“Loose wheels” refers to a pit or mechanical issue where a wheel isn’t properly secured. In NASCAR, that can force a driver to lose time, fall behind the field, or even lead to additional problems until it’s corrected.
“Lead lap” means you’re on the same lap as the front of the race. If you’re a lap down, you have to catch up before you can really compete for the finish.
Cautions are times when NASCAR slows down because there’s a problem on the track. They can help or hurt teams depending on when they pit and how fresh their tires are.
“Cup cars” means the main NASCAR race cars from the Cup Series, which is NASCAR’s top division. The host is basically saying those top cars haven’t practiced or run yet at Nashville in their current schedule.
NASCAR has different “generations” of race cars. “Next gen” means the newer NASCAR car rules and design that started showing up in races around 2022, so results from that era are compared separately from older cars.
“Overtime” in NASCAR is when the race gets extended near the end so the finish can happen under racing conditions instead of under a caution. That’s why the race can go longer and the outcome can flip with late restarts.
A “300 lap race” just means the race is planned to run 300 laps. The host mentions lap 300 to show who was leading right before the late-race overtime chaos.
“Ran out of gas” means the car didn’t have enough fuel to finish. If the race goes longer than expected—like with overtime—fuel strategy can get thrown off and cars can run out.
RFK Racing is a NASCAR team. “RFK cars” means the race cars from that team, and the hosts are saying the team has shown speed at times but hasn’t been winning much.
“In regulation” just means the race ended normally, at the planned distance. So if someone crashed in regulation, it happened before the race was extended.
Toyota is one of NASCAR’s major manufacturer brands, and the host is discussing which manufacturer’s teams are likely to be competitive. In this segment, “another Toyota” suggests the odds/fantasy picks may favor Toyota-backed teams rather than Ford or other makes.
They’re using a fantasy format where drivers are split into four levels (A through D). Higher levels are usually stronger drivers, and lower levels are less strong.
Car
Gibbs Toyota
This is talking about Ty Gibbs’ NASCAR team, which races a Toyota. Even though NASCAR cars are regulated, the manufacturer still influences the car’s parts and how teams set them up.
Car
RFK Fords
“RFK Fords” means cars run by RFK Racing that are Ford-branded. In NASCAR betting and strategy, the team and manufacturer package can affect competitiveness because teams differ in car setup, engineering, and how well they adapt to a specific track like Nashville.
“Lap down” means the car is one (or more) full laps behind the leaders. If you’re lap down, you’re typically not running as fast as the front of the field.
“Damage” means the car got hurt in a crash or hit. That can make it handle worse or run slower, so a repaired car can sometimes perform much better afterward.
The starting lineup is the order cars start the race. Where you start can matter a lot because it affects your track position and how easy it is to avoid trouble early.
Carson Hosevara is a NASCAR driver. The host is considering him as a pick because of how well he’s done before and because starting position could change his chances.
Teams keep a spare race car in case their main car gets wrecked. If that happens in practice, they may have to switch cars before the race, which can hurt or help their chances.
This is the specific NASCAR race they’re talking about for Sunday. Betting odds and fantasy picks depend on that exact race because drivers and teams perform differently at different tracks.
Ryan Blaney is a NASCAR driver the host would pick to win. They’re naming specific drivers because the betting options they have are mostly about who wins.
Kyle Busch is a NASCAR driver the host is considering among possible win picks. They’re talking about who could realistically win based on form and odds.
