SVG leads at Nashville en route to career-best oval finish

The Trackhouse Racing driver enjoyed a strong showing in Stage 1, leading laps before a balance shift made life difficult in Stage 2 and Stage 3 as his Chevrolet Camaro built tight.

The final stanza brought SVG back into the picture thanks to an undercut and a quick pit stop that netted him a fifth place starting position for the final restart.

In a four-lap dash to the chequered flag, van Gisbergen battled for a top five with Hendrick Motorsports’ Chase Elliott but came up just short of a career-best finish.

A late surge from Ricky Stenhouse Jr. for Hyak Motorsports bought him fourth place.

Van Gisbergen was initially classified seventh but was promoted to fifth after the race result was corrected. Tyler Reddick of 23XI Racing was sixth and Elliott seventh.

“It was a pretty awesome day for this No. 97 Tootsie’s Orchid Lounge Chevrolet team,” said van Gisbergen.

“Starting up front obviously helps, but it was cool to lead some laps and battle at the front. Our Chevy was running really well all night.

“I really enjoyed myself tonight. I learned a lot. I learned to be comfortable moving around in (Turns) 1 and 2, which I’ve never been able to do before.

“We just got the balance better on the two-tyre strategy. When we were on a four-tyre strategy, we were lacking that.

“The two-tyre stop at the end, we were able to get the balance back again.

“It was a lot of fun. It definitely feels like we’re making headway.”

The race was won by Denny Hamlin who defeated his Joe Gibbs Racing teammates Christopher Bell and Chase Briscoe.

After qualifying was rained out, Hamlin given pole position based on the metric.

He squandered top spot immediately after being given a drive-through penalty for jumping the start, which relegated him to last.

Despite the early drama, he bounced back to win the 300-lapper and worked his way back into contention.

“What an unbelievable day,” said Hamlin.

“Starting first, going to last, and back to first.”

On the race start, Hamlin admitted he got it wrong.

“I definitely jumped the start, no doubt about that,” said Hamlin.

“Looking back on it, just didn’t wait quite long enough.”

WHAT A BATTLE. Denny Hamlin WINS at Nashville! pic.twitter.com/XssA3YXC8J

— FOX: NASCAR (@NASCARONFOX) June 1, 2026

The competition caution was called on Lap 35 with Tyler Reddick ahead of Christopher Bell, Kyle Larson, and Ty Gibbs. Van Gisbergen, meanwhile, was eighth after starting 10th.

The field took its first opportunity to pit under yellow and a spirited call for two tyres put van Gisbergen into the lead for the restart alongside Team Penske’s Joey Logano.

Hendrick Motorsports’ Kyle Larson, who restarted in fifth, made moves early to be battling with van Gisbergen for the lead by Lap 50.

They ran side-by-side for several laps until Lap 54 when Larson ran van Gisbergen up the road and forced the #97 to get out of the gas. That allowed Bell through too.

Van Gisbergen briefly battled with Reddick but settled into third until the Lap 72 caution came out when Connor Zilisch suffered a right front brake failure out of 24th. Entering Turn 1, the right front of the #88 Trackhouse Racing Camaro let go.

“That was f***ing fun there, good job,” van Gisbergen radioed to his team during the break.

“It was really good, but I think I just burned the right rear going hard and then I built looser and looser, but pretty decent.”

Larson led the field to the pit lane, though some cars stayed out – including Kauling Racing’s AJ Allmendinger and Riley Herbst of 23XI Racing.

A strategic divergence shuffled the order for the subsequent restart with 11 laps to go in Stage 1. Van Gisbergen elected to take four tyres and dropped to 13th.

Blaney shot to the lead on Lap 81 with two new tyres, passing Allmendinger on old tyres.

It was a short-lived green flag run, however. Ross Chastain suffered the same problem as his Trackhouse Racing teammate Zilisch, blowing the right front rotor on the #1 Camaro.

After dual failures for Trackhouse, van Gisbergen expressed his fears.

“Well f***, now I’m worried about mine,” he said, before being reassured he had a different brake setup.

That arranged a one-lap dash to the end of the stage, which was won by Allmendinger despite old tyres. Larson got to second while Blaney was third.

Van Gisbergen finished Stage 1 in 14th. During the break, he bemoaned a sluggish restart and understeer.

“I ploughed on the bottom. I took the outside before and then I was ploughing on the top,” he said.

