Denny Hamlin, who already has two Cup wins this year, is set to make his 700th career Cup start on Sunday. However, the expected arrival of a baby boy may keep him from the track.

Hamlin and long-time partner Jordan Fish already have two girls, but the due date for their first-born son is June 1st — the same day as the Cup race at Nashville.

Ryan Truex, younger brother of 2017 NASCAR Cup Series champion Martin Truex Jr., is the reserve driver and will be called upon to pilot the No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota should Hamlin have to leave the track. 

Truex has 26 Cup Series starts, but none since the 2014 season — almost 11 years ago. Most recently, Truex has competed part-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series with JGR, winning three races since 2023. 

Hamlin is scheduled to start from the outside of the front row for Sunday’s 400-mile race with teammate Chase Briscoe earning pole position. If Hamlin starts the event and Truex has to replace him mid-race, then Hamlin will get credit for the final finishing position. However, if Hamlin misses the start, the car will go to the rear of the field and Truex will get credit for the start.

NASCAR has introduced a stricter playoff waiver policy for 2025 and has promised to strip drivers of all playoff points if they need a waiver for non-medical reasons. However, missing a race for the birth of a child is covered under valid medical reasons, so there is no issue for Hamlin should he need to miss the race entirely.

Photos from Nashville – Practice & Qualifying

NASCAR star Denny Hamlin has been denied pole position after an exciting qualifying session at Nashville, whilst 2021 Cup Series champion Kyle Larson suffered a nightmare session.

Hamlin was beaten to pole position for Sunday’s Cracker Barrel 400 by Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Chase Briscoe, with the No. 19 car edging the No. 11 by just 0.049 seconds around Nashville Superspeedway.

It is Briscoe’s second consecutive pole position after also topping Coca-Cola 600 qualifying at Charlotte last weekend, although the 30-year-old will be hoping he can convert it into a win this time around.

Hamlin, meanwhile, will have to make do with second, if he takes part in the race, that is. The Joe Gibbs Racing star is on standby as he awaits the birth of his baby son and has said he will skip the race to be there for his family.

Elsewhere in Nashville, it was a poor session for Hendrick Motorsports star Larson, failing to bounce back in the way we are used to after the disappointment of two wrecks last Sunday as he attempted ‘the double’.

The No. 5 car was only 28th quickest in qualifying this evening, with plenty of work for Larson and his team to do on race day if they want to secure a strong result.

With that said, let’s take a look at the full results from Saturday’s qualifying.

READ MORE: Denny Hamlin NASCAR replacement on standby at Nashville as JGR star could miss race

NASCAR Cup Series: Who is on pole at Nashville?

After qualifying on Saturday afternoon, here is the starting lineup for Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Nashville Superspeedway, with times included.

NASCAR HEADLINES: Denny Hamlin speaks out on future as Cup Series driver suffers disqualification blow

Related

Betting News is your trusted source for betting picks and up to date news and stats on the NFL, MLB, NHL and many other sports.

We analyze every game to help you find the best bets and best odds to wager on today’s games.

We also review online gambling websites to help you find the best sportsbooks and casino sites to play at.

We are Here to Help You Make Informed Betting Decisions and help players have more fun and more wins when gambling online.

Copyright © 2019 – 2025 Betting News All Rights Reserved.

Content reserved for readers of 18+ years of age or legal majority in their jurisdiction. Responsible Gaming.

If you or someone you know has a gambling problem, crisis counseling, and referral services can be accessed by calling 1-800-GAMBLER (1-800-426-2537) (USA), 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN only), 1-800-NEXT-STEP (AZ only), 1-800-BETS-OFF (IA only) or 1-800-522-4700 (CO only).

It’s been an unfortunate start to William Sawalich’s maiden campaign in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, with the Joe Gibbs Racing driver sitting 24th in series point standings at the halfway point of the regular season.

However, by scoring a pole position ahead of Saturday’s Tennessee Lottery 250 at Nashville Superspeedway, the Eden Prairie, Minnesota-native is looking to make a significant turnaround for the No. 18 Toyota GR Supra team.

Sawalich, driving the Starkey-sponsored No. 18, turned a lap time of 30.860 seconds (155.152mph) to secure the pole for Saturday’s 250-mile contest, beating NASCAR Xfinity Series veteran Austin Hill for the top spot.

It’s the second career pole position for Sawalich in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, the first of which came in last season’s finale at Phoenix Raceway.

Austin Hill will start on the outside of the front row, driving for Richard Childress Racing. The driver of the No. 21 Chevrolet posted a lap of 30.944 seconds.

STARTING LINEUP: Tennessee Lottery 250 at Nashville

Sam Mayer will start the race from third place, with Justin Allgaier and Sheldon Creed completing the race’s top-five starters. Carson Kvapil, Nick Sanchez, Aric Almirola, Ross Chastain, and Connor Zilisch rounded out the top-10.

Other notables starting outside the top-10 include Ryan Sieg (11th), Christian Eckes (12th), Brandon Jones (13th), Sammy Smith (14th), Jesse Love (15th), Corey Day (21st), Taylor Gray (24th).

Kyle Sieg, who paced NASCAR Xfinity Series practice on Saturday afternoon, will start the event from 28th-place.

With 40 drivers on the entry list for Saturday’s Tennessee Lottery 250, two drivers were sent home prior to the green flag, those being Katherine Legge (Jordan Anderson Racing) and Glen Reen (Joey Gase Motorsports).

The green flag for the Tennessee Lottery 250 at Nashville Superspeedway will drop at 7:00 PM ET on The CW, PRN, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.

LEBANON, Tenn. (AP) — Brad Keselowski said RFK Racing has made some small changes and talked about the “complexities” and team burdens under the NASCAR rulebook after an appeal reduced a penalty given to driver Chris Buescher and his team at Kansas Speedway.

Keselowski compared the NASCAR rulebook a bit to the IRS tax code during practice and qualifying Saturday at Nashville Superspeedway for Sunday night’s Cracker Barrel 400.

“You read this paper and then you got to reference this paper to reference this paper to reference this paper, and when your head’s down and digging and you’re running 38 weeks a year, oversights are going to happen,” Keselowski said.

The co-owner of RFK Racing said that’s not an excuse. Keselowski said the team changed some roles and responsibilities this week to help the team be “better prepared and more mindful of what it takes to to be in compliance.”

NASCAR penalized Buescher and his team May 15 for illegal modifications to the bumper of his No. 17 Ford at Kansas. The team was docked 60 driver points, 60 owner points, five driver playoff points and five owner playoff points for the level one violation. It also fined the team $75,000 and suspended crew chief Scott Graves from the next two races: the All-Star Race and the Coca-Cola 600.

Those penalties came three days after Buescher finished eighth at Kansas and dropped him from 12th to 24th in the Cup Series point standings.

RFK Racing appealed and had a partial win Wednesday with the appeals panel ruling the team violated the rule on the front bumper cover but not the exhaust cover panel.

Buescher got back 30 points, moving him to 16th in the Cup Series points standing. That’s a slot below the playoff cutline and six points behind RFK Racing teammate Ryan Preece.

___

AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing

Teresa M. Walker, The Associated Press