StatChat 2025 - Cracker Barrel 400 at Nashville

Happy weekend everyone, it’s time for another edition of Stats Saturday. This weekend NASCAR travels to Lebanon, Tennessee for the Cracker Barrel 400 at Nashville Superspeedway.

Nashville Superspeedway is a 1.33-mile tri-oval speedway that opened in 2001.  Relatively new to the NASCAR circuit, Kyle Larson was the first Cup Series winner at the track, winning in 2021.  Last year’s winner at this race was Joey Logano.

Tomorrow’s race will be 300 laps long (for a total of 399.90 miles), with stage breaks occurring at 90 – 185 – 300.  Pit road speed is 45 mph, and the caution vehicle runs at 55 mph.  The fuel window is between 67-73 laps.

This year, the NASCAR Cup Series has run 3,731 laps, for 5,038.64 miles so far this season.  No driver has completed every single lap, but Chase Elliott is one lap behind, and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. is three behind.

Top 5 Career Average Finishers at Nashville:

Zane Smith	2.00 over 1 race
Kyle Larson	4.50 over 4 races (1 win)
Joey Logano	9.75 over 4 races (1 win)
Ross Chastain	10.25 over 4 races (1 win)
Denny Hamlin	10.50 over 4 races

Bottom 5 Career Average Finishers at Nashville:

Riley Herbst	37.00 over 1 race
Ty Dillon	31.50 over 2 races
JH Nemechek	31.00 over 1 race
Chase Briscoe	29.25 over 4 races
Cole Custer	28.00 over 2 races

Nashville is an Intermediate Track.

Top 5 Career Average Finishers at Intermediate Tracks:

Denny Hamlin	12.08 over 341 races (28 wins)
Kyle Larson	12.25 over 170 races (18 races)
Kyle Busch	12.46 over 357 races (29 races)
Joey Logano	12.47 over 287 races (19 wins)
Chase Elliott	12.48 over 160 races (6 wins)

Bottom 5 Career Average Finishers at Intermediate Tracks:

JH Nemechek	22.94 over 46 races
Ty Dillon	22.36 over 127 races
Ryan Preece	22.26 over 93 races
SVG	22.13 over 11 races
Josh Berry	21.40 over 28 races (1 win)

Because of Nashville’s recent introduction to the Cup Series schedule, there have only been four races there – and each time has been a different winner.  So Joey Logano, Kyle Larson, Chase Elliott, and Ross Chastain are all tied for winningest at this track.

Notable drivers who have not won at Nashville:

Kyle Busch	(has won at 24 other tracks)
Denny Hamlin	(has won at 19 other tracks)
Brad Keselowski	(has won at 17 other tracks)
Christopher Bell	(has won at 10 other tracks)
William Byron	(has won at 10 other tracks)

No drivers have scored their first Cup Series victory at Nashville.

Based on average finish, Zane Smith and Kyle Larson list Charlotte as their BEST track, and Chase Briscoe lists it as his WORST.

Based on their point pace, let’s have a look at how this season is comparing to last season for drivers:

Drivers Faring Better than in 2024

Tyler Reddick	+629 pts
Chris Buescher	+449 pts
William Byron	+433 pts
Bubba Wallace	+403 pts
Chase Briscoe	+326 pts

Drivers Faring Worse than in 2024

Brad Keselowski	-440 pts
Ty Gibbs	-334 pts
Joey Logano	-234 pts
Josh Berry	-204 pts
Todd Gilliland	-199 pts

Next, let’s look at who’s having their best and worst career year by Average Finish:

Best Career Year

William Byron	9.54
Christopher Bell	10.92
Chase Elliott	11.23
Ross Chastain	12.92
Chase Briscoe	14.23
Ricky Stenhouse Jr.	16.85
Todd Gilliland	18.77
JH Nemechek	18.85
Ryan Preece	18.92
Josh Berry	20.46

Worst Career Year

Brad Keselowski	25.46
Cole Custer	25.23
Carson Hocevar	23.08
Ty Gibbs	20.85
Zane Smith	20.38

Rookie of the Year Battle

SVG	161
Riley Herbst	160

The Manufacturer Standings are calculated by awarding points to the highest finisher for each manufacturer according to their finishing position.  (40 for 1st, 35 for 2nd, 34 for 3rd, etc.)  No stage points or playoff points count.

Manufacturer Standings

Chevrolet	477
Toyota	459
Ford	437

Here is the same formula, but used on a team-vs-team basis:

Chartered Team Standings

Hendrick	467
Joe Gibbs	445
Penske	386
Trackhouse	373
RFK	339
23XI	332
Front Row	310
Spire	310
RCR	303
Legacy MC	286
Kaulig	280
Hyak	262
Wood Bros	220
Haas Factory	153
Rick Ware	87

At each stage break, the Top 10 drivers are awarded points based on their finishing positions.  Here are the leaders this year:

Stage Point Leaders

Kyle Larson	128
William Byron	128
Ryan Blaney	107
Tyler Reddick	94
Bubba Wallace	90
Denny Hamlin	88
Alex Bowman	83
Chase Elliott	77
Christopher Bell	73
Austin Cindric	71

Milestone Watch

Chase Elliott	Looking for his 20th Career Win
Erik Jones	Looking for his 40th Career Top 5
Denny Hamlin	This will be his 700th Career Cup Series Start
Ricky Stenhouse Jr.	This will be his 450th Career Cup Series Start

Here are the top 10 longest active winless streaks:

Winless Streaks

Justin Haley	154 races
Cole Custer	110 races
Bubba Wallace	92 races
Erik Jones	92 races
Kyle Busch	70 races
Michael McDowell	61 races
Daniel Suarez	47 races
Chase Elliott	40 races
Brad Keselowski	36 races
AJ Allmendinger	33 races

The race begins Sunday, June 1st at 7:00 pm EST (4:00 pm PST) – Enjoy the race everyone!

Don’t forget to follow us on Twitter @RacingRefresh

Is there an error? Is there a stat missing that you’d like to see? Let us know!