LIVE
Hello, welcome in to Through the Gears. I'm Michael Belfamny. As we get ready for the
Cracker Barrel 400 at Nashville Super Speedway this Sunday, May 31st. And we just came off
the Coke Cold 600. Rain soaked dreadful weekend, but an exciting race till the rain unfortunately
came late into the night with a bunch of crazy lightning delays and everything. But end of
the night, it was Danny Hamlin and Chris Rebelle and Tyler Reddick and Chase Briscoe
was up there too until he got caught up in a crash. Just seemed like the Toyota's race
to lose. But then Daniel Suarez after his crazy night where he had a couple loose wheels
and he was down a lap, maybe even two at one point. And he was back on the lead lap
and his crew chief, Ryan Sparks, put him back out there on two tires. And Zane Smith had
that strategy earlier in the race and he was able to keep it up front on two tires. And
Daniel Suarez was able to do the same thing on a short run. Staying in front of the Toyota
has got a little couple of fortunate bounces there. A couple of lucky breaks with the timing
of the cautions as he seemed like Hamlin or Bell was about to chase him down. The cautions
kept falling in his favor and when the rain finally started pouring down and it wasn't
just lightning, the track was lost and it was going to take probably three hours at
least to get it back into race form. It was already approaching midnight. So NASCAR decided
to make the call and Daniel Suarez won his first race at Spire and it was his first year
at Spire, first win in the seven car for Spire. And, you know, I wasn't expecting Daniel
Suarez to win. He maybe could have gotten me into a top five, top 10 bet. But to win,
I mean, I listed off a lot of guys last week, but I am certain that I didn't talk about
Daniel Suarez as odds. And I know he's had some runs up there in the past in the Coke
600. He says his favorite race on the schedule in his post race interview, but I wasn't expecting
Daniel Suarez to come up with the one last week. So congrats to him on winning that race.
A really cool moment for him in his career, his third win of his Cup Series career. And now we
move on to Nashville where the rain has impacted truck qualifying tonight. Hopefully Sunday's
race could get him without any disruptions. It's a night race at seven o'clock. Cars, I'm recording
this on Friday night at 29th. And cars will hit the track tomorrow at 3 30. So the cup cars have
not hit the track yet at at Nashville for the fifth race at Nashville in the Cup Series. So
we're going to look at all four of the results from this track. Well, they did race here in
2021. So there's actually a sixth race here, but I think of next gen fifth next gen race here at
Nashville, because the car was completely different in 2021 here at Nashville. But we're
going to look at the results and we're going to look at, you know, what's been going on in the
past, this past season so far and see if we could make sense of all these odds. So looking at the
results, these past four next gen races at Nashville, we had 2022, which was impacted by rain,
but it got through the whole way. And then a night race in 2023. And then the afternoon that
turned into a night almost with 2024, the five overtime finishes, it was a four hour race with
how many overtime as there were. And then last year, which seemed like a late afternoon race
that turned into night seems like most races at Nashville and the next gen era have been night
races. So in 2022 chase Elliott one, and he was leading the points at that point in the year.
So he got the win. And Kurt Busch finished second that race in the 45 car. And Ryan Blaney finished
third 2023. Ross Chastain one for track house. And then two Gibbs cars finished second and third
Martin Truex Jr. And Denny Hamlin. So two retired drivers back to back runner ups 2022, 2023. And
then in 2024 in that crazy overtime, just impacted finish, just a bunch of crashes. And
at the end of regulation, I think it was, was either Chastain or Hamlin leading
that race. It was a 300 lap race and leading at lap 300 was Denny Hamlin. Yes. So Hamlin led
that race for a while in the overtime. So then Joe Ligano took over the lead and held on the
results were jumbled up a ton. You had a you had Chastain crash out in overtime.
Corey Heim crash out. Josh Berry, Harrison Burton, Nemechek, Austin Dillon. And then
what I remember about that race was I think Kyle Busch was lined up on the second row and then
he ran out of gas because cars were running out of gas because they were going so long
in that race without pitting. And Kyle Busch crashed out of that race because his car ran out
of gas and he got pushed into the wall. But it was Joey Ligano. And then second was Zane Smith
in the 71 car. And then third was Tyler Reddick. Fourth Ryan Priest for Stuart Haas back then,
the 41 and then Chris Buscher in the top five. And then last year, Ryan Blaney won. He won 139
of the 300 laps. Second was Carson Hosevar. So we've had some pretty crazy runner up finishes yet.
