Race Lineup

Ally 400

Sunday, June 25th, 2023

Nashville Superspeedway, Lebanon, TN

  • 16 Chevrolet
  • 14 Ford
  • 6 Toyota

  • Nashville Superspeedway
  • Ally 400
  • Busch Pole Award Pole Winner: Ross Chastain
  • Age: 30
  • Team : No. 1 - Worldwide Express Chevrolet
  • Owner: Justin Marks
  • Crew Chief: Philip Surgen
  • Ross Chastain won the Pole Award for the Ally 400 with a lap of 29.797 seconds, 160.687 mph.
  • This is his first pole in 168 NASCAR Cup Series races.
  • This is his first pole and eighth top-10 start in 2023.
  • This is his first pole in three races at Nashville Superspeedway.
  • Tyler Reddick (second) posted his 10th top-10 start of 2023 and his first in three races at Nashville Superspeedway.
  • Justin Haley (third) posted his first top-10 start at Nashville Superspeedway. It is his first in 17 races this season.
  • Ty Gibbs (16th) was the fastest qualifying rookie.

  • Sunday, June 25th, 2023
  • NASCAR Wire Service - Holly Cain
Ross Chastain Earns Hometown Win for Trackhouse Racing at Nashville Superspeedway

Ross Chastain capped off a “perfect” race weekend, hitting all the right notes in Music City to earn the winner’s guitar trophy in Sunday’s Ally 400 at Nashville Superspeedway – his first NASCAR Cup Series race victory of the season, a day after claiming his first career pole position.

But before hoisting his new guitar, the 30-year old Chastain had a watermelon to smash – his trademark victory celebration – a nod to his family’s multi-generation watermelon farm in rural Alva, Florida. And the sold-out Nashville crowd – home to his race team owner Justin Marks – roared with enthusiasm for the long smoke-filled victory burnout he did in front of the grandstands to his enthusiastic melon drop.

“This is incredible,” a grinning Chastain said. “This is why every little kid out there, anyone in the world, when you get criticized and you’re going to if you’re a competitor, they will try to tear you down and you’ll start believing it and you can’t do that.

“Go to your people. Trust in the process. Read your books and trust in the Big Man’s plan upstairs. And just keep getting up and going to work on it.

“A lot of self-reflection through all this, but I had a group that believed in me and they didn’t let me get down,” he said of his challenges in 2023.

Chastain certainly proved that resilience and his faith in the process. He led early Sunday and then led late – thanks to incredibly fast pit stops from his Trackhouse Racing team helping position him for the race lead on the final round of stops of the night.

It’s the first race win of 2023 for Chastain, who led the championship standings for seven weeks early in the year, and the first win of the year and first pole position ever for Trackhouse Racing.

Ultimately Chastain had to hold off Joe Gibbs Racing teammates Martin Truex Jr. and Denny Hamlin by .789-second for the win – leading a race best 99 of the 300 laps, including the final 34.

Lapped traffic was a factor for Chastain to overcome all night. He lost his early race lead to Tyler Reddick after Noah Gragson raced Chastain hard trying not to be lapped. There is a history between Gragson and Chastain, who had a physical confrontation at Kansas Speedway in early May. Reddick went on to win Stage 1 after Chastain was unable to clear Gragson easily, but Reddick – who started the race alongside Chastain on the front row – spun out on pit road on a caution shortly thereafter and ultimately was not a factor for the win.

In the closing laps – with Truex hot on his bumper – Chastain had to navigate traffic again; and again cars held him up in an effort not to get lapped.

Fortunately for Chastain, some of that traffic made things difficult for Truex as well and the “Melon Man” as Chastain is nicknamed was able to pull away some in the final 20 laps.

It was a clean race – only two short extra caution flags beyond the two scheduled Stage breaks. Reddick took his third stage win of the season in Stage 1 and Hamlin notched his fourth in Stage 2.

“I just think we had a third place car,” Hamlin said. “I thought the 19 [Truex] was a little better and obviously the 1 [Chastain] came on really strong there at the end.

“Just didn’t have quite a fast enough car to go for the win,” he added.

With his runner-up showing Truex maintained the NASCAR Cup Series championship lead, now up by 18-points on both Hendrick Motorsports’ William Byron and Chastain.

“Just needed to get the lead. Once we lost it, just too loose on the long runs, just could never get off the corner good to make a move,” Truex said, adding, “Just needed a little bit. Had a lot of speed. … overall a good night.”

The 1.33-mile Nashville oval has been a good place for Chastain. He finished runner-up in 2021 and was fifth last year. And having won his first career pole position on Saturday, he went into Sunday’s race feeling optimistic.

“I trust in my people, my family back home, the agriculture industry and all the people Justin Marks has in place,” Chastain said, adding, “It’s absolutely incredible the fight that we have.”

Chase Elliott, the 2022 Nashville winner, finished fourth, followed by his Hendrick Motorsports teammates Kyle Larson and Byron. Joe Gibbs Racing’s Christopher Bell, Legacy Motor Club’s Erik Jones, Richard Childress Racing’s Kyle Busch and Kaulig Racing’s A.J. Allmendinger – who won the Nashville NASCAR Xfinity Series race on Saturday – rounded out the Top-10.

