NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Ryan Blaney claimed his first victory of the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series season on June 1, 2025, dominating the Cracker Barrel 400 at Nashville Superspeedway. The 2023 champion led 139 of 300 laps in his No. 12 Team Penske Ford, finishing 2.830 seconds ahead of Spire Motorsports’ Carson Hocevar. The win secured Blaney’s spot in the 2025 Playoffs, joining his Penske teammates Joey Logano and Austin Cindric, marking a sweep for the reigning champion team.
Blaney, 31, overcame a season of near-misses to triumph in a 103-lap green flag run that closed the race. After crossing the finish line, he climbed atop his car, raised his arms, and ran into the grandstands to claim the checkered flag, which he gifted to a young fan. “I never gave up hope that’s for sure,” Blaney said. “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.”
Hocevar, 22, earned a career-tying second-place finish, matching his result from Atlanta in February. “It just proves how strong this group is to go from the disappointment last week,” Hocevar said, referencing a mechanical issue at Charlotte. “We were one spot short again, but hopefully this is a step in the right direction.” Denny Hamlin of Joe Gibbs Racing, who led 79 laps and won Stage 1, took third despite helmet hose and hydration issues. Logano and championship leader William Byron of Hendrick Motorsports rounded out the top five.
The race saw 18 lead changes among nine drivers, with Blaney and Hamlin claiming Stage 2 and Stage 1, respectively. “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,” Hamlin said. Logano, the defending race winner, noted, “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.” He added, “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.”
Bubba Wallace, Erik Jones, Kyle Larson, Tyler Reddick, and Christopher Bell completed the top 10. Larson’s eighth-place finish was notable, as he started 28th and overcame a lap-115 incident. The race, which averaged 129.068 mph, featured seven cautions for 35 laps and lasted 3 hours, 5 minutes, and 29 seconds. Brad Keselowski secured the 32nd and final spot for the NASCAR In-Season Challenge, a new bracket-style tournament starting June 28 at Atlanta, by 21 points over Shane Van Gisbergen.
The Nashville race sets the field for the In-Season Challenge, a five-race TNT-broadcast event with a $1 million prize. The next three races—Michigan, Mexico City, and Pocono—will determine seeding based on each driver’s best finish. Byron leads the championship standings by 48 points over teammate Larson, with 12 regular-season races remaining to set the 16-driver Playoff field. Chase Elliott, fifth in points, remains the highest-ranked driver without a win.
The NASCAR Cup Series continues June 8 at Michigan International Speedway for the Firekeeper’s Casino 400, airing at 2 p.m. ET on Amazon Prime. Reddick, the defending Michigan winner, will look to capitalize on the two-mile track, a driver favorite.
