GLADEVILLE — Denny Hamlin was penalized at the beginning of the Cracker Barrel 400 for jumping the start and immediately fell to last place.
But the pole-sitter worked his way back to the front and in possibly the most thrilling finish in Nashville Superspeedway’s 17 active years of racing, beat out Joe Gibbs Racing teammates Christopher Bell and Chase Briscoe on the 300th, and final, lap for his 62nd career win, tops among active NASCAR drivers.
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The JGR trio were racing three-wide.
At one point, Bell got his nose in the lead with Briscoe right there.
But Hamlin overtook him to complete his worst-to-first night which started after a 90-minute rain delay.
It was also the first Cup win at NSS by a Toyota.
“The 20 [Bell] and 19 [Briscoe] were battling so hard on that first corner it just let me get to the inside of the 20 at the first corner after the restart and from there, side-by-side with the 20,’’ Hamlin said. “He [Bell] drove in so deep on that last lap into [turn] one that it just allowed me to barely clear off of [turn] two.
“What an unbelievable day starting first, going to last and then back to first.’’
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The race was declared a sellout shortly before the original 6 p.m. start time as fans from all 50 states, the District of Columbia and 26 countries (from as far away as Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, South Korea and Uruguay) held tickets to the event just inside the Wilson County line. It was the fourth straight sellout and fifth in the six years of Cup racing at NSS.
Those fans, if a few didn’t leave, had to wait out a rain delay as persistent precipitation all weekend delayed Friday’s Allegiance 200 Truck Series race (forcing a post-midnight finish Saturday) and caused cancelation of all three qualifying sessions.
But those who remained and were at all three races may have been treated to the best weekend of racing the track has seen since its original 2001 opening. Two of them had final-lap passes to decide the outcomes.
As for Sunday’s race, fans saw a Cup Series track record 31 lead changes involving a record 15 drivers.
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The first change came at the outset when Hamlin took off ahead of the starting zone. He was assessed a drive-through penalty through pit road and by the time he re-emerged back on the track, the other 37 cars were well ahead of him.
They were led for the first 37 laps by points leader Tyler Reddick, who was passed by road course specialist Shane Van Gisbergen.
More cars took the top spot during Stage 1 as teams took their pit stops during a competition caution around Lap 35, something NASCAR routinely does when weather plays havoc with qualifying and practice times.
The competition and three stage cautions were among the 11 yellow flags which consumed 77 laps. By race’s end, 10 of the original 38 cars were in the garage.
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Kyle Larson passed A.J. Allendinger and beat him in a photo finish to win Stage 1. Larson held the lead for 22 laps before another pit cycle. He regained the lead for another long run from 94-125.
Ryan Blaney had the next extended run by leading laps 148-177.
Hamlin’s comeback was complete as he regained the lead on Lap 189 and held it until 244. An extended cycle of green-flag pit stops lasted until Zane Smith took the lead from 279-287. Bell took over on 288 and held it until Hamlin pulled even and finally passed him on the final lap.
NASCAR Cup Series Race — Cracker Barrel 400
Nashville Superspeedway
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Nashville, Tennessee
Sunday, May 31, 2026
1. (1) Denny Hamlin, Toyota, 300.
2. (4) Christopher Bell, Toyota, 300.
3. (31) Chase Briscoe, Toyota, 300.
4. (15) Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Chevrolet, 300.
5. (10) Shane Van Gisbergen, Chevrolet, 300.
6. (2) Tyler Reddick, Toyota, 300.
7. (29) Chase Elliott, Chevrolet, 300.
8. (7) Ryan Blaney, Ford, 300.
9. (11) Zane Smith, Ford, 300.
10. (17) Carson Hocevar, Chevrolet, 300.
11. (13) Erik Jones, Toyota, 300.
12. (30) Ty Dillon, Chevrolet, 300.
13. (6) Ty Gibbs, Toyota, 300.
14. (9) Joey Logano, Ford, 300.
15. (14) Michael McDowell, Chevrolet, 300.
16. (26) Noah Gragson, Ford, 299.
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17. (23) Riley Herbst, Toyota, 299.
18. (32) Austin Dillon, Chevrolet, 299.
19. (3) Daniel Suarez, Chevrolet, 299.
20. (21) Todd Gilliland, Ford, 299.
21. (20) Cole Custer, Chevrolet, 299.
22. (34) Cody Ware, Chevrolet, 299.
23. (5) Kyle Larson, Chevrolet, 299.
24. (27) John Hunter Nemechek, Toyota, 298.
25. (24) Corey Heim(i), Toyota, 298.
26. (36) Austin Cindric, Ford, 296.
27. (25) Austin Hill(i), Chevrolet, 293.
28. (37) Chad Finchum(i), Ford, 289.
29. (22) Chris Buescher, Ford, Accident, 286.
30. (8) William Byron, Chevrolet, Accident, 231.
31. (33) Josh Berry, Ford, Accident, 214.
32. (18) Bubba Wallace, Toyota, Accident, 203.
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33. (19) Alex Bowman, Chevrolet, Accident, 203.
34. (12) Brad Keselowski, Ford, Accident, 192.
35. (16) AJ Allmendinger, Chevrolet, Accident, 172.
36. (28) Ryan Preece, Ford, Radiator, 90.
37. (35) Ross Chastain, Chevrolet, Accident, 81.
38. (38) Connor Zilisch #, Chevrolet, Accident, 71.
Average Speed of Race Winner: 106.424 mph.
Time of Race: 3 Hrs, 44 Mins, 57 Secs. Margin of Victory: .115 Seconds.
Caution Flags: 11 for 77 laps.
Lead Changes: 31 among 15 drivers.
Lap Leaders: D. Hamlin 0 T. Reddick 1-37 C. Bell 38 S. Van Gisbergen 39-40 J. Logano 41 S. Van Gisbergen 42-48 K. Larson 49 S. Van Gisbergen 50-52 K. Larson 53-75 C. Bell 76 A. Allmendinger 77-78 R. Herbst 79 R. Blaney 80 A. Allmendinger 81 R. Blaney 82-89 A. Allmendinger 90-93 K. Larson 94-125 C. Briscoe 126-139 R. Blaney 140-146 C. Elliott 147 R. Blaney 148-177 C. Elliott 178 D. Suarez 179-188 D. Hamlin 189-244 C. Bell 245-259 C. Elliott 260 T. Reddick 261-265 T. Gibbs 266 E. Jones 267-269 Z. Smith 270-287 C. Bell 288-299 D. Hamlin 300.
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Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Lead, Laps Led): Denny Hamlin 2 times for 57 laps; Kyle Larson 3 times for 56 laps; Ryan Blaney 4 times for 46 laps; Tyler Reddick 2 times for 42 laps; Christopher Bell 4 times for 29 laps; Zane Smith 1 time for 18 laps; Chase Briscoe 1 time for 14 laps; Shane Van Gisbergen 3 times for 12 laps; Daniel Suarez 1 time for 10 laps; AJ Allmendinger 3 times for 7 laps; Erik Jones 1 time for 3 laps; Chase Elliott 3 times for 3 laps; Ty Gibbs 1 time for 1 lap; Joey Logano 1 time for 1 lap; Riley Herbst 1 time for 1 lap.
Stage #1 Top Ten: 16,5,12,9,45,23,24,19,35,67
Stage #2 Top Ten: 7,48,47,2,11,71,24,20,19,6
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