This Weekend in NASCAR – Storylines: Nashville

• Next Race: Ally 400
• The Place: Nashville Superspeedway
• The Date: Sunday, June 20
• The Time: 3:30 p.m. ET
• TV: NBCSN, 2:45 p.m. ET
• Radio: MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio
• Distance: 399 miles (300 Laps); Stage 1 (Ends on Lap 90), Stage 2 (Ends on Lap 185), Final Stage (Ends on Lap 300)

Nashville Superspeedway sets the stage for the NASCAR Cup Series

Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race, the Ally 400 at 3:30 p.m. ET on NBCSN, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, will mark the first time in series history that Nashville Superspeedway will host a Cup event.

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.

In 2021, Nashville is scheduled to host its first NASCAR Cup Series race on Sunday, June 20 (Father’s Day). The Father’s Day event will be 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.

This weekend’s Ally 400 will be the 44th different race the NASCAR Cup Series has hosted on Father’s Day in the Modern Era (1972-Present) and the first time since 2017 the series has competed on the special holiday. Racing on Father’s Day has been a staple in the NASCAR Cup Series with only six seasons since 1972 not having a Father’s Day race: 2000 (June 19, 2000, Pocono race was scheduled for Father’s Day but postponed due to weather to next day), 2015, 2016, 2018, 2019, 2020 (no race scheduled on Father’s Day). Nashville Superspeedway will become the fifth different track to host a NASCAR Cup Series race on Father’s Day joining Michigan International Speedway (30 races), Pocono Raceway (eight races), Riverside International Raceway (three races) and Sonoma Raceway (two races).

In the Modern Era (1972-Present), no driver has won more times on Father’s Day than NASCAR Hall of Famer Cale Yarborough, who won four times at Michigan International Speedway on observed holiday (1977, 1978, 1982, 1983).

In total, four active NASCAR Cup Series drivers have won on Father’s Day – Kyle Larson, Denny Hamlin, Ryan Newman and Kurt Busch.

The most recent driver to win on Father’s Day in the NASCAR Cup Series was Kyle Larson on June 18, 2017 at Michigan International Speedway. Larson is red hot this season, winning three points-paying races (Las Vegas, Charlotte and Sonoma) the NASCAR All-Star Race, and posting nine top fives and 11 top 10s.

Larson looks for third straight points-paying Cup race win

Hendrick Motorsport’s driver Kyle Larson has been performing lights out lately winning the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway three weeks ago, then conquering the hilly road course of Sonoma Raceway two weeks ago and finally capturing his second career NASCAR All-Star Race win at Texas Motor Speedway last weekend. Now the 28-year-old is looking to get his third straight points-paying race win this weekend at Nashville Superspeedway to become just the fifth different active driver to accomplish the feat; joining Kyle Busch, Kevin Harvick, Brad Keselowski and Joey Logano.

This weekend will be Larson’s NASCAR national series debut at Nashville Superspeedway.

• Next Race: Tennessee Lottery 250
• The Place: Nashville Superspeedway
• The Date: Saturday, June 19
• The Time: 3:30 p.m. ET
• TV: NBCSN, 3 p.m. ET
• Radio: MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio
• Distance: 250.04 miles (188 Laps); Stage 1 (Ends on Lap 45), Stage 2 (Ends on Lap 90), Final Stage (Ends on Lap 188)

Heading to Music City!

The NASCAR Xfinity Series heads to Nashville Superspeedway this weekend for the Tennessee Lottery 250 at 3:30 p.m. ET on NBCSN, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio the 15^th race of the season.

The last time the Xfinity Series raced at Nashville Superspeedway was in 2011 and a few of the drivers entered to run in this weekend’s race competed at Nashville back then.

Those drivers are Justin Allgaier, Michael Annett, Jeremy Clements, Timmy Hill, JJ Yeley, David Starr, Landon Cassill and NASCAR Cup Series two-time champion Kyle Busch. Joe Gibbs Racing’s Busch is the only driver entered this weekend that has previously won at Nashville (2009).

Nashville Superspeedway has hosted 21 Xfinity Series races total. The first Xfinity Series event at Nashville was on April 14, 2001, when Greg Biffle took home the victory.

Most recently, Carl Edwards won both races at Nashville in 2011 and Brad Keselowski won in 2010.

