A full weekend of racing is on tap at Nashville Superspeedway, where Ford Racing will be going for its third straight NASCAR Cup Series victory. Joey Logano started the streak with his five-overtime triumph in 2024 and Penske teammate Ryan Blaney followed that up last year with the first of four victories of his 2025 season.
THE SCHEDULE
- Friday, May 29 -- NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, 8 p.m. ET (FS1)
- Sunday, May 31– NASCAR Cup Series, 7 p.m. ET (PRIME)
UP TO SPEED
PAT DI MARCO RETIRING FROM FORD RACING
After nearly 32 years of being associated with the Ford Racing NASCAR program, Pat Di Marco has announced that he will be retiring on June 1 with his last race being this weekend at Nashville Superspeedway. Di Marco, who oversees NASCAR and analytics, started his career at Ford in 1995 and accepted his first racing assignment shortly thereafter, working as an engineer with all of its NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series teams. He eventually moved to the Cup level where he worked with teams such as Rudd Performance Motorsports, Robert Yates Racing, and Roush Racing.
During his tenure in NASCAR, Ford Racing has achieved the following:
29 NASCAR Championships in all three series combined
- Cup (7), NOAPS Driver (7), NOAPS Owner (10), NCTS (5)
703 NASCAR points victories in all three series combined
- Cup (312), NOAPS (259), NCTS (132)
722 NASCAR All-Time Wins (Point and Non-Point Races)
- All-Star (10), Clash (9)
Cup Wins by Model
- Thunderbird (1996-97): 32
- Taurus (1998-2005): 100
- Fusion (2006-2018): 108
- Mustang (2019-Present): 72
BLANEY GOING FOR BACK-TO-BACK NASHVILLE WINS
Ryan Blaney became the final Team Penske driver to reach Victory Lane last year when he captured the Cracker Barrel 400 at Nashville Superspeedway. Blaney led a race-high 139 laps, including the final 32 as he won for the 14th time in his Cup career. That served as a springboard for Blaney, who went on to win three more times during the year, including the Championship Race in Phoenix. In five career starts at the speedway, Blaney has three top-10 finishes while the other two saw him go to the garage early after being involved in accidents.
SITTING ON 749
The next Ford win will be its 750th all-time in NASCAR’s top series. Ned Jarrett is Ford’s win leader with 43 while Bill Elliott is second with 40. Shirtless Jimmy Florian scored the Blue Oval’s first series victory when he upset the likes of Lee Petty, Curtis Turner and Joe Weatherly at Dayton Speedway on June 25, 1950. Florian earned his nickname after getting out of his 1950 flathead Ford without a shirt. Overall, 91 drivers have won at least one series race with Ford, including notable drivers Mario Andretti, Dan Gurney, Parnelli Jones, A.J. Foyt, Richard Petty, and Dale Earnhardt.
A LOOK BACK
LOGANO SURVIVES RECORD FIVE OVERTIMES
Joey Logano went the final 110 laps without pitting and survived five overtimes to win the Ally 400 at Nashville Superspeedway in 2024, clinching a spot in the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs. Logano was seemingly out of it, running 16th with two laps remaining, but when the caution came out it gave everybody in the field new life. Logano continued to climb through the field as accidents created multiple restarts and cars either started to run out of fuel or were forced to pit. Crew chief Paul Wolfe gambled and kept his driver out until the very end and it worked as Logano was able to jump out on the fifth overtime restart and hold off Tyler Reddick at the finish line. Logano, who led the final nine laps, had just enough fuel as the tank emptied in the middle of his post-race burnout.
FROM TRUCK TO CUP
Ryan Preece is still looking for his first NASCAR Cup Series win, but he knows where Victory Lane is located at Nashville Superspeedway. That’s because he won back-to-back NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series races with Ford in 2021 and 2022 while driving for owner David Gilliland. He passed Grant Enfinger with seven laps to go to win in 2021, and then captured the pole and led 74-of-150 circuits one year later to beat fellow Ford driver Zane Smith.
RIGGS DOUBLES UP
Layne Riggs led a race-high 52 laps and came away with his second win of the 2026 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series season as he captured Sunday’s rain-delayed race at Charlotte Motor Speedway. That marked the seventh career victory for Riggs, which moves him past Zane Smith for the most series wins with Front Row Motorsports. Those two drivers have 13 of the organization’s 18 all-time triumphs in the series. Riggs remains second in the series point standings, one of five Ford F-150 drivers in the top 10. Riggs has three starts at Nashville Superspeedway with his third-place effort last year being his best.
MAJESKI A MAN TO WATCH
This will be the sixth start for ThorSport Racing’s Ty Majeski at Nashville Superspeedway and while he’s still looking for his first win, he has registered four top-10 finishes, including an eighth-place run one year ago. Majeski finds himself seventh in the series point standings, one point behind teammate Ben Rhodes.
FORD F-150 DRIVERS IN THE TOP 10
There are five Ford F-150 drivers currently in the top 10 of the series point standings:
2nd – Layne Riggs
5th – Chandler Smith
6th – Ben Rhodes
7th – Ty Majeski
8th – Jake Garcia
PAST WINNERS
FORD NASCAR CUP SERIES WINNERS AT NASHVILLE
2024 – Joey Logano
2025 – Ryan Blaney
FORD NASCAR CRAFTSMAN TRUCK SERIES WINNERS AT NASHVILLE
2003 – Carl Edwards
2007 – Travis Kvapil
2021 – Ryan Preece
2022 – Ryan Preece
