Chase Briscoe, driver of the #19 Bass Pro Shops Toyota, poses for photos after winning the pole award during qualifying for the NASCAR Cup Series Cracker Barrel 400 at Nashville Superspeedway on May 31, 2025 in Lebanon, Tennessee. (Photo by James Gilbert/Getty Images)

NASCAR News: Briscoe wins Cracker Barrel 400 pole at Nashville

Chase Briscoe claimed the NASCAR Busch Light Pole Award for the second consecutive week and third time of the season Saturday, besting his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate, Denny Hamlin, by only 0.049 seconds in qualifying to earn the top starting position for Sunday’s Cracker Barrel 400 at Nashville Superspeedway

Briscoe was among the very last to take to the 1.33-mile concrete oval turning in a track record lap of 164.395 mph in the No. 19 JGR Toyota. He and his teammate Hamlin – a two-time Nashville pole winner – will lead the field to green with current NASCAR Cup Series championship leader, Hendrick Motorsports’ William Byron in the No. 24 Chevrolet and 23XI Racing’s Tyler Reddick in the No. 45 Toyota, a row behind.

“I guess I just pushed my head farther forward as I was coming to the line,’’ Briscoe joked of the tight margin between the teammates to decide pole position.

“Honestly, I thought I ran a decent lap. Just a smooth lap and sometimes that’s what it takes. Obviously, a good Saturday for our Bass Pro Shops Toyota and obviously two weeks in a row we’ve been able to do that now, which is nice. Just need to put a Sunday together now.

“Track position is going to be really really big here tomorrow and that’s the name of the game most every place we go, certainly at this place. So hopefully we can maintain track position and keep it up front all day long.’’

Hamlin agreed about the significance of a good starting position.

“Certainly going to be a track position-type race, and with very minimum [tire] falloff, even in practice I kept having to back up from the guys that I was catching.’’ said Hamlin, driver of the No. 11 JGR Toyota. “Obviously great job for our Progressive Toyota team to get us a good starting spot and pit stall.

“I would have loved to have number one, but Chase just ruined that,’’ he added smiling. “Really happy for the whole Joe Gibbs Racing team to get the whole front row there. I definitely think we can race from that spot.’’

Reddick held the number one position on the speed chart for much of qualifying, only to be bested later by his team co-owner Hamlin, Briscoe, and Byron late in the session. Last year’s regular season champion Reddick was fastest in practice in both single-lap speed and 10-lap average speed.

Last week’s Charlotte race winner Ross Chastain – the 2023 Nashville winner – was fifth fastest in the No. 1 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet, followed by RFK Racing owner and driver Brad Keselowski, who set the fastest time among the Fords.

Joe Gibbs Racing’s Christopher Bell, Spire Motorsports’ Michael McDowell, Team Penske’s Joey Logano and RFK’s Christopher Buescher rounded out the top-10 in qualifying.

Former race winner (2021) Kyle Larson will start 28th and his Hendrick teammate Chase Elliott, the 2022 Nashville winner, will roll off 11th.

Cracker Barrel 400 Qualifying Results

Pos No. Driver Team Time Speed
1 19 Chase Briscoe Bass Pro Shops Toyota 29.125 164.395
2 11 Denny Hamlin Progressive Toyota 29.174 164.119
3 24 William Byron Raptor High Heat Chevrolet 29.307 163.374
4 45 Tyler Reddick Pinnacle Toyota 29.308 163.368
5 1 Ross Chastain Busch Country Chevrolet 29.310 163.357
6 6 Brad Keselowski Solomon Plumbing Ford 29.377 162.985
7 20 Christopher Bell DEWALT Toyota 29.387 162.929
8 71 Michael McDowell Delaware Life Chevrolet 29.397 162.874
9 22 Joey Logano Shell Pennzoil Ford 29.434 162.669
10 17 Chris Buescher Kroger/OIKOS Ford 29.443 162.619
11 9 Chase Elliott Kelley Blue Book Chevrolet 29.477 162.432
12 23 Bubba Wallace Chumba Casino Toyota 29.526 162.162
13 47 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. NOS Energy Chevrolet 29.588 161.822
14 43 Erik Jones Dollar Tree Toyota 29.589 161.817
15 12 Ryan Blaney Menards/Cardell Cabinetry Ford 29.601 161.751
16 2 Austin Cindric Discount Tire Ford 29.606 161.724
17 16 AJ Allmendinger LeafFilter Gutter Protection Chevrolet 29.619 161.653
18 7 Justin Haley Garner Trucking Chevrolet 29.623 161.631
19 60 Ryan Preece Trimble Ford 29.635 161.566
20 21 Josh Berry Freightliner Ford 29.651 161.479
21 3 Austin Dillon Toys for Tots Chevrolet 29.657 161.446
22 54 Ty Gibbs Interstate Batteries Toyota 29.658 161.440
23 88 Shane Van Gisbergen # Red Bull Chevrolet 29.659 161.435
24 48 Alex Bowman Ally Chevrolet 29.670 161.375
25 8 Kyle Busch zone Chevrolet 29.732 161.039
26 77 Carson Hocevar Zeigler Auto Group Chevrolet 29.754 160.920
27 38 Zane Smith Mystik Lubricants Ford 29.766 160.855
28 5 Kyle Larson HendrickCars.com Chevrolet 29.778 160.790
29 41 Cole Custer HaasTooling.com Ford 29.807 160.633
30 4 Noah Gragson Rush Truck Centers Ford 29.820 160.563
31 10 Ty Dillon Grizzly Nicotine Pouches Chevrolet 29.824 160.542
32 99 Daniel Suarez Tootsies Orchid Lounge Chevrolet 29.884 160.220
33 67 Corey Heim(i) Chief’s Toyota 29.896 160.155
34 51 Cody Ware Arbys Ford 29.951 159.861
35 34 Todd Gilliland Love’s Travel Stops Ford 29.996 159.621
36 42 John Hunter Nemechek DriveValue.com Toyota 30.023 159.478
37 35 Riley Herbst # Monster Energy Toyota 30.160 158.753
38 44 JJ Yeley(i) Fanatics Sportsbook Chevrolet 30.443 157.278
39 66 Chad Finchum Aires Ford 31.729 150.903