Samwise NASCAR Cup Series Newsletter
Wednesday, June 3, 2026
Hamlin Overcomes Start Penalty to Win Nashville, JGR Sweeps Podium
Denny Hamlin overcame a start-line penalty to win the Cracker Barrel 400 at Nashville Superspeedway on Sunday, leading a Joe Gibbs Racing 1-2-3 finish with Christopher Bell second and Chase Briscoe third. Hamlin was sent to the rear of the 38-car field after jumping the rolling start from pole position, then battled forward through the field. He made the winning pass on Bell at the exit of Turn 2 on the final lap and crossed the line 0.115 seconds clear. It is Hamlin’s 62nd career Cup Series victory, his second of the 2026 season, and his first at Nashville. Post-race inspection cleared the No. 11 Toyota without issue.
Sources: Motorsport.com, NASCAR.com
Wave of Brake Rotor Failures Exposes Nashville Package Challenges
Nashville’s debut under the new short-track and road-course rules package — lower downforce and 750 horsepower — drew 24 accidents from 38 starters on Sunday. Trackhouse Racing bore the worst of it: Connor Zilisch suffered an exploding right-front brake rotor on Lap 72, and teammate Ross Chastain followed with the same failure two laps later, both retiring at the rear of the field. Stage 1 winner AJ Allmendinger was also running near the front when a rotor failure sent his Kaulig entry into the outside wall. NASCAR’s Amanda Ellis attributed the failures to teams running setups not yet optimized for the package’s heavier braking demands at higher corner entry speeds.
Sources: NASCAR.com, Motorsport.com
Blaney Takes Blame for Last-Lap Crash Collecting Reddick and Elliott
Ryan Blaney accepted responsibility for a crash that collected championship leader Tyler Reddick and Chase Elliott on the final lap at Nashville Superspeedway on Sunday. Running three-wide across the finish line, Blaney lost control pushing Elliott toward the front, sending Reddick’s No. 45 into the outside wall. Both drivers had already crossed the finish line and were scored sixth and seventh. “I was trying to push the No. 9 at the top of three wide and got Chase sideways, and ended up hooking Tyler,” Blaney said. Reddick emerged unhurt and held no ill will toward Blaney, though Hamlin cut 25 points from Reddick’s championship lead.
Sources: Motorsport.com, Motorsport.com
Stenhouse Drives Kyle Busch Tribute Car to Career-Reviving Nashville Fourth
Ricky Stenhouse Jr. drove Hyak Motorsports’ No. 47 Chevrolet to fourth place at Nashville Superspeedway on Sunday behind the wheel of a NOS Energy tribute paint scheme honoring the late Kyle Busch. Restarting 13th with four laps remaining, Stenhouse carved through the field in the closing run to secure the result — his best at a non-drafting oval in more than four years and Hyak’s strongest showing as one of the few remaining full-time single-car Cup programs. The finish moved Stenhouse three positions in the championship standings, from 26th to 23rd, and closed his gap to the playoff cut line from 81 points to 44.
Sources: Motorsport.com
Van Gisbergen Breaks Through for First Oval Top Five in 64th Cup Start
Shane van Gisbergen earned the best oval result of his NASCAR Cup Series career, finishing fifth at Nashville Superspeedway on Sunday in his 64th Cup Series start. The New Zealand Trackhouse Racing driver rallied through the field after the final restart, edging Chase Elliott by just 0.001 seconds to claim his first top-five finish on an oval in the Cup Series. The Nashville result moved van Gisbergen two positions in the championship standings to 12th with 348 points, inside the provisional playoff cut line. Michigan International Speedway — a 2-mile oval — is next on Sunday, where van Gisbergen will look to build on the breakthrough.
Sources: NASCAR.com, Motorsport.com
NASCAR Clears Dillon in Keselowski Contact After Reviewing SMT Data
NASCAR confirmed Wednesday it will not penalize Austin Dillon for an incident involving Brad Keselowski at Nashville Superspeedway. Senior Director of Racing Communications Amanda Ellis said on the Hauler Talk podcast that competition strategist Scott Miller reviewed all SMT data and radio transmissions from the contact. Miller found Dillon was off throttle — at 17 percent — at the moment of impact, indicating no intentional retaliation. Keselowski and spotter TJ Majors had stated on the Prime Video broadcast that Dillon deliberately wrecked Keselowski following an earlier Lap 145 spin. Broadcast analysts Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Steve Letarte also expressed doubt the contact was intentional.
Sources: Motorsport.com
Goodyear Introduces New Right-Side Tire Compound for Michigan
Goodyear will introduce a new right-side tire compound for Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Michigan International Speedway, adapting to the smooth, high-speed demands of the 2-mile oval. NASCAR’s official tire supplier retained the left-side compound used at multiple oval events this season but developed a modified right-side construction to handle the corner loads at Michigan’s sustained high speeds. The FireKeepers Casino 400 — the 15th points-paying event of the 2026 season — takes place Sunday at 3 p.m. ET on Prime Video and HBO Max with 37 cars entered. Denny Hamlin, fresh off last Sunday’s Nashville win, enters the weekend as the defending Michigan winner.
Sources: NASCAR.com
Hamlin Calls for Shorter Nashville Race After Sunday’s Marathon Finish
Denny Hamlin said on his Actions Detrimental podcast that he would prefer the Nashville Superspeedway Cup race be shortened from 400 to 300 miles. Hamlin’s argument rests on pace: at Nashville’s 1.3-mile layout, drivers cover 400 miles in significantly more time than at a traditional 1.5-mile oval. He noted the Cracker Barrel 400 lasted three hours and thirty minutes on Sunday, not counting a nearly 90-minute weather delay, and would have ended near midnight eastern time either way. “In the time that you can run 300 miles at Nashville, you can run 400 miles at Michigan,” Hamlin said. “The math just doesn’t math to me.”
Sources: Motorsport.com
Cup Series Standings (Top 16)
1. Tyler Reddick — 657 pts
2. Denny Hamlin — 560 pts
3. Ryan Blaney — 483 pts
4. Chase Elliott — 460 pts
5. Ty Gibbs — 449 pts
6. Kyle Larson — 409 pts
7. Christopher Bell — 399 pts
8. Chris Buescher — 393 pts
9. Carson Hocevar — 383 pts
10. Daniel Suárez — 378 pts
11. William Byron — 352 pts
12. Shane van Gisbergen — 348 pts
13. Brad Keselowski — 347 pts
14. Chase Briscoe — 343 pts
15. Bubba Wallace — 338 pts
16. Austin Cindric — 306 pts
Manufacturer Standings
1. Toyota — 517 pts
2. Chevrolet — 508 pts
3. Ford — 453 pts
Curated by JD · samwise.agency
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