Making the trek to the outskirts of Music City, Tennessee, all three NASCAR national touring series will take the stage at Nashville Superspeedway for a trio of races under the lights.
Chevrolet Newsroom
The tripleheader weekend will mark the sport’s fifth trip to the 1.33-mile Tennessee tri-oval since finding an annual spot on each series’ schedule during the 2021 season. For the Bowtie brigade, Sunday’s Cracker Barrel 400 will be a shot at redemption after falling just one spot short of staying undefeated in NASCAR’s top division at the track last season.
Chevrolet at Nashville Superspeedway
Since NASCAR’s return to Nashville Superspeedway in 2021, Chevrolet has been the only manufacturer that’s paid a visit to victory lane at the track in all three divisions.
When the NASCAR Cup Series hit the track for its first-ever appearance in 2021, it was Chevrolet that made the inaugural trip to victory lane with a dominating performance by Kyle Larson and the No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports team – a win that was accompanied by a podium sweep for the Bowtie brand with Ross Chastain (2nd) and William Byron (3rd). The victory kickstarted a Team Chevy three-peat at the Tennessee track, with Hendrick Motorsports’ Chase Elliott taking the victory in 2022 and Trackhouse Racing’s Chastain following suit in 2023. Larson and Chastain’s victories are accompanied by series-leading statistics that automatically put them at the forefront of top contenders heading into the weekend. In four Cup Series races held at Nashville Superspeedway, Larson is the only driver to finish within the top-10 in each of his starts. While a late-race incident took him out of contention last season, Chastain powered his Trackhouse Racing-prepared Chevrolet to top-five results in the series’ first three events at the track, including a runner-up finish in the inaugural race and his win in 2023.
Hitting the Halfway Mark
At the drop of the checkered flag at Charlotte Motor Speedway, the NASCAR Cup Series has officially raced its way into the second-half of its regular season schedule. With Chastain’s crown jewel triumph, Chevrolet has collected a series-high five wins this season, with the 32-year-old Alva, Florida, native joining his fellow Team Chevy teammates, William Byron and Kyle Larson, with an early ticket into the 2025 playoffs. Dating back to just the third race of the season at Circuit of The Americas, Byron took over the series’ points lead and has been a fixture among the top-two positions ever since – ultimately regaining the lead from his Hendrick Motorsports teammate, Larson, following a strong points day and a runner-up finish at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Chevrolet also holds a commanding lead in a variety of statistical categories including stage wins (14), top-10s (60), laps led (1,976) and pole wins (7).
On the Rebound
With eight different winners thus far this season, eight opportunities remain to secure a playoff position by virtue of a win. Among those looking for their first trip to victory lane of the season includes a handful of Team Chevy drivers that are hitting a stride as we enter the second-half of the regular season.
Ricky Stenhouse Jr. finds himself in the 13th position in the points standings after falling just short of a top-10 finish at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Consistency has been key for the No. 47 Hyak Motorsports Chevrolet team, which has positioned the single-car organization in a provisional playoff position heading into the second-half of the regular season. In 13 points-paying races this season, Stenhouse Jr. has completed all but three laps, as well as tallied four top-12 results, including two in the top-six. The Mississippi native is well on his way to a career-best season-long average finish, heading to Nashville Superspeedway with a 16.8 average.
After a tough set of results, AJ Allmendinger rebounded with his best finish of the season at Charlotte Motor Speedway – taking the checkered flag in the fourth position in the sport’s longest race. The finish was accompanied by a 49-point day – the third-highest among the field. There’s no better place to carry that momentum than yet another intermediate oval – a track configuration that has delivered the No. 16 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet team three of their four top-10 finishes of the season.
