Denny Hamlin rallied from the rear to win at a track Joe Gibbs Racing had never conquered — and dragged two teammates across for a 1-2-3. Five numbers from Nashville.
GARAGE INSIDERS · EPISODE 2 On a humid Sunday night that started with a jump-start penalty and ended with a three-wide last lap, Denny Hamlin rallied from the rear to win at a track Joe Gibbs Racing had never conquered — and dragged two teammates across with him for a 1-2-3. Five numbers from Nashville that say the back half of this season runs through one race shop in Huntersville. COLUMN · The Garage Insiders ISSUE · Ep.
2 DATE · June 2026 N ashville Superspeedway, Sunday night, a rain delay and a near four-hour race. Denny Hamlin got flagged for jumping the start, dropped to the back, and still drove to victory lane — then bowed toward the crowd in tribute to the late Kyle Busch, the teammate whose career win total he now sits one short of. The angles the numbers cover — JGR’s first win at a track it had never touched, Christopher Bell ’s best-car-no-trophy curse, Chase Briscoe ’s charge from deep, Ricky Stenhouse ’s quiet resurrection, and the one win that puts Hamlin within arm’s reach of history.
This is going to happen every week from now on. Five numbers. Each one verified twice.
None of them safe. “The man chasing Kyle Busch’s win total just won the race Busch’s old team never could — and bowed to him doing it.” “A track that had never seen a Toyota in victory lane just watched three of them cross the line nose to tail.” “ Bell keeps bringing the best car to the racetrack and bringing it home second.” “The third Gibbs car started 31st and still beat 34 other people to the line.” “The guy nobody was talking about quietly had the fourth-best night of anyone at Nashville.” “Nashville wasn’t a race Joe Gibbs Racing won. It was a track Joe Gibbs Racing annexed.” Next stop, Michigan International Speedway, June 7 — the fastest track on the schedule, where the fastest car routinely loses to the smartest fuel number, and where JGR will try to keep the summer rolling.
The Garage Insiders is back next Monday with five numbers from Michigan. Most of them will be wrong by Tuesday. Most of them will be right by July.