Two retired Hall of Famers, Kurt Busch and Martin Trickster. And they had Zane Smith
for Spire and Carson Hosevar for Spire. And then Denny Hamlin finished 30, about 79 laps at night,
Ligano fourth and then Byron fifth. And Zane Smith finished 13th in that race. So Zane Smith
had some really good results for Nashville. And looking at, I mean, I want to see his race
winning odds. He's plus 100 and 2500. So 12,500 plus odds for Zane Smith to win this race. But
looking more realistically at top five for Zane Smith, his odds, you know, you might want to take
an eye at it plus 1400. So, you know, maybe you sprinkle some on Zane Smith. I think that would
be a bad option. Maybe Daniel Suarez keeps his hot street going. He's plus 1200 to finish in the top
five. Daniel Suarez last year with Trackhouse, he finished 16th. And he finished 22nd in 2024,
12th in 23, and then 15th in 22. So he hasn't really been the best at Nashville, but
that Spire team is rolling right now. Carson Hosevar, his odds for a top three. I want to look at his
top three odds. He's plus 600 for top three to get back in that top three. So we'll see if
Hosevar can keep his solid season going, a playoff caliber year. Eric Jones, I'm looking,
he finished 11th in 2022, 8th in 23. And then in 2025, he finished 7th. And he had one bad
finish. It was 2024. He had a suspension issue that took him out of the race in 34th. So Eric
Jones has had some really good runs at Nashville, and he finished top 10, or I think he finished
11th in the Coca-Cola 600. So he has been running pretty well lately. He was up front in Talladega,
but he got spun out. But Eric Jones has been better in the last few weeks. His top five odds,
I'm looking, he's plus 500 for a top five. His teammate, Nemechak, who's been,
he had better speed last year. I feel like this year he's taken a bit of a step back, but
yeah, he's plus 3,500 for a top five. He hasn't come near a top five finish this year.
So I think Nemechak is definitely more of a risk. He finished 27th in the race last year.
But looking at the favorites, I know it took a little while to get to the favorites,
bit of an interesting top five in odds because out of the top five best odds, only one of them has
won at Nashville in the next-gen car. The favorite to win is Denny Hamlin at plus 375.
Tyler Rack, the points leader is plus 625, and he's had solid runs at Nashville in the past two.
Then you have another Toyota, top three odds, all Toyotas. Chris Revells plus 650. And then
Ryan Blaney is the former winner in the next-gen era at plus 725. And then Kyle Larson, who has won
at Nashville before, but was back in the gen six car, is a plus 825 now in a year plus win the streak.
And Ryan Blaney, he won here last year. I mentioned he let a lot of laps,
but Ford has only won one race this year, and it was Ryan Blaney who wanted a short track in Phoenix.
I mean, Ford has just not had race winning pace. The RFK cars have had flashes, but they have not
really been race winners. But looking at RFK's results last year, no one finished in the top 10
for RFK last year at Nashville. Chris Busher in 14th, Keselowski in 23rd, and Ryan Priest in 28th.
So RFK, the highest odds is Chris Busher plus 3000 to win this race. And then Keselowski is
plus 4000, Priest is plus 6000. So the Ford is, I feel like it really is Blaney. I mean,
maybe it could be Logano putting on, I want to say a vintage performance, but just a better
performance than what he's been doing lately. Logano's odds to win plus 2500. Chastain's odds
to win 3000. Chase Elliott is just outside the top five in odds. He's plus 1400 tied with his teammate
William Byron. And then some other notables, Briskos plus 1300 and Gibbs is also 1400. So,
and then it drops down, hosts of our 2200 along with Wallace as well at those odds. So
Hamlin, it seems like he's kind of due for a win at Nashville after he let it overtime in 24. He
finished 12th with the crapshoot. That was he finished third last year. He let 79 laps,
third and 23. He let 81 laps in 2022. You had 114 laps and finished six. So
you could probably bet that Danny Hamlin's really trying to itch to knock Nashville off the list
of tracks that he hasn't won at yet. Hamlin just seems like he's right there. And same thing goes
for Reddick and Bell too. Bell is another guy that I think spun out in the overtime finish in 2024.
I had a mix up there. And he, no, he actually crashed in regulation. He let 131 laps and
crashed out in the regulation on lap 227 and finished 36. So I remember him wrecking out from
the lead or near the lead, but it wasn't an overtime. He finished 10th last year.
He finished eighth in 2022 and he finished seventh in 2023. So Bell
definitely could be a candidate for the win. I mean, Logano, if he had better speed this year,
he might have better odds. He might be a better, you know, risky pick for a win. And Byron's another
guy who feel like he's been looking for a win as well. No wins this year for William Byron. He's
12th in points. And, you know, it just feels like it's going to be another Toyota for either 2311
or Joe Gibbs or a Hendrick Carr, maybe, maybe it could be Blaney. Maybe Blaney could, you know,
carry the torch for the Fords again, like he did in Phoenix. But after looking at betting,
let's shift the attention over to if you're looking at fantasy. And I like using Speedway
Collective's example, because that's the league we use for our front stretch league. And the way
it works for, for Speedway Collective is that you, you start one driver in each of the four classes.
