Lebanon – The NASCAR Cup Series is at Nashville Superspeedway for the Ally 400 on Sunday.
Denny Hamlin took the pole position on Saturday with the fastest lap of the two sessions in the second round of the session.
Defending champion Ross Chastain will start the race in twentieth place.
Last week, Christopher Bell dominated the wet weather portion of the race in New Hampshire en route to his third win of the season.
Follow our live race updates, with the green flag set for the race after 2:30 PM Central Time on Sunday.
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Live leaderboard: Full Field Leaderboard for the NASCAR Cup Series Ally 400 at Nashville
NBC tells viewers it will move the race to USA Network at 7:30pm ET/6:30pm Central.
Kyle Busch moved up to 25th, running times similar to the leaders. Busch’s 30.68 was among the top eight on Lap 173, a consistent theme since the delay.
Christopher Bell held a modest 0.7 second lead over Tyler Reddick. Denny Hamlin passed Chase Elliott for fifth place.
Kyle Busch still isn’t completely satisfied with his car, though he says it’s “sturdier.” Busch was the overtaker during the final caution and is 29th.
Chris Buescher slides into some ruts while battling Chase Elliott into Turn 3, forcing William Byron to check and lose several points. Number 24 is now outside the top ten.
Christopher Bell continues driving as the green flag returns. Chase Elliott and Chris Buescher are competing for fifth.
Engines have been restarted at Nashville Super Speedway. The red flag period will last approximately 1 hour and 20 minutes.
Austin Cindric will be sent to the rear for not following NASCAR directions during the red flag. It is unclear what specifically he did.
NASCAR has asked drivers to go to their cars, so the red flag should be raised soon.
Track drying efforts continue at Nashville Superspeedway. The sun is back out, so that should help. Reminder: There are lights on at Nashville Superspeedway, and the sun should stay out for the next few hours.
The storm cell is moving out of the area, but has flooded the track, so some effort will be needed to dry out the track. There are no wet weather tires for oval tracks larger than a mile, so no repeat of the final 75 laps at New Hampshire last week.
NASCAR is cautious about weather in the area. NASCAR officials reported lightning in the area, which would result in a 30-minute lightning strike and a red flag.
The cars are heading to the pit area and will be covered. Rain is also approaching the race track.
Christopher Bell leads Tyler Reddick early in the second half as the storms approach. Kyle Larson is third, with Brad Keselowski and Chase Elliott also in the top five.
Alex Bowman and Ty Gibbs head to the same spot, and Gibbs spins across the grass. Caution is a must.
Christopher Bell uses two frames while Denny Hamlin does not. And the result? Hamlin leads behind Joey Logano, who started the race slowly and is outside the top 10, while Bell easily overtakes the leaders when the race resumes.
John Hunter Nemechek spun alone at turn four and crossed the grass. His right front tire began to shred, causing havoc on that part of the car.
Chase Elliott says his car got a little better this round. It ranks ninth. Martin Truex Jr. is seventh.
A line of rain and storms is approaching I-40 and heading in the general direction of Nashville Superspeedway. It could arrive in the next 45 minutes or less, according to National Weather Service radar.
Kyle Busch is 35th and still not doing well. He complains that the car “spins” on exit, which means he is unable to put the power down out of a corner as much as he would like.
Denny Hamlin outpaces Christopher Bell to the end of pit road to take the lead. Joey Logano takes two tires after a longer opening lap in the first stage. Several cars take the wave around.
Hamlin easily passes Christopher Bell at restart.
Christopher Bell wins Stage 1 over Denny Hamlin in an overall flawless first stage.
Top 10:
- Christopher Bell
- Denny Hamlin
- Tyler Reddick
- Kyle Larson
- Brad Keselowski
- Ty Gibbs
- William Byron
- Chris Boucher
- Martin Truex Jr
- Bubba Wallace
Denny Hamlin says his car is very good, especially coming out of the corner.
