Ryan Blaney returned to Victory Lane for the first time in 2025 Sunday.

Alex Bowman is behind the wall after a big wreck during the NASCAR Nashville race.

Bowman got loose in turn 3 on lap 114 of the scheduled 300 of the June 1 Cracker Barrel 400 at Nashville Superspeedway.

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Bowman slid his No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet into Noah Gragson, forcing the two cars into the wall and leaving heavy damage to both cars as Bowman spun around after making contact with Gragson. The crash happened in front of Kyle Larson, Bowman’s Hendrick Motorsports teammate.

Gragson sustained heavy damage to the right side and immediately drove his No. 4 Front Row Motorsports Ford behind the wall. Bowman had heavy damage to the left rear and went behind the wall after spending a few minutes on pit road. Both teams could be able to get their cars back out on track.

Bowman and Gragson are scored 37th and 38th, respectively. Going into the Nashville race, Bowman was 10th in the NASCAR Cup Series points standings and was 12th in the playoff standings.

Alex Bowman stats

Going into the NASCAR Nashville race, Alex Bowman has seven top 10 and two top 5 finishes with two pole positions and two DNFs. If he is not able to finish the Nashville race, he will have three.

Alex Bowman hometown

Alex Bowman is from Tuscon, Arizona.

Alex Bowman car

Alex Bowman drives the No. 48 Ally Financial Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 for Hendrick Motorsports.

NASCAR race today

The NASCAR Nashville race is streaming on Amazon Prime.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: NASCAR Nashville race: Alex Bowman crashes, collects Noah Gragson

Ryan Blaney — winner: “I never gave up hope, that’s for sure. We’ve had great speed all year, just hasn’t really been the best year for us as far as good fortune. The 12 boys are awesome. They stick with it no matter how it goes, and it was great to finish one out now.”

Carson Hocevar — second: “It just proves how strong this group is to go from the disappointment last week and having a really bad qualifying draw, qualifying really bad, sticking through it and having a shot. Just proud of this group. I think our average with this car is 38^th. So it’s a big upgrade. Jeff Dickerson, Spire. I was probably being a lot more vocal on the radio than I needed to be, but you’re just trying so hard and trying to find something that’s just not there. One spot short again. At least hopefully this is a step in the right direction. I haven’t seen the replay (of the Ricky Stenhouse Jr. wreck). I’ve seen a bunch of people do that same sort of move and get shipped, and I think he was the one for me to wreck them. But I felt like that was just a common move with how big of a run I had, but I didn’t see it. I’m sure he’ll want to talk about. I’ll talk about it. We’ll look at the replay. But I have no idea until I see it.”

Denny Hamlin — third: “I was hot. I don’t run a cool shirt or anything like that. That’s three elements other drivers have. Just couldn’t run with the 12 in the super long run. After 40 laps, I could maintain with them, after that, he just pulled away and stretched it on us. Our best strategy at that point was to go long. You either catch a caution, another caution comes, we all were going to stay out because the lap times don’t fall off, and then got fresher tires. We got jumped by (Hocevar). Then the track went through a really weird phase the last 30 laps where everyone had it pinned to the bottom. I think there was not enough cars running the middle, so it threw dust into that middle and top lane that was not an option. That definitely hurt the passing.”

The Team Penske driver took control on a long green-flag run to end the race after winning Stage 2.

Joey Logano — fourth: “We did the details well. All but the one restart, we lost the lead there, but I don’t think I would have maintained it anyway. That run, (Blaney) was just lights out, which gave him that huge lead. The last run, after the last pit stop, was pretty solid once I got going, just took me 15 or 20 laps to get speed in the Mustang, same as in practice. Good execution. Proud of Team Penske. All our cars got a win now. That’s pretty impressive to have everybody with a win. That shows all the teams are really strong. My guys were great on pit road as well. Proud of Team Penske and everyone at the shop. Just a solid hard-earned top five. Everyone fights hard. Last week at Charlotte, we just missed our setups. We just didn’t hit it right. Understood where that was at the end of the race. It’s just too late. This race, we fired off top five speed the whole race. (Blaney had) the best car. Glad the best car won.”

William Byron — fifth: “I felt like our car potential was probably third, behind (Ryan Blaney) and (Denny Hamlin). We just never really got to restart with clean air. I think if we could have restarted with clean air, maybe we could have held them off, but it just seemed like we had to do too much to our car to keep up with those guys. I thought it was a good effort by this No. 24 Chevrolet team. We tried something a little bit different on that last stop. It ran long and, honestly, it was going to be good, and then we just kind of had a slow sequence. It was a good day overall. Nashville Superspeedway has been kind of a tough place for us the past couple of years. I felt like we had good speed, we just couldn’t quite get the handling.”