  • Drivers Entered: 36
  • Laps Scheduled: 300
  • Margin of Victory: 0.789 Seconds
  • Time of Race: 3 Hours 0 Minutes 7 Seconds
  • Average Speed: 132.914
  • Cautions: 4 for 24 laps
  • Lead Changes: 21
  • Green Flag Passes: 3,367 (12.2 passes per green flag lap)

  • Nashville Superspeedway
  • Ally 400
  • Race Winner: Ross Chastain
  • Age: 30
  • Team : No. 1 - Worldwide Express Chevrolet
  • Owner: Justin Marks
  • Crew Chief: Philip Surgen
  • Ross Chastain won the Ally 400, his third victory in 168 Cup Series races.
  • This is his first victory and eighth top-10 finish in 2023.
  • This is his first victory and third top-10 finish in three races at Nashville Superspeedway.
  • Martin Truex Jr. (second) posted his first top-10 finish in three races at Nashville Superspeedway. It is his ninth top-10 finish in 2023.
  • Denny Hamlin (third) posted his second top-10 finish in three races at Nashville Superspeedway.
  • Ty Gibbs (14th) was the highest finishing rookie.
  • Martin Truex Jr. leads the point standings by 18 points over William Byron.
Ross Chastain leads the field to the green flag
Lebanon, Tennessee - June 25, 2023 : Ross Chastain, driver of the #1 Worldwide Express Chevrolet, leads the field to the green flag to start the NASCAR Cup Series Ally 400 at Nashville Superspeedway.
Meg OliphantGetty Images
Race lineup for the Ally 400 at Nashville Superspeedway
START VEH # DRIVER MAKE SPONSOR TEAM CREW CHIEF
1 1 Ross Chastain Chevrolet Worldwide Express Trackhouse Racing Phil Surgen
2 45 Tyler Reddick Toyota The Big 615/MoneyLion 23xi Racing Billy Scott
3 31 Justin Haley Chevrolet LeafFilter Gutter Protection Kaulig Racing Trent Owens
4 22 Joey Logano Ford Shell Pennzoil Team Penske Paul Wolfe
5 24 William Byron Chevrolet Liberty University Hendrick Motorsports Rudy Fugle
6 19 Martin Truex Jr Toyota Bass Pro Shops Joe Gibbs Racing James Small
7 5 Kyle Larson Chevrolet HendrickCars.com Hendrick Motorsports Cliff Daniels
8 11 Denny Hamlin Toyota FedEx Ground Joe Gibbs Racing Chris Gabehart
9 23 Bubba Wallace Toyota McDonald's 23xi Racing Bootie Barker
10 99 Daniel Suarez Chevrolet Tootsies Orchid Lounge Trackhouse Racing Travis Mack
11 8 Kyle Busch Chevrolet Cheddar's Scratch Kitchen Richard Childress Racing Randall Burnett
12 17 Chris Buescher Ford Fastenal Rfk Racing Scott Graves
13 12 Ryan Blaney Ford Menards\Pennzoil Team Penske Jonathan Hassler
14 9 Chase Elliott Chevrolet NAPA Auto Parts Hendrick Motorsports Alan Gustafson
15 48 Alex Bowman Chevrolet Ally Hendrick Motorsports Blake Harris
16 54 Ty Gibbs Toyota Interstate Batteries Joe Gibbs Racing Chris Gayle
17 4 Kevin Harvick Ford Busch Light Peach Stewart-haas Racing Rodney Childers
18 14 Chase Briscoe Ford Mahindra Tractors Stewart-haas Racing Richard Boswell
19 16 AJ Allmendinger Chevrolet Celsius Kaulig Racing Matt Swiderski
20 6 Brad Keselowski Ford Solomon Plumbing Rfk Racing Matt McCall
21 10 Aric Almirola Ford Smithfield Stewart-haas Racing Drew Blickensderfer
22 20 Christopher Bell Toyota DeWalt Joe Gibbs Racing Adam Stevens
23 43 Erik Jones Chevrolet Allegiant Legacy Motor Club Danny Efland
24 2 Austin Cindric Ford Snap on Team Penske Jeremy Bullins
25 41 Ryan Preece Ford Morton Buildings Stewart-haas Racing Chad Johnston
26 3 Austin Dillon Chevrolet Huk Performance Fishing Richard Childress Racing Keith Rodden
27 38 Todd Gilliland Ford Serial 1 E-Bikes Front Row Motorsports Ryan Bergenty
28 47 Ricky Stenhouse Jr Chevrolet TBA Jtg Daugherty Racing Mike Kelley
29 51 JJ Yeley Ford Patriot Mobile Rick Ware Racing Billy Plourde
30 42 Noah Gragson Chevrolet Black Rifle Coffee Company Legacy Motor Club Luke Lambert
31 21 Harrison Burton Ford DEX Imaging Wood Brothers Racing Brian Wilson
32 15 Brennan Poole Ford MACC Door Systems Rick Ware Racing Jerry Kelley
33 34 Michael McDowell Ford Love's / Fleetguard Front Row Motorsports Travis Peterson
34 77 Ty Dillon Chevrolet Raze Tea Spire Motorsports Kevin Bellicourt
35 78 Josh Bilicki Chevrolet Zeigler Auto Group Live Fast Motorsports David Ingram
36 7 Corey Lajoie Chevrolet Garner Trucking Spire Motorsports Ryan Sparks