Critical Path Security 6 Drivers to Watch: Nashville

Off the back of a tremendous Coca-Cola 600, each NASCAR national series heads to the Music City. Nashville Superspeedway will be the host this weekend. One of the only concrete tracks existing on the schedule, Nashville offers the potential for compelling racing this weekend. Last year, the Cup Series race devolved into anarchy as the overtime limit was stretched to the max. This year will offer a bit of a different vibe though as each race will take place under the nights. While everyone loves a night race, the fans in attendance should be especially thankful to avoid the heat. With night racing on the docket, who will feature as the Critical Path Security 6 Drivers to Watch for Nashville?

Outside of the on-track product being superb, fans were buzzing about the Coca-Cola 600 largely due to the Amazon Prime broadcast. Amazon clearly brought their A-game with most of their efforts receiving high praise. The question is whether that praise will continue with high expectations set. In theory, there is no reason for them to drop. Everything about Prime’s debut coverage clicked. The broadcast booth balanced giving the play-by-play with analysis along with covering most cars in the field. Having a pre and post race show was a fantastic touch as well. Hopefully, the same effort will continue through to this weekend in Nashville.

Cracker Barrel 400

Ross Chastain

From worst to first. Ross Chastain and the 1 Trackhouse team persevered through unfavorable odds. After wrecking out of practice on Saturday, the 1 team worked overnight to prep the car that Chastain eventually piloted to victory lane. Now, Chastain will look to go back-to-back for the first time in his career. Nashville might be the best track to attempt that accomplishment as well. The Music City track has been Chastain’s best in his career. Along with winning in 2023, Chastain’s first head-turning Cup performance occurred here. In 2021, Chastain drove Chip Ganassi’s 42 car to an impressive second place finish.

Until last year, Ross Chastain had never finished outside the Top-5 at Nashville Superspeedway. Although last year’s race ended with a DNF for the Melon Man, he was primed to continue his Top-5 streak. Instead of playing it safe though, Chastain went for the lead on the second overtime restart. Unfortunately for him, the move did not work and Chastain wound up in the outside fence with a severely damaged race car. The key though was that the 1 car was in contention for the win during an overtime restart. While Trackhouse has been a lesser team this year compared to prior years, Ross Chastain has overachieved in the equipment. Another win is definitely not out of the question this weekend.

Ryan Blaney

The Coca-Cola 600 turned out to be a short, yet surprising affair for Ryan Blaney. Honestly, it was a bit bizarre to see the entire fleet of Team Penske cars struggle on the intermediate track. This year, the Ford team has been strong on the traditional intermediates. Josh Berry and Joey Logano picked up a win at Las Vegas and Texas. Austin Cindric has logged plenty of laps led as well. Meanwhile, Ryan Blaney consistently has been the king of the long run speed. However, none of that was true last Sunday. With another intermediate upcoming this weekend, will the 12 team manage to rediscover their speed?

While it is easy to chalk up the Coke 600 as a fluke, the issues with Team Penske’s IndyCar organization might raise an eyebrow. After the embarrassing penalties post-Indy 500 qualifying, Roger Penske fired 3 executives from that side of his organization. Could this mean that the NASCAR side is easing up on pushing the boundaries? This likely is tinfoil hat conversations. However, another struggling weekend from Team Penske could lend more credence to the theory.

As for Ryan Blaney specifically, his history at Nashville is checkered. His 4 starts sees him alternate from wrecking out early or finishing inside the Top-10. Last year, Blaney picked up a 6th place finish. If the trend continues, Blaney will only be one to watch for less than 100 laps.

Tennessee Lottery 250

Corey Day

Transitioning from a vastly different racing style into NASCAR is not always an easy one. For every success story, there are countless drivers who struggle or outright fail to find their footing in stock car racing. While it is too early to make a determination for Corey Day, the initial reading for the dirt racing pro has not been a positive one. The attachment of Kyle Larson and backing from HendrickCars.com does not give Day much leeway though. With those names associated with the driver, the expectations were high from the start. Thus far, he has failed to leave an impression.

