The Post Race Inspection - 2025 Cracker Barrel 400 at Nashville

Photo by James Gilbert/Getty Images

By Adam Carabine & Logan Morris

Logan Morris:  Hey, Adam! 

Adam Carabine: Hello Logan, or should I say… Howdy? NASCAR was just in Nashville, after all! We had an overall pretty exciting race in Music City, and I’m excited to discuss it with you.  Shall we start with the winner?  Ryan Blaney’s up-and-down season hits a high note (see what I did there?) and he locks himself into the playoffs.  Thoughts on his race Sunday?

LM: I thought this was the best Nashville race we’ve seen thus far! The changing track temp constantly kept things evolving. This was one of those rare races where we had everything in one race. Blaney showed some prowess in the final stage, chaos ran wild in stage two, and strategy was being formed in stage one. Blaney breaks the bad luck string, and he’s now locked in, but there was great racing everywhere! I really enjoyed it. 

AC: It was a fun race, for sure.  It’s funny to me, Blaney has had such an up and down year, and yet his winless streak only dates back to the Martinsville playoff race last season.  It felt like it had been longer for some reason, but I’m sure he’s pleased to finally lock himself into the playoffs.  Blaney is tied for the most DNFs this year, and yet the races he finishes are great.  He was certainly in the conversation to point his way into the playoffs if he ended up staying winless all season, but now he doesn’t have to worry.

It was a gutsy call by his crew chief in that first stage that really led to all of this.  Traditionally once you’re in that fuel window, whoever can pit first under green has an advantage - and then everyone else panics and pits quickly thereafter.  Because tire fall-off at Nashville is much less than at a more abrasive track, Blaney’s crew chief, Jonathan Hassler, kept him out in front much longer than anyone else, and he managed to salvage some track position, and let him stay there for the duration of the race. 

LM: Remember, Penkse has a history of gutsy calls here. Paul Wolfe and Joey Logano famously squeezed more fuel out of the 22 car last season than we ever thought possible. Penske prides itself on being a team, so I think it’s fair to wonder if that is something Hassler was keeping in mind. No matter what, it paid off and got the 2023 champion back into the playoffs. 

AC: Fair enough, at this point it’s probably fair to point to Team Penske as some of the best at fuel savings.  I think we also need to talk about Carson Hocevar, the young phenom.  Sure, there are some bumps and bruises along the way, and certainly his racecraft could use some polishing, but boy he’s been exciting to watch these last few weeks.  He was definitely in the conversation last week at the Coca-Cola 600 until his engine blew up, and this week he earned a very respectable P2.  All of this happening on the same day where Ricky Stenhouse Jr. might not think there’s anything respectable about the guy.  Thoughts?

LM: He is a future star. He has a personality in an era that lacks it. But in Nashville, his immaturity or rawness was obvious again.  He didn’t need to drive so aggressively at that point in the race, especially in Nashville, where you’re racing the track as much as you are the fellow drivers because of the constantly changing conditions.  He could be a future champion. But his “77 against the world” mindset is doing him no favors. Fans may like it, and I get it. But the drivers are the ones who keep and return the receipts. 

AC: Yeah, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. in his exit interview definitely made reference to “needing to do something about that” in the future, so Hocevar may want to watch out.  But on the other end of things, Stenhouse is going to have to catch him.  There’s certainly some raw talent there, and I don’t think it’s a coincidence that we’ve seen him up front in the last few races.  My bold hot take prediction at the start of the year was that we’d see him win more than one race - I’m feeling more comfortable about that now than I was when I first said it! 

We briefly touched on it, but I like Nashville as a track.  It was announced that it was a sellout for the third year in a row, and so clearly there’s some fan buy-in.  Why don’t we get two dates at this track, rather than at some of the others who have been unfortunately producing some duds?

