NASCAR Cracker Barrel 400 takeaways: Denny Hamlin overcomes penalty to win Nashville thriller

Despite that adversity, a late restart with four laps to go gave Hamlin one last chance to battle for the win. On a final lap that started out with Hamlin, Bell and Briscoe three-wide, Hamlin prevailed out of Turn 2 for his 62nd career win and first at Nashville.

It was far from a mistake-free night for Hamlin, but that final restart put the race back in his hands and produced a fantastic finish.

Christopher Bell comes up short again

For the second week in a row, Bell came out on the losing end despite having arguably the fastest car in the field. He led 27 laps and appeared to race hand until the final caution for Chris Buescher set the stage for the thrilling finish.

The heartbreaking result follows a runner-up finish in the Coca-Cola 600 after a late two-tire call and rain allowed Daniel Suarez to pick up the emotional win. Bell's season has been marred by unfortunate circumstances and near-misses. He can add Sunday night's nail-biter to that list.

Brake rotor issues wreak havoc on Trackhouse Racing

Although Shane van Gisbergen continued to impress at Nashville and led the Trackhouse brigade once again, the struggles continued for rookie Connor Zilisch and Ross Chastain.

The trouble started for Zilisch when a brake issue sent his No. 88 Chevrolet into the outside wall in Turn 1 on Lap 73. Just eight laps later, Chastain experienced the same issues.

Both drivers entered the race 23rd and 33rd, respectively, in points, with a combined two top-10s between them. They occupied the last two positions in the final running order on Sunday night as the poor results continued to compound into the second half of the regular season.

Austin Dillon, Brad Keselowski involved in final stage crash

In a race that featured strategy from the drop of the green flag as drivers and teams opted for two tires and track position throughout the 400-miler, restarts became even more important and produced numerous crashes as a result.

One of those came with 109 laps remaining as contact between Noah Gragson and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. created a stack-up. As Keselowski dove to the apron to avoid the traffic in front of him, Austin Dillon made contact with his right rear, sending him into Austin Cindric and hard into the outside wall.

"It's pretty clear (Austin Dillon) wrecked me intentionally in that replay," Keselowski told Prime Video in response to the accident, per the Motorsports Wire's Austin Konenski. 

Clearly, Keselowski was frustrated in the immediate aftermath, but this was just one of the many examples of the intense restarts on Sunday night. Look no further than a couple of laps after the ensuing restart when Bubba Wallace was one of several drivers involved as his season continues to unravel.