Bubba Wallace — sixth: “(The speeding penalty) was frustrating because I knew that we were fast. It was nice to kind of methodically work our way through the field and make passes. I’ll never understand strategy. I thought we were pitting into 12th, and they were like that is fifth and fourth in front of you, and I was like how did that happen? All-in-all, a good night for our Camry.”

Erik Jones — seventh: “A great day. Ran really strong, at times a top-five car. We lost it a little bit in the end but two good weeks, so proud of that, and hopefully more to come at Michigan. I think our mile-and-a-half stuff has been pretty good all year. I feel like it is a matter of we have to put it together. Today was a good day of putting it together. We didn’t have any mistakes. We had good pit stops. It just is cleaning everything up, and continuing to improve on these cars. Like at the end there, that was all we had. Our balance was pretty good, so we still need to get a little faster. We’ve done a great job. We are getting there. We are optimizing the speed. The mile-and-a-halves are our strong suit, so hoping we have more of it in Michigan. That would be a fun one to be up front again.”

Kyle Larson — eighth: “It was a bit wild, I don’t know if the TV was able to catch everything that went on with my day. We just kind of struggled with our balance. And then just had some things happen along the way and found a lot of luck along the way, too. It was unfortunate to not be as fast and have the balance we wanted, but once we gave up on trying to fix it all and just focused on gaining track position, we had some good restarts, settled in and just good to recover to a top 10 but would like to be better here. It was good. Really every year we came to Nashville in Next Gen, it looks a lot like today where we suck and somehow get a top 10. And then on paper, it looks like we’re pretty good here, but we’re not. It’s days like this that show the strength of your team. Happy we were able to keep our heads in it and get away with a top 10.”

The Team Penske driver becomes the ninth driver to win in the 2025 season.

Chris Buescher — 14th: “Incredibly aero sensitive race. We just didn’t get the details right. We had decent speed but we didn’t perform at the level we are capable of. On to Michigan. We should be really good there. I am excited for it. It has been a really good one for us. We had a good tire test there. We will see what the new tire does but the speed was there.”

Daniel Suarez — 16th: “It was an OK day for this No. 99 Chevrolet team. We fired off a little bit too far off again. The speed got a little bit better, but it took us pretty much a stage and a half to get it where we needed it to be. It was just difficult to pass. It was an average night. We just have to continue to keep working on it.”

Cole Custer — 19th: “Our guys did a great job tonight and have been working their tails off to get better and better. We ran a good number of laps inside the top 15 and brought home a solid top-20 finish, but this race showed we can go out there and compete.”

Austin Dillon — 29th: “It was a long night for everyone on the No. 3 Chevrolet at Nashville Superspeedway. We missed the setup a little and I struggled with a Chevy that was too loose to race. Additionally, the brakes were chattering for most of the night. We did our best to manage it, but with the handling issues we were facing there was no way to gain track position. We tried to long run the last green-flag pit stop, but that strategy didn’t pan out for us. We ended up going from 21st to 29th. I don’t know what to say except it was miserable. As a team, we need to execute a little better. We all want more, so we’ll keep trying.”

Josh Berry — 30th: “I thought our car was pretty solid. We had worked our way into the top 10 at the end of the second stage. Unfortunately, had a penalty on pit road and got mired in the back and just couldn’t get back up there. All in all, I was pretty happy with our Ford Mustang and we will get them next week.”

Cody Ware — 33rd: “Just a really frustrating night. I felt like we had a decent Ford Mustang, but the night kind of fell apart after we had an issue with a wheel at the start of the final stage. It’s a tough, tough way to have a swing like that in what would have been a decent day for the team. So we’re just going to reset, re-rack it for Michigan and just keep building on the progress we’re making as a race team.”

Corey Heim — 37th: ““I’m pretty sure I just kind of cleared myself across the nose of (Brad Keselowski). A little bit too desperate. We were moving forward really quick and I had a lot of confidence in my Camry and thought I could clear him by the time I got to the wall, and just used too much racetrack, so sorry to those guys. It looks like I kind of ruined his day, too, and never want to do that. Just can’t say enough about the speed we had. I think if we didn’t start in 33rd, we could have been battling in the top 10. A lot of positives, just screwed it up on my part. Huge thank you to 23XI, Toyota. Definitely had a lot of fun, and looking forward to doing again.”

