LEBANON, Tennessee — After rediscovering Music City’s rich racing heritage, NASCAR and Nashville have proven to be a perfect pair over the past few years. Nashville’s reclaiming as one of the nation’s premier racing cities continues on Sunday, when the NASCAR Cup Series returns to Nashville Superspeedway for the second annual Ally 400.

As the first race after the only bye week of the 2022 season, Nashville marks the symbolic start of the second half of the Cup Series season. It also marks a critical point in the regular season. There are now 10 races left until the playoffs, which means the urgency is growing for drivers to both enter the playoff grid and establish their own standings.

After being halted once for lightning in the area, Sunday’s race nearly reached the halfway point – which would have made the race official – before another more severe storm brought rain and lightning on the track. The race was red-flagged for the second time after 139 laps, and a long rain delay ensued before racing resumed at 10:05 p.m. ET.

After dominating this race in 2021, Kyle Larson is looking to regain his championship form and claim another Gibson guitar. Exactly who he will have to assert himself against anyone, as this season has remained unpredictable – as evidenced by Daniel Suarez, Chris Buescher and Michael McDowell all vying for victory in Sonoma.

TV coverage of the Ally 400 is currently on NBC and streaming on fuboTV (Try for free).