NASCAR Cup Series driver Ryan Blaney celebrates winning the Cracker Barrel 400 at Nashville Superspeedway in Lebanon, Tenn. Andrew Nelles / The Tennessean / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Ryan Blaney breaks through, earns first win of 2025 in Cracker Barrel 400

By Samuel Stubbs | Last updated Jun 1, 2025 10:43 PM ET

In a year where Ryan Blaney has been close to victory on numerous occasions, the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series champion finally broke through and got to victory lane for the first time in 2025 on Sunday.

Blaney led 139 laps en route to a win in Sunday's Cracker Barrel 400 at Nashville Superspeedway, holding off Carson Hocevar over the final green-flag run to earn the 14th victory of his Cup Series career. The win also guarantees Blaney a playoff berth.

A fired-up Blaney saluted the sell-out crowd after the race, standing on top of his No. 12 before making his way into the crowd and delivering the checkered flag to a young fan.

Burn it down, @Blaney! pic.twitter.com/C8yB2f3tiu
— NASCAR (@NASCAR) June 2, 2025

"I never gave up hope, that's for sure," Blaney told Prime Video. "We've had great speed all year, it just hasn't been the best year for us as far as good fortune. The No. 12 boys are awesome, they stick with it no matter how it goes. It was great to finish one out tonight."

Hocevar, Denny Hamlin, Joey Logano and William Byron rounded out the top five, with Bubba Wallace, Erik Jones, Kyle Larson, Tyler Reddick and Christopher Bell completing the top 10.

Other notable finishers include Coke 600 winner Ross Chastain in 11th, Kyle Busch in 12th, Chase Elliott in 15th, polesitter Chase Briscoe in 17th and Ty Gibbs in 31st.

The 15th race of the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series season will take place at Michigan International Speedway on June 8. The FireKeepers Casino 400 will go green shortly after 2 p.m. ET, with coverage on Prime Video, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

Samuel Stubbs

Hailing from the same neck of the woods as NASCAR Hall of Famer Mark Martin, Samuel has been covering NASCAR for Yardbarker since February 2024. He has been a member of the National Motorsports Press Association (NMPA) since October of 2024. When he’s not writing about racing, Samuel covers Arkansas Razorback basketball for Yardbarker

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