Ryan Blaney is thrilled for NASCAR Cup Series victory at Nashville Superspeedway on Sunday night in the Cracker Barrel 400.
Claiming his first victory of the 2025 season, Ryan Blaney is thrilled for his team Sunday night in the Cracker Barrel 400 at Nashville Superspeedway. The 2023 NASCAR Cup Series champion led a commanding, race-best 139 of the 300 laps to finally secure that all-important Playoff position.
Ryan Blaney’s Thrilling Victory
Blaney has come so close this season to hoisting a trophy only to have random racing bad luck break his heart and challenge his resolve. But Sunday, the sport’s popular 31-year-old, third-generation racer ultimately drove his No. 12 Team Penske Ford to a 2.830-second win over 22-year-old Spire Motorsports’ Carson Hocevar in a 103-lap green flag run that closed out the race.
Climbing on top of his Ford, Blaney expressed his thrill by raising his arms in triumph and then jumping off the car to run up and into the track’s front grandstands to claim the checkered flag before handing it off to an excited young fan.
“I never gave up hope that’s for sure,’’ said Blaney, whose victory puts all three drivers of the reigning champion Penske team into the 2025 Playoffs.
“We’ve had adversity, and this hasn’t really been a good year for us in terms of good fortune, but the 12-boys are awesome. They stick with it no matter how it goes.”
The victory is the 14th of his career with his last win coming at Martinsville last November to qualify for the final four championship.
The Cracker Barrel 400 Results
Hocevar’s runner-up finish ties a career-best effort turned in at Atlanta in February.
“It just proves how strong this group is to go from the disappointment last week,” said Hocevar, who looked strong and led laps at Charlotte Motor Speedway last Sunday only to retire early with mechanical problems. “Sticking to it and having a shot, just proud of this group.
“We were one spot short again, but hopefully this is a step in the right direction,’’ he added.
Joe Gibbs Racing’s Denny Hamlin, who won the opening stage and led 79 laps, finished third despite his helmet hose and hydration system issues. Blaney’s Penske teammate Joey Logano finished fourth with current NASCAR Cup Series championship leader, Hendrick Motorsports’ William Byron rounding out the top-five.
“Just couldn’t run with the 12 there in the super long run, after 40 laps I could maintain with him, but after that he’d just pull away and stretch it on us,’’ said Hamlin, whose fiancé Jordan is expecting to deliver the couple’s third child at any time.
Defending Winner and 2024 Champion Comes Up Short
Logano, the defending race winner also led laps but ultimately wasn’t able to challenge at the end giving up positions to Hocevar and Hamlin.
“The 12 was just lights out which gave them a huge lead and we just weren’t able to hold onto second, the 11 [Hamlin] got by me,’’ Logano said, adding, “Good execution and proud of Team Penske. All our cars have a win now and that’s pretty impressive to have everybody with a win. All the teams are really strong.’’
23XI Racing’s Bubba Wallace, Legacy Motor Club’s Erik Jones, Hendrick Motorsports’ Kyle Larson, 23XI Racing’s Tyler Reddick and JGR’s Christopher Bell rounded out the top ten. The effort marked a particularly significant comeback for Larson, who started 28th on the grid and was involved in an incident on lap 115.
There were 18 lead changes in all among nine drivers. Hamlin (stage one) and Blaney (stage two) claim the stage wins.
Setting Up NASCAR’s In-Season Challenge
New this year, the Nashville race sets the 32-car field for the inaugural NASCAR In-Season Challenge. A bracket-style tournament takes place during the TNT broadcast’s five-race stretch this summer. The tournament starts June 28 at Atlanta followed by the races at Chicago, Sonoma, Dover, and Indianapolis. The winner receives a $1 million prize.
The next three races – Michigan, Mexico City’s Autodromo Hermanos Rodriquez and Pocono – will set the bracket seeding. That is based on a driver’s best finish out of those races.
Former series champion Brad Keselowski claims the 32nd position for the competition. He edges out Trackhouse Racing’s Shane Van Gisbergen only 21 points.
The NASCAR Cup Series Point Standings
Byron continues to lead the NASCAR Cup Series championship standings. He is now 48 points up on Hendrick Motorsports teammate Larson. There are only 12 regular season races remaining to set the 16-driver Playoff field. Their teammate Chase Elliott, who finished 15th Sunday, is the highest-ranked driver (fifth) without a win.
Up Next
The NASCAR Cup Series returns to action next Sunday afternoon, June 8th. The Firekeeper’s Casino 400 at Michigan International Speedway starts at 2 p.m. ET. Coverage is available on Amazon Prime, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio. Reddick is the defending winner at the two-mile speedway – traditionally one of the drivers’ favorite venues on the schedule.