6 days ago
NASCAR takeaways: Is Ryan Blaney or Carson Hocevar the story at Nashville?
A former NASCAR Cup Series champion led a race-high 139 laps and won for the first time in 2025 Sunday.
And yet, Ryan Blaney wasn't the talk of the Cracker Barrel 400.
That title belonged to Carson Hocevar, who ended Ricky Stenhouse Jr.'s night with a hard-racin' bump in Stage 2 and was making hand signals out his window in Stage 3, all while moving from 26th to a runner-up finish at Nashville Superspeedway.
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More on him in a moment.
But first, Blaney.
NASCAR Cup Series driver Ryan Blaney celebrates winning the Cracker Barrel 400 at Nashville Superspeedway in Lebanon, Tenn., Sunday, June 1, 2025.
He claimed a Stage 2 victory after qualifying 15th.
'It's nice that it's finally happening,' Blaney said. 'I'm ready to go celebrate.'
Behind him and Hocevar, Denny Hamlin, Joey Logano and William Byron recorded top-five finishes.
Here are three takeaways:
1. Ryan Blaney returns to Victory Lane
LEBANON, TENNESSEE - JUNE 01: Ryan Blaney, driver of the #12 Menards/Cardell Cabinetry Ford, celebrates with a burnout after winning the NASCAR Cup Series Cracker Barrel 400 at Nashville Superspeedway on June 01, 2025 in Lebanon, Tennessee. (Photo by)
Blaney had run well recently.
Before a 38th-place finish at Charlotte last week, he tallied four top-fives in five races, with back-to-back thirds at Texas and Kansas. But he had not taken the checkers since the penultimate week of the 2024 playoffs at Martinsville.
'I never gave up hope, that's for sure.' Blaney said. 'We've had great speed all year. It just really hasn't been the best year for us, as far as good fortune. But the (Team Penske No. 12) boys are awesome. They stick with it no matter how it goes. It was great to finish one out tonight.'
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The win was his first at Nashville and the 14th of his career.
Blaney closed it out by a margin of 2.83 seconds. Now, he's headed to the playoffs as the ninth driver to clinch a spot so far this season.
Overall, the race featured 18 lead changes and seven cautions. The final 102 laps went off consecutively without a yellow flag.
2. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. warns Carson Hocevar
LEBANON, TENNESSEE - MAY 31: Carson Hocevar, driver of the #77 Zeigler Auto Group Chevrolet, looks on during qualifying for the NASCAR Cup Series Cracker Barrel 400 at Nashville Superspeedway on May 31, 2025 in Lebanon, Tennessee. (Photo by)
Uh oh, Carson.
Stenhouse sent the young driver of the No. 77 Spire Motorsports car a warning after Hocevar knocked Stenhouse to the garage with a rear bump while battling for 17th on Lap 106. Stenhouse slid into the wall rear-first.
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It resulted in his first DNF of 2025.
'I'd say it's not out of the norm for him, but I definitely wasn't expecting that at that point in the race,' Stenhouse said. 'Bummer for us ... Definitely will have something to do about it at one point.'
Did he plan to talk to Hocevar?
'Oh, I will,' Stenhouse said.
Approach him after the race?
'No, that costs too much money,' Stenhouse said.
When asked about the incident afterward, Hocevar had not yet watched the replay but didn't view it as nefarious.
'I feel like that was just a common move with how big of a run I had, but I didn't see it,' Hocevar said. 'I'm sure he'll want to talk about it. I'll talk about it. We'll look at the replay.'
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Meanwhile, he tied his career-best finish of second. He previously reached that spot at Atlanta in February.
Before Sunday, Hocevar had cracked the top 10 only twice this season.
'Hopefully, this is a step in the right direction,' he said.
3. Up next: NASCAR motors to Motor City
LEBANON, TENNESSEE - JUNE 01: Riley Herbst, driver of the #35 Monster Energy Toyota, Ty Dillon, driver of the #10 Grizzly Nicotine Pouches Chevrolet, and Tyler Reddick, driver of the #45 Pinnacle Toyota, race during the NASCAR Cup Series Cracker Barrel 400 at Nashville Superspeedway on June 01, 2025 in Lebanon, Tennessee. (Photo by)
Before heading south of the border on Father's Day weekend, NASCAR heads north. Way north, by NASCAR standards, to the Detroit area for a tripleheader weekend.
It begins with an ARCA race Friday, with the Truck Series in a Saturday starring role before Sunday's Firekeepers Casino 400 at Michigan international Speedway. It'll be yet another weekend off for the Xfinity Series, which had a two-week break in May.
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Tyler Reddick won last year's race at Michigan, which was host to two Cup Series races a year until 2021.
— Ken Willis contributed to this report
This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: NASCAR takeaways: Ryan Blaney wins Cracker Barrel 400 at Nashville
