Cracker Barrel 400 Preview: Music City Showdown

This weekend the NASCAR Cup Series returns to Nashville Superspeedway after debuting at the track four seasons ago. This oval is a moderately-banked 1.33-mile track that is concrete paved and features 14 degree banking in the turns. The event is 300 laps, divided into three stages of 90 laps, 95 laps and 115 laps. Average speeds will be near 160 mph as the concrete surface provides high grip and a lot of potential for side-by-side racing. The oval is somewhat reminiscent of the lower banked intermediate ovals on the circuit like Kansas Speedway and Las Vegas Motor Speedway, although modestly smaller in size than most NASCAR intermediate ovals and concrete paved. From its opening in 2001 Nashville Superspeedway hosted Xfinity Series and Camping World Truck Series events until the track's closure in 2011. The facility had not been a part of the NASCAR schedule for close to a decade until four years ago and NASCAR's successful return.

Since this is just the fifth race at a new track, we have very limited data to examine. For much of our analysis this week, we're going to rely on the statistics that our NASCAR Cup Series drivers have accumulated this season on the intermediate ovals, as well as the loop data from the last four Nashville Superspeedway races. It's the only real measure of which drivers tend to thrive on these style tracks. This loop data will be fresh, but bear in mind that the sample size is very small. In the table below are the driver's loop stats from the last four races at Nashville Superspeedway.

Coming into this weekend's 400-mile event we're going to rely a lot on current hot streaks and we're going to look with a critical eye at recent performance on intermediate ovals. We believe the statistical table above will be some help in determining drivers to target this week. However, we have to realize the small sample size of four races and one of those being in the old generation stock car.

In last season's race at Nashville Superspeedway, we witnessed Joey Logano surge late in a battle with Ross Chastain and Denny Hamlin to prevail during overtime and win. Christopher Bell would dominate that afternoon in Nashville, leading 131 laps but he would crash out on lap 227. The vacuum left by Bell's accident would set up a multi-driver battle that left a big impression. That win by Logano gave Ford their first victory at Nashville since NASCAR's top division started racing there in 2021. It also snapped a three-race win streak for Chevrolet at the facility. We believe a potential power shift could be stirring for this weekend and we could see another Ford driver visit victory lane at Nashville. Also, we can't count out Toyota drivers this Sunday. Although they've gone winless in the first four Nashville Speedway events, they have been strong here and led a lot of laps. It could be time that we see a Toyota driver finally cash in for the win at this race track. We should be in for more of that uncertainty Sunday in the Cracker Barrel 400. In the outline below, we'll give you the drivers you need to succeed in your fantasy racing games at Nashville Superspeedway.      

The Contenders – Drivers in the hunt for the win

Ross Chastain – Coming off the big win at Charlotte this past week, Chastain is filled with optimism about this weekend in Nashville. The Trackhouse Racing driver narrowly missed winning his first two starts at Nashville Superspeedway. Chastain would cash in two seasons ago and win from the pole in a very strong performance. He would lead 99 laps that day and grab the victory, which was his third-straight Top-5 finish at the Nashville oval. His average finish now stands at a stellar 10.3 at the concrete paved track. Chastain led a bunch of laps at the track last season but crashed out in his fourth Nashville Superspeedway start. The driver of the No. 1 Chevrolet brings tremendous potential to the table in this Cracker Barrel 400.

Kyle Larson – The Hendrick Motorsports star won the inaugural Nashville event four years ago in a dominant performance. Larson led 264 of the 300 laps and pounded the field into the pavement to win by more than 4-seconds over Ross Chastain. Larson has that one victory and three Top 5's in his four prior starts at Nashville Superspeedway. The driver of the No. 5 Chevrolet has been great on intermediate ovals already this season with wins at both Homestead and Kansas. Larson has shown the ability to dominate at this oval and he has been a strong performer on the cookie cutter tracks this season. He'll be a top contender to win Sunday in Nashville.

Christopher Bell – The Joe Gibbs Racing youngster narrowly missed winning this event one year ago. Bell would lead 131 laps, nearly half the race, and looked poised to win but would crash out late in the Ally 400. He's been good on the cookie cutter ovals this season with a win at Atlanta and second-place finish at Kansas Speedway a few weeks ago. The driver of the No. 20 Toyota has made four prior visits to Nashville Superspeedway and he's come away with three Top-10 finishes in those efforts, but no victory yet. It's just a matter of time before Bell wins at this facility and it could happen as soon as this weekend for the talented Toyota driver.  

