Denny Hamlin rallies from early penalty to win attrition filled NASCAR Cup Series race at Nashville

RPW EXCLUSIVE COLUMN BY: Steven Brien / RACEPROWEEKLY – LEBANON, TN – Denny Hamlin bounced back from being penalized for jumping the start of the race to score an intense last-lap victory in the Cracker Barrel 400 on Sunday night at Nashville Superspeedway. 

Hamlin charged from the rear of the field after serving a pass-through penalty for jumping the start and rallied to capture his 62nd career Cup Series victory and first at Nashville. The driver of the No. 11 Progressive Toyota led a race-high 57 laps and held off Joe Gibbs Racing teammates Christopher Bell and Chase Briscoe during a dramatic three-wide battle over the final laps.

“What an unbelievable day,” Hamlin said after climbing from his No. 11 Toyota. “Starting first, going to last, and back to first”

“The 20 drove so deep on that last lap into one,” Hamlin added. “It just allowed me to barely clear off of two.”

Bell finished second for the second consecutive week after leading 29 laps.

“I got nobody, nothing, no circumstances to blame except myself,” Bell said post race. “I just didn’t win the race.”

Briscoe finished third, matching one of his strongest runs of the season after leading 14 laps.

“I just kept trying to back up my entries to try to get a big run to take them three wide,” Briscoe said after climbing from his No. 19 Toyota. “I was trying to hit the bottom and then he [Hamlin] kind of went to the apron.”

Ricky Stenhouse Jr. finished fourth, while Shane van Gisbergen rounded out the top five. Tyler Reddick and Chase Elliott crossed the finish line sixth and seventh after making contact and crashing hard on the final lap. Ryan Blaney was eighth, Zane Smith ninth and Carson Hocevar completed the top 10.

The final restart came with 13 laps remaining after Chris Buescher suffered a brake rotor failure entering Turn 3 and slammed the outside wall. The caution set up the late showdown between Hamlin, Bell and Briscoe.

Brake issues played a major role throughout the night. Connor Zilisch and Ross Chastain both crashed in Stage 1 after brake rotor failures sent them into the Turn 2 wall. During Chastain’s accident, Michael McDowell also spun after contact from Buescher.

After staying out during that caution, A.J. Allmendinger held off Kyle Larson in a photo finish to win Stage 1, his first stage victory since 2024. Blaney finished third, Elliott fourth and Reddick fifth. Bubba Wallace was sixth, followed by William Byron, Chase Briscoe, Riley Herbst, and Corey Heim to round out the top ten.

The race’s first caution came on Lap 35 as a planned competition yellow after rain washed out qualifying and delayed the start by 90 minutes.

Mechanical problems continued to plague the field throughout the evening. Ryan Preece retired on Lap 91 after losing water pressure in his radiator system.

A lengthy green-flag pit cycle was interrupted on Lap 146 when Austin Dillon spun on the frontstretch after contact from Buescher. The incident began as drivers stacked up behind Brad Keselowski, who was avoiding a slowing Stenhouse entering pit road.

Allmendinger’s strong run ended on Lap 173 when he suffered a brake rotor failure while running inside the top five and crashed hard into the Turn 1 wall.

Stage 2 ended under caution after Corey Heim turned Todd Gilliland in Turn 1, collecting himself and Cole Custer.

Daniel Suarez won the stage ahead of Alex Bowman, Stenhouse, Austin Cindric and Hamlin. McDowell was sixth, Byron seventh, Bell eighth, Briscoe ninth, and Keselowski completed the top ten.

The attrition continued during the final stage. On Lap 192, Dillon made contact with Keselowski as the field stacked up, sending Keselowski spinning into Cindric. Keselowski believed the incident was intentional, but Dillon argued otherwise.

Another major accident occurred on Lap 204 when Bubba Wallace and Byron checked up to avoid Buescher and crashed into the outside wall. Wallace then slid down the track and struck Bowman’s right rear, ending both drivers’ races.

The 10th caution flew on Lap 213 when John Hunter Nemechek was turned by Hocevar in Turn 4 and spun into Gilliland. Herbst and Josh Berry also sustained damage in the incident.

Larson’s hopes for a late charge ended when he blew a tire coming to the white flag, dropping him to a 23rd-place finish as Hamlin completed one of the most dramatic comeback victories of the season.

NASCAR Cup Series Race – Cracker Barrel 400

Nashville Superspeedway

Lebanon, Tenn.

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.
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.
33.  (19) Alex Bowman, Chevrolet, Accident, 203.
34.  (12) Brad Keselowski, Ford, Accident, 192.
35.  (16) A.J. Allmendinger, Chevrolet, Accident, 172.
36.  (28) Ryan Preece, Ford, Radiator, 90.
37.  (35) Ross Chastain, Chevrolet, Accident, 81.
38.  (38) Connor Zilisch (R), Chevrolet, Accident, 71.