After having last weekend off, the NASCAR drivers return to the track on Sunday to compete in the Ally 400 at Nashville Superspeedway in Lebanon, Tennessee. With nine races remaining before the playoffs began, the drivers who are on the outside looking in realize they have to make a big move now to have a chance at the championship. The Ally 400 starts at 5 p.m. ET and will air on NBC.
One of the drivers on the outside looking in is Denny Hamlin who is in 21st place in the standings. However, the three-time Daytona 500 winner has won two races this year and won pole for the Ally 400, giving him a good chance to continue to move up in the standings.
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“Nashville is a great market for our sport,” Hamlin told NASCAR.com. “The support last year was unbelievable when you think about the fans in the stands and how packed the infield was. They did an incredible job updating the facility from not having a race for 10 years to being just an all-around great weekend for the sport.”
Another driver looking to get into the top 16 is Daniel Suárez who is in 17th place. So far this season Suárez has placed in the top 10 five times, the top five three times has earned two stage wins and won at Sonoma Raceway earlier this month, making him the first Mexican-born driver to win a NASCAR Cup Series Race.
“If I had to write it down, how I wanted to win and how I wanted things to happen, I feel like it was gonna be just like that,” Suárez told NASCAR.com. “I felt very fortunate to have had an opportunity to celebrate, not just with my team and with the people who helped me to get to that point, but also with my friends and family in Mexico. There is a difference between knowing you’re a winner, knowing you can win and actually being a winner. Right now, I feel like the entire team has a huge boost of confidence.”
Suárez is confident more wins will come for him soon. “We believe that we can win more races,” he said. “We believe that the way we’ve been racing lately, the speed is there to be able to contend for more races. (Nashville) is gonna be fun. I think the Next Gen car is going to race very well here.”