Joey Logano – Logano won this event one year ago with timely decisions and good racing in overtime to capture the victory. It's a trademark trait that the No. 22 Ford team has become known for over the past couple seasons. The Penske Racing star has been somewhat inconsistent on the intermediate ovals this season but won recently in Texas so that underscores his worth this Sunday at Nashville Superspeedway. Now Logano can set his sights on the 1.33-mile Nashville track and look for another strong performance. He has qualified extremely well at Nashville Superspeedway with an average start of 8.8 across his four attempts. Logano has nabbed three Top-10 finishes in those efforts and it works out to a strong 9.8 average finish. We expect Logano to be on his "A" game in the Cracker Barrel 400.

Solid Plays – Near locks for a Top 10 with an outside shot to win

William Byron – Byron has been somewhat inconsistent on cookie cutter ovals this season and has two Top 10's (33-percent) on the 1.5-mile tracks and 13.7 average finish. However, the Hendrick Motorsports star is coming off a dominant performance this past Sunday at Charlotte where he led 283 laps and lost late to Ross Chastain, finishing a strong runner-up in the Coca-Cola 600. The driver of the No. 24 Chevrolet finished third- and sixth-place in two of his four prior starts at Nashville Superspeedway. The sixth-place came in this event two seasons ago with 5 laps led. The notes from that outing will come in very handy for this driver and team in Sunday's Nashville battle.

Ryan Blaney – His recent intermediate oval outings have nabbed a pair of third-place finishes at Fort Worth and Kansas before crashing out in disappointment at Charlotte this past weekend. The Penske Racing star has crashed out of two Nashville starts, but in 2022 he piloted the No. 12 Ford to a strong third-place finish in the Ally 400. In this event one year ago Blaney piloted his Ford Mustang to a strong sixth-place finish and also led 26 laps in that event. Blaney has been up-and-down on the cookie cutter ovals this season but has shown glimpses of brilliance. The Penske Racing star is one of Ford's best shots at victory lane this weekend, and he shouldn't be overlooked going into this 400-mile battle.

Chase Briscoe – Briscoe has not been a top performer at Nashville Superspeedway. His four prior starts are somewhat forgettable affairs. However, his move to Joe Gibbs Racing has spurred him to much better performances on the cookie cutter tracks. Briscoe owns three Top-5 finishes on the mid-sized tracks and a respectable 12.7 average finish. The driver of the No. 19 Toyota is coming off a pole position and stellar third-place finish at Charlotte Motor Speedway this past Sunday. Briscoe will ride that momentum into Nashville Superspeedway this weekend and very likely log a career-best finish at this oval. We expect him to be among the Top-10 faces after 400-miles at the Tennessee track.   

Chase Elliott – Coming off a sixth-place Charlotte finish and second Top 10 of the season on mid-sized ovals, this driver and team appear to be turning a corner on these style tracks. Elliott led 42 laps and won this event three years ago. The Hendrick Motorsports star would return to Nashville the next season and grab an impressive fourth-place finish in the Ally 400. Despite wrecking in his first Nashville Superspeedway start, the driver of the No. 9 Chevrolet has been very strong since then. Elliott has the experience at this oval and recent momentum to turn in a very strong performance in the Cracker Barrel 400. He should easily crack the Top 10 and possibly challenge the Top 5 Sunday at Nashville Superspeedway.

Sleepers – Drivers with good history of road course racing & solid upside

AJ Allmendinger – The driver of the No. 16 Chevrolet has been quite productive on the intermediate ovals this season. Allmendinger has snagged three Top-10 finishes on these tracks with his most recent yielding an impressive fourth-place finish at Charlotte this past Sunday. The Kaulig Racing veteran has three prior starts at Nashville Superspeedway and he's earned finishes of 19th-, 10th- and 11th-place for a reasonable 13.3 average finish. His current car may be the best he's ever brought to this speedway, so even better results could be in the offing. We expect Allmendinger and this race team to challenge and very likely crack the Top 10 in Sunday's Cracker Barrel 400.

Ryan Preece –  Preece has been one of the more consistent performers on the cookie cutter ovals this season. He's claimed four Top 10's in the six events to-date for a sound 12.5 average finish. Preece is coming off seventh- and ninth-place finishes most recently at Kansas and Charlotte. The driver of the No. 60 Ford has mixed results in his three Nashville Superspeedway starts. However, he earned his best finish in this event one year ago. He raced his former No. 41 Stewart Haas Racing Ford to a brilliant fourth-place finish in last year's Ally 400. All the indicators seem very good for Preece's start in Sunday's Cracker Barrel 400. We expect another Top-10 finish for this driver and team.

