LEBANON, Tenn. (AP) — The Cracker Barrel 400 started 80 minutes late Sunday night at Nashville Superspeedway after rain delayed NASCAR’s Cup Series for a second straight week. The national anthem had just finished when the race was put on a hold for rain over the 1.

Denny Hamlin might have become the champion at Nashville, but he feels his 23XI Racing employee Tyler Reddick’s regular-season winning chances are still better. After the victory, Hamlin was informed that he had unofficially climbed back within 100 points of Reddick with 12 races remaining before the 26-race regular season ends.

Denny Hamlin’s victory at Nashville showed us how the driver had matured and was finally learning from his mistakes. The veteran Toyota driver had found himself in an intense battle with his teammates,