LEBANON – The NASCAR Cup Series is at Nashville Superspeedway for the Ally 400 on Sunday.
Denny Hamlin earned the pole on Saturday with the fastest lap of the two rounds in the second round of the session.
Defending race champion Ross Chastain will start 20th.
Last week, Christopher Bell dominated the wet-weather portion of the race at New Hampshire en route to his third victory of the season.
Follow along with our live race updates, with green flag set for after 2:30 p.m. CT on Sunday.
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NASCAR Cup Series race at Nashville: Live updates, highlights, live leaderboard
LIVE LEADERBOARD: Full field leaderboard of NASCAR Cup Series Ally 400 at Nashville
Race will switch over to USA Network at 7:30 p.m. ET/6:30 p.m. CT
NBC tells viewers it will move the race to USA Network at 7:30 p.m. ET/6:30 p.m. CT.
Kyle Busch has one of the fastest cars on the track
Kyle Busch has surged to 25th and is running lap times similar to the leaders. Busch’s 30.68 was among the top 8 times in Lap 173, and that has been a consistent theme since the delay.
Lap 157: Christopher Bell has modest lead over Tyler Reddick
Christopher Bell has built a modest 0.7-second lead over Tyler Reddick. Denny Hamlin passes Chase Elliott for fifth.
Kyle Busch still doesn’t sound completely happy with his car, though he does say it is “more consistent”. Busch was the free pass during the last caution and runs 29th.
William Byron has to check up after Chris Buescher slides up the track
Chris Buescher slides up a couple grooves while battling Chase Elliott into turn 3, forcing William Byron to check up and lose several spots. The No. 24 is now outside the top 10.
Lap 140: Green flag!
Christopher Bell continues to lead as the green flag is back out. Chase Elliott and Chris Buescher battle for fifth place.
Engines re-fired at Nashville Superspeedway
The engines have re-fired at Nashville Superspeedway. The red flag period will be about 1 hour, 20 minutes long.
Austin Cindric will be sent to the rear for not following NASCAR’s directives during the red flag. Unclear what he specificially did.
Drivers to their cars
The drivers have been asked to their cars by NASCAR, so the red flag should be lifted soon.
Track drying efforts well underway
Track drying efforts have been ongoing at Nashville Superspeedway. And the sun is back out, which should help. A reminder: There are lights at Nashville Superspeedway, and the sun should remain out for the next few hours.
Rain at Nashville Superspeedway will lengthen delay
The storm cell is moving out of the area, but it soaked the track so there will need to be some track drying efforts. No wet-weather tires for oval tracks larger than 1 mile, so no repeat of last week’s final 75 laps at New Hampshire.
Lap 135: Caution and red flag for lightning in the area
NASCAR puts out the caution for weather in the area. NASCAR officials report lightning in the area, which will trigger a 30-minute lightning hold and a red flag.
The cars are coming down pit road and will be covered. The rain is also closing in on the race track.
Lap 131: Christopher Bell continues to hold the lead
Christopher Bell leads Tyler Reddick off the restart, with storms approaching. Kyle Larson is third, with Brad Keselowski and Chase Elliott also in the top five.
Lap 125: Ty Gibbs spins through the grass
Alex Bowman and Ty Gibbs go for the same spot, and Gibbs spins through the grass. Caution is out.
Lap 123: Christopher Bell rockets to the lead
Christopher Bell takes two tires while Denny Hamlin does not. The result? Hamlin gets behind the slow restarting Joey Logano and is outside of the top 10, while Bell easily clears the leaders on the restart.
Lap 116: John Hunter Nemechek spins off Turn 4
John Hunter Nemechek spins on his own off of Turn 4 and through the grass. His right-front tire is shredding, making a mess of that part of the car.
Chase Elliott says his car is a little better on this run. He is up to 9th. Martin Truex Jr. is up to 7th.
Weather could impact the Ally 400
There is a line of showers and storms closing in on the I-40 line and heading in the general direction of Nashville Superspeedway. It could arrive within the next 45 minutes or less, according to the National Weather Service radar.
Lap 105: Kyle Busch still struggling
Kyle Busch is in 35th and still not running well. He complains about the car “spinning out” on exit, meaning he isn’t able to get the power down off the corner like he wants to do.
Lap 97: Denny Hamlin leads field to begin Stage 2
Denny Hamlin just beats Christopher Bell to the end of pit road to take the lead. Joey Logano took two tires after a longer opening run in the first stage. Several cars take the wave around.
Hamlin easily clears Christopher Bell on the restart.
Christopher Bell wins Stage 1
Christopher Bell wins Stage 1 over Denny Hamlin in a generally error-free Stage 1.
The top 10:
- Christopher Bell
- Denny Hamlin
- Tyler Reddick
- Kyle Larson
- Brad Keselowski
- Ty Gibbs
- William Byron
- Chris Buescher
- Martin Truex Jr.
- Bubba Wallace
Denny Hamlin says his car is pretty good, especially on the exit off the corner.
