Nashville Cracker Barrell 400 Fantasy NASCAR Front Runner Rankings

Ross Chastain
Nashville Fantasy Outlook – Ross Chastain, the 2023 Nashville winner might very well be a driver to be reckoned with, but I think it’s ultimately best to just view him as a risky top ten contender. 2026 has not been a good year for him but he’s been great at Nashville. In “Music City” in the Next Gen, Chastain ranks 3rd for Speed, 3rd for Driver Rating and has a 5.6 average finish minus 2024 where he was a contender to win but was crashed late.
Nashville Track History – Ross Chastain has been strong at Nashville and ranks among the best in the Next Gen. Last year, Chastain was solid but not great. In the race, Chastain finished 11th, had an 11.7 average running position and ranked 10th in terms of Total Speed Rankings. In 2024, Chastain started 20th, finished about 15th in Stage #1, got a pit penalty in Stage #2 while running in 13th and then in the last Stage in closing time, Chastain got the lead and led 45 laps until getting passed with 7 to go. At the scheduled distance, Chastain was in 2nd but then immediately in overtime #1, Kyle Larson wrecked him which led to Chastain’s 33rd. In terms of Total Speed Rankings, Chastain ranked 8th but he was at his best late and ranked 3rd for speed in the 4th segment. In 2023 when it was closing time, Chastain hit the afterburners and raced his way to victory lane. In the race, Chastain started on the pole, finished 2nd in Stage #1, finished 3rd in Stage #2, had a 2.7 average running position, led 99 laps and earned the best Driver Rating. In terms of speed stats, Chastain had the fastest car late in a run and ranked 2nd in terms of Total Speed Rankings. In 2022, Chastain finished 5th, had the 5th best Total Speed Ranking and earned the 4th best Driver Rating. In 2021, Chastain had a great race and finished 2nd.

Ryan Preece
Nashville Fantasy Outlook – Ryan Preece should have a solid showing at Nashville. His track record is mostly bad, but I would view him as a low double-digit driver who’ll compete for a top ten. The #60 team is typically about an 8th to 14th place team most weekends, and I would expect more of the same on Sunday night.
Nashville Track History – In the Next Gen in Nashville, Ryan Preece ranks 23rd for Driver Rating, 25th for Speed and has a 16th place average finish. Last year, Preece had his worst Next Gen Nashville race and finished 28th. That said, Preece brought out the last caution in the race when he spun on lap 194 while running in the 20’s. Additionally, Preece had a 20.1 average running position and ranked 18th for Total Speed Rankings, with his speed over the segments being 17th, 13th, 20th and then 25th. In 2024, Preece finished 4th but that’s even more of a fool’s gold result than Joey Logano’s win. In the race, Preece was in 25th on lap 295, had a 23.6 average running position and his Total Speed Ranking ranked 28th. In 2023, Preece finished 16th but take note of his 25.1 average running position and 27th best Total Speed Ranking. That said, Preece got better over the course of the evening and his speed ranking over the segments were 31st, 34th, 19th and then 15th.

Brad Keselowski
Nashville Fantasy Outlook – Brad Keselowski has been solid at intermediate tracks in 2026, so there’s reason for optimism in him at Nashville despite his track record. In Music City, Keselowski is 3 for 4 at finishing in the 20’s, has a 22.0 average finish and then ranks 15th for both Speed Rankings and Driver Rating. Heading into the weekend, I would view him as a risky top ten contender.
Nashville Track History – Nashville hasn’t been nice to Brad Keselowski. Last year, Keselowski had a tough race and finished 23rd. In the race, Keselowski started 6th, finished about 13th in Stage #1, was running in 15th on lap 123 but then not much later he was involved in a wreck with Corey Heim which did some damage to the nose of the #6. After that, he just wasn’t as good. In terms of Total Speed Rankings, Keselowski ranked 23rd with his speed over the segments being 15th, 17th, 25th and then 31st. In 2024, Keselowski looked great for much of the race but ended up finishing a disappointing 25th. In the race, Keselowski finished 5th in Stage #1, finished 5th in Stage # 2 but then in the last Stage when he was cycled back to 16th because of pit strategy he spun into the wall and got a lot of damage, dooming the rest of his evening. In terms of Total Speed Rankings, Keselowski ranked 11th but take note his speed over the segments were 5th, 5th, 6th and then 31st. In 2023, Keselowski was solid and came home 11th. In the race, Keselowski had a 14.7 average running position and had the 17th best Total Speed Ranking. To close out the race, the #6 was at its best and over the final two segments he had speed rankings of 12th and 13th. In 2022,  Keselowski finished an asterisk mark 29th. In the race, Keselowski had an 18.5 average running position, the 18th best Total Speed Ranking and was running in 13th with 10 laps to go before the late caution came out. During that late caution, Keselowski elected not to pit which got him up to 8th, but then during the restart lap he got into the wall hard which doomed him to his poor result.

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