TRACK: Nashville Superspeedway (1.333 mile oval) DISTANCE: 300 Laps – STAGE 1: 90 Laps, Stage 2: 95 Laps, FINAL STAGE 115 LAPS, 400 Miles)

TRACK HISTORY/TRENDS

This is only the third time that the track has ever hosted a Cup race.

Nashville Superspeedway hosted its first NASCAR national series races back in April of 2001. Through 2011, the 1.33-mile D-shaped oval with 14 degrees of banking in the turns was home to 21 NASCAR Xfinity Series races and 13 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series events prior to the 2021 tripleheader weekend.

In 2021, Nashville held its first NASCAR Cup Series race on Sunday, June 20 (Father’s Day). The Father’s Day event was the first NASCAR Cup Series race in the Nashville area since 1984; when the series last competed at Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway, 0.549-mile paved oval, on July 14, 1984. The race was won by Geoff Bodine driving the No. 5 Chevrolet for Hendrick Motorsports.

Nashville Superspeedway is the largest concrete-only track in NASCAR, and the 1.33-mile speedway is owned by Dover Motorsports, Inc., which also owns Dover International Speedway in Delaware.

Both years, the winner finished in the points in both stages.

2021: Larson: 2nd, 1st

2022: Elliott: 8th, 4th

Hendrick Motorsports is 2-for-2 here and won the 1984 Nashville race at the Fairgrounds to make them victors in the last three trips to Music City USA.

Ford has led just 11 total laps here.

Toyota led 253 of 300 laps a year ago and 10 laps in 2021.

Chevrolet led 282 of 300 laps in 2021 and 52 more last year.

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Favorites

Kyle Larson (+500)

He led all but 36 laps in his 2021 win and backed that up with being fourth a year ago. The thing is, he was also 32nd and 20th respectively at Dover and Darlington too this season as well. In saying that, he did have a fast car in Dover but was an innocent bystander for Ross Chastain taking out Brennan Poole and in Darlington, had the race won before a late caution and Chastain’s bumper again.

Martin Truex Jr.(+700)

Stats say 22nd in both races here. However, Truex led 82 laps last year and was a bad pit call away from a win. Truex swept both stages a year ago and won at Dover this year as well as having race winning car in Darlington before crashing last month. Truex enters on the heels of a Sonoma win for which he has seven Top-8 finishes in the last nine points paying races including three consecutive Top-5 efforts.

Denny Hamlin (+800)

While he was only 21st in 2021, Hamlin led 114 laps from the pole in a sixth-place effort last year. He was second in both stages a year ago too. Hamlin had a top three car, but a bad pit call at the end kept him out of victory lane. He was fifth and 12th at Dover and Darlington respectively this year too.

Chase Elliott (+800)

He’s qualified sixth and fourth respectively and won a year ago too. Elliott was 11th and third this year on Dover and Darlington as well.

William Byron (+800)

Byron finished third in 2021, he won Darlington this year and was also fourth in Dover this spring too. With HMS having won both races at this track by two different drivers, Byron is next in line for victory. On intermediate tracks this season, He’s finished first, third, first, second and eighth respectively.

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Sleepers

Ross Chastain (+1100)

He was third and second respectively the last two years at Dover, had a car capable of winning Darlington the last two years too and was runner-up and fifth here in his two tries. Need I say any more?

Ryan Blaney (+1200)

These used to be his worst types of tracks. Then he went out and finished third in Dover this spring and ninth at Darlington. Here, Blaney has qualified 10th and sixth respectively and finished third just last year.

Bubba Wallace (+2200)

20th and 12th are his two Nashville finishes. In saying that, he has four Top-5 finishes in five starts on intermediate tracks this season as well.

Chris Buescher (+8000)

While he was in the Top-10 at both Dover and Darlington this year, his pair of Nashville finishes are 36th and 30th too. Still, five Top-5 finishes in the last seven points paying races gives me enough reason to overlook the last two Nashville finishes.

Austin Dillon (+10000)

He won a Truck race there and was 12th and 14th in the two Cup races.

Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (+10000)

He was sixth in 2021, 15th in Dover and 13th at Darlington.

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Fades

Kyle Busch (+700)

The good? Busch has pair of Xfinity Series wins (2009, 2021) and a pair of Truck Series wins (2010, 2011). The bad? His two Cup finishes are 11th and 21st. He led 10 laps in the inaugural race and 54 a year ago. He was 21st this year in Dover too. However, he does have four consecutive Top-7 finishes on the season.

Christopher Bell (+1100)

The Joe Gibbs Racing driver has a pair of Top-10 finishes (9th, 8th) as well as being sixth in Dover and 14th in Darlington this year. The only thing about Bell is, he’s not had a Top-5 finish since his Bristol Dirt win on Easter (8 race drought).

Tyler Reddick (+1600)

18th in both Cup starts here. He was seventh in Dover and 22nd in Darlington this year too. Reddick’s finished 22nd or worse in three of his last four starts on the season.

Joey Logano (+1800)

He’s a past Xfinity Series winner here and 10th and ninth respectively in Cup. However, he was 31st in Dover and 18th in Darlington last month too. While he’s had a third place finish in each of the last two races, I don’t get a good feeling about him on Sunday,

Kevin Harvick (+2000)

He has a pair of Xfinity Series wins (2006, 2010) at Nashville, was fifth and 10th in his two Cup starts here to go along with being runner-up at Darlington last month. The only thing is, that Darlington result is Harvick’s only Top-5 in his last nine races too.

Alex Bowman (+3000)

Despite this being such an important race for he and his sponsor, Bowman’s two Nashville finishes were 14th and 36th respectively. On the season, he’s finished 12th, 26th and 15th respectively since he’s been back from injury but prior was eighth, 29th, 11th and 13th too. His last Top-5 came back in late March at COTA. His last oval Top-5 was in early March at Vegas (nearly four months ago).

Daniel Suarez (+4000)

He was seventh and 15th respectively here and 35th in Dover and 34th in Darlington this year too. Five of his last six finishes have been 15th or worse on the season.

Brad Keselowski (+4500)

He does have 2 NXS wins (2008, 2010) at Nashville but was only 23rd and 29th in his pair of Cup starts. He was eighth and fourth respectively at Dover and Darlington, however.

Aric Almirola (+10000)

He won the pole for this race and finished fourth in 2021 while also starting 11th and finishing 17th in 2022.

Chase Briscoe (+10000)

His pair of Nashville finishes are 31st and 34th respectively.

Austin Cindric (+15000)

Finished seventh as a rookie last year but was 26th and 19th at Dover and Darlington this year and has finished 13th or worse in the last 10 races on the season.

Erik Jones (+15000)

19th and 11th are his two finishes.

Michael McDowell (+30000)

16th and 13th here, 22nd and 33rd in his two Dover and Darlington finishes this year.

Justin Haley (+30000)

35th and 23rd are his two Nashville finishes.

Harrison Burton (+30000)

25th as a rookie a year ago.

Todd Gilliland (+100000)

24th last year.