Larson led Blaney on the Lap 99 restart while van Gisbergen was ninth. Briscoe was the fastest starter, surging to second with Reddick in tow while Blaney dropped to fourth.

Just shy of halfway, on Lap 146, Austin Dillon’s #3 Richard Childress Racing Camaro went spinning off the nose of Chris Buescher’s #17 RFK Racing Mustang.

That brought out the caution in the middle of the pit stop cycle.

Van Gisbergen was left puzzled by his momentum swing.

“Is anything different from the first stage? Man, it is terrible,” he said of his car.

“Yeah, I’m just getting mauled on the restarts because I can’t turn.”

Eight cars hadn’t pitted when the caution came out. Those who benefited from the caution included Blaney, Elliott, Michael McDowell, AJ Allmendinger, Daniel Suarez, Todd Gilliland, Austin Hill, and Cole Custer.

Those a lap down got their lap back before the restart. Briscoe was the best of those who pitted during the green flag cycle in ninth. Van Gisbergen, meanwhile restarted in 20th.

The sixth caution of the race came on Lap 173 when third-placed Allmendinger suffered a right front brake failure and slammed into the wall at the first turn.

The pits opened on Lap 178. Van Gisbergen, who was 16th, elected to take two tyres and rose to 12th.

Suarez led the field to a four-lap dash to the Stage 2 end. However, the yellow came out just short of the finish when 23XI Racing’s Corey Heim got into the back of Front Row Motorsports’ Todd Gilliland, while Cole Custer spun his Haas Factory Team entry in sympathy.

Despite a tyre gamble, van Gisbergen could only get to 11th and narrowly missed out on Stage 2 points.

Hamlin led McDowell for the start of Stage 3 on Lap 192. That lasted less than a lap before the chaos kicked off deep in the pack.

Ricky Stenhouse Jr got into the back of Noah Gragson, who got loose. That checked the field up and Dillon got into the back of Brad Keselowski, who spun. Out of control, the #60 RFK Racing Mustang collected Ryan Blaney’s #2 Team Penske Mustang.

Van Gisbergen, having restarted fifth, fell back to seventh and continued to complain about wheel hop on the restarts.

Hamlin led the Lap 202 restart but it wasn’t long before another caution when RFK Racing’s Ryan Preece got loose and into the path of 23XI Racing’s Bubba Wallace, who took William Byron of Hendrick Motorsports into the wall with him. Bryon’s teammate Alex Bowman was left with nowhere to go and got collected by Wallace too.

Racing resumed on Lap 212 with Hamlin the leader and van Gisbergen ninth. He maintained position until a lap later when the yellow flew again for Todd Gilliland and John Hunter Nemechek, who went spinning out of the last turn.

A better restart on Lap 221 allowed van Gisbergen to clear Legacy Motor Club’s Erik Jones for eighth. Hamlin stretched his legs for a little bit before Briscoe and Bell began to challenge for the lead on Lap 245. As they started Lap 246, Bell shot to the lead.

Van Gisbergen, meanwhile, rose to seventh as McDowell came to the pits with an issue on Lap 256.

As Briscoe got by Hamlin on Lap 257, the former race leader elected to pit. Van Gisbergen followed suit a lap later.

Zane Smith in the #34 Front Row Motorsports Mustang tried to fuel save his way to the chequered flag, electing not to pit.

Bell had the ultimate pace, however. With 13 laps to go, Bell cleared Smith for the lead — and just moments later, the right front rotor of Buescher’s #17 RFK Racing Mustang let go to bring out the caution.

That neutralised the field with Bell ahead of Smith, Briscoe, Hamlin, Elliott, Larson, van Gisbergen, Gibbs, Reddick, and Jones.

Smith and Reddick were the sole top 10 runners to pit. With Smith out of the way, van Gisbergen rose to fifth for the Lap 297 restart with Larson on his outside.

In an epic finish, Hamlin, Bell, and Briscoe briefly ran three-wide entering Turn 1 on the last lap – but it was Hamlin who cleared them both to take the lead and the win.

Behind them, van Gisbergen beat Reddick and Elliot to fifth in a three-wide finish.

Moments after the chequered flag, Elliott and Reddick clashed, which sent the #45 23XI Racing Camry hard into the outside wall. Reddick got out of his car under his own steam, classified sixth.

NASCAR returns at Michigan International Speedway on June 8 (AEST).

Results: NASCAR Cup Series Cracker Barrel 400, Nashville Superspeedway

For more of the latest NASCAR news and analysis, visit Speedcafe US