The 2026 Cracker Barrel 400 was an NASCAR Cup Series race that was held on May 31, 2026, at Nashville Superspeedway in Lebanon, Tennessee. Contested over 300 laps on the speedway, it was the 14th race of the 2026 NASCAR Cup Series season.
Denny Hamlin won the race. Christopher Bell finished 2nd, and Chase Briscoe finished 3rd. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Shane van Gisbergen rounded out the top five, and Tyler Reddick, Chase Elliott, Ryan Blaney, Zane Smith, and Carson Hocevar rounded out the top ten.
Report
Background
Nashville Superspeedway is a motor racing complex located in Lebanon, Tennessee, United States, about southeast of Nashville. The track was built in 2001 and is currently used for events, driving schools and GT Academy, a reality television competition.
It is a concrete oval track long. Nashville Superspeedway is owned by Dover Motorsports, Inc., which also owns Dover Motor Speedway. Nashville Superspeedway was the longest concrete oval in NASCAR during the time it was on the NASCAR O'Reilly Auto Parts Series and NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series circuits. Current permanent seating capacity is approximately 25,000. Additional portable seats are brought in for some events, and seating capacity can be expanded to 150,000. Infrastructure is in place to expand the facility to include a short track, drag strip, and road course.
On April 10, 2025, Cracker Barrel was announced as the title sponsor, replacing Ally.
Prior to the season, NASCAR announced that Nashville, along with 5 other tracks would run the new short track package rather than the intermediate package from 2021 to 2025.
Entry list (R) denotes rookie driver. (i) denotes driver who is ineligible for series driver points.
Driver Team Manufacturer 1 Ross Chastain Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet 2 Austin Cindric Team Penske Ford 3 Austin Dillon Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 4 Noah Gragson Front Row Motorsports Ford 5 Kyle Larson Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 6 Brad Keselowski RFK Racing Ford 7 Daniel Suárez Spire Motorsports Chevrolet 9 Chase Elliott Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 10 Ty Dillon Kaulig Racing Chevrolet 11 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 12 Ryan Blaney Team Penske Ford 16 A. J. Allmendinger Kaulig Racing Chevrolet 17 Chris Buescher RFK Racing Ford 19 Chase Briscoe Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 20 Christopher Bell Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 21 Josh Berry Wood Brothers Racing Ford 22 Joey Logano Team Penske Ford 23 Bubba Wallace 23XI Racing Toyota 24 William Byron Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 33 Austin Hill (i) Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 34 Todd Gilliland Front Row Motorsports Ford 35 Riley Herbst 23XI Racing Toyota 38 Zane Smith Front Row Motorsports Ford 41 Cole Custer Haas Factory Team Chevrolet 42 John Hunter Nemechek Legacy Motor Club Toyota 43 Erik Jones Legacy Motor Club Toyota 45 Tyler Reddick 23XI Racing Toyota 47 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Hyak Motorsports Chevrolet 48 Alex Bowman Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 51 Cody Ware Rick Ware Racing Chevrolet 54 Ty Gibbs Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 60 Ryan Preece RFK Racing Ford 66 Chad Finchum (i) MBM Motorsports Ford 67 Corey Heim (i) 23XI Racing Toyota 71 Michael McDowell Spire Motorsports Chevrolet 77 Carson Hocevar Spire Motorsports Chevrolet 88 Connor Zilisch (R) Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet 97 Shane van Gisbergen Trackhouse Racing ChevroletOfficial entry list
Practice Christopher Bell was the fastest in the practice session with a time of 29.802 seconds and a speed of .
Practice results Pos Driver Team Manufacturer Time 1 20 Christopher Bell Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 29.802 160.660 2 1 Ross Chastain Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet 29.824 160.542 3 11 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 29.827 160.526Official practice results
Qualifying Qualifying for the race was canceled due to inclement weather. Denny Hamlin was awarded the pole for the race as a result of NASCAR's pandemic formula with a score of 2.700.
