The NASCAR Cup Series heads to Nashville Superspeedway for the fourth consecutive year, and Chevrolet will look to continue its dominance at the 1.33-mile concrete track.
Chevy drivers have won the three Cup races at the track. Kyle Larson, Chase Elliott and Ross Chastain have won there.
Chastain, who won last year’s race, is among those still seeking their first victory of this season. NBC has coverage of Sunday’s race beginning at 3:30 p.m. ET.
Here’s a look at where things stand for each Cup organization entering the 19th race of the season.
23XI Racing — Good news: Corey Heim, who is 21 years old, will drive a third entry for the organization this weekend. It will be his third career Cup start but first for the team. … Tyler Reddick has four top-10 finishes in the last five races. Bad news: Bubba Wallace fell out of a playoff spot when he finished 34th at New Hampshire after being collected in a crash. He’s 13 points below the cutline with eight races left in the regular season. Wallace’s average finish in the last nine races is 21.7. His average finish in the first nine races this season was 14.3.
Front Row Motorsports — Good news: Todd Gilliland has scored seven consecutive top-20 finishes. … Michael McDowell won the pole earlier this month at World Wide Technology Raceway, the most recent race at a track longer than 1 mile in length. Bad News: McDowell has not scored any points in the second stage of any races this season.
Hendrick Motorsports — Good news: New Hampshire is done — the organization last won there in July 2012— and next is Nashville, a track the organization has won two of the three Cup races run there. … Kyle Larson has never finished outside the top five at Nashville and has a win there. … Chase Elliott has the best average finish in the series this season at 9.6. Bad news: William Byron’s average finish in the last nine races is 16.1. His average finish in the first nine races of the season was 10.3. … Alex Bowman has finished 15th or worse in three of the last four races.
Joe Gibbs Racing — Good news: Christopher Bell has finished in the top 10 in five consecutive races, including two wins. Bell has placed in the top 10 in all three Nashville Cup starts. … Denny Hamlin has won the last three races on concrete. … Martin Truex Jr. finished second at Nashville last year and Hamlin was third in that race. Bad news: Ty Gibbs has failed to score a top-10 finish in the last four races.
JTG Daugherty Racing — Good news: Ricky Stenhouse Jr. has had back-to-back top 10s for the first time this season. He was fifth at Iowa and seventh at New Hampshire. Bad news: Stenhouse’s average starting spot this season is 24.9. His average starting spot at this time last year was 18.9.
Kaulig Racing — Good news: AJ Allmendinger returns to the No. 16 car this weekend. Bad news: Daniel Hemric has qualified in the top 25 once in the last seven races.
Legacy Motor Club — Good news: Erik Jones placed eighth at Nashville last year. … John Hunter Nemechek was 31st when the rain stopped the race at New Hampshire last weekend. He rallied after the race resumed and finished eighth. Bad news: Jones has yet to lead a lap this season.
Richard Childress Racing — Good news: Austin Dillon has finished in the top 14 in all three Nashville races. Bad news: Kyle Busch has finished 35th in three of the last four races. That has dropped him to 45 points below the playoff cutline.
Rick Ware Racing — Good news: The organization’s two cars have combined to finish on the lead lap 52.8% of the time this year. Last year at this time, the team’s two cars finished on the lead lap just 33.3% of the time. Bad news: Justin Haley would have finished fifth had the New Hampshire race not been resumed. Instead, he placed 29th after damage due to contact with another car.
RFK Racing — Good news: Brad Keselowski has finished in the top 10 in four of the last six races. … The organization has 11 top-five finishes in the first half of the season. Last year at this time, RFK Racing had such such finishes. Bad news: Chris Buescher has finished 30th or worse in two of the three Nashville races. His other finish was 18th.
Spire Motorsports — Good news: Corey LaJoie has finished in the top 20 in all three Nashville races. … Carson Hocevar has placed 17th or better in the last four races this season. … Zane Smith, making his first Cup start at Nashville, has never finished outside the top 10 in the Xfinity and Truck Series at the track. He was seventh in last year’s Xfinity race and has a pair of runner-up finishes and a fourth-place result in the Trucks. Bad news: The organization has not had a car start in the top 20 in the three previous races at Nashville.
Stewart-Haas Racing — Good news: Josh Berry has back-to-back top-10 finishes for the second time in the last six races. … Ryan Preece’s 11th-place finish at New Hampshire was his best result in the last 10 races. Bad news: Chase Briscoe has never finished better than 31st in three starts at Nashville. … After a streak of three consecutive top-10 finishes, Noah Gragson has failed to finish in the top 10 in the last six points races.
Team Penske — Good news: Joey Logano, still seeking his first points win of the season, moved into the final playoff spot last weekend at New Hampshire. Ryan Blaney and Austin Cindric have playoff spots via a win. Bad news: Although Blaney has finished third at Nashville, he has placed 36th and 37th in the other two races there.
Trackhouse Racing — Good news: Ross Chastain, who won last year’s race at Nashville, has never finished outside the top five there. Bad news: Daniel Suarez has finished 20th or worse in six of the last nine races.
Wood Brothers Racing — Good news: Harrison Burton’s 14th-place finish last weekend at New Hampshire was his best result in the last eight races. Bad news: Burton has four top-20 finishes in 18 races this season.