Day will be pulling double duty this weekend between the Xfinity and Craftsman Truck Series. This will mark his 8th and 9th starts in NASCAR this season (not counting ARCA). Through his first 7 starts, he has yet to finish better than 15th. Granted, Day managed to nab the pole for the Truck Series race at Las Vegas. As for his Xfinity Series endeavors this weekend, the goal should be to put the 17 car into the Top-10. There should be no shortage of speed, as the 17 dominated the Charlotte race with William Byron behind the wheel. Now, no one should expect that type of performance from Day. However, he should flash significant speed in this car. If he can keep the car clean through the 250 miles, then Day could easily pick up that first Top-10.

Sammy Smith

Year 3 of the Sammy Smith Xfinity Experience has certainly been the most dramatic. Between wrecking Taylor Gray for the win at Martinsville to being handed a win via a DQ at Rockingham, Smith has not been shy of the headlines. Adding in his own DQ after Charlotte only adds more storylines for the JR Motorsports driver. However, the headlines have not been following a thriving driver. Although a win is nice, Smith is on pace to set career lows in most statistical categories this year. By Year 3, a driver should be hitting their prime. Instead, Smith has been seemingly plateaued.

Could Nashville be the track that helps turn the season around for Sammy Smith? Based on his two prior starts here, that would be a doubtful. Despite solid qualifying efforts, both of Smith’s Nashville races ended with finishes of 34th and 30th. He did managed to avoid a DNF last year though. Still, this is not the race track Smith would want on the schedule after a disqualification ruined his Charlotte run. Although his Rockingham “win” has secured his spot in the playoffs, Smith needs to be more consistent if he wants any shot at winning the title. In the regular season standings, Smith sits behind Ryan Sieg, Jeb Burton, and Harrison Burton.

Rackley Roofing 200

Ty Majeski

The quest to defend his Truck Series Championship has gotten off to a rocky start for Ty Majeski. Through the first 12 races of the season, Majeski has largely been seen as an afterthought. Since starting the year off with 3 straight Top-10s, Majeski’s season has fallen off massively. Over the past 9 races, his best finish was 6th at North Wilkesboro. The other Top-10 he had in this stretch was another short track (Rockingham). With this poor stretch of results, Majeski has tumbled outside the Top-10 in points.

Although Majeski’s strength are the short tracks, Nashville Superspeedway could gift the ThorSport driver with some positive luck. That has been one of the main culprits for Majeksi’s trying season. Whether it is getting caught in someone else’s incident or pit road blunders, the 98 team has run the gauntlet of ways to struggle for fast trucks. Perhaps the team has it out of their system now. Nashville will be a good litmus test for this. In 4 starts, Majeski has picked up 3 Top-10s. If Majeski fails to nab his fourth, then the cause for concern should increase.

Gio Ruggiero

As the season has progressed, Gio Ruggiero’s rookie season is getting better. After a podium finish in the opening race at Daytona, Ruggiero started 2025 a bit sluggish. Through the first 5 races, Daytona remained the rookie’s lone Top-5 or Top-10. Over the past 7 races though, Ruggiero has picked up 5 Top-10s along with nabbing the pole for last weekend’s race. This included his second career Top-5 at Kansas. Momentum is clearly picking up for the TRICON driver. Entering this weekend, Ruggiero sits 11th in points and leads all rookies.

What can one expect from Gio Ruggiero this weekend? Well, it is tough to say. Although the results have been better, Ruggiero is still likely to find ways to finish outside the Top-10. His good results have been a promising start, but the overall speed throughout the race leaves a bit to be desired. Last week could be a step in the right direction though. After starting on pole, Ruggiero managed to nab points in both stages. This was only the second time this season that he pulled off the feat. It marked the first time he did it on an intermediate track. Although his Charlotte finish was not great (21st), maybe he can seal the deal with a good finish in Nashville.

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