Denny Hamlin wins NASCAR Nashville race Cracker Barrel 400
· Yahoo Sports
LEBANON – Denny Hamlin won the Nashville NASCAR race, Cracker Barrel 400, in thrilling fashion by holding off teammates Christopher Bell and Chase Briscoe on the final two laps, on May 31.
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Hamlin, Bell and Briscoe — a trio of Joe Gibbs Racing drivers — earned a top-three sweep from Toyota. Hamlin is the first Toyota winner for a NASCAR Cup race since the series came to Nashville Superspeedway six years ago. Hamlin's win came after a track record 31st lead change on the final lap before a sold-out crowd (38,000).
The previous record for lead changes was 21.
Hamlin, Bell and Briscoe ran three-wide on the final lap.
Bell was second, followed by Briscoe, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Chase Elliott.
Hamlin, 45, gave a victory bow in honor of Kyle Busch, who died on May 21, after the victory.
Hamlin went from last to first for his second win of the 2026 season after being penalized for jumping the start from the pole position. It was Hamlin's 62nd career win. He is the winningest active Cup driver.
The start of the race was delayed by an hour and twenty minutes due to the weather.
Once the race finally started, it quickly became a wreckfest. There were 12 caution flags, 76 laps run under yellow, and nine drivers − Brad Keselowski, Ryan Preece, AJ Allmendinger, Ross Chastain, Connor Zilisch, Josh Berry, William Byron, Alex Bowman and Buba Wallace − knocked out of action.
It was also a track record for the fewest cars on the lead lap with 15.
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This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Denny Hamlin wins NASCAR Nashville race Cracker Barrel 400