Jun 1, 2026, 12:45 PM ET

Team Penske's Ryan Blaney ended with a solid finish of eighth at the end of the Cracker Barrel 400 at Nashville Superspeedway. Blaney started seventh in the race and quietly ran inside the top 10 through the entire first stage. On lap 72, the No. 12 Ford driver made a call to get two tires instead of four for a caution to gain track position. The call worked as Blaney then competed for the stage win alongside A.J. Allmendinger and Kyle Larson, but fell behind both of them to end the stage in third and score eight stage points. In the second stage, Blaney started from second, but lost a few positions to be in the back half of the top five until a caution on lap 146 shuffled him back to the lead. Blaney lost the lead again after pitting during a lap 173 caution and put himself further back in the pack. The No. 12 Ford driver tried regaining positions, but only made it up to 14th and failed to earn further stage points at the end of the second stage. In the final stage, Blaney quietly rode around the top 15 until he went to pit road on lap 217 during another caution. From here, Blaney attempted to save fuel and make it to the end without pitting, which worked until lap 274, when he went to pit for tires and fuel. After one last pit stop on lap 292, Blaney charged from the back to the front and made it up to his eventual finishing position of eighth. This was Blaney's fourth career top-10 finish at Nashville, and it helped move him to third in the regular season standings after 14 races.--Sean Engel - RotoBaller
Source: NASCAR.com