Nashville Cracker Barrell 400 Fantasy NASCAR Top Tier Elite Picks

Denny Hamlin
Nashville Fantasy Outlook – At Nashville in the Cracker Barrell 400, look for Denny Hamlin to be a top five contender who’ll be a factor to win. Hamlin ranks among the premiere performers and in the Next Gen, Hamlin ranks #1 across the board for Next Gen Speed Rankings, Driver Rating and Average Finish (6.0). This year at intermediate tracks, Hamlin has been a super elite performer, so I have no doubt he’ll have a fast #11 and the road to victory lane likely goes thru him.
Nashville Track History – Denny Hamlin has performed at a super elite level at Nashville, and he ranks #1 in the Next Gen in terms of Speed Rankings, Driver Rating, Average Running Position (3.8) and Average Finish (6.0). I’ll also note that average finish even underrates him since he had a misleading result in 2024’s late extended mayhem. Last year, Hamlin was stout. In the race, Hamlin started 2nd, won Stage #1, finished 3rd in Stage #2, led 79 laps, had a race best 3.3 average running position, earned the 2nd best Driver Rating and then finished 3rd overall. In terms of Total Speed Rankings, Hamlin ranked #1 with his speed over the segments being 1st, 2nd, 4th and 4th. In 2024, Hamlin probably should’ve won but finished an asterisk mark 12th. In the race, Hamlin won the pole, finished 2nd in Stage #1, finished 4th in Stage #2, was the leader on lap 295 and was the leader thru overtime #3 when he finally had to come in for gas, which led to his misleading 12th. Additionally, Hamlin led 70 laps, earned the best Driver Rating and had a race best 4.5 average running position. In terms of speed stats, Hamlin was the fastest driver late in a run and had the 2nd best Total Speed Ranking. In 2023, Hamlin had a rocket. In the race, Hamlin finished 5th in Stage #1, won Stage #2, had a 3.9 average running position, led 81 laps and then finished 3rd overall. In terms of speed stats, Hamlin had the 4th best Total Speed Ranking and ranked 5th for Speed Late In A Run. In 2022, Hamlin finished 2nd in Stage #1, 2nd in Stage #2, led a race high 114 laps, had the 2nd best Total Speed Ranking, ranked 2nd for Speed Late In A Run but then finished 6th when the checkered flag waved. With 10 laps to go Hamlin was running in 3rd, but he then came to pit road during the late caution which dropped him back to 13th with only 4 laps to go.

Christopher Bell
Nashville Fantasy Outlook – At Nashville, look for Christopher Bell to be a top five contender who’ll be a factor to win. Bell’s an elite performer at intermediate tracks and he’s been great at Nashville. In the Next Gen at Nashville, Bell ranks 2nd for Speed, 2nd for Driver Rating and has an 8.3 average finish minus 2024, where he might’ve just been the best, but his race wasn’t incident free. This year at intermediate tracks, the #20 has been fast and I would look for the good times to continue on Sunday night.
Nashville Track History – Christopher Bell has been a super-elite performer at Nashville. Bell was arguably the best in 2024 and over his four other Nashville races he’s had results of 7th, 8th, 9th and 10th. Last year, Bell finished 10th but you could argue that underrates him since his evening wasn’t incident free. In the race, Bell started 7th, finished 5th in Stage #1 but then on lap 118 while running in 5th, Bell was spun and got into the wall. It didn’t look good, but he was still able to race competitively. When Stage #2 ended, Bell finished 10th. When the checkered flag waved, Bell finished 10th overall. In terms of Total Speed Rankings, Bell ranked 6th. In 2024, Bell was giving the field a beat down, but his race wasn’t incident free and he finished 36th. In the race, Bell won Stage #1, won Stage #2, led 131 laps but then in the final Stage, pit strategy cycled him back to the teens and then on lap 227 while running in 15th, Bell got loose in traffic and got into the wall hard. In terms of Total Speed Rankings, Bell ranked #1. Over the three races prior to that, Bell had results of 7th, 8th and 9th.

Ryan Blaney
Nashville Fantasy Outlook – Defending Nashville winner, Ryan Blaney will be tough competition in “Music City” as he vies for back-to-back wins. At Nashville, Blaney’s been elite and in the Next Gen, he ranks 5th for Speed and his average finish minus 2023 is 3.3. Last year, Blaney was the class of the field and in closing time, he took the competition to the woodshed. This year at intermediate tracks, Blaney hasn’t been at his best, but Nashville is pretty unique so I wouldn’t be too worried about that. On Sunday, look for Blaney to be a top five contender who’ll be a factor to win.
Nashville Track History – Ryan Blaney has been strong at Nashville and in the Next Gen minus 2023, his average finish is 3.3 and he’s 3 for 3 at finishing in the top 6. Last year, Blaney dominated in closing time. In the race, Blaney started 15th, finished Stage #1 in 7th, won Stage #2, led the most laps (139), earned the best Driver Rating and of course finished 1st when the checkered flag waved. In terms of Speed Stats, Blaney ranked as having the fastest car Late In A Run and his Total Speed Ranking ranked 3rd, with his speed over the segments being 10th, 1st, 1st and 2nd. In 2024, Blaney ranked among the best even though his race was almost a disaster due to out of sync pit strategy in the last Stage. In the race, Blaney finished 6th, earned the 5th best Driver Rating and led 26 laps. In terms of Total Speed Rankings, Blaney ranked 5th but take note in both segments #3 and #4 he ranked as having the fastest car on the track. In the last Stage, Blaney did some bad pit strategy and was actually in 31st on lap 295, so all the overtime mega mayhem bailed him out. In 2023, Blaney was OK and looked teens good but crashed around the mid-point which doomed him to a 36th. In the race, Blaney started 13th, had the 15th best Total Speed Ranking, was in 12th on lap 146 but then that very lap during a restart he crashed. In 2022, Blaney had an 8.8 average running position and then finished 3rd when the checkered flag waved. I’ll note, on lap 290 before the last caution came out, Blaney was running in 9th. In terms of speed stats, Blaney had the 8th best Total speed Ranking and ranked 10th for Speed Late In A Run.

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