NASCAR Classics: Races to watch before Nashville

Throughout the 2024 NASCAR season, Ken Martin, director of historical content for the sanctioning body, will offer his suggestions on which historical races fans should watch from the NASCAR Classics library in preparation for each upcoming race weekend.

Martin has worked exclusively for NASCAR since 2008 but has been involved with the sport since 1982, overseeing various projects. He has worked in the broadcast booth for hundreds of races, assisting the broadcast team with different tasks. This includes calculating the “points as they run” for the historic 1992 finale, the Hooters 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

The following suggestions are Ken‘s picks to watch before this weekend‘s Ally 400 at Nashville Superspeedway.

1970 Nashville 420:

The NASCAR Cup Series arrived at Nashville in July 1970 for their third race over the previous six days.

Bobby Allison captured the race at Bristol on July 19, while Richard Petty was victorious in Maryville, Tennessee on July 24. One night later, the Cup Series was back at it yet again at Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway.

LeeRoy Yarbrough put his No. 98 Ford on the pole for the race, while Catawba, North Carolina‘s Bobby Isaac was alongside him in second.

The race was broadcast live on television, with Jim McKay and Chris Economaki hosting the event. It also was the first time that the series races on the new 0.625-mile, 35-degree banking configuration.

The race was a true test of attrition, as only nine of the 36 starters finished the event. Yarbrough saw his day end on the 45th lap after blowing a tire and crashing into the wall.

Series points leader James Hylton was one of the drivers who had issues with the new banking. He was also involved in a crash and finished 28th.

Isaac, who dominated the race, was the only driver to complete all 420 laps. He led 214 of them en route to Victory Lane. He took control of the points lead from Hylton and eventually captured the series championship.

2021 Ally 400:

Kyle Larson entered the inaugural NASCAR Cup Series race at Nashville Superspeedway quite possibly as hot as a driver could ever be.

The driver, in his first year behind the wheel of the No. 5 car for Rick Hendrick, finished second at Darlington Raceway, Dover Motor Speedway and Circuit of The Americas.

He backed that up with a dominating victory in the Coca-Cola 600 from the pole, which saw him lead 327 of the race‘s 400 laps. He led over half of the laps at Sonoma after winning the pole, ending that race in Victory Lane as well. That pushed his streak of finishing second or better to five straight races and moved him from ninth to second in the points over those five events.

Larson also captured the All-Star Race victory the previous week at Texas Motor Speedway, which netted the driver an additional $1,000,000 in race winnings.

It was no surprise that Larson was dominant yet again, as he led 264 of the race‘s 300 laps to continue his historically torrid stretch.

His three straight victories saw Larson lead 648 of the 792 total laps, an eye-popping 82%.

Ross Chastain, behind the wheel of Larson‘s old Chip Ganassi-powered No. 42 car, finished almost five seconds behind the race winner in second.

2023 Ally 400:

The 17th stop on the 2023 schedule was highlighted by yet another surprising effort by Trackhouse Racing‘s Ross Chastain.

The Alva, Florida driver entered the race tied for third in the season standings, after leading the standings for seven races.

He promptly put his No. 1 Chevrolet on the pole for the first time in his career. Justin Haley was a surprise near the front of the field, qualifying his Kaulig Racing ride in third, behind Chastain and Tyler Reddick.

Chastain led a race-high 99 laps but had to hold off the Joe Gibbs Racing duo of Martin Truex Jr. and Denny Hamlin as the drivers raced towards the checkered flag.

The teammates didn‘t have enough to pass Chastain, who captured his first victory of the season.

Following Chastain and the Joe Gibbs Racing duo were three Hendrick Motorsports cars, Chase Elliott, Kyle Larson and William Byron.

Chastain‘s victory moved him to second in the season standings, just 18 points behind Truex.