Intermediate Icons
Fresh off the Coca-Cola 600 victory, Chevrolet continues to prove to be a force to be reckoned with on the circuit’s intermediate ovals this season. In seven races on non-drafting intermediate ovals, the Bowtie brand has made three trips to victory lane including Chastain’s Charlotte Motor Speedway win and a pair of victories by Kyle Larson at Homestead-Miami Speedway and Kansas Speedway. Qualifying has been a strong suit for the Chevrolet camp, with five of the manufacturer’s series-leading seven pole wins coming on the configuration – each earned by a different driver. In five of the six intermediate oval races thus far this season, Chevrolet has recorded at least four top-10 results in each, including a season-high seven top-10 finishes at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
Dialing-In Double-Digits
William Byron’s dream of winning at his home track became reality when he took the checkered flag in Saturday’s Xfinity Series race at Charlotte Motor Speedway. The 27-year-old Charlotte, North Carolina, native became the seventh different Chevrolet driver to find victory lane in the Xfinity Series this season – delivering the Bowtie brand its 11th win in just 13 races. Among those triumphs includes five full-time competitors that have also earned an early playoff berth, including both Richard Childress Racing entries, Austin Hill and Jesse Love, as well as three JR Motorsports drivers with reigning champion Justin Allgaier, ‘Rookie of the Year’ contender Connor Zilisch, and Sammy Smith.
Looking ahead to Nashville Superspeedway, the Bowtie brigade heads into the weekend with 10 wins in 25 appearances by the Xfinity Series at the Tennessee track – two of which have come since the track’s revival in 2021 (Justin Allgaier – 2022; AJ Allmendinger – 2023). With his victory in 2022, Allgaier holds the honors as the series’ only past winner that will compete in Saturday’s 250-mile race.
Honeycutt Hits Career-Best Finish
Niece Motorsports’ Kaden Honeycutt turned in his season-best finish of third at Charlotte Motor Speedway last weekend. The result came after an intense battle with the series’ points leader, Corey Heim, and a pair of Team Chevy Cup Series regulars, Ross Chastain and Kyle Busch. Collecting a strong 50-point day, the 21-year-old Willow Park, Texas, native, made yet another jump up in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series’ points standings, with the No. 45 Niece Motorsports Chevrolet team heading to Music City seventh in the rankings with seven races left in the regular season.
Chevrolet will enter the weekend with five all-time Truck Series wins at Nashville Superspeedway, including an active streak of two-in-a-row courtesy of victories by Niece Motorsports (Carson Hocevar – 2023) and McAnally-Hilgemann Racing (Christian Eckes – 2024). While all of the full-time competitors are still seeking their first Nashville triumph, there is one entrant that is very familiar with victory lane at the Tennessee track – the series’ winningest driver, Kyle Busch. The 40-year-old Las Vegas, Nevada, native is a two-time winner at Nashville Superspeedway in both the Xfinity and Truck Series.
Chevrolet’s season statistics with 13 NASCAR Cup Series races complete:
Wins: 5
Poles: 7
Laps Led: 1,976
Top-Fives: 27
Top-10s: 60
Stage Wins: 14
Chevrolet’s season statistics with 13 NASCAR Xfinity Series races complete:
Wins: 11
Poles: 8
Laps Led: 1,940
Top-Fives: 44
Top-10s: 84
Stage Wins: 21
Chevrolet’s season statistics with 11 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series races complete:
Wins: 5
Poles: 2
Laps Led: 685
Top-Fives: 28
Top-10s: 55
Stage Wins: 7
BOWTIE BULLETS:
· Victories by active Chevrolet drivers in the NASCAR Cup Series at Nashville Superspeedway:
Kyle Larson – one win (2021)
Chase Elliott – one win (2022)
Ross Chastain – one win (2023)
· Chevrolet is the only manufacturer to accomplish a tripleheader sweep across all three NASCAR national divisions this season – earned at Homestead-Miami Speedway courtesy of victories by Kyle Larson (Cup and Truck Series) and Justin Allgaier (Xfinity Series).
· Chevrolet has earned at least half of the top-10 finishing results in eight of the 13 points-paying races thus far this season, including a season-high seven top-10 finishes at Las Vegas Motor Speedway and Talladega Superspeedway.
· In 121 points-paying races in the Next Gen era, Chevrolet leads all manufacturers with 57 victories – a winning percentage of 47.1%.
· With its 43 NASCAR Cup Series Manufacturer Championships, 33 NASCAR Cup Series Driver Championships, and 871 all-time NASCAR Cup Series wins, Chevrolet continues to hold the title as the winningest brand in NASCAR Cup Series history.
