NASCAR
Stratta’s Six: Who Can Kick off Second Half with a Nashville Superspeedway Win?
NASCAR rolls into Music City to kick off the second half of the regular season. Nashville Superspeedway’s unique 1.33-mile concrete confines will call Cup cars home again for a sixth-straight year. Each past trip here has seen a different winner and drama aplenty. Here are a few who hope to strum a guitar solo with the special trophy in Cracker Barrel 400 victory lane.
Denny Hamlin
Perhaps nobody’s struck out of more near wins at Nashville than Denny Hamlin. Driver 11 owns three top-10s in five races here, but has led 70+ laps in four-straight starts. Hamlin infamously pitted from the lead with his fuel tank running dry in 2024’s five-overtime affair.
Third is the No. 11’s best Nashville result, but recent speed on similar tracks has Hamlin pinned as the favorite. Nashville’s sister track in Dover saw Denny dominate two weeks ago, and he was a restart away from taking last week’s Coca-Cola 600 as well. Gunning for points paying win number two on the year, Hamlin may be the best shot at a first Toyota Nashville triumph.
Denny Hamlin’s No. 11 National Debt Relief Toyota Camry on the grid at Charlotte Motor Speedway before the Coca-Cola 600 on Sunday, May 24, 2026. Photo credit: Peter Stratta/TSJSports
Kyle Larson
Despite saying he lacks comfort at Nashville, nobody’s been more consistent on the concrete than Kyle Larson. The inaugural winner from 2021 has yet to finish outside of the top-10 here, with a worst result of eighth. Still searching for his maiden win of 2026, Larson hopes to find the winning groove again.
“We’ve had speed at Nashville with the Next Gen car as an organization,” Larson said. “Even though it hasn’t always matched my driving style, our team continues to make gains each time we come back. Track position is so important there. But we’ve shown the ability to work through the field and improve throughout the race. Hopefully we can unload strong this weekend, build off the momentum from last week, and put ourselves in contention all night long.”
Although he’s 5-0 in top-10s here, Larson has surprisingly not led a single lap at Nashville since 2021. The 5 has been a tick off from their regular contending selves at this track, but that gap is narrow. Larson hopes to start off the summer stretch with a hot hand, and could see the cards fall right in Nashville.
Kyle Larson’s No. 5 HendrickCars.Com Chevrolet Camaro on the grid at Bristol Motor Speedway before the Food City 500 on Sunday, April 12, 2026. Photo credit: Peter Stratta/TSJSports
Ryan Blaney
The reigning Cracker Barrel 400 winner, last year saw Ryan Blaney nearly dominate from the word go. Team Penske’s No. 12 led a race-high 139 laps a year ago, taking a maiden Music City win and first victory of 2025. That night saw Blaney kickstart his winningest year yet in Cup, totaling four wins. Beyond just last season, Blaney’s also seen two more top-10s and two crash DNFs in four starts, proving that Nashville is a tale of two cities for the 12.
“It was our first win of the year last year,” Blaney said. “And yeah I have a lot of friends who live in the area, so it was great to see them. The kid in me enjoyed Papa Roach, he was in victory lane with me and I got to meet him, he gave me the guitar. Just a cool guy, I liked his music as a kid, super nice guy. So that was pretty cool in victory lane. Then the rocking chair, I got rocking chairs from Cracker Barrel, so that was cool. They’re on our front porch, they’re our sitting chairs, my wife out them there. Lot of cool gifts from that win.”
Entering race 14 of 2026 third in points, Blaney hopes to build off of his seventh-place run in Charlotte. Flying the flag for Ford and Penske so far this season, Blaney also aims to close in his 174-point gap on the championship lead. Already owning one guitar trophy, Blaney looks to go back-to-back with a Broadway encore.
Ryan Blaney’s No. 12 Discount Tire Ford Mustang on the grid at Bristol Motor Speedway before the Food City 500 on Sunday, April 12, 2026. Photo credit: Peter Stratta/TSJSports
Christopher Bell
The No. 20 of Christopher Bell has been nothing if not ultra-consistent in Nashville. The Joe Gibbs Racing driver owns four top-10s in five starts, and wrecked out of the fifth race (2024) after leading over 100 laps. Much like Larson, Bell has been snakebitten by having seemingly every issue possible keep him from winning this year. No Toyota driver has ever tamed Nashville Superspeedway, but Bell was on his way to doing just that here two years ago. That day saw the 20 sweep both stages before spinning while trapped back in traffic.
Coming off a Coca-Cola 600 runner-up, Bell finds himself eighth in points after his first top-10 since March. If his pace at Charlotte was any indicator, then Bell’s 20 should be a frontrunner threat again on Sunday.
Christopher Bell’s No. 20 Rheem Toyota Camry on the grid at Bristol Motor Speedway before the Food City 500 on Sunday, April 12, 2026. Photo credit: Peter Stratta/TSJSports
Tyler Reddick
Can the hottest driver and team of 2026 rip a guitar solo in Nashville victory lane? Tyler Reddick’s best Nashville Superspeedway run was third in 2024’s five-overtime marathon, backed up with ninth a year ago. Riding into Music City still holding a 122-point lead, Reddick hasn’t had an off race yet this season. The No. 45’s worst outing was 15th at Martinsville, showing elevated performance almost everywhere.
Reddick saw victory lane five times in the regular season’s first half. Kicking off this historic run with a career-defining Daytona 500 triumph, 23XI Racing hopes for similar success to start the summer run. Toyotas appear almost unbeatable on intermediate ovals so far in 2026; expect Reddick to let it ride again.
Tyler Reddick’s No. 45 Pinnacle Toyota Camry on the grid from EchoPark (Atlanta) Speedway before winning the Autotrader 400 on Sunday, February 22, 2026. Photo credit: Peter Stratta/TSJSports
Carson Hocevar
Last year’s Nashville runner-up, Carson Hocevar is nicely positioned to be one spot better this time around. All of Spire Motorsports continues to celebrate Daniel Suarez’s emotional Charlotte win from last week. In addition, both Hocevar and Suarez are now respectively ninth and tenth in points. Pit road setbacks in the Coca-Cola 600 relegated Hocevar to 23rd at Sunday’s finish. In spite of this poor result, Hocevar has his head held high walking back to the site of his best 2025 showing.
“What makes it unique is it looks like a mile and a half but doesn’t race like one, per se,” Hocevar said. “You have to slow down for the corner way more than you’d think and downshift, all while knowing there isn’t much banking there to support you. The size is very deceiving for how tight the corners are.”
Spire Motorsports appears to only get more cunning and dangerous for the competition every week. Now amid their first ever multi-win season, new ceilings are being set for this entire organization. This stretch of races saw Hocevar turn many heads with regular winning speed last year. Do not be surprised to see a possible Hurricane warning in landlocked Tennessee.
Carson Hocevar’s No. 77 Chili’s Chevrolet Camaro on the grid at Charlotte Motor Speedway before the Coca-Cola 600 on Sunday, May 24, 2026. Photo credit: Peter Stratta/TSJSports
Nashville could be a great turning point for many driver’s years. Beginning the regular season’s second half, Music City also marks the unofficial start of the summer run to The Chase. The Cracker Barrel 400 goes green Sunday at 7 p.m. ET on Prime Video, PRN, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio. Nashville Superspeedway remains a very fruitful track in different winners, with nobody gracing their victory lane twice. It will be fun to see if this streak continues and who can have the right strategy on Sunday.
Written by Peter Stratta
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