Starting lineup Pos Driver Team Manufacturer 1 11 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 2 45 Tyler Reddick 23XI Racing Toyota 3 7 Daniel Suárez Spire Motorsports Chevrolet 4 20 Christopher Bell Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 5 5 Kyle Larson Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 6 54 Ty Gibbs Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 7 12 Ryan Blaney Team Penske Ford 8 24 William Byron Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 9 22 Joey Logano Team Penske Ford 10 97 Shane van Gisbergen Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet 11 38 Zane Smith Front Row Motorsports Ford 12 6 Brad Keselowski RFK Racing Ford 13 43 Erik Jones Legacy Motor Club Toyota 14 71 Michael McDowell Spire Motorsports Chevrolet 15 47 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Hyak Motorsports Chevrolet 16 16 A. J. Allmendinger Kaulig Racing Chevrolet 17 77 Carson Hocevar Spire Motorsports Chevrolet 18 23 Bubba Wallace 23XI Racing Toyota 19 48 Alex Bowman Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 20 41 Cole Custer Haas Factory Team Chevrolet 21 34 Todd Gilliland Front Row Motorsports Ford 22 17 Chris Buescher RFK Racing Ford 23 35 Riley Herbst 23XI Racing Toyota 24 67 Corey Heim (i) 23XI Racing Toyota 25 33 Austin Hill (i) Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 26 4 Noah Gragson Front Row Motorsports Ford 27 42 John Hunter Nemechek Legacy Motor Club Toyota 28 60 Ryan Preece RFK Racing Ford 29 9 Chase Elliott Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 30 10 Ty Dillon Kaulig Racing Chevrolet 31 19 Chase Briscoe Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 32 3 Austin Dillon Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 33 21 Josh Berry Wood Brothers Racing Ford 34 51 Cody Ware Rick Ware Racing Chevrolet 35 1 Ross Chastain Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet 36 2 Austin Cindric Team Penske Ford 37 66 Chad Finchum (i) Garage 66 Ford 38 88 Connor Zilisch (R) Trackhouse Racing ChevroletOfficial starting lineup
Race
Race results
Stage results
Stage One Laps: 90
Pos Driver Team Manufacturer Points1 16 A. J. Allmendinger Kaulig Racing Chevrolet 102 5 Kyle Larson Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 93 12 Ryan Blaney Team Penske Ford 84 9 Chase Elliott Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 75 45 Tyler Reddick 23XI Racing Toyota 66 23 Bubba Wallace 23XI Racing Toyota 57 24 William Byron Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 48 19 Chase Briscoe Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 39 35 Riley Herbst 23XI Racing Toyota 210 67 Corey Heim (i) 23XI Racing Toyota 0
Stage Two Laps: 95
Pos Driver Team Manufacturer Points1 7 Daniel Suárez Spire Motorsports Chevrolet 102 48 Alex Bowman Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 93 47 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Hyak Motorsports Chevrolet 84 2 Austin Cindric Team Penske Ford 75 11 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 66 71 Michael McDowell Spire Motorsports Chevrolet 57 24 William Byron Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 48 20 Christopher Bell Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 39 19 Chase Briscoe Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 210 6 Brad Keselowski RFK Racing Ford 1
Final Stage results
Stage Three Laps: 115
Pos Grid Driver Team Manufacturer Laps Points1 1 11 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 300 62 2 4 20 Christopher Bell Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 300 38 3 31 19 Chase Briscoe Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 300 39 4 15 47 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Hyak Motorsports Chevrolet 300 41 5 10 97 Shane van Gisbergen Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet 300 32 6 2 45 Tyler Reddick 23XI Racing Toyota 300 37 7 29 9 Chase Elliott Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 300 37 8 7 12 Ryan Blaney Team Penske