TUNE-IN:
NASCAR Cup Series
Cracker Barrel 400
Sunday, June 1, at 7 p.m. ET
(Amazon Prime, PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90)
NASCAR Xfinity Series
Tennessee Lottery 250
Saturday, May 31, at 7:30 p.m. ET
(CW, PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90)
NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series
Rackley Roofing 200
Friday, May 30, 8 p.m. ET
(FS1, NASCAR Racing Network and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90)
QUOTABLE QUOTES:
Ross Chastain, No. 1 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet
How much fun is it to go to the Nashville area this weekend?
“I love country music and live music, so that’s a fun time. I always stay after the race and go to Tootsies down on Broadway and that’s always a good time. Tootsies has been a longtime supporter of Trackhouse so it fun to go down there and spend time. I get to Nashville a couple of times each year, usually for sponsor things, so I’m very familiar with the area and it’s a lot fun.”
Why have you had so much success at Nashville?
“The track is very unique. It feels like it’s a mile-and-a-half but it’s not so it takes me some time to get acclimated. But I’ve had fast cars there to be honest. If my cars aren’t good, I can’t go fast. We’ll look to build off of things we’ve learned more recently about these cars and try to keep moving the needle. I’m running the Xfinity race so that’s exciting and a challenge. I’m running a JRM car with Acceptance Insurance on Saturday night and that will allow me to get some more reps in at the track.”
Austin Dillon, No. 3 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet
What are your thoughts on Nashville Superspeedway?
” Nashville is a very awesome town. The racetrack is concrete, which makes it unique from some of the other tracks we race at. It’s become a good race on our schedule. I’ve won a truck race there, so looking forward to trying to win another guitar. The track surface is one of those surfaces that really chews up a little bit of tire, so you definitely have to do a very good job at putting heat in the car.”
The No. 3 team seems to be figuring things out lately. What has changed over the past several weeks? And what do you still need to improve on?
“We’re starting to click as a team. We do a good job adjusting on our Chevy during the race, but if we can hit the setup earlier in the weekend, we can have better track position, which will help a lot during the race. We had a top 10 streak going and I really thought we were going to have another top 10 at Charlotte Motor Speedway, but we unexpectedly ran out of fuel at the end of the race. Our finish doesn’t reflect how well we ran. Nashville is another track that has been good to us in the past, and I think with the way this team is performing right now, we should be able to continue our positive momentum.”
What has Kyle Busch been like as a teammate? Specifically, this year as RCR continues to restructure things and move forward. What has he brought to the organization?
“I feel like Kyle Busch gives you what you expect, which is that he’s a hard worker. He’s fiery. He wants the best for the cars. He wants to get to victory lane constantly and will push everyone to figure out how to make that happen, even himself, on the track. But as far as being in the meetings with him after practice and on Mondays in our team debriefs, he’s very helpful. He asks good questions at the right time about what your car is doing, and he provides information that you can make your car better off of. From that standpoint, you couldn’t ask for a more helpful teammate when it comes to his knowledge of the game and what he is providing from an informational standpoint.”
Justin Haley, No. 7 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet
How do you feel about Garner Trucking coming back to Nashville for Sunday’s race underneath the lights?
“Everyone at Spire Motorsports appreciates the support from Sherri and the entire team at Garner Trucking. Our trucks stand tall going up and down the road and when they pull into the race track for the weekend. We’re looking forward to representing Garner for the next two weekends. I feel like our cars keep getting better and Nashville and Michigan should be good tracks for us, so I’m definitely looking forward to seeing how we stack up.”
Kyle Busch, No. 8 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet
How do you think the racing has evolved at Nashville Superspeedway since we started going in 2021?
“I think the racing in Nashville has been really good. I remember years ago, a long time back in the Xfinity days, it was a one-groove racetrack around the bottom of the racetrack. It wasn’t really conducive to a whole lot of side-by-side racing and whatnot. But the last few years it’s really been good there. The track really widens out. There’s guys that are running all the way up at the top groove. So it’s been a good show. So hopefully the fans enjoy it. I hope it’s not too hot next week. Perfect weather here this weekend in Charlotte. So I look forward to Nashville.”
