Frontstretch Newsletter: May 29, 2026
Volume XX,
Edition LXXXVIII |
And Now A Word From Our Title Partner, My Place Hotels! |
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For more information on the NASCAR Cup Series Cracker Barrel 400, please see the Frontstretch Folio below. - NASCAR O'Reilly Auto Parts Series teams pulled into the infield this morning in Charlotte. Practice is scheduled for 2 p.m. ET Saturday with live coverage on The CW app
and website. Qualifying is scheduled for 3:05 p.m. ET. Some CW affiliates will provide live coverage of practice and qualifying. Check your local listings for availability. Coverage of the Sports Illustrated Resorts 250 will begin with NASCAR Countdown Live at 7 p.m. ET Saturday on The CW. Race coverage will begin at 7:30 p.m. ET with the green flag around 7:40 p.m. ET. - NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series teams pulled into the garage at sunrise this morning in Nashville. They are scheduled to practice
today starting at 4 p.m. ET. Live coverage will be joined in progress on FOX Sports 1 at 4:30 p.m. ET. Qualifying will follow at 5 p.m. ET. Coverage of the Allegiance 200 will start at 8 p.m. ET tonight on FS1. The green flag is scheduled for around 8:15 p.m. ET. - NTT
IndyCar Series teams are right back to business after Indianapolis with a street duel in Detroit. Practice No. 1 is scheduled for 3 p.m. ET this afternoon with live coverage on FOX Sports 2. Saturday will have Practice No. 2 bright and early at 9 a.m. ET on FS1. Qualifying is scheduled for 1 p.m. ET on FS1.
Sunday
will begin with the warmup session at 9:30 a.m. ET with live coverage on FS1.
Coverage of the Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix will begin at 12:30 p.m. ET Sunday afternoon on FOX. The green flag will fly around 12:53 p.m. ET.
- The IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship will serve as primary support to IndyCar in
Detroit with the GTP and GTD Pro classes. Practice No. 1 is already complete (see below). Qualifying is scheduled for 4:45 p.m. ET this afternoon. You can watch it live on the IMSA Official YouTube channel and on Peacock. Coverage of the Chevrolet Detroit Sports Car Classic will
air live on NBC and Peacock at 4 p.m. ET Saturday. The green flag will fly at 4:10 p.m. ET. - World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series teams will spend the weekend in North Dakota. Tonight, they will be at River Cities Speedway in Grand Forks for the First Leg of the Northern Tour. Coverage will begin at 7:15 p.m. ET on DirtVision. Sunday night sees the series move to Nodak Speedway in Minot for the Gerdau Metals Recycling Magic City Showdown. Coverage from Minot will begin at 7:15 p.m. ET on DirtVision. - World of Outlaws Late Model Series presented by DIRTvision teams will be at the newly-reopened Mansfield Speedway
in Ohio for the Blaster 57 Special. Action both tonight and Saturday night will begin at 6:15 p.m. ET on Dirtvision. FOLLOW THE FRONTSTRETCH THIS WEEKEND THROUGH OUR COLLEAGUES:
NASHVILLE: DETROIT: Ben Lloyd Also, don't forget to follow our
Twitter page, @Frontstretch as well for updates on Nashville and
Detroit! |
Have news for Frontstretch? Don't hesitate to let us know; email us at [email protected] with a promising lead or tip. |
Around the World in Motorsports: May 28-29 |
- In opening WeatherTech practice, Action Express Racing's Earl Bamber was fastest overall with a lap at 88.149 mph in his Cadillac VSeries.R. The lap was .146 seconds faster than BMW M Team WRT's Dries Vanthoor. Meyer Shank Racing with Curb-Agajanian's Acura for Nick Yelloly was third, then Porsche Penske Motorsport's Felipe Nasr. Wayne Taylor Racing's Ricky Taylor was fifth. In GTD Pro, Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports' Nicky Catsburg was fastest in his Corvette with a lap at 83.501 mph, the only GTD Pro driver to complete a lap in less than 71 seconds. Catsburg was .278 seconds faster than the Lexus of Ben Barnicoat. Ford Racing's Frederic Vervisch was third, followed by the second Corvette of Alexander Sims. Dennis Olsen in the second Mustang was