Ford 300 37 9 11 38 Zane Smith Front Row Motorsports Ford 300 28 10 17 77 Carson Hocevar Spire Motorsports Chevrolet 300 27 11 13 43 Erik Jones Legacy Motor Club Toyota 300 26 12 30 10 Ty Dillon Kaulig Racing Chevrolet 300 25 13 6 54 Ty Gibbs Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 300 24 14 9 22 Joey Logano Team Penske Ford 300 23 15 14 71 Michael McDowell Spire Motorsports Chevrolet 300 27 16 26 4 Noah Gragson Front Row Motorsports Ford 299 21 17 23 35 Riley Herbst 23XI Racing Toyota 299 22 18 32 3 Austin Dillon Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 299 19 19 3 7 Daniel Suárez Spire Motorsports Chevrolet 299 28 20 21 34 Todd Gilliland Front Row Motorsports Ford 299 17 21 20 41 Cole Custer Haas Factory Team Chevrolet 299 16 22 34 51 Cody Ware Rick Ware Racing Chevrolet 299 15 23 5 5 Kyle Larson Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 299 23 24 27 42 John Hunter Nemechek Legacy Motor Club Toyota 298 13 25 24 67 Corey Heim (i) 23XI Racing Toyota 298 0 26 36 2 Austin Cindric Team Penske Ford 296 1827 25 33 Austin Hill (i) Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 293 0 28 37 66 Chad Finchum (i) Garage 66 Ford 289 0 29 22 17 Chris Buescher RFK Racing Ford 286 8 30 8 24 William Byron Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 231 1531 33 21 Josh Berry Wood Brothers Racing Ford 214 6 32 18 23 Bubba Wallace 23XI Racing Toyota 202 1033 19 48 Alex Bowman Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 202 1334 12 6 Brad Keselowski RFK Racing Ford 191 4 35 16 16 A. J. Allmendinger Kaulig Racing Chevrolet 172 12 36 28 60 Ryan Preece RFK Racing Ford 90 1 37 35 1 Ross Chastain Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet 81 1 38 38 88 Connor Zilisch (R) Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet 71 1 Official race results
Race statistics Lead changes: 31 among 15 different drivers Cautions/Laps: 12 for 75 laps Red flags: 0 Time of race: 3 hours, 44 minutes, and 57 seconds Average speed:
Media
Television Prime Video covered the race on the television side. Adam Alexander, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Steve Letarte called the race from the broadcast booth. Kim Coon, Marty Snider, and Trevor Bayne handled pit road for the television side.
Prime VideoBooth announcersPit reportersLap-by-lap: Adam AlexanderColor-commentator: Dale Earnhardt Jr.Color-commentator: Steve Letarte Kim Coon Marty Snider Trevor Bayne
Radio Radio coverage of the race was broadcast by the Performance Racing Network (PRN) and was also simulcasted on Sirius XM NASCAR Radio. Brad Gillie and Nick Yeoman called the race in the booth when the field races through the quad-oval. Doug Turnbull called the race from a billboard in turn 2 when the field raced through turns 1 and 2 and halfway down the backstretch. Pat Patterson called the race from a billboard outside of turn 3 when the field raced through the other half of the backstretch and through turns 3 and 4. Wendy Venturini, Heather DeBeaux, and Andrew Kurland were the pit reporters during the broadcast.
PRNBooth announcersTurn announcersPit reporters Lead announcer: Brad GillieAnnouncer: Nick Yeoman Turns 1 & 2: Doug TurnbullTurns 3 & 4: Pat Patterson Wendy VenturiniHeather DeBeauxAndrew Kurland
Standings after the race
Drivers' Championship standings Pos Driver Points 1 Tyler Reddick 657 2 Denny Hamlin 560 (–97) 3 Ryan Blaney 483 (–174) 1 4 Chase Elliott 462 (–195) 1 5 Ty Gibbs 449 (–208) 6 Kyle Larson 409 (–248) 1 7 Christopher Bell 399 (–258) 1 8 Chris Buescher 393 (–264) 9 Carson Hocevar 383 (–274) 10 Daniel Suárez 378 (–279) 1 11 William Byron 352 (–305) 2 12 Shane van Gisbergen 348 (–309) 2 13 Brad Keselowski 347 (–310) 1 14 Chase Briscoe 343 (–314) 2 15 Bubba Wallace 338 (–319) 1 16 Austin Cindric 306 (–351)Official driver's standings
Manufacturers' Championship standings Pos Manufacturer Points 1 Toyota 637 2 Chevrolet 583 (–54) 3 Ford 468 (–169)
Note: Only the first 16 positions are included for the driver standings.
References