Ford Racing Notes and Quotes
NASCAR Cup Series
Cracker Barrel 400 – Nashville Superspeedway
Sunday, May 31, 2026
Blaney and Smith Lead at Nashville NASCAR Cup Race
Lebanon, Tenn. – After a delayed start for rain, the second half of the NASCAR Cup Series regular season officially got underway tonight at Nashville Superspeedway. Ryan Blaney would lead all Ford Racing finishers with an eighth place finish in the No. 12 Advance Auto Parts Ford Mustang Dark Horse. Blaney led 46 laps of the Cracker Barrel 400 on Nashville’s 1.33-mile concrete oval. Close behind was Zane Smith driving to ninth place in the No. 38 Speedy Cash Ford Mustang Dark Horse. Smith spent 18 laps at the front of the field before being ultimately overtaken for the lead with 12 laps to go.
Nashville marked the final race in the 32 year Ford Racing career for Pat Di Marco. Di Marco recently announced his retirement from Ford after leading the NASCAR program to a combined 704 NASCAR victories and 29 championships across its top three series. As Manager, NASCAR and Analytics, Di Marco added his 704th career win on Friday night at Nashville when Layne Riggs charged to victory lane in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race driving a Ford F-150.
Ford Unofficial Finishing Order:
8th – Ryan Blaney
9th – Zane Smith
14th – Joey Logano
16th – Noah Gragson
20th – Todd Gilliland
26th – Austin Cindric
28th – Chad Finchum
29th – Chris Buescher
31st – Josh Berry
34th – Brad Keselowski
36th – Ryan Preece
RYAN BLANEY, No. 12 Advance Auto Parts Ford Mustang Dark Horse – “It kind of got mixed up there when the yellow came out late in stage two. I had the lead and then we stayed out and some guys took two [tires] and we took four and I just couldn’t really get going on restarts and I’d lose one here and there. And then, yeah, we decided to pit and put rights on it there with 70 something to go and just try to do something. Ended up figuring we couldn’t make it. We came in and put four on and it ended up an OK finish. I just couldn’t really go anywhere when I was buried. But I appreciate Advance Auto Parts for doing what they do. Sincere apologies to Tyler. I was trying to push the 9 top of 3 and got Chase sideways, he ended up hooking Tyler, so I hope he’s OK. Gosh, I didn’t mean to do that, but I hope he’s all right.”
ZANE SMITH, No. 38 Speedy Cash Ford Mustang Dark Horse – “Just weird. A weird race there at the end. Another really good Ford Mustang Dark Horse all weekend and that’s what’s most exciting really. It’s so much fun when it’s like that. But, I thought I was racing the 12 for the win there and was just playing cat and mouse with him and, obviously, he has way more experience than me. So it was just judging off of him and I was just trying to keep him lined up and make sure that I was gonna stay in control to the best of my ability. And then I saw him peel off, so I just went into save mode and the 20 was just making too much lap time, really. I mean, I probably had, I don’t know, three to four more tenths and saving fuel, but still, that wasn’t enough for the laps he was putting down, and I think he had like 40 lap fresher tires than me. So, it was just a knife to a gunfight there once he caught me. But with that said, I mean, man, we gave everything we could tonight, and we’re here to try to win a Cup race for Front Row Motorsports and all the men and women back at the shop. And Speedy Cash and Ford Racing, of course, and all of our partners. But, just didn’t quite play out. And that’s okay. Just need to get better on restarts. The past couple weeks there’s been ridiculously tight on restarts and that’s, uh, it’s just been brutal. I know everyone is, but I’m slow on them. And so I need to be better. And yeah, working towards that. But, hopefully ours is coming soon. My mindset is high after the past couple weeks, you know? We’re leading laps. We’re hopefully being talked about because our speed is there and performance is there. You just have to have everything go right to win these, and that’s why it’s so special too. We need to do the little things a little bit better… and one time it will go our way.”