Ricky Stenhouse Jr., No. 47 Hyak Motorsports Chevrolet
“Nashville Superspeedway is always a race I look forward to. The atmosphere is incredible, and the fans bring a lot of energy. We’ve been focused on getting the No. 47 NOS Energy Drink Chevrolet dialed in, and the team’s been working hard to get us where we need to be. I’m confident we can put together a strong run this weekend and give everyone something to cheer about.”
Michael McDowell, No. 71 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet
Talk about earning your first top-10 of the season last week in the Coca-Cola 600.
“We have been really good at 1.5-mile tracks, I’m glad to get that top 10. We have been in position to get those finishes, but haven’t been able to get to the end. It was a long night after missing my pit box and starting Stage Two at the back. It was tough to get back to the front, but we slowly and methodically worked our way forward with some big help from out pit crew. I’m proud of our guys, our ability to execute a sold night, and getting to the end of a long race with a good finish. We have some more to work on, but I am proud of the effort from our Spire Motorsports team. We have some momentum to ride into Nashville this week.”
What are your thoughts as we head into Nashville this weekend?
“Nashville is fun. I’ve been able to race there a bunch over the years with both the ARCA Series and NASCAR Xfinity Series. When I started in Cup, that was the track where we went and tested at a bunch. It’s a fun race track and it’s a challenge to get around. The race is like a hybrid of a short track and a big track, but in these cars, it’s pretty cool because you’re downshifting, up shifting, there are a lot of opportunities. I think that it’s one of my better tracks, even though we don’t have the Cup results to show for it. Speed wise, it’s been a fun track for us. We just haven’t had the finishes, whether we got tied up in wrecks or we had a transmission explode there last year. I haven’t had great luck but felt like we’ve had good speed.”
Carson Hocevar, No. 77 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet
What is your outlook for Sunday’s race at Nashville?
“I think we’ll have a good car and hopefully another shot at a win, without the bad luck this time. We’ve reached a point where it doesn’t matter what type of track we go to, we are consistently up front and running some of the fastest lap times. Eventually everything balances out and we’ll start having the finishes to match those runs. Nashville is a really fast track and I think it plays into my driving style, having to keep up with the track changes and making moves when the opening is there. I feel like we’re going to have another really good race.”
Shane van Gisbergen, No. 88 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet
After a solid performance at Charlotte, how do you feel your aggression is growing on ovals?
“I think we are showing improvement now. It has been difficult results wise, but I do feel like we are getting somewhere, getting better and better. To me, I know I have a lot to learn but I don’t feel like I’m forcing it or driving outside my limits. Every week I’m being methodical about it. I feel good about the way it’s going.”
There are three road course races over the next two months. Are you looking forward to this part of the season?
“I’m looking forward to some right handers, that’s for sure (laughs). Got some good tracks coming up, tracks I know, but obviously Mexico City is a fresh one for everyone. But these ovals have been a big learning process the last couple of months, so it will be nice to have a break and turn right.”
Daniel Suarez, No. 99 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet
What are your thoughts on Trackhouse Racing’s 300th start this weekend in Nashville?
“That’s amazing. It all started as Justin’s (Marks, owner) dream and we’ve grown from a single car team to what we are now. The men and women who work at Trackhouse should be very proud. We are a very young team competing against the Gibbs, Penske, Hendrick and Childress teams of the world who have been successful for so long.”
What are your thoughts on Nashville this weekend?
“We want to celebrate Sunday night at Tootsie’s like Ross did in 2023. Maybe we will drive our Tootsie’s Chevrolet from victory lane and park it right on Broadway. Nashville is a special place for us. It’s Tootsie’s hometown, Justin’s hometown, and a really fun town. There would be no better place to win.”
Connor Zilisch, No. 88 JR Motorsports Chevrolet
“I’m really excited to go to Nashville for the first time. It’s such a cool city and I’ve raced at the Fairgrounds before, but this will be my first time racing at the NASCAR track in Nashville. I have some laps on the simulator and it’s definitely a technical racetrack and is one of the few concrete tracks that we go to. I’m looking forward to figuring it out quickly and keeping the momentum up from Charlotte. We had a really good day running inside the top three in both stages and finished second. The Blues Hog team is starting to fire on all cylinders and I’m looking forward to putting races together and getting more good finishes through the summer.”
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