LEBANON, Tenn. — Denny Hamlin was named the pole winner who will lead the field to Sunday night’s Cracker Barrel 400 at Nashville Superspeedway on Saturday after Wilson County Convention and Visitors Bureau qualifying for the NASCAR Cup Series was cancelled due to light rain showers.
Hamlin will start alongside championship points leader Tyler Reddick, who has won five races this season at the controls of his No. 45 Toyota for Hamlin’s 23XI Racing and holds a commanding 122-point series lead.
Hamlin is hungry to add a Nashville Superspeedway trophy to his collection and will try to push his No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing machine to the checkered flag when the 6 p.m. CT race takes the green flag.
While qualifying was cancelled, Cup Series teams did receive a 45-minute open practice session to get their machines ready for Sunday’s race on the 1.33-mile D shaped oval that sits just east of Music City.
Hamlin posted a third-best speed of 160.526 mph and Reddick had a speed that was fifth-best at 159.947 mph.
It was a busy day for Hamlin, who also made an additional appearance in the media center to announce the hiring of upstart Corey Heim to a full-time Cup ride in 2027 as driver of the No. 35 Toyota for 23XI Racing.
“I really, really want to win here pretty badly,” Hamlin said. “This is one of them, it’s a track where I only have so many chances to get a win here and I’ve been so close over the last few years. I love the racetrack and feel like it’s been a very raceable track over the years and since they’ve worked the resin in. I’m a little bit nervous going into the weekend.”
Meanwhile, Reddick is looking for victory No. 6 in his fairy-tale season.
Reddick acknowledged the points-advantage is welcome, but his team must continue to push forward and not get too comfortable.
“Just think our mindset is in a good place to manage it well,” Reddick said. “Yes, we want to win races, but we’ve done a really good job of, if it’s not going to be a win on that night, knock on wood, we’ve had a top 15 in every race this year. We’ve just done a really good job of having a high floor and that’s allowed us to hold the gap.”
Last week’s Charlotte race winner Daniel Suarez will start third in the No. 7 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet with JGR’s Christopher Bell (No. 20 Toyota) and reigning two-time series champion, Hendrick Motorsports Kyle Larson (No. 5 Chevrolet) rounding out the top five on the 38-car grid.
Defending race winner, Team Penske’s Ryan Blaney will start his No. 12 Ford seventh.
Bell, who was fastest in the practice session, said he didn’t expect the cancelled qualifying session to make a big difference in either the run of the 400-miler or ultimately the outcome of the race. Especially with the field getting some time on track with practice.
“Well, it’s good for me today, because I have a good metric, so I’m OK with that,’ Bell said of the formulation NASCAR used to set the field in lieu of qualifying.