You have four drivers starting each race, A, B, C, D, the talent level drops as we go on through
the groups. So in group A, you have Kyle Larson, Chase Elliott, and William Byron for Hendrick.
And then you have the Gibbs Toyotas of Hamlin, Briscoe, and Bell. And then you have Tyler
Rex, 2311 Toyota, and the one Ford, Ryan Blaney. So I think if I was to start one guy out of this
group, I think I'd lean either Hamlin or Blaney. But I feel like Blaney's due for one. The Fords
kind of feel like they have Nashville locked in concrete and Hamlin's gone concrete too. But I
feel like Hamlin just hasn't been able to close out races this year. He does have the, the win at
Las Vegas. I know he has the win at the All-Star race, but that doesn't count for points. So I'll
go Blaney over Hamlin, but it's close. In the B group, we have two RFK Fords of Keselowski and
Busher, a Penske Ford, a Joy Logano, 2311 car of Bubba Wallace, a Hendrick car of Alex Bowman,
and then two Trackhouse cars of Ross Chastain and Connor Zelich and a Gibbs Toyota of Ty Gibbs.
So Chastain has success here at Nashville. He won in 2023. And then in 24, he wrecked an overtime,
25, he finished 11th. So, you know, if you look at his history, you might say, okay,
Ross Chastain might be a good pick, but this is 2026 Trackhouse, very all over the place,
especially that one team new crew chief before the year, still trying to iron out the kinks, I
guess. So then I go to the RFK Fords. Like I said, they struggled last year. I might be a little
hesitant. Bubba Wallace finished sixth last year. You might want to go with him. Alex Bowman,
he had some issues. I don't know if he crashed out, but he finished 36th over 100 laps down.
So Alex Bowman looking at his track record at Nashville, 14th in 2024, he finished 17th in
2023, and he finished all the way down and dead last after crashing out of the 2022 race. So
I stay away from Alex Bowman, even if he was, you know, healthy the whole year and having a good
streak, a good string of momentum. And then you have Ty Gibbs and Connor Zilch. I think
I'd probably go to Lugano, Wallace or Gibbs. I think the way Gibbs is racing this year,
he might be a great pick. He finished 31st last year at lap down though.
Bubba Wallace, he's a guy that's been struggling lately and he had that
damage last week in the Coke 600 when he got pushed on that restart, got shoved in the wall,
finished off the pace a couple laps down. I think Bubba's due for a big night. Could it be at
Nashville or should I just bank on Lugano, former winner, seemingly has good speed here at Nashville
every year? I think I just want to go with, I'll go with Bubba. I think he needs a big week. I'll
say Bubba, and I haven't used him as much as Lugano. You have to even these out. You don't want
to use a driver too often because then you'll run out of times. You have to use them. So I'll go,
Bubba, because I only used him once before this year. So Bubba over Lugano in the B class, in the
C class, you have the last Penske Ford of Austin Syndrick, a colleague, A.J. Almondinger, Josh Berry
of the Woodbrothers, then Austin Hill running for RCR in place of the late Kyle Busch, Eric Jones
for legacy, Ryan Priest, RFK, and then two Spire cars, McDowell and Hosevara and Trackhouse SVG.
I mentioned Eric Jones and how well he's been doing at Nashville lately,
but Hosevara runner-up last year.
And I could change these after I see qualifying tomorrow. That's the thing.
Starting lineup definitely does impact my choices. So I think I'm leaning either Eric Jones or
Carson Hosevara. Again, I only used Jones once this year. So right now I'm locking in Jones. I
have RCRs, Austin Dillon, all three front-row cars, Noah Braxton, Todd Dillon and Zane Smith,
Suarez, Ty Dillon, Riley Herps, Cole Custer, John Hunter Nemechek, Stenhouse, and then Cody Ware,
and then two open cars at Chad Finch and Corey Hahn. Corey Hahn could be an interesting one.
