A plethora of right-front brake rotor failures in Sunday night’s Cracker Barrel 400 at Nashville Superspeedway sidelined several drivers and shuffled the point standings as the second half of the Cup Series regular season started.
Adversely affected by the failures were Connor Zilisch, Ross Chastain, A.J. Allmendinger, and Chris Buescher. Ryan Preece was a victim of one of the failures as debris from a broken brake rotor damaged his Ford’s radiator, sending him to the garage after 90 laps.
Analysts on Prime’s broadcast speculated that the problem might be the result of the high horsepower/low downforce package that NASCAR implemented this year on road courses and tracks less than 1.5 miles in length. Nashville is a 1.33-mile concrete track.
The first two failures affected Trackhouse Racing teammates Zilisch and Chastain. Since those failures occurred 10 laps apart, their teammate Shane van Gisbergen expressed concern but was told he had “something very different.” Van Gisbergen eventually finished fifth, his best ever on an oval track.
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Connor Zilisch hitting the wall after his brake rotor failed.’ expand=
Zilisch, whose right-front brake rotor exploded on lap 72 as he entered the first turn, said he had no warning, no pedal fade.
“The team was telling me that we had a little bit more glow than we would like and that went away as the run went on,” said Zilisch, who finished last in the 38-car field. “It just kind of came as a surprise.”
Ten laps later on lap 82, Chastain suffered the same fate. He said when the right-front brake rotor failed, he just put his Chevrolet into the second turn wall.
“You can’t slow down once the rotor is out of it,” said Chastain, who finished 37th in the race won by Denny Hamlin. “The car was OK, but it’s a rule that you can’t replace the rotors.”
Next on the casualty list was Preece’s Ford.
“It was just one of those frustrating nights,” Preece said. “We never really got the balance where we needed it, and we were fighting a tight condition from the start. The guys kept making adjustments and working hard to improve it, but, unfortunately, we had a piece of brake rotor go through the radiator and that ended our night.”
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Ross Chastain got into the wall, too.
Allmendinger won Stage 1, his first Stage victory since 2024, but then on lap 173 while running third, his right-front brake rotor failed as he entered the first turn. Like Zilisch, he didn’t have any warning of the impending failure.
“The pedals never went soft and I didn’t feel like I was over-using the brakes, so it was a shock when it happened,” Allmendinger said. “Obviously, we’ve seen that’s been an issue here. I don’t know if it’s lower downforce or carrying more speed with more horsepower down the straightaway and you’re using more brake. I’ve never felt like this is a heavy braking race track, in general, so I’m not really sure.”
“The pedals never went soft and I didn’t feel like I was over-using the brakes, so it was a shock when it happened.”
With the laps winding down in the 300-lap race, Buescher’s Ford lost its right-front brake rotor in turn four with 12 laps remaining, setting up a tense battle for the victory between the Joe Gibbs Racing Toyotas driven by Hamlin, Christopher Bell and Chase Briscoe.
“Frustrating end to the day,” said Buescher, who finished 29th. “We finally were starting to figure it out and we’re about to make a charge toward the front, Until the brake rotor blew up and ruined the day.”
The mechanical woes dropped Buescher from seventh to eighth in the standings, while his RFK Racing teammate Preece fell outside the top 16. He heads to Michigan 17thin the standings. Chastain dropped from 23rd to 26th. Zilisch lost one position, going from 33rd to 34th. Allmendinger fell from 19th to 22nd.
Rain Delayed, but Record Setting
Rain delayed the start of Sunday night’s Cracker Barrel 400 by slightly more than an hour, but the 300-lap event turned into a Joe Gibbs Racing trophy dash with teammates Denny Hamlin, Christopher Bell, and Chase Briscoe vying for the victory. Hamlin eventually claimed his 62nd career win the record setting event. He is now one behind Kyle Busch on NASCAR’s Cup Series all-time win list.
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Denny Hamlin takes a bow.
“It just shows how good he was for so long,” Hamlin said about Busch. “I saw the stats online where we ran together 500-and-some races, and he finished ahead of me 10 more times than I beat him in the same equipment.
“He certainly taught me a lot. You see so many tributes and people have stories that you just didn’t know. I didn’t realize just a few months ago he had a Q&A, and he was asked who he had learned the most from teammate-wise, and he said me, and I was like that made me feel good. I didn’t realize that he had said that.
“It was an honor to be his teammate for 15 years. He raised my game. Without him as a teammate, there’s no way I win the races I win, especially the ones like today (Sunday).”
In Sunday night’s race there were 31 lead changes among 15 different drivers, both records. The old records were 21 lead changes among 12 different drivers which were set on June 25, 2023.
