NASCAR insider picks winner, top-5 finishers, longshot to win Ally 400 at Nashville

Sunday’s Ally 400 at Nashville Superspeedway represents the start to the second half of the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series season.

With eight regular season races remaining until the playoffs begin, 10 drivers have thus far qualified for the Field of 16 by way of securing a checkered flag. Perhaps Nashville will yield an addition to the playoff field, though Bob Pockrass of FOX Sports is thinking the opposite.

Pockrass, giving his pick for the 300-lap race, went with Christopher Bell to pick up the win at Nashville. A win would be the fourth of the season for Bell, who has arguably been the most dangerous driver since the calendar flipped to May.

Bell won the rain-shortened Coca-Cola 600 and followed it up with three consecutive top 10s. He won his third race of the season this past Sunday at New Hampshire, dominating the field on the wet-weather tires. Bell looks well positioned to be a factor at Nashville, starting from the P3 position. Bell has three top 10s in three starts at the 1.3-mile oval.

Rounding out Pockrass’ top-five is Martin Truex Jr., Kyle Larson, Brad Keselowski and Denny Hamlin. Chevrolets have won each of the previous three races at Nashville, Larson notably getting it done in 2021. Will the points leader pick up win No. 4 this campaign?

Or will it be Hamlin, who sits on the pole and is looking to get things together in the aftermath of three straight finishes P24 or worse. Hamlin finished third at Nashville last season.

Surprise winner incoming at Nashville?

Josh Berry is Pockrass’ longshot to win, and there is plenty of merit behind his thinking. Still looking for a full-time Cup Series ride in 2025, Berry needs to perform and that’s exactly what he’s done. He’s tallied back-to-back top 10s, including a P3 finish at New Hampshire. He qualified well at Nashville, starting on the front row alongside Hamlin.

“I feel like our results have been really strong the last couple of months,” Berry said Saturday. “I don’t really know other than winning a race at this point is the only thing left that I can do. We’ve finished in the top five. We’ve ran up front. Led laps. We’ve showed the potential that we can do, so I think that’s been a big confidence boost for me.

“I really think that whole situation, at least for myself and our team, you find a lot about yourself when your back is against the wall and everybody is performing at a really high level, the highest probably we ever have, and we’re fighting together, and I feel like opportunities will come.”