Nashville Cracker Barrell 400 Fantasy NASCAR Mid Pack Predictions / The Low Tier

AJ Allmendinger
Nashville Fantasy Outlook – In the Next Gen at Nashville, AJ Allmendinger has a pair of top 11’s with a 15.0 average finish, but I have a hard time seeing him be that competitive. The #16 hasn’t run that well at intermediates this year and realistically I would just view him as a 20’s driver.
Nashville Track History – In the Next Gen at Nashville, AJ Allmendinger has a 15.0 average finish (10th best), ranks 15th for Speed and 16th for Driver Rating. Last year, Allmendinger started in the rear of the field, served a pass thru penalty after the first green flag lap, had a 27.5 average running position, ranked 26th in terms of Total Speed Rankings and then finished 20th overall. In 2024, Allmendinger escaped with an 11th. I’ll note, that’s not a misleading result. Allmendinger was in 11th on lap 295 before all the overtimes kicked into gear and over the last two segments of the race, he had speed rankings of 12th and 13th. In 2023, Allmendinger had a great performance and ran well throughout. In the race, Allmendinger started 19th, finished 10th in Stage #1, finished 8th in Stage #2, had a 12.3 average running position and then finished 10th overall. In 2022, Allmendinger finished 19th.

Shane van Gisbergen
Nashville Fantasy Outlook – At Nashville, I think Shane van Gisbergen might have teen’s potential after a strong showing at Charlotte but it’s likely wise to just have mid-pack expectations.
Nashville Track History – Last year in Nashville in his only start at this 1.3-mile concrete oval, SVG finished 25th, ranked 25th in terms of Total Speed Rankings, had the 24th best Driver Rating and a 20.9 average running position.

Riley Herbst
Nashville Fantasy Outlook – Riley Herbst has shown a lot of improvement on the track in 2026 and often been at his best at intermediates and at Nashville, let’s hope that trend continues since he’s been pretty bad here. At Nashville in the Next Gen, Herbst has a 30.5 average finish and ranks 31st in terms of Next Gen Speed Rankings. Heading into the weekend, I would view him as a mid-pack driver who’ll have upside.
Nashville Track History – In the Next Gen at Nashville, Riley Herbst ranks 35th in terms of average finish (30.5), ranks 35th in terms of Driver Rating and his Next Gen Speed Ranking is 31st. Last year, Herbst finished 24th. Additionally, Herbst had a 28.4 average running position and ranked 27th in terms of Total Speed Rankings. In 2024 in the Rick Ware Racing #51, Herbst stunk it up en route to a 37th. In the race, Herbst ranked 31st for Total Speed Rankings, had a 33.8 average running position and on lap 202 while running in 31st, Herbst got into the wall which brought out a caution.

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