In total, there have been 15 different pole winners and 14 different race winners at the 1.33-mile track. The youngest Xfinity Nashville winner is Joey Logano in 2009 at 18 years, 10 months, 18 days. The oldest winner is former series champion David Green in 2003 at 45 years, 2 months, 15 days.

Only two races in history have been won from the pole or first starting position. In 2005, Reed Sorenson won from the pole and in 2009 Kyle Busch won from the pole.

Clint Bowyer’s first Xfinity Series victory was at Nashville in 2005 and Brad Keselowski’s first victory in the series was in 2008.

Ricky Stenhouse Jr. made his first ever Xfinity Series start in 2009 at Nashville.

Of active drivers in the series, Allgaier will make his seventh start at the Tennessee track along with his JR Motorsports teammate Annett doing the same. Kyle Busch will make his 10^th start and Clements will make his sixth. Landon Cassill will make his third start as well as Timmy Hill. David Starr will make his second career start at Nashville and JJ Yeley will make his ninth.

There are 42 cars entered in this weekend’s Tennessee Lottery 250. The race will be 250.04 miles (188 laps) and the event will be broken up in to three stages – Stage 1 will end on Lap 45 and Stage 2 will end on Lap 90.

Who has the upper hand at Nashville?

With some drivers having made previous starts in the Xfinity Series at Nashville Superspeedway, those drivers might feel a little more confident heading into this weekend’s race than others.

Especially for someone like Kyle Busch who has won here before and is coming off of his 99^th career Xfinity Series win last weekend at Texas Motor Speedway. Busch will make his 11th career start this weekend at Nashville in the Xfinity Series. He has one win (2009) from the pole position and four top fives and five top 10s in his 10 starts. He has an average start of 8.9 and an average finish of 12.8. He’s led 490 laps and completed 2,197 laps of 2,250 attempted.

In six starts, Justin Allgaier has three top fives, three top 10s and one pole award. He led 58 laps and has an average start of 11.2 and an average finish of 10.8. Allgaier has finished fourth three times – both races in 2010 and most recently in 2011.

Michael Annett’s best finish in six starts at Nashville is ninth in 2010. He has an average start of 18.0 and an average finish of 17.0.

In five starts for Jeremy Clements, he has a best finish of 19th that came in 2010 and in only two starts, Landon Cassill has a best finish of ninth that came in 2008.

JJ Yeley will make his ninth start on Saturday at Nashville. He has a best finish of fourth from 2006. In total, he has one top five and three top 10s with an average finish of 15.4.

In two Xfinity Nashville starts, Timmy Hill finished 33rd and 22nd and in David Starr’s one start at the track, he finished 29th.

100 on the horizon for Kyle Busch
On top of the fact that he has experience and a Xfinity Series race win at Nashville Superspeedway already to his name, Kyle Busch has even more incentive to take home another win this weekend.

Busch is going for his 100^th NASCAR Xfinity Series victory after grabbing his 99^th last weekend at Texas Motor Speedway.

If Busch wins this weekend, he will become just the third driver in NASCAR national series history to win 100 or more races in a single series.

He’ll be joining elite company in NASCAR Hall of Famers Richard Petty (200 NASCAR Cup Series wins) and David Pearson (105 NASCAR Cup Series wins).

Busch is competing in his 19th Xfinity Series season. He has 359 starts, 99 wins, 222 top fives, 260 top 10s and 69 poles.

His first start was at Charlotte Motor Speedway in 2003, where he started fifth and finished second for Hendrick Motorsports.

He competed in seven races that season, and in 2004 he competed fulltime for Rick Hendrick. He got his first win that year at Richmond Raceway and went on to win four more times that season. He won the Rookie of the Year Award in 2004, the year Martin Truex Jr., his now Joe Gibbs Racing teammate, won the championship.

In 2008, Busch joined Joe Gibbs Racing where 88 of his 99 wins came. In 2009, Busch won the Xfinity Series Championship.

Of note, 2010 was a career best season for Busch, winning a series record 13 races in a single year.

Busch has also scored victories at Nashville in the Truck Series in 2010 and 2011. Those were his first and only two starts at the track in the series. He led 131 laps in 2010 and led 140 laps in 2011.