Noah Gragson — 38th: ““I gave (Alex Bowman) a whole two lanes off the bottom and he just trekked me. It annihilated us. It was so early in the race and that was a hard hit. It is just sort of the story of our year so far. We’ve been running good, running better, then we get taken out by things not of our doing. We just have to go faster to get away from it all. We have been building good cars. We ran good at Charlotte. I feel like we have good speed at some of these tracks. I am really proud of everyone at Front Row Motorsports. It just sucks to be annihilated like that.”

Ricky Stenhouse Jr. — 39th: “Lap or two before, (Carson Hocevar) tried to dive in there from about 10 car lengths back. That time, I just opened my entry a little bit, he overcharged the corner and just drilled us in the rear bumper. I’d say it’s not out of the norm for him, but I definitely wasn’t expecting that at that point in the race. Bummer for us. Our Camaro wasn’t great, but we were making changes, and I felt like that restart, I was a little better than the run before. We were just burning our right rear tire off throughout the run. Bummed that our day ended like that. I’ll definitely have something to do about it at one point. We’ll go back to the shop and regroup. It’s a busy couple of weeks for our team getting ready for Michigan and Mexico City. Those two races back-to-back, we have to have all four cars ready. We’ll refocus and get ready for next weekend. As soon as these races are over, we focus on what’s next. We’ll try and bounce back strong next weekend and get back rolling.”

The call for more horsepower in NASCAR is growing louder across fan forums and pit boxes, but a top Hendrick Motorsports insider is dousing the flames.

As NASCAR explores adding power to improve short-track racing, Hendrick Motorsport’s powertrain director Scott Maxim says it’s not as simple as flipping a switch. Momentum for more horsepower has picked up in 2025 with drivers like Denny Hamlin and Kyle Larson advocating for it.

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NASCAR’s managing director of communications Mike Forde recently said on the Hauler Talk podcast that they are working on bringing back 750 horsepower to select tracks.

The current Gen 7 cars run around 670 horsepower on most tracks. A jump to 750 horsepower would require changes to the tapered spacer. That’s the piece NASCAR uses to regulate airflow and control horsepower. But anything above 750 would get much more technical and expensive.

Also Read:: NASCAR Driver Reveals He Idolized Denny Hamlin Ahead of Veteran’s 700th Start

But Maxim recently told SiriusXM NASCAR Radio it’s not that easy. “750 would be an 80 horsepower increase over where we are currently at,” he said. “you know, there’s a lot of folks involved. We have four engine suppliers, we have three manufacturers and we have NASCAR. So it will take a lot of collective effort.”

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“If it’s a moderate power increase, we have a pretty good understanding of the changes required,” Maxim added. “If we were to have a higher horsepower target than that, then that would require some more extensive changes. But we’d have to be given clarity on the direction.”

And clarity seems to be in short supply. While Maxim’s comments leave room for small changes, the bigger picture is less rosy. Doug Yates of Roush Yates Engines said earlier this year that going back to 900 hp would shorten engine life and increase costs. “That would be a big project,” he said. “You’d need a new engine every race.”

Also, NASCAR officials are skeptical. VP Elton Sawyer recently said increased horsepower could scare off new manufacturers by increasing costs and NASCAR’s John Probst noted there’s no evidence more power equals better racing.

In the end, the dream of high-horsepower stock cars may be just that, a dream. While the technology exists, getting everyone on the same page with execution, safety and cost is a tall order. For now, Scott Maxim’s comments suggest the future is about small tweaks not a full-on return to the past.

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And for Hendrick Motorsports whose drivers like Larson and Byron are already winning with the current package, the need for raw horsepower may not be as great as it is for others.

Also Read:: Jimmie Johnson joins hollywood agency, follows Tom Brady’s playbook to build post-racing empire

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Sunday

At Nashville Superspeedway

Lebanon, Tenn.

Lap length: 1.33 miles

(Start position in parentheses)

1. (15) Ryan Blaney, Ford, 300 laps, 54 points.

2. (26) Carson Hocevar, Chevrolet, 300, 39.

3. (2) Denny Hamlin, Toyota, 300, 52.

4. (9) Joey Logano, Ford, 300, 42.

5. (3) William Byron, Chevrolet, 300, 48.

6. (12) Bubba Wallace, Toyota, 300, 31.

