NASCAR Fantasy Fusion: Cracker Barrel at Nashville

Last week's Coca-Cola 600 was memorable for so many reasons. Daniel Suarez' victory was popular and emotional all around. The win was Daniel's third in the Cup Series, his first this season, and his first since February 2024. 

This Week's Pick Strategy: Loose is fast here at Nashville. I am packing my roster with wheelmen who love driving loose cars and aren't afraid to slide around a bit. 

 

Active Cup Drivers with Most Top 10s at Nashville 
2021 to 2025 (Last five years)
Kyle Larson - 5
Both with 4 - Joey Logano and Christopher Bell
All with 3 - Denny Hamlin, Ross Chastain, William, Byron, and Ryan Blaney

 

Active Cup Drivers with Most Top 3s at Nashville  

All with 2 - Denny Hamlin, Ross Chastain, and Ryan Blaney

Active Cup Drivers with Most Top 10s at Other Concrete Tracks* 

2021 to 2025 - 22 races

Kyle Larson - 18
Denny Hamlin - 16
Chase Elliott - 15
Ryan Blaney - 14
Both with 13 - William Byron and Christopher Bell
Joey Logano - 12
All with 10 - Alex Bowman, Ross Chastain, and Chase Briscoe

* Includes Bristol Motor Speedway (not on dirt), Dover Motor Speedway, and Martinsville Speedway

 

Last Year's Pole Winner: Chase Briscoe

 

Last Year's Race Winner: Ryan Blaney 

The Likely Suspects: I expect these drivers to be very competitive this week: Kyle Larson, Denny Hamlin, Ryan Blaney, Joey Logano, Ross Chastain, Chase Elliott, William Byron, Christopher Bell, and Chase Briscoe.

My 2 Cents: My no-brainer pick this week is a tie between Kyle Larson and Denny Hamlin. My next picks are Joey Logano, Erik Jones, Joey Logano, and Bubba Wallace. I will complete my team with Zane Smith and Carson Hocevar.

My Final Four: Kyle Larson, Ross Chastain, Joey Logano, and Zane Smith.

Second-Look Driver: This week's second-look driver is Zane Smith. In his two races at Nashville since 2023, Zane has earned a 7.5 average finish, just a half point behind Kyle Larson, and third best among active drivers. In this race last year, Zane finished 13th. In 2024, he finished runner-up to Joey Logano in a five-overtime thriller. Not too shabby. Zane also has momentum on his side, having led a career-high 31 laps at the Coca-Cola 600. I am convinced his first NASCAR Cup Series win will come this season. Could it be this weekend?

 

Points to Ponder:

• Five starting positions have led to wins in the NASCAR Cup Series at Nashville Superspeedway, and three of those are inside the top five positions on the track.
• Denny Hamlin leads the NASCAR Cup Series in poles at Nashville Superspeedway with two (2022, 2024).
• Joe Gibbs Racing is the only NASCAR Cup Series organization with multiple poles at Nashville Superspeedway with three: Denny Hamlin, 2022, 2024; Chase Briscoe, 2025).
• Hendrick Motorsports and Team Penske are tied for the NASCAR Cup Series lead in wins at Nashville Superspeedway with two victories each: Hendrick Motorsports with Kyle Larson (2021) and Chase Elliott (2022) and Team Penske with Joey Logano (2024) and Ryan Blaney (2025).
• Kyle Larson and Ross Chastain lead the NASCAR Cup Series in Top 5s at Nashville Superspeedway with three each.
• Kyle Larson leads all active drivers in average finish at Nashville Superspeedway with a 5.2 in five starts.
• Denny Hamlin leads the NASCAR Cup Series in laps led at Nashville Superspeedway with 344 laps led in five starts.

If you are playing Driver Group Game, remember to make your final picks by 7 p.m. ET on race day, Sunday, May 31st.

Enjoy the race!

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Carol D'Agostino has been playing Fantasy NASCAR for 19 years. She launched NASCAR Fantasy Fusion for Skirts & Scuffs in October 2011. Each week, Carol pores through statistics and combs through her personal notebooks to arm fans with analysis and picking strategies that will leave their friends wondering how they got so smart. Carol also does race coverage for Skirts & Scuffs at Richmond Raceway and occasionally at her home track, Dover International Speedway. She is also part of the distinguished NASCAR Expert Picks panel at frcs.pro. formerly called Fantasy Racing Cheat Sheet. When she isn’t wielding her fantasy-racing superpowers, you’ll find Carol hammering out a news release or creating a marketing strategy at a small niche public relations firm she founded called Purple Cat or executing downtown revitalization projects for a small town on Maryland’s Eastern Shore.