There’s something about Nashville that always seems to leave Denny Hamlin wanting more. In 2024, he led 70 laps only to lose the win in overtime. This year, the heartbreak was subtler but just as sharp. Hamlin finished third at the Cracker Barrel 400 after fighting through traffic, strategy calls, and a track that never offered him its full embrace. For a veteran chasing that Nashville victory, the frustration lingers like the Tennessee heat.

But as he walked away without a trophy once again, another figure in his camp quietly turned heads. He did not finish on the podium. He did not even finish the race. And yet, when Kevin Harvick pointed to the next big name in the Cup series, it wasn’t the race winner or the runner-up. It was this young driver, with a calm, collected presence, with gr

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