LM: Great question! I think if we keep seeing races like tonight, you could see that conversation take place. However, we’re in era where the demand for NASCAR to come to various tracks feels like it’s at an all-time high. Perhaps that’s false. I’m sure during the sport’s heyday of the 90s and early 2000s was astronomical, but the leadership wasn’t willing to field many offers. Now, we’re heading to Mexico in two weeks for a points-paying race. Point being, times have changed, and getting two dates anywhere besides the “tried and true” places feels like corn-dogs fighting for kennel space. 

AC: You’re probably right, and with the schedule already probably longer than it should be, realistically, we probably won’t see a double Nashville race anytime soon, but a guy can dream!  I wonder if we could see Nashville move into the playoffs, or at least into a more pivotal part of the schedule just so the stakes are higher in the future - that might be fun!

Someone else I think we need to discuss is Kyle Larson.  I’m not sure what’s going on with that 5 team, but they seem to be magicians each week.  It was looking like Larson might not even finish on the lead lap, and suddenly you blink your eyes and it’s the end of the race and he’s in the Top 10.  Do you chalk this up to him being the ‘greatest in the world’ right now? Or is there something special in the water at Hendrick - particularly at Larson’s team?

LM: I’m going to say both! He, almost without question, is the best in the world, right now. But, we know NASCAR takes a team. Cliff Daniels and his guys are making all the right calls, and that’s not easy. We also know what HMS is capable of as an organization. But, it takes all of it to do the types of things they’re doing right now. If you get all the ingredients of a cake and just sat them on a stove, it doesn’t mean anything. You have to blend and cook it properly. The 5 team is just that.  

AC: It must be so demoralizing to be a team that has one of their best days, and to watch Kyle Larson struggle all day and still finish ahead of you.  Though I suppose that’s part of what makes Larson so good, his killer instinct.  Anything else we should get to before our weekly awards?

LM: No sir! Let’s see where we shake out this week! 

Best Performer

LM: For best performer, I’m going to go outside the box and say Erik Jones of Legacy Motor Club. His P7 doesn’t tell the whole story. For a considerable amount of time, he had a top-four car. This season has been disappointing for the 43 crew so far, but Sunday was a big step in the right direction. 

AC: It’s not a bad pick, Jones has looked good in the last couple of weeks, and so has Legacy as a whole.  I hope they continue to get better!  For my best performer I’m actually going to give props to Denny Hamlin.  With a new baby on the way (possibly being born during the race, who knows), and then some issues with his helmet, so he’s not getting any cool air pumped through to his head.  That’s a miserable day, and he still was a contender all day long, finishing P3. When the going gets tough, the tough get going.

Biggest Move of the Race

LM: It has to be Hassler’s calls atop the box of the 12 crew. Jonathan Hassler and Ryan Blaney truly won that race together. 

AC: I usually like to pick something different than you do just for the sake of our readers, but it’s hard to argue with that.  

Biggest Disappointment

LM: I’m going to go with Chase Eliott. He has a win at Nashville, so I expected a better showing than P15. As much as we praise the 5 team. Something feels a little off at the 9. 

AC: I’m going to go outside the box here and say I’m disappointed that Ricky Stenhouse Jr. didn’t stick around to ‘have a chat’ with Carson Hocevar after the race.  He was quoted as saying he wasn’t going to talk to him after because “it’s too expensive,” likely referring to the fines he had to pay last time he got in a post-race altercation.  But boy it would have been fun to have another Stenhouse chat meme.

What to Watch for Next Weekend

LM: Next week, we head to a whole new ball game - the two-mile track in Michigan. Strictly two-mile tracks don’t pop up often, so I’m very curious to see what next week looks like. Hot take, I think we get a new winner next week! This is another track where someone like the 9 could break through. 

AC: Do you mean like a first-time winner? Or just someone who hasn’t yet won this year?  Because the way Carson Hocevar has been going, I could see him getting his first-ever Cup Series win next week!  Though keep an eye on Zane Smith and Ty Gibbs, both drivers have a decent history at the track too.

LM: I could be coy and say I’m not going to tell you either way, so I can be right in either case, but we are the land of hot takes, so I’m going to say a brand new first-time winner next week!

AC: I look forward to it! Enjoy the races everyone!