fifth. There were no red flags during the session, but as is the norm for street races, there were a number of instances where drivers ended up in the runoff. No less than a half a dozen drivers had this happen during the session, including a spin for Ford Racing's Christopher Mies, but no one hit anything. - World of Outlaws Late Model Series presented by DIRTvision teams were at Wayne County Speedway. Here, Ricky Thornton Jr. won the pole and led all 40 laps to win the Lonewolf 40. Nick Hoffman was second, while Bobby Pierce was third after starting 16th. Tyler Erb was fourth, then Dustin Sorensen. In the points, Pierce has a 14-point lead over Hoffman. Erb and Tim McCreadie are tied for third, while Drake Troutman is fifth. |
Frontstretch Folio: Cracker Barrel 400
by Phil Allaway
This weekend, the NASCAR Cup Series travels to Central Tennessee to make their sixth visit to Nashville Superspeedway. Coverage of the Cracker Barrel 400 begins with NASCAR Live at 6 p.m. ET on Prime Video. Race coverage begins at 7 p.m. ET and the race is scheduled to go green at 7:15 p.m. ET. The race can also be heard on PRN Radio and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio (Channel
90). Records and facts Last year's Cracker Barrel 400 saw Ryan Blaney lead 139 of 300 laps, taking the lead for good from Brad Keselowski on lap 269. From there, he pulled away to take the victory. Blaney won by 2.83 seconds over Carson Hocevar. Denny Hamlin was third, then Joey Logano and William Byron. There have been five NASCAR Cup Series races at Nashville Superspeedway. They have all been won by different drivers. In addition to Blaney, Logano, Ross Chastain, Chase Elliott and Kyle Larson have won on the concrete tri-oval. Track Facts
Track / Race Length: 1.33-mile tri-oval, 300 laps (399 miles)
Banking: 14 degrees
Frontstretch: 2,250 ft., banked 9 degrees
Backstretch: 1,330 ft., banked 6 degrees
Grandstand Seating: 38,000
Pit Road Speed: 45 mph
Pace Car Speed: 55 mph
Opened: 2001 Twitter: https://twitter.com/NashvilleSuperS Pre-Race Schedule: Practice: Saturday, May 30, 4:30 - 5:20 p.m. ET on Prime Video/Sports on Prime YouTube Qualifying: Saturday, May 30, 5:40 p.m. ET on Prime Video Say What?! "Nashville is a track I’ve always enjoyed. I’ve had the chance to race there quite a bit over the years in the ARCA and O’Reilly Auto Parts Series, and when I first got to the Cup Series, it was also a place where we did a lot of testing. It’s a unique
track because it kind of blends characteristics of a short track and an intermediate, which makes it a lot of fun from the driver’s seat. In these cars, you’re shifting a lot and managing different opportunities throughout the race, so it keeps you engaged. It’s a place where I feel like we’ve had strong speed, even if the results don’t necessarily reflect that. We’ve had some tough breaks there with incidents and mechanical issues, including last year, but overall, it’s a track where I feel
like we’ve shown good pace and had solid potential. With the speed our Spire Motorsports organization has been bringing to the track and the momentum we have been building over the last few weeks, I’m ready to get to Nashville." - Michael McDowell "Nashville has historically been a pretty good track for us in the past, especially in the NextGen car. It’ll be a bit
different with the package we’re bringing – the lower downforce and the higher horsepower, so we’ll see how that all reacts. I think in general we’ve done a solid job of taking a good guess and getting close on balance even with the new rules package. Looking forward to getting there. Hopefully the track is super wide so we can move around and do different stuff. I really enjoy going to Nashville for this race." - Erik Jones
"What makes it unique is it looks like a mile and a half but doesn’t race like one, per se. You have to slow down for the corner way more than you’d think and downshift, all while knowing there isn’t much banking there to support you. The size is very deceiving for how tight the corners are." - Carson Hocevar
Phil Allaway
is the Frontstretch newsletter manager. He can be reached at [email protected]. Photo is courtesy of Nigel Kinrade Photography.
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