NASHVILLE SUPERSPEEDWAY | RACE RECAP
LEBANON, Tenn. (June 1, 2025) – The NASCAR Cup Series raced its way into Music City for Sunday’s Cracker Barrel 400 at Nashville Superspeedway, located just a half hour outside the big city. On the 1.33-mile, D-shaped oval, a total of 39 cars took the green flag for the race. Erik Jones, driving the No. 43 Dollar Tree Toyota Camry XSE, led the LEGACY MOTOR CLUB entries from the 14th starting position, with his teammate John Hunter Nemechek starting 36th in the No. 42 DriveValue.com Toyota Camry XSE. Chase Briscoe started from the pole, and when the checkered flag flew after 399 miles, Ryan Blaney found himself in victory lane.
Below is a look at how the LEGACY MOTOR CLUB entries fared:
JOHN HUNTER NEMECHEK | NO. 42 DRIVEVALUE.COM TOYOTA CAMRY XSE
On Sunday evening, beneath a beautiful Tennessee sunset sky, the 39-car field took the green flag in front of a sold-out crowd. Starting deep in the field, the No. 42 DriveValue.com Toyota Camry XSE team knew they needed to gain track position early, with the leaders expected to come around quickly.
For the opening run, the No. 42 team opted for a long pit strategy, becoming one of the last teams to make their green-flag stop. After pitting on lap 70, Nemechek rejoined the 1.33-mile speedway just ten car lengths ahead of the leader, running 35th. It was crucial for the Mooresville, North Carolina native to stay ahead and remain just one lap down. He managed to build a small gap and finished Stage 1 in 35th, one lap off the pace. At the stage break, the team took the wave-around to get back on the lead lap, hoping for a quick caution to make a much-needed pit stop for fresh tires.
That caution came on lap 106. As the team prepared to pit, chaos unfolded on pit road as several cars opted for two-tire stops, creating congestion. As the No. 42 entered its stall, the No. 6 car exited his pit box and made contact with the left side of the 42. Crew chief Travis Mack assessed the situation and, seeing no significant damage, the team completed their stop for tires and fuel.
Stage 2 was a dramatic shift from the green-flag-only first stage. Multiple cautions early in the segment allowed Nemechek to work his way up through the field, restarting 22nd by lap 122 and breaking into the top 20 by lap 130. As Stage Two came to a close under the night sky, Nemechek had slipped back to 28th.
During the stage break, Nemechek reported handling differences between the top and bottom lanes, saying the car was loose and needed more rear grip. Mack called him in for four tires, fuel, and a chassis adjustment to tighten up the handling. The No. 42 restarted the final stage in 26th.
With 80 laps remaining in the 300-lap event, Nemechek radioed in that he was feeling pretty good but stuck in traffic during a long green-flag run. On lap 248, the team made their final green-flag pit stop, rejoining the race in 34th. The final 52 laps ran caution-free, and Nemechek brought the No. 42 DriveValue.com Toyota Camry XSE home in 27th.
JOHN HUNTER NEMECHEK QUOTABLE:
“Unfortunately, not the night that we needed. We got caught with bad track position and that means a lot on these types of tracks. We’ll learn from this and move on to the next one.”
ERIK JONES | NO. 43 DOLLAR TREE TOYOTA CAMRY XSE
After qualifying 14th for Sunday night’s Cracker Barrel 400 at Nashville Superspeedway, Jones was ready to tackle the concrete oval under the lights. He was 13th within a lap and held steady there in the opening segment of the race. Despite feeling like he lacked grip in his No. 42 Dollar Tree Toyota Camry XSE, he still put down similar lap times to the front of the field. He pitted on lap 43 during green flag pit stops for four tires, fuel, and an air pressure adjustment. When the field cycled through, he was 17th and still battling a free racecar.
In the final laps of Stage 1, he was able to move his way up a couple of spots to finish 12th, just outside the top-10. Jones told his crew that he was a little too free from entry to middle at both ends of the 1.33-mile oval. The team pitted for four tires, fuel and another air pressure adjustment.
He restarted the second stage in 11th and entered the top-10 in just two laps. Jones ran there until the lap 106 caution where he took a chance to pit for right side tires and fuel only. After restarting 11th, he quickly found himself in seventh throughout a flurry of cautions during the second stage. After some contact on lap 118 with the No. 20, he held his position as the team reported no damage. Jones felt like the car was better and proved it as he moved up to fifth by lap 138. He held this position as the rest of the stage went green to finish there and earn six valuable stage points.
During the stage break, the No. 43 Dollar Tree team pitted for four tires, fuel, and another air pressure adjustment. Thanks to the help of his quick crew, Jones gained two spots on pit road to restart third in the final stage.
He took the outside row on the second row on top for the Stage 3 restart. While he struggled on the initial launch, he settled into fourth as the caution came out just one lap into the run. On the next restart, Jones was battling for second with the No. 22 for several laps before settling for third. He defended his position for several laps before the No. 11 passed him, but he was able to hold off the No. 24 as his long run speed kicked in. He held that position as the rest of the field battled it out.
Jones visited pit road for his final pit stop on lap 242 under green with 58 laps to go in the race. He was the first of the field to visit and cycled through to eighth as pit stop strategies varied. As the laps counted down, Jones found himself struggling with a loose car. He fell back to seventh with just over 20 laps to go in the race. He held that position until the checkered flag to earn his second top-10 of the 2025 season.
ERIK JONES QUOTABLE:
“I think our mile-and-a-half stuff has been pretty good all year. I feel like it is a matter of we have to put it together. Today was a good day of putting it together. We didn’t have any mistakes. We had good pit stops. It just is cleaning everything up, and continuing to improve on these cars. Like at the end there, that was all we had. Our balance was pretty good, so we still need to get a little faster. We’ve done a great job. We are getting there. We are optimizing the speed. The mile-and-a-halves are our strong suit, so hoping we have more of it in Michigan. That would be a fun one to be up front again.”
NEXT UP: The NASCAR Cup Series heads to Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn for the Firekeepers Casino 400 at Michigan International Speedway.
Practice and qualifying take place on Saturday, June 7 starting at 9:35 a.m. EDT. The Firekeepers Casino 400 will cap off the weekend on Sunday, June 8 starting at 2 p.m. EDT.
Catch all the action on Amazon Prime, MAX, MRN Radio, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio (Channel 90).
