Up to Speed: A Trio of Contenders Seek Redemption in Nashville

Last season’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Nashville Superspeedway had a wild ending. In pursuit of a green flag finish, the race went through five overtime attempts, extending its length by 31 laps. Along the way, several drivers either crashed or ran out of fuel during the chaos of the final restarts, making the race a big missed opportunity at what could have been a pivotal victory.

With the Cup Series returning to Nashville this weekend, three drivers in particular are seeking redemption from last year’s disappointments in Music City: Ross Chastain, Chase Briscoe, and Tyler Reddick.

Chastain undeniably has a knack for getting around Nashville. He won there in 2023 and, prior to last year, had never finished outside the top five in his previous three starts. The 2024 race felt like a great opportunity for him to get his first win of the season. As the race wound down, Chastain was once again in first place, but Denny Hamlin was closing in quickly. With seven laps to go in the scheduled distance, Chastain bobbled in turn 1, allowing Hamlin to swoop underneath him and complete the pass for the lead. Chastain chased Hamlin until Austin Cindric’s spin five laps later brought the caution flag out, setting up the first overtime attempt.

The restart gave Chastain another chance to take the lead, but things completely unraveled. Going into turn 1, Kyle Larson washed up the track and clipped Chastain, sending the No. 1 spinning into the outside wall. Not only did he lose his shot at victory, but he was relegated to a 33rd-place finish. That result proved even more costly two months later when Chastain, who still did not have a win, missed qualifying for the playoffs. The No. 1 team scored a victory at Kansas Speedway before the year ended, but 2024 could have been a much better season for Chastain had Nashville gone differently.

Nearly a year later, Chastain is riding high after winning the Coca-Cola 600 on Sunday (May 25). He put together an impressive drive after starting last in a backup car and passing William Byron during the closing laps, much like Hamlin did to him at Nashville. However, fighting his way forward from the back of the field has become too familiar a theme for Chastain in 2025. He has started 17th or worse for 10 consecutive races as Trackhouse Racing struggles with off-the-truck speed. Only a few weeks ago, Chastain publicly called out his team for a lack of qualifying pace and remarked how difficult it was to start in the back every week. Winning will quiet those talks in the short term, and another victory at Nashville would prove that Chastain and Trackhouse have turned things around.  

Meanwhile, Briscoe is another driver who would like a second chance at Nashville. He was having a quiet day there last year until the multiple overtimes began happening and he picked off positions from other drivers who dropped out of contention. Briscoe soon found himself dueling with Joey Logano for the lead on a couple of restart attempts, but repeated extensions of the race made the No. 14 team’s fuel situation increasingly desperate. He ultimately ran out of fuel after taking the white flag, missing out on a shot at victory.

Since the disappointment in Nashville, lots has changed in Briscoe’s world. He won the Southern 500 and earned a spot in the 2024 playoffs at the last possible moment. He moved over to Joe Gibbs Racing as Martin Truex Jr.’s replacement after the closure of Stewart-Haas Racing. Briscoe and the No. 19 team won the pole for the Daytona 500, received a hefty penalty after the race, then got it overturned on appeal. He has raced his way to 13th on the playoff grid, 47 points above the cut line. And yet, Briscoe has not come close to winning a race with JGR, despite earning his fifth top five of the season in the Coca-Cola 600.

Could Briscoe finish the job at Nashville this weekend? His results there with SHR were dreadful. Like Chastain, he has not shown much race-winning speed this season, leading only 30 laps. However, JGR has been trying to shore up its intermediate track program over the past few weeks, and it appears to be working for Briscoe. In addition to the top five this past weekend, he finished fourth at Kansas a few weeks ago, a venue where he had never run better than 13th in eight previous starts. A win in Music City would keep the momentum going and secure Briscoe’s place in the playoffs.

Then there is the case of Reddick. Unlike Chastain and Briscoe, he escaped Nashville with a top five last year. The trouble was that Reddick believed that he should have been able to beat Logano with a last-lap pass but let a potential win slip away. Reddick was visibly dejected post-race despite earning third after a chaotic night. However, he won the regular season championship and advanced to the Championship 4.

Reddick and the No. 45 team are still looking for their first win of 2025. Although they are fifth in points, the team has hit a slump with five consecutive finishes outside the top 10. It appeared that the dry spell would come to an end on Sunday night when Reddick was running in the top five, but a speeding penalty during the team’s last pit stop took them out of contention. To make matters worse, Reddick was fighting to stay on the lead lap when he lost control and smacked the wall on the backstretch, dropping him to 26th in the final order. With Bubba Wallace caught in his own slide of three straight finishes of 33rd or worse and rookie Riley Herbst languishing in 34th in points, nothing has gone well for 23XI Racing lately. A win at Nashville would fix that.

There is no doubt that Chastain, Briscoe, and Reddick would relish a win in Nashville this weekend. Chastain would solidify his place as a title contender, Briscoe would score a crucial triumph with his new organization, and Reddick would reverse his team’s recent struggles. All of them would be able to shake off the disappointment from last year when a potential win in Music City slipped through their fingers. Nearly a year later, this trio has a chance at redemption.