NASCAR moves on to the “Music City” and Nashville, Tennessee this weekend after an eventful visit to New Hampshire.
Rackley Roofing 200
Friday, June 28 @ 8:00PM EST
Lebanon, Tennessee
150 Laps/199.5 Miles
The Craftsman Truck Series was last in action on June 1st, when they visited World Wide Technology Raceway in St. Louis. Corey Heim captured his series leading 4th win of the season in dominant fashion.
Most Recent Winner at Nashville Superspeedway
Carson Hocevar led 40 laps en route to a win in Nashville Last Summer.
Names To Watch
Brenden Queen: Brenden “Butterbean” Queen made his series debut last month at North Wilkesboro and massively impressed. Queen ran Top 10 all day, aside from a pit road penalty that sent him to the rear. He proceeded to march back to the front and finished 4th. Queen will be making his second start for Tricon Garage in the #1 Toyota Tundra.
Clint Bowyer: You read that right, Clint Bowyer is back. Bowyer is a 10-Time Cup Series Race Winner, the 2008 Xfinity Series Champion, and 3-Time Truck Series Race Winner. The now 45-Year Old will be getting back behind the wheel of a race car, in a competition setting, for the first time since retiring from Cup Series competition in 2020. Bowyer will be piloting the #7 Chevrolet Silverado for Spire Motorsports.
My Pick To Win: Nick Sanchez
Tennessee Lottery 250
Saturday, June 29 @ 5:00PM EST
Lebanon, Tennessee
188 Laps/250.04 Miles
Christopher Bell further asserted his dominance at New Hampshire in a thrilling finish, outlasting the dominant driver of the day, Cole Custer, as well as Sheldon Creed. The race started on Wet Tires; something the Xfinity Series had not yet done. Though the Yellow Flag flew soon after the start, as NASCAR Officials deemed the track dry.
Most Recent Winner at Nashville Superspeedway
AJ Allmendinger survived multiple overtime attempts to win in Nashville Last June.
Names To Watch
Tyler Reddick: Tyler Reddick will be behind the wheel of the #26 Toyota Supra for Sam Hunt Racing this weekend. This will be Reddick’s first start of the season in the Xfinity Series. He is a 2-Time Champion of the series and a 10-Time Winner.
Noah Gragson: Gragson will be making his second start of the year for Rette-Jones Racing’s upstart Xfinity program. The team are regulars in the ARCA Menards Series. Gragson is a 13-Time Winner in the Xfinity Series and finished runner-up in the Championship to Ty Gibbs in 2022.
My Pick To Win: Tyler Reddick
Ally 400
Sunday, June 30 @ 3:30PM EST
Lebanon, Tennessee
300 Laps/399 Miles
Christopher Bell completed a sweep of the weekend in New Hampshire. But it was not without controversy. A little after the 200 lap mark, the long expected rains finally came. Pausing the race indefinitely with Tyler Reddick on top of the leaderboard. However, for approximately 30 minutes after the race was red flagged, many fans on social media voiced their opinions. Many saying that the rain was merely a very light drizzle, pointing out that NASCAR has tires perfectly designed for that situation. NASCAR reiterated that the tires are strictly for wet conditions, NOT for racing in the rain.
NASCAR waited out the storm and made up for it though, when around 6:30PM, NASCAR called for all teams to put on the Wet Tires. The combination of the wet conditions and the tires made for a show for the ages. Drivers were spreading from the edge of the grass, all the way too the outside wall and everywhere in between. Many drivers spun and other were taken out in a multi-car incident.
But nonetheless, the praise poured in from fans. The only other issue that arose was that NASCAR was “holding the team’s hands” through the process of choosing when to switch from wet tires to slick tires (A transition that never actually came as the track didn’t dry soon enough). This whole conversation was quickly put to bed, however, by Bell’s Crew Chief, Adam Stevens; citing safety on pit road as the reason why and making clear he agreed with NASCAR’s decision making. Safety should be the number one priority, though the procedure could do with a little adjustment to give teams more freedom.
Either way, Christopher Bell dominated the day, taking his 2nd Cup Series win at New Hampshire and his 7th win at the track across the Top 3 Series.
Most Recent Winner at Nashville Superspeedway
Ross Chastain got Trackhouse Racing a win in their hometown Last Year.
Names To Watch
Ross Chastain: In what has been a down year for Trackhouse Racing, aside of course, from Daniel Suarez’s thrilling 3-wide win at Atlanta, Chastain returns to where he won one year ago, in arguably the best race of his career thus far, from an execution standpoint. Chastain currently sits 9th in points and will be looking to give his team a much needed shot in the arm.
Josh Berry: Berry is a Nashville native (Hendersonville to be specific) and will be making his first Cup Series start at his home track. Berry has been on fire the last month and a half. In his last 7 starts, he has 4 Top-10s and 2-Top 5s. Berry is just a rookie, but he is incredibly experienced and he will look to put that experience to good use this weekend.
Corey Heim: It’s Heim Time yet again in the Cup Series as Corey Heim will be making his 3rd start of the season. Earlier in the year, Heim stepped into the famed #43 for an injured Erik Jones. This time, Heim will be driving for 23XI Racing in the #50 Toyota Camry (typically the #67, but major sponsor, Mobil 1, is celebrating their 50th Anniversary).
My Pick To Win: Ryan Blaney
Image: Meg Oliphant