Lap 70: Christopher Bell continues to hold tenuous advantage over Denny Hamlin
Michael McDowell has yet to pit, but when he does, Christopher Bell will inherit the lead by less than a second over Denny Hamlin. Tyler Reddick has passed Brad Keselowski for what will be fourth.
McDowell will pit around Lap 75, according to the team radio.
Lap 52: Kyle Busch continues to struggle
Kyle Busch slid through his pit stall, costing him time on pit road.
10 laps into this run, Busch is in 30th after Corey Heim passes him for 29th. Busch tells his team that the car is “plowing”.
Lap 42: Green flag pit stops underway; Christopher Bell stays ahead of Denny Hamlin
Christopher Bell and Denny Hamlin pit for the first time on the same lap, and Bell just edges past Hamlin on pit road.
Green flag stops are underway. The first stage is 90 laps, so these drivers are splitting the stage in half.
Lap times are about 0.5 to 0.7 seconds better for Bell and Hamlin on new tires versus Tyler Reddick, who assumes the lead for now.
Lap 32: Martin Truex Jr. not happy with Austin Dillon
Austin Dillon washes up the track during a battle with Martin Truex Jr. for 15th, and Truex nearly collides with him. Truex makes the pass on the next lap, but he’s not happy with the No. 3 Chevrolet.
“What the (expletive)?” Truex said on the radio. The No. 19 Joe Gibbs Toyota is running very competitive lap times compared to the top 10.
Lap 25: Brad Keselowski, Kyle Larson battle for third
Brad Keselowski passes Kyle Larson for third place, some 3 seconds behind the leader.
Denny Hamlin is about 0.7 seconds behind Christopher Bell.
Lap 16: Christopher Bell passes Denny Hamlin for the lead
Denny Hamlin was having trouble with passing Justin Haley to put the No. 51 a lap down, with Haley throwing a block through the tri-oval and allowing Christopher Bell to pass Hamlin through Turns 1 and 2 on the outside.
“You were better than him every lap until traffic,” the 11 radio tells Hamlin.
Lap 7: Josh Berry struggling early
Josh Berry has fallen back to 8th early. He’s starting to run similar lap times compared to those around him, but it was not a good start.
Lap 1: Green flag!
Denny Hamlin slides ahead of Josh Berry through turns 1 and 2 to take the lead, with Christopher Bell grabbing second.
Justin Haley has taken his pass through penalty.
The command is given!
The command to fire engines have been given, and the field is going through the pace laps. Closing in on the green flag at the sweltering Nashville Superspeedway.
Justin Haley will have a pass through penalty to start the race
Justin Haley will start from the rear and will have to serve a pass through penalty for unapproved adjustments after passing inspection yesterday.
It is HOT
It is very, very warm on pit road. Going to be a trying day for drivers, crew members and photographers in the heat and humidity. A 2:50 p.m. CT start time is tough on June 30.
Pre-race introductions are about complete, with Chase Elliott among the loudest cheers.
Weather looking good at Nashville Superspeedway presently, but forecast not as much
The mostly sunny skies above Nashville Superspeedway are a good sign for now. But it is the summertime, and pop-up storms are always a possibility.
The National Weather Service forecast for the track calls for a 65% chance of precipitation around the time the Ally 400 is scheduled to begin.
Denny Hamlin on the pole; full NASCAR Cup Series in Nashville starting lineup
Denny Hamlin won the pole during the qualifying session on Saturday.
The top 10:
- Denny Hamlin, No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
- Josh Berry, No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford
- Christopher Bell, No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
- Kyle Larson, No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
- Brad Keselowski, No. 6 Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing Ford
- Tyler Reddick, No. 45 23XI Racing Toyota
- William Byron, No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
- Ty Gibbs, No. 54 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
- Chris Buescher, No. 17 Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing Ford
- Austin Cindric, No. 2 Team Penske Ford
Find the full starting lineup here.
NASCAR race radio coverage: How to listen to NASCAR Cup race at Nashville
The Ally 400 at Nashville Superspeedway will be aired on the radio by the Performance Racing Network. PRN has affiliates all across the country, and their feed can also be streamed on GoPRN.com and on NASCAR.com as well as the NASCAR app. The race can also be heard on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, channel 90.
NASCAR Cup Series Nashville race TV schedule, start time
- Green Flag Time: Approx. 2:50 p.m. CT on Sunday, June 30
- TV coverage: NBC (coverage begins at 2:30 p.m. CT Sunday, watch FREE on Fubo)
- Radio: PRN (102.5 FM in Nashville)
- Streaming: FUBO (free trial available); NBC Sports app (subscription required); GoPRN.com and SiriusXM for audio (subscription required).
The Ally 400 will be broadcast nationally on NBC. Streaming options for the race include the NBC Sports app and FUBO, which offers a free trial to potential subscribers.
Recent NASCAR Cup Series winners at Nashville
- 2023: Ross Chastain
- 2022: Chase Elliott
- 2021: Kyle Larson
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