• Next Race: Rackley Roofing 200
• The Place: Nashville Superspeedway
• The Date: Friday, June 18
• The Time: 8 p.m. ET
• TV: FS1, 7 p.m. ET
• Radio: MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio
• Distance: 199.5 miles (150 Laps); Stage 1 (Ends on Lap 45), Stage 2 (Ends on Lap 90), Final Stage (Ends on Lap 150)

Camping World Trucks head back to Music City, U.S.A.

For the first time in almost a decade the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series will return to Music City, U.S.A. for the Rackley Roofing 200 at Nashville Superspeedway this Friday, June 18 at 8 p.m. ET on FS1, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

Nashville Superspeedway is a 1.33-mile, D-shaped, all concrete oval located just outside Nashville, Tennessee. The first NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race at Nashville Superspeedway was on August 10, 2001, and the race was won by Scott Riggs driving a Dodge for team owner Jim Smith. Riggs dominated the event leading 131 of the 150 laps (87.3%). In total, Nashville Superspeedway has hosted the Camping World Truck Series 13 times producing 10 different pole winners and 11 different race winners from 2001 to 2011. ThorSport Racing’s Matt Crafton is the only series driver to make starts in all 13 previous Truck races at Nashville.

At 5:05 p.m. ET on Friday, June 18 Cometic Gaskets Pole Qualifying will be held at Nashville Superspeedway to determine the starting lineup for the Rackley Roofing 200. Nashville has produced 10 different Truck Series pole winners all-time, led by Mike Skinner (2005, 2007), Kyle Busch (2010, 2011), and Todd Bodine (2008, 2010) with two poles each.

Johnny Benson (2006, 2008) and Kyle Busch (2010, 2011) lead the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series wins at Nashville Superspeedway with two victories each. The fans are guaranteed to see a new Truck winner at Nashville this weekend, as none of the former winners are entered in the event.

John Hunter Nemechek is after his third straight win this weekend

Like a shooting star, Kyle Busch Motorsports’ driver John Hunter Nemechek has shot across the wins column in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series this season. In 11 races Nemechek has scored a series leading four victories this season; including the last two and now in Friday night’s Rackley Roofing 200 at Nashville Superspeedway he looks to become just the eighth different driver in series history to win three consecutive races; joining Ron Hornaday Jr., Kyle Busch, Johnny Benson, Greg Biffle, Todd Bodine, Kevin Harvick, and Mike Skinner.

NASCAR Hall of Famer Ron Hornaday Jr. leads the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series in consecutive wins with five straight back in 2009. 11 times in the Truck Series has a driver won three or more consecutive races. Nemechek’s truck owner Kyle Busch was the most recent driver to accomplish the feat in the series in 2019 winning four straight.  

Nemechek is currently atop the series driver standings with a 78 points lead over second place Ben Rhodes. The 24-year-old from Mooresville, N.C., will be making his series track debut this weekend at Nashville Superspeedway.

Six Pack: Only six drivers entered this weekend have competed at Nashville before

Since the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series hasn’t competed at Nashville Superspeedway in nearly a decade, having experience at the 1.33-mile track is at premium. This weekend of the 43 drivers entered to compete in the Rackley Roofing 200, only six have previous series experience at the concrete facility just outside Music City, U.S.A.

ThorSport Racing’s Matt Crafton has the most experience of any Camping World Truck Series driver at Nashville having made all 13 previous series starts at the track. In his 13 starts, he has collected one top five, seven top 10s and an average finish of 10.7.

The driver with the next most starts at Nashville is Norm Benning with six career starts at the track. Benning has put up an average finish of 27.6 in his six starts and has posted a best finish of 22nd twice, most recently 2010.

Next in line in terms of Nashville experience is Crafton’s ThorSport Racing teammate Johnny Sauter, who has made five series starts at the 1.33-mile track posting two top fives, four top 10s and a series leading average finish of 6.2. In his last start at Nashville (2011), he finished runner-up to Austin Dillon.

Jennifer Jo Cobb has the next most series starts at Nashville among active drivers with three. In Cobb’s three starts she posted a best finish of 19th in 2010. Her average finish at the track is 22.1. Tina Gordon holds the series record for best finish by a female competitor at Nashville with a 13th-place finish in 2003.

Parker Kligerman has also made two starts in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series at Nashville posting one top five and two top 10s. His average finish at 1.33-mile track is 7.5.

Lastly, Clay Greenfield has made two series starts at Nashville posting a best finish of 23rd in 2010.

source – NASCAR communications