Denny Hamlin wins thrilling Cracker Barrel 400 over Christopher Bell, Chase Briscoe

Denny Hamlin had to outduel a pair of his Joe Gibbs Racing teammates, Christopher Bell and Chase Briscoe, in the final laps of the Cracker Barrel 400 at Nashville Superspeedway to earn his second NASCAR Cup Series win of 2026, and the veteran rose to the challenge. 

Hamlin, who had to serve a penalty early in the race for jumping the start, made his way back through the field and got around Bell for the lead for good with half a lap to go after a thrilling battle that the JGR trio raced three-wide for the lead at the white flag. 

The race's final caution came out with 13 laps to go, just after Bell passed Zane Smith, who was trying to stretch it out on fuel, for the race lead, setting up the final restart.

"Just side by side with the 20, he drove in there so deep on the last lap into [turn] 1," Hamlin told Prime Video. "I definitely jumped the start, no doubt about that. Thank you to this sellout crowd."

Bell, Briscoe, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Chase Elliott rounded out the top five, with Tyler Reddick, Shane van Gisbergen, Ryan Blaney, Smith and Carson Hocevar completing the top 10.

Notable results

Other notable finishers include Ty Gibbs in 13th, Michael McDowell in 15th, Coke 600 winner Daniel Suarez in 19th, Kyle Larson in 23rd and Corey Heim in 25th. 

AJ Allmendinger won Stage 1 in a photo finish over Kyle Larson, while Daniel Suarez won Stage 2 under caution after Allmendinger suffered a brake failure. 

Allmendinger, Ross Chastain and Connor Zilisch finished 35th, 37th and 38th, respectively after brake failures, while mechanical issues relegated Ryan Preece to a 36th-place result.