7. (14) Erik Jones, Toyota, 300, 36.

8. (28) Kyle Larson, Chevrolet, 300, 29.

9. (4) Tyler Reddick, Toyota, 300, 37.

10. (7) Christopher Bell, Toyota, 300, 34.

11. (5) Ross Chastain, Chevrolet, 300, 27.

12. (25) Kyle Busch, Chevrolet, 300, 25.

13. (27) Zane Smith, Ford, 300, 27.

14. (10) Chris Buescher, Ford, 300, 23.

15. (11) Chase Elliott, Chevrolet, 300, 27.

16. (32) Daniel Suárez, Chevrolet, 300, 21.

17. (1) Chase Briscoe, Toyota, 300, 28.

18. (16) Austin Cindric, Ford, 300, 24.

19. (29) Cole Custer, Ford, 300, 18.

20. (17) AJ Allmendinger, Chevrolet, 300, 17.

21. (8) Michael McDowell, Chevrolet, 300, 19.

22. (35) Todd Gilliland, Ford, 300, 15.

23. (6) Brad Keselowski, Ford, 300, 14.

24. (37) Riley Herbst, Toyota, 300, 13.

25. (23) Shane Van Gisbergen, Chevrolet, 300, 12.

26. (31) Ty Dillon, Chevrolet, 299, 11.

27. (36) John H. Nemechek, Toyota, 299, 10.

28. (19) Ryan Preece, Ford, 299, 9.

29. (21) Austin Dillon, Chevrolet, 299, 8.

30. (20) Josh Berry, Ford, 299, 9.

31. (22) Ty Gibbs, Toyota, 299, 6.

32. (18) Justin Haley, Chevrolet, 299, 5.

33. (34) Cody Ware, Ford, 297, 4.

34. (38) JJ Yeley, Chevrolet, 297, 0.

35. (39) Chad Finchum, Ford, 288, 2.

36. (24) Alex Bowman, Chevrolet, 188, 1.

37. (33) Corey Heim, Toyota, accident, 130, 0.

38. (30) Noah Gragson, Ford, accident, 112, 1.

39. (13) Ricky Stenhouse Jr, Chevrolet, accident, 110, 1.

___

Race Statistics

Average Speed of Race Winner: 129.067 mph.

Time of Race: 3 hours, 5 minutes, 29 seconds.

Margin of Victory: 2.830 seconds.

Caution Flags: 7 for 35 laps.

Lead Changes: 18 among 9 drivers.

Lap Leaders: C.Briscoe 0-39; D.Hamlin 40; T.Reddick 41-46; R.Blaney 47-70; C.Briscoe 71-82; D.Hamlin 83-92; T.Reddick 93; R.Blaney 94-107; D.Hamlin 108-166; W.Byron 167; D.Hamlin 168; R.Blaney 169-188; J.Logano 189-198; R.Blaney 199-247; D.Hamlin 248-255; A.Cindric 256-257; A.Dillon 258-265; B.Keselowski 266-268; R.Blaney 269-300

Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Led, Laps Led): R.Blaney, 5 times for 139 laps; D.Hamlin, 5 times for 79 laps; C.Briscoe, 2 times for 51 laps; J.Logano, 1 time for 10 laps; A.Dillon, 1 time for 8 laps; T.Reddick, 2 times for 7 laps; B.Keselowski, 1 time for 3 laps; A.Cindric, 1 time for 2 laps; W.Byron, 1 time for 1 lap.

Wins: K.Larson, 3; C.Bell, 3; D.Hamlin, 2; W.Byron, 1; R.Chastain, 1; J.Logano, 1; A.Cindric, 1; J.Berry, 1.

Top 16 in Points: 1. W.Byron, 499; 2. K.Larson, 470; 3. C.Bell, 425; 4. C.Elliott, 415; 5. T.Reddick, 392; 6. D.Hamlin, 390; 7. R.Blaney, 363; 8. R.Chastain, 350; 9. J.Logano, 338; 10. A.Bowman, 333; 11. C.Briscoe, 314; 12. B.Wallace, 312; 13. R.Stenhouse, 284; 14. R.Preece, 280; 15. A.Cindric, 279; 16. C.Buescher, 274.

___

NASCAR Driver Rating Formula

A maximum of 150 points can be attained in a race.

The formula combines the following categories: Wins, Finishes, Top-15 Finishes, Average Running Position While on Lead Lap, Average Speed Under Green, Fastest Lap, Led Most Laps, Lead-Lap Finish.

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