Michael McDowell hasn’t stopped yet, but when he does, Christopher Bell will inherit the lead by less than a second from Denny Hamlin. Tyler Reddick passed Brad Keselowski for fourth place.
McDowell will make his pit stop on lap 75, according to team radio.
Kyle Busch slid through his pit lane, costing him time on pit road.
After 10 laps of this race, Busch is in 30th place after Corey Heim passed him for 29th. Busch tells his team that the car is “plowing.”
Christopher Bell and Denny Hamlin pit for the first time on the same lap, with Bell passing Hamlin on pit road.
Green flag stops underway. The first stage is 90 laps, so these drivers split the stage in half.
Lap times are about 0.5 to 0.7 seconds better for Bell and Hamlin on the new tires than for Tyler Reddick, who currently holds the lead.
Austin Dillon crashes onto the track during a battle with Martin Truex Jr. for 15th place, and Truex nearly crashes into him. Truex was able to pass him on the next lap, but was not happy with the No. 3 Chevrolet.
“What the (expletive)?” Truex said on the radio. Joe Gibbs’ No. 19 Toyota runs very competitive times compared to the top ten.
Brad Keselowski passed Kyle Larson for third place, 3 seconds behind the leader.
Denny Hamlin is about 0.7 seconds behind Christopher Bell.
Denny Hamlin had difficulty passing Justin Haley for the No. 51 car on the final lap, as Haley threw a block across the tri-oval allowing Christopher Bell to pass Hamlin through the outside of Turns 1 and 2.
“I was better than him every lap until traffic,” he told Radio 11 Hamlin.
Josh Perry dropped to eighth early on. He started to put up similar lap times to those around him, but it wasn’t a great start.
Denny Hamlin gets ahead of Josh Perry in turns one and two for the lead, with Christopher Bell in second.
Justin Haley took his pass through on the penalty spot.
The orders were given to shut down the engines, and the racers began fast laps. They approach the green flag at the sweltering Nashville Super Speedway.
Justin Haley will start at the back and will have to serve a pass penalty for unapproved modifications after passing inspection yesterday.
It’s going to be very hot on pit road. It’s going to be a tough day for drivers, crew and photographers in the heat and humidity. A 2:50 p.m. CST start time is tough on June 30th.
The pre-race introductions are winding down, and Chase Elliott is among the loudest cheers.
Sunny skies over Nashville Superspeedway are a good sign right now. But this is summer time, and pop-up storms are always a possibility.
The National Weather Service forecast for the track calls for a 65% chance of rain by the time the Ally 400 is scheduled to start.
Denny Hamlin won the pole position during Saturday’s qualifying session.
Top 10:
- Denny Hamlin, No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
- Josh Perry, #4 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford
- Christopher Bell, #20, Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
- Kyle Larson, No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
- Brad Keselowski, #6 Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing Ford
- Tyler Reddick, #45 23XI Racing Toyota
- William Byron, No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
- Ty Gibbs, No. 54 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
- Chris Buescher, No. 17 Rausch Fenway Keselowski Racing Ford
- Austin Cindric, #2 Penske Ford
Find the full starting lineup here.
The Ally 400 at Nashville Superspeedway will be broadcast on radio by the Performance Racing Network. PRN has affiliates across the country, and their feeds can also be broadcast GoPRN.com and on nascar.com In addition to the NASCAR app. You can also listen to the race on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, channel 90.
- Green flag time: almost. 2:50 PM Central Time on Sunday, June 30
- TV coverage: NBC (coverage begins at 2:30 p.m. CT Sunday, Watch for free on Fubo)
- radio: PRN (102.5 FM in Nashville)
- flow: Fubo (Free trial available); NBC Sports app (subscription required); GoPRN.com and SiriusXM audio (subscription required).
The Ally 400 will be broadcast nationally on NBC. Options to stream the race include the NBC Sports app and Fubowhich presents A Free trial For potential subscribers.
- 2023: Ross Chastain
- 2022: Chase Elliott
- 2021: Kyle Larson
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