The other record was for the fewest number of drivers finishing on the lead lap. That was 15 this year. The old record was 20, set on June 20, 2021.
Stenhouse Corrals 2nd Top 5
No one is surprised when Ricky Stenhouse Jr. produces a top-five finish in a superspeedway race, but at Nashville Superspeedway he recorded his second this season on a 1.33-mile concrete track.
“It was an up-and-down day,” said Stenhouse, who finished fourth to winner Denny Hamlin for his first top five since the season opener at Daytona. “I felt like our… Chevrolet started off really tight and we kind of fell back there. We made some adjustments and stayed out in the second stage to get good stage points. We kind of found our way back into the top 15.”
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Denny Hamlin (#11) and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (#47) going neck-and-neck.
Unlike several drivers, Stenhouse said his HYAK Motorsports Chevrolet didn’t experience any brake problems in the 300-lap Cracker Barrel 400.
“I could hustle it really all the way through a whole Stage and a whole run, and I felt like that was a benefit for us,” Stenhouse said. “It was fun to be on offense and be the top-finishing Chevrolet. Really good momentum for our team from last week to this week at a track where we struggled a little bit.”
Stenhouse finished 12th in the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway a week before the Nashville event.
Nashville Oval Clicks for SVG
When Shane van Gisbergen moved to NASCAR full-time, the New Zealander knew he faced a steep learning curve on the ovals. He became a student of the sport and while he began showing he was learning the tracks that are NASCAR’s staple, it’s only been during the last two weeks that his homework has started paying dividends.
In the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway, van Gisbergen ran in the top 10 for most of the race, leading 11 laps before recording an 11th-place finish. Then a week later at Nashville Superspeedway in the Cracker Barrel 400, he produced his best-ever finish on an oval. Van Gisbergen finished fifth after leading 12 laps.
“It was a pretty awesome day,” van Gisbergen said. “Starting up front obviously helps, but it was cool to lead some laps and battle at the front. I really enjoyed myself tonight. I learned to be comfortable moving around in (turns) one and two, which I’ve never been able to do before.
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Shane van Gisbergen led for 11 laps.’ expand=
“We just got the balance better on the two-tire strategy. When we were on a four-tire strategy, we were lacking that. The two-tire stop at the end, we were able to get the balance back again. It definitely feels like we’re making headway.”
Reddick, Elliott Crash at Finish Line
Tyler Reddick and Chase Elliott were in contention for the Cracker Barrel 400 victory, leading 42 laps and three laps, respectively, in the 300-lap race. However, when the checkered flag waved the two ended up crashing at the finish line.
“Ryan (Blaney) was trying to push me to the line and got super out of shape,” Elliott said in explaining the accident. “The (No.) 45 (Reddick) was just kind of in the way, unfortunately, for me spinning. Hate that. Nothing intentional on my end, obviously. I heard Tyler’s OK. I’m glad he’s all right.”
Reddick finished sixth, Elliott seventh and Blaney eighth. Blaney was the top finishing Ford.
Six-Car Crash Frustrates Wallace
A six-car crash in the second turn on lap 204 of the 300 lap Cracker Barrel 400 eliminated Bubba Wallace, making it the second time in the last three races that the 23XI Racing driver has failed to produce a top 25 finish.
Chris Buescher triggered the accident when he got into Wallace on his Toyota’s left side. William Byron then bumped Wallace in the rear. Wallace then spun across the track and clipped Alex Bowman. John Hunter Nemechek and Carson Hocevar also were involved in the crash on the 1.33-mile concrete track. In addition to Wallace, Byron, and Bowman were eliminated from the event won by Denny Hamlin.
“Another week our team doesn’t get the finish they deserve,” said Wallace, who placed 32nd. “I’m tired, man. It’s hard to be in the same boat constantly every week. You got to figure out how to put it behind you and show up. I somehow become the bad guy the days following this, but I’ve got to figure out how to be better and learn from it. It’s really hard when you are driving your best and trying to just make progress throughout the race and you get wiped out.”
A North Carolina native, Deb Williams is an award-winning motorsports journalist who is in her fourth decade covering auto racing. In addition to covering the sport for United Press International, she has written motorsports articles for several newspapers, magazines and websites including espnW.com, USA Today, and The Charlotte Observer. Her awards include the American Motorsports Media Award of Excellence, two-time National Motorsports Press Association writer of the year, and two-time recipient of the Russ Catlin award. She also has won an award in the North Carolina Press Association’s sports feature category. During her career, Deb has been managing editor of GT Motorsports magazine and was with Winston Cup Scene and NASCAR Winston Cup Scene for 18 years, serving as the publication’s editor for 10 years. In 2024 she was inducted into the NMPA Hall of Fame.