He wrecked that last year's race, but I have a good feeling about Zane Smith. I feel like Zane
Smith's just a smart pick. It could be Suarez too, riding the high of the wind last week, but
just off of what he's done the last few years, I'm going to go with Zane Smith right now. I'll
put Suarez on my bench. And then also for the tiebreaker, you could pick what the laps led are
for the winning driver. There's 300 laps. I'll go with 136. Let's go with that for now. Again,
I could change this before Sunday. We'll see how qualifying in practice shakes out. See if anyone
wrecks during practice and has to go to a backup car store for their way from the back.
But I think I've covered all the bases for betting and for fantasy. Going back to betting before
we close out here on Through the Gears, before Sunday's Cracker Rail 400 on prime,
I think if I had to make some bets, and for whatever reason, Bet MGM, which is what I use,
they don't have any side bets of like matchups like Denny Hamlin versus Chase Elliott,
or like highest winning manufacturer. I mean, a winning manufacturer, winning team,
stuff like that. You only have top three, top five in the race winner. Maybe they'll add more
stuff tomorrow. But if I were to place bets on maybe three different guys to win, I think I'd go
Blaney. I think I'd go with a Toyota. I think Hamlin's just chalky, but I feel like Hamlin's
just a smart pick. Maybe either Hamlin or Reddick. One of Hamlin or Reddick. Maybe if you want to
swing for the fences, maybe go Briscoe or Gibbs maybe, but then there's always Bell,
because I said the top three nods are Hamlin, Reddick and Bell. So maybe one of those three.
And then if I wanted to pick a Chevy, if you want to go crazy, maybe pick host of RSORES,
but I think, you know, you got to go with the Hendrick guys at the end of the day,
like maybe pick one of the Hendrick guys, either Larson Byron or Elliott. And if you want to throw
a dart at a wall and say, maybe a long shot pick to win, I think I'd go an RFK car. Just maybe
they turned it around in one, in one year. Maybe it's Busher. Maybe it's Keselowski. Maybe it could
be someone down the line of Cedric at plus 8,000. And yeah, that's what I'd go with with the
race winners. If I wanted to shoot for the stars with the top three and the top five, I think
host of RSORES would be a smart bet. He's plus 600 on top three. And then Eric Jones plus 1,000,
Corey Heim plus 2,000 SVG. We saw it happen with the Coke 600 last week. Nashville could
be an interesting one. Maybe he has Nashville dialed, then he's plus 3,000 for a top three.
Zillich had that Dover run at Concord. He's plus 5,000 for a top three. And then with top fives,
it's just a little shorter odds for these guys. Maybe Austin Dillon plus 1,600 is still a cool
feeling to get an RCR car up there. Maybe Josh Berry or the Wood Rother surprises plus 1,600.
But if I had to parlay one thing together, maybe a race winner with a top three and a top five,
I'd go race winner. I'd say, I like Ryan Blaney. I'll go Ryan Blaney to win. And then for a top
three, maybe go Bubba Wallace at plus 600. And for a top five, you throw in a curveball. Maybe
you say SORES keeps the good times going at plus 1,200. And if I wanted to put all those three
together in a slip and see what the odds are, and if I bet 100 what I'd win, just because that's
the baseline. So I got Blaney plus 725 on my screen. I'll find Wallace and then going to SORES.
If I were to bet $100 on this particular parlay,
it actually, for whatever reason, isn't showing right now. Oh, it can't be combined. I didn't
know that. Okay. You can't combine those things together. But I'm sure if I want to do all three
straight bets in a couple of them hit, you'd be making a pretty penny there. But that's going to
do it for previewing the betting odds for the Cracker Barrel 400 this Sunday night at National
Super Speedway. And this has been Through the Gears. I'm Michael Belfin and I'll see you next
week after National to recap and to preview Michigan.
About this episode
After recapping a rain-affected NASCAR race where Daniel Suárez rebounded from being down a lap using a two-tire strategy, the hosts pivot to Nashville. They break down how “next gen” cars have played there since 2022, including overtime chaos and fuel issues. Then they shift into Cracker Barrel 400 betting odds and tiered picks, using Bet MGM, qualifying/practice impacts, and a laps-led tiebreaker. The segment closes with a quick Michigan recap/preview tease.
