. 1 at Martinsville in 2024. "It's been pretty rocky this year — had a lot of misfortune and down times with crappy things happening to us," Blaney said. "It's like, 'What do we have to do finish these races or close one out and have things go our way. I don't want to say this was relief, but finally nothing crazy happened and we were able to run our own race, bring the speed and do our job very, very well." It was the 14th career win for the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series champion. Advertisement It came after Blaney, in the No. 12 Team Penske Ford, regained the lead after pitting for the last time and held off Carson Hocevar, who matched his career-best finish with a second-place finish. Denny Hamlin, in his 700th career start was third, 2024 Nashville race champion Joey Logano was fourth and William Byron finished fifth. "I didn't do anything different than I have all year," Blaney said. "It didn't get sideways for us. Everything kind of went like a normal race should go. We executed like we should and our speed in our car was good. "It feels like those races for our team are hard to come by. Like nothing funky happening or nothing playing out the normal way. It's nice it finally went that way tonight. The fastest car won the race and nothing whacky happened to keep us from winning the race." Blaney was definitely fast. He led for 139 of the 300 laps the last 32. Advertisement Hocevar stayed in second for long stretches, but never threatened to pass Blaney. He did not lead a lap. Hamlin took the lead with 45 laps to go before pitting five laps later. Hamlin moved back to fifth with 34 to go and third with 25 left. POINTS: NASCAR points standings: Cup Series points update after Nashville race More: NASCAR Nashville winners and losers: Carson Hocevar is fast, but not making friends WHO WON? NASCAR Nashville results: Ryan Blaney is winner, plus full leaderboard for Cracker Barrel 400 "I just couldn't run with (Blaney) there in the super long run," Hamlin said. "After 40 laps, I could maintain with him, but then after that he just pulled away and stretched it on us." Advertisement Byron remained in the top five for much of the race, but never believed he had the speed to catch Blaney or Hamlin. "I felt like our car potential was probably third, behind (Blaney) and (Hamlin)," Byron said. "We just never really got to restart with clean air. I think if we could have restarted with clean air, maybe we could have held them off, but it just seemed like we had to do too much to our car to keep up with those guys." Reach Mike Organ at 615-259-8021 or on X @MikeOrganWriter. This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: NASCAR Nashville race: Ryan Blaney wins first 2025 race
NBC Sports
3 days ago
- Sport
- NBC Sports
Cup drivers recap Nashville race won by Blaney
Hear from Erik Jones, Carson Hocevar, Denny Hamlin, Kyle Larson and Christopher Bell following the NASCAR Cup Series Cracker Barrel 400 at Nashville Superspeedway.
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Automotive
- Yahoo
NASCAR Nashville winners and losers: Carson Hocevar is fast, but not making friends
Ryan Blaney took control of the race with a pass for the lead on the restart with 116 laps to go, then drove to his first victory of the NASCAR Cup Series season in the Cracker Barrel 400 on June 1 at Nashville Superspeedway. Blaney won Stage 2 but dropped behind Joey Logano after pit stops at the stage break. Blaney then drove by Logano on a restart on Lap 199 and held the top spot for the majority of the final 100 laps. Advertisement The final pit cycle completed under green, with Blaney holding a sizeable lead over second-place Carson Hocevar and third-place Denny Hamlin. Hocevar finished in second for the second time this season, tying his career-best finish in the Cup Series. Here are the winners and losers from Sunday's NASCAR Cup Series race at Nashville: NASHVILLE RACE RESULTS: NASCAR Nashville results: Ryan Blaney is winner, plus full leaderboard for Cracker Barrel 400 NASCAR Nashville winners and losers: Winner: Carson Hocevar Hocevar is a future star in the sport, and always a part of the story. Sunday's race had the best and worst of Hocevar, all in 300 laps. Advertisement In Stage 2, Hocevar drove hard into turn 3 and bumped Ricky Stenhouse Jr., sending the No. 47 Chevrolet spinning and into the wall. Stenhouse did not finish, credited with 39th, then told Amazon in an interview that retribution could be coming. But Hocevar finished the second stage in the top 10, then worked the strategy late to end up second after the final pit cycle completed with about 30 laps to go. Hocevar couldn't cut into Blaney's lead at the end, but was able to hold off Hamlin to finish second. It ties a runner-up finish at Atlanta earlier this season as his career-best in the Cup Series. Winner: Bubba Wallace Bubba Wallace needed a good finish badly, but probably did not think he would get one early in the race. Advertisement Wallace was penalized for speeding on the first stop of the race, on Lap 44. He lost a lap, and wasn't able to get it back at the stage end. Wallace did get the free pass on Lap 104 as a group of cautions helped the bottom of the running order, then steadily climbed the leaderboard. The No. 23 Toyota entered the top 10 early in the final stage, and Wallace drove up into sixth on the final run. Wallace entered Nashville with three straight DNFs, dropping out of the top 10 in points. Sunday's result should help Wallace and his 23XI Racing team reset positively as the second half of the regular season begins this month. Loser: Alex Bowman Alex Bowman's stretch of poor finishes continued on Sunday in Nashville after wrecking alongside Noah Gragson early in Stage 2. Advertisement Bowman's 36th-place finish is his fifth finish of 29th or worse in the last seven races, and it puts into question his playoff status with 12 regular-season races left. To give context on Bowman's struggles: He finished second at Homestead and was third in points through six races. After Nashville, Bowman is in 12th in points. Loser: Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Stenhouse was on the receiving end of Hocevar's too-aggressive bumping on Lap 106. (That incident comes up a couple times, doesn't it?) The No. 47 Chevrolet was a model of consistency throughout the first 13 races, coming into Nashville at 13th in points despite just two top-10 finishes but no finishes outside the top 25. Advertisement But Hocevar's contact sent Stenhouse into the wall, out of the race and down the standings and the playoff picture. This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: NASCAR Nashville winners and losers: Carson Hocevar is fast and not making friends
