NASCAR's 400 lap affair at Charlotte Motor Speedway was filled with drama, and crashes.
- Denny Hamlin only led 15 laps and beat Kyle Busch in double overtime.
- The race took over 5 hours and was the longest in NASCAR history.
- Many contenders were swept up in crashes; 17 cars were scored with DNFs.
They raced for about 60 seconds Sunday night at Charlotte Motor Speedway to settle what they couldn’t settle in the previous 5 hours, 13 minutes. By almost any measure, NASCAR’s Cup Series Coca-Cola 600 was the most ragged, the most unfathomable, the most chaotic, and perhaps the most surprising in the race’s 63-year history dating to 1960.
Fewer than half the 37 starters completed all 413 laps as the race went into double overtime. Pole-winner Denny Hamlin led a handful of laps early, quickly faded deep into the top 10 for the rest of the night, then came out of nowhere to lead the last two laps to beat teammate Kyle Busch.
Coke 600 Race Results (PDF)
NASCAR
If you were looking for a classic race with drivers looking like they’d been here before, this one wasn’t for you. At times, it was as embarrassing as it was wildly entertaining.
The 400-lapper began on a bad note for six starters. Cory Lajoie started from the rear after wrecking his primary car and unloading his backup. Kyle Larson, the defending series and race champion, started out back because of unapproved adjustments. The “unapproved adjustments” penalty also got Aric Almirola, Kaz Grala, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., and Cole Custer. In the end, it didn’t really make much difference.
There were 18 cautions that ate away 90 of those 413 laps. Plus, a late-race, 11-minute red flag to clear the track after a spectacular frontstretch crash that sent Chris Buescher’s No. 17 Ford flipping five-and-a-half times before settling on its roof. (He was uninjured, but the crash set up another restart that gave Hamlin another chance just as he was ready to take fourth or fifth).
Some of the sport’s best drivers spun while running alone, often for tire-related reasons. Some were clearly cut down; in other cases, drivers tried to push their tire life and simply went too far. “It wound up being spin outs because the cars would become an incredibly big handful as you’d get towards the end of the run,” said Ford driver Kevin Harvick. “You had to hang on to it, and it was definitely interesting to say the least.”
Among the spinners: Chase Briscoe and Larson were in a terrific late-race battle for the lead until Briscoe simply went around trying to make an inside pass. Chase Elliott led 86 laps and seemed capable of winning until going around without contact. Lajoie, Kyle Busch, Austin Cindric, Bubba Wallace, Noah Gragson, and Tyler Reddick also spun alone. Ryan Blaney and Larson scrubbed the wall a time or two in separate incidents, and both admitted they shouldn’t have skipped a pit stop in order to save tires.
And there were the usual Cup Series “big ones.” Twelve cars crashed on the backstretch near halfway and seven cars crashed nearing the start/finish line, a long-developing incident that left Buescher on his roof. That incident sent the race into overtime and gave Hamlin a new attitude. “I figured with the first pit box, we had a chance to pit and restart up front,” he said. “After all we’d been through all night, it was at least a chance.”
Despite all the spins and wrecks, the 600 also had some compelling moments. Ross Chastain – at some point, he’ll be a champion – led 153 laps, easily the most of his abbreviated Cup career. Similarly, teammate Daniel Suarez led 36 laps, the most of his career in an impressive run despite a wreck-related 25th-place. He was a consistent top-10 runner all night until crashing in the frontstretch incident.
After restarting several rows back, he snaked his way through that crash and took