Brad Keselowski – After a very slow start to the season, Keselowski finally showed some signs of life at Charlotte this past Sunday. He'd qualify poorly but still drive forward, lead laps and finish a strong fifth-place in the Coca-Cola 600. That could be the performance that gets Keselowski and his No. 6 Ford team rolling into the second half of the season. He's not been a big performer at the Nashville oval, but the best of his four starts came in this event two years ago. Keselowski qualified mid-pack and drove to a respectable 11th-place finish in the Ally 400. We believe he has more in the tank for this outing. He'll likely collect a career-best Nashville finish this Sunday afternoon.

Josh Berry – A victory earlier this season at Las Vegas and a recent sixth-place finish at Kansas foreshadow good possibilities for the Wood Brothers Racing driver at Nashville Superspeedway. Berry's reasonable 12th-place this past Sunday at Charlotte too gives us good vibes ahead of the Cracker Barrel 400. The veteran driver has just one-career start at Nashville and it came last season in the now-defunct No. 4 Ford. Berry qualified extremely well, grabbing the outside pole in the Ally 400. However, he would crash out in the final laps of the race and be denied of a good finish. We expect a rebound-minded Berry to show up this weekend with an energized and well performing race team.  

Alex Bowman – Bowman is another driver who's yet to make his mark on Nashville Superspeedway, but we believe that should change this Sunday afternoon. His starts on the lower banked mid-sized ovals this season have netted finishes of seventh-, second- and fifth-place at Las Vegas, Homestead and Kansas. Those could be really good signs for Nashville Superspeedway. Despite Bowman's struggles at Charlotte this past week, he has big rebound potential in Nashville. Bowman has the ability to crack the Top 15 and maybe even challenge the Top 10 in the Cracker Barrel 400. We expect a decent qualifying effort and even better race performance at Nashville Superspeedway.

Ricky Stenhouse Jr. – The HYAK Motorsports driver is coming off a respectable 11th-place finish in the Coca-Cola 600 this past Sunday and looking to keep the momentum rolling at Nashville Superspeedway. Stenhouse has been a steady performer on these mid-sized ovals in 2025. He's grabbed two Top-10 and three Top-15 finishes for a sound 13.8 average finish. Only one of his four prior starts at Nashville Superspeedway have come away with a Top 10, so he's a bit on the low side of the fantasy radar this weekend. Still, the driver of the No. 47 Chevrolet and crew chief Mike Kelley seem to be in a really good place right now performance wise. We believe Stenhouse has a higher than usual ceiling at the Nashville oval.  

Slow Down – Drivers to avoid this week

Denny Hamlin – Hamlin has been an up-and-down performer on the mid-sized ovals this season. After Top 10's at Atlanta and Homestead, he's gone stone cold in his last three starts. The Joe Gibbs Racing star has finishes of 38th-, 36th- and 16th-place at Fort Worth, Kansas and Charlotte. That's not a good look coming to Nashville this week. Hamlin has a pair of Top 10's in his first four Nashville Superspeedway starts. Despite two pole positions and many laps led, he's had trouble converting Top 10's at this oval. Given that inconsistency and his recent struggles, we're recommending the fantasy racing bench for Hamlin this weekend.

Kyle Busch – Busch has had a struggle-filled season to this point. He comes to Nashville a disappointing 18th-place in the driver point standings and mired in a five-race Top-10 drought. The Richard Childress Racing star was decent earlier in the season on intermediate ovals, but his recent hard times cast a shadow of doubt on his potential for the Cracker Barrel 400. Busch has been pedestrian at best at Nashville Superspeedway thus far, with just one Top 10 in the four starts and 17.0 average finish. We believe the No. 8 team is one to pass on in weekly lineup and salary cap games this Sunday.

Ty Gibbs – Of the full-time Cup Series drivers in the field, Gibbs has had the most difficulty on the intermediate ovals this season. He's failed to crack the Top 20 in any of the six events and his average finish stands at a disappointing 25.7. Gibbs was a 24th-place finisher this past weekend at Charlotte Motor Speedway. We expect more of the same struggles for the No. 54 Toyota team this weekend at Nashville. Two prior starts at the Tennessee oval have only netted one Top-15 finish and he finished 23rd-place in this event one year ago. Gibbs should be avoided in all fantasy formats for the Cracker Barrel 400 at Nashville Superspeedway.

Cole Custer – Custer has two-career starts at Nashville Superspeedway and they are disappointing 30th- and 26th-place finishes, the last of which came back in 2022. The Haas Factory team driver certainly has had his struggles this season. The intermediate ovals have only yielded one Top-20 finish to this driver and team. The average finish stands at a lofty 25.8. Frankly, Custer has had difficulty maintaining pace and staying on the lead lap of these races. We don't expect a reversal of any of these struggles the No. 41 Ford team have been experiencing and so we don't have any fantasy racing expectations of Custer this weekend.