While the Chevy teams swept all three races at Nashville Superspeedway, the NASCAR Ford teams had a hard time during the Cup Series race on Sunday, June 25th, 2023, thanks to crashes and general malaise on the track. In what was arguably the most dramatic incident of the day, Ryan Blaney, driver of the No. 12 Ford Mustang, was on the wrong end of a slow restart on Lap 147.
The field stacked up when the leaders got off to a slow start, causing a traffic jam and forcing the No. 8 Chevy Camaro ZL1 of Kyle Busch into the rear bumper of Blaney’s No. 12 Mustang. Both spun from the contact, and Blaney’s No. 12 NASCAR Ford pummeled the inside wall. Ultimately, Blaney was scored 36th, dead last. It was also his first DNF of the 2023 season.
Blaney described the hit as the “hardest one of my life” in a postrace interview. He struck where there was no SAFER barrier, and lamented that “it sucks that things like that have to happen” to prompt race tracks to install such safety measures after the fact.
Ironically, Blaney’s car came to rest in front of a wall advertising Ford BlueOval City, a massive campus currently under construction where the automaker will focus on producing electric videos.
Meanwhile, the best-finishing NASCAR Ford was that of Brad Keselowski, who guided the No. 6 Mustang to an 11th-place finish. Up front, Ross Chastain scored his first win of 2023 in the No. 1 Chevy Camaro ZL1 when it was all said and done.
| Finish | Start | Car Number | Driver | Team | Laps Run | Laps Led | Car |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | 1 | Ross Chastain | Worldwide Express Chevrolet | 300 | 99 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 2 | 6 | 19 | Martin Truex Jr. | Bass Pro Shops Toyota | 300 | 50 | Toyota TRD Camry |
| 3 | 8 | 11 | Denny Hamlin | FedEx Ground Toyota | 300 | 81 | Toyota TRD Camry |
| 4 | 14 | 9 | Chase Elliott | NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet | 300 | 1 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 5 | 7 | 5 | Kyle Larson | HendrickCars.com Chevrolet | 300 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 6 | 5 | 24 | William Byron | Liberty University Chevrolet | 300 | 5 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 7 | 22 | 20 | Christopher Bell | DeWalt Toyota | 300 | 3 | Toyota TRD Camry |
| 8 | 23 | 43 | Erik Jones | Allegiant Chevrolet | 300 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 9 | 11 | 8 | Kyle Busch | Cheddar's Scratch Kitchen Chevrolet | 300 | 12 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 10 | 19 | 16 | AJ Allmendinger | Celsius Chevrolet | 300 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 11 | 20 | 6 | Brad Keselowski | Solomon Plumbing Ford | 300 | 2 | Ford Mustang |
| 12 | 10 | 99 | Daniel Suarez | Tootsies Orchid Lounge Chevrolet | 300 | 1 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 13 | 26 | 3 | Austin Dillon | Huk Performance Fishing Chevrolet | 300 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 14 | 16 | 54 | Ty Gibbs # | Interstate Batteries Toyota | 300 | 0 | Toyota TRD Camry |
| 15 | 9 | 23 | Bubba Wallace | McDonald's Toyota | 300 | 0 | Toyota TRD Camry |
| 16 | 25 | 41 | Ryan Preece | Morton Buildings Ford | 300 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 17 | 15 | 48 | Alex Bowman | Ally Chevrolet | 300 | 9 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 18 | 12 | 17 | Chris Buescher | Fastenal Ford | 300 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 19 | 4 | 22 | Joey Logano | Shell Pennzoil Ford | 300 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 20 | 36 | 7 | Corey LaJoie | Garner Trucking Chevrolet | 300 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 21 | 31 | 21 | Harrison Burton | DEX Imaging Ford | 300 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 22 | 28 | 47 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | Kroger/Ball Park Buns Chevrolet | 299 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 23 | 3 | 31 | Justin Haley | LeafFilter Gutter Protection Chevrolet | 299 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 24 | 17 | 4 | Kevin Harvick | Busch Light Peach Ford | 299 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 25 | 21 | 10 | Aric Almirola | Smithfield Ford | 299 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 26 | 30 | 42 | Noah Gragson # | Black Rifle Coffee Company Chevrolet | 299 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 27 | 24 | 2 | Austin Cindric | Snap On Ford | 299 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 28 | 33 | 34 | Michael McDowell | Love's/Fleetguard Ford | 299 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 29 | 29 | 51 | JJ Yeley(i) | Patriot Mobile Ford | 298 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 30 | 2 | 45 | Tyler Reddick | The Big 615/MoneyLion Toyota | 298 | 33 | Toyota TRD Camry |
| 31 | 18 | 14 | Chase Briscoe | Mahindra Tractors Ford | 298 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 32 | 34 | 77 | Ty Dillon | Raze Tea Chevrolet | 298 | 4 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 33 | 32 | 15 | Brennan Poole(i) | MACC Door Systems Ford | 297 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 34 | 35 | 78 | Josh Bilicki(i) | Zeigler Auto Group Chevrolet | 297 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 35 | 27 | 38 | Todd Gilliland | Serial 1 E-Bikes Ford | 296 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 36 | 13 | 12 | Ryan Blaney | Menards/Pennzoil Ford | 146 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
# – Rookie
i – Points ineligible
* – Part-time driver
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Comments
I remember when professional drivers sometimes were able to drive themselves out of trouble with their skill, now they just mash the brake pedal and hope for the best!
Let’s see you save a car barreling toward a wall at triple digit speeds, pal
He left off the brakes trying to save it
I was watching it live when it happened and thought he did everything he could do to miss the barrier…..the car just caught traction and sent him left/straight into the wall. With all the focus on softer safety barriers, I’m surprised there are still solid concrete wall like that even though they’re situated in places less likely to get hit that way. I bet you’ll see that wall and others like it fitted with the SAFER barriers in the future.