From far and wide across the Southeast, many a musician have come to Nashville, Tenn. to strum a guitar, sing a song and hope that someone is around to hear it. And those who are lucky enough to make it in this town can be heard loud and clear -- almost as loud, in fact, as another favorite tradition in the home of country music.
The NASCAR Cup Series heads to Nashville Superspeedway this weekend for the third running of the Ally 400, continuing the renewal of stock car racing's deep ties to the Nashville area. Over a century of auto racing in this town has produced many NASCAR greats and mainstays like Darrell Waltrip, Sterling Marlin, Bobby Hamilton and others who have come from and to Nashville to race and win.
Now, with the Cup Series having returned to town after a long hiatus in 2021, new names like Kyle Larson and Chase Elliott have gotten their hands on a Gibson Guitar and produced the sweet sound of victory at this unique 1.3-mile concrete oval.
How to watch the NASCAR Cup Series at Nashville
- Date: Sun., Jun. 25
- Location: Nashville Superspeedway -- Lebanon, Tenn.
- Time: 7 p.m. ET
- TV: NBC
- Stream: fuboTV (try for free)
What to watch
- While NASCAR's major schedule realignments over the past several years have been a net positive, one major issue stood out to be addressed. An emphasis on Sunday afternoon races in the southeast meant temperatures well over 90 degrees during Nashville weekend. NASCAR has now addressed that by making Nashville a Sunday night race, which should make for a much more pleasant experience for everyone involved.
Rain and thunderstorms ended up forcing much of last year's Ally 400 to be run at night, which has provided an early baseline for what teams can expect from this track in cooler, nighttime conditions. With concrete surfaces being relatively consistent year-over-year compared to asphalt, that should give two teams in particular an edge to start the weekend.
Hendrick Motorsports has won both of the Cup races at this track, with Kyle Larson dominating the inaugural event in 2021 and Chase Elliott leading the final 39 laps to win last year. That victory for Elliott, though, came in a race that was firmly controlled by Joe Gibbs Racing, with Denny Hamlin, Martin Truex Jr. and Kyle Busch combining to lead 250 of 300 laps.
A stone's throw away from the Joe Gibbs cars, 23XI Racing is not to be discounted. Bubba Wallace was fastest in practice for last year's race and had potential race-winning speed, but errors on pit road relegated the No. 23 to a 12th place finish while teammate Kurt Busch finished second. - With the lone off week of the 2023 season now out of the way, Nashville begins a 20-week run to the end of the 2023 season, including 10 weeks remaining in the regular season. 10 drivers have earned a playoff berth by winning a race this season, leaving six spots available for drivers to make the playoffs on points, as of this point in the season. Of those six, Ross Chastain (+173), Kevin Harvick (+172), Chris Buescher (+102) and Brad Keselowski (+96) all enjoy comfortable advantages above the cut line, with Bubba Wallace (+26) and Alex Bowman (+3) having much more to have to gain -- and plenty to easily lose -- over imminent threats like Daniel Suarez (-3), Ty Gibbs (-11), and Michael McDowell (-14).
Of much greater concern for the playoff bubble drivers, though, is the fact that Chase Elliott enters the race to the playoffs in a must-win scenario having missed seven of the first 16 races. With two top fives in his last three races and only one finish worse than 12th since his return from a leg fracture in April, Elliott's first win of the 2023 season could be coming soon. - This weekend's race will feature a different Goodyear tire compound than the one run at this track last year, as each Cup Series team will use the tire setups that were featured earlier this season at Fontana, Las Vegas, and Kansas. That may or may not have an influence on strategy, as track position proved much more critical than fresh rubber in the race's pivotal moments in 2022.
When the final caution came out with eight laps to go last year, Chase Elliott was able to hang on and win by staying out under the final caution, while Kurt Busch and Ryan Blaney turned sixth and ninth place runs into finishes of second and third respectively by staying out as well. Meanwhile, the three Joe Gibbs Racing cars at the front elected to pit for tires, and all suffered net losses: Denny Hamlin went from third to sixth, while Truex and Busch both finished outside the top 20 after pitting from fourth and sixth.
Pick to win
(Odds via Caesars Sportsbook)
Kyle Busch (+750): One of the first signs that Kyle Busch was a special talent behind the wheel came at Nashville in 2003, when he led 84 of 113 laps to handily win an ARCA race at just 17 years old. His knack for this track hasn't faded as he's won four times at Nashville between the Xfinity and Truck Series -- including his 100th Xfinity win in 2021.
While he's only had two opportunities thus far, a Cup win is missing from Busch's resume at this track. Busch has led the Ally 400 both years that the Cup Series has raced at Nashville, and his resurgence as a regular in Victory Lane this season should put him firmly in the mix to lead the last one this Sunday and pick up his fourth win of the year.
