NASCAR at Nashville: Where to watch, live stream, lineup, race preview, pick to win for the Cracker Barrel 400

LEBANON, Tenn. — Nashville is a city renowned worldwide as the home of the country music. To walk down the streets of Lower Broadway, and to take in all the sounds and sights of the city nightlife, is to be immersed fully in the culture of country music, the artists who have made the genre famous, and its impact on American culture beyond the banks of the Cumberland River.

But just as many musicians have made it big out of Nashville, so too have many racers. A little ways away from the Carolinas, racers like Darrell Waltrip, Sterling Marlin, Bobby Hamilton and more went from racing and winning at the Nashville Fairgrounds to NASCAR stardom, affirming Nashville’s place as one of racing’s great outposts and hotbeds in the southeast. And from the 5/8 mile Fairgrounds to just off of downtown in Lebanon, the tradition of racing in Nashville continues with this weekend’s Cracker Barrel 400 for the NASCAR Cup Series at Nashville Superspeedway.

As they have since NASCAR’s return to Nashville in 2021, everyone will be vying for the right to strum the Gibson Guitar that goes to the race winner — one that Joey Logano earned after this race ended in a NASCAR record quintuple overtime one year ago that ended up having massive consequences for the season as a whole. Logano’s Nashville win and the extraordinary circumstances that led to it allowed him to make the playoffs, single-handedly sparking his improbable championship run.

NASCAR 2025 race schedule, results: Complete list of Cup Series race dates, winners, tracks, locations

Steven Taranto

When: Sunday, June 1 at 7 p.m. ET
Where: Nashville Superspeedway – Lebanon, Tennessee
Stream: Amazon Prime

With the calendar now turning from May to June and Race No. 14 of the season at hand, Nashville marks the start of the second half of the regular season and an important benchmark in the race to qualify for the NASCAR playoffs this fall.

With Ross Chastain’s win in the Coca-Cola 600 a week ago, eight drivers — Chastain, Kyle Larson, Christopher Bell, Denny Hamlin, William Byron, Joey Logano, Austin Cindric and Josh Berry — have earned a playoff spot by virtue of winning a race. That leaves eight spots currently available for drivers to make the playoffs on points, which are currently held by Chase Elliott, Tyler Reddick, Ryan Blaney, Alex Bowman, Chase Briscoe, Bubba Wallace, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Ryan Preece.

For the drivers currently in on points, however, their hold on a playoff spot remains extremely tenuous — particularly with plenty of frontrunners still due to win, including those currently on the opposite side of the cut line. As it stands, the closest drivers to the playoff cut line are currently Chris Buescher (-6), A.J. Allmendinger (-13), Kyle Busch (-14) and Michael McDowell (-21), all of whom have plenty of time to put themselves in then picture before the summer months end.

The penalty is a big help to Buescher’s playoff chances as they stand, as the 30-point swing now puts him just six points behind Ryan Preece for the last spot currently available on the playoff grid.

Denny Hamlin (+600) — Everything that unfolded in the chaotic finish to last year’s Nashville race invalidated the drive in regulation by Hamlin, who had taken the lead from Ross Chastain in the final laps and was set to cruise to victory. Hamlin has been due for a Gibson Guitar, as he’s led at least 70 laps (265 total) in the last three Cup races at Nashville and also has two poles to go with top 10 finishes of sixth (2022) and third (2023).

So who wins the NASCAR Cracker Barrel 400 2025, and which longshots are must-backs? Check out the latest 2025 NASCAR at Nashville odds below, then visit SportsLine now to see the full NASCAR Nashville projected leaderboard, all from the model that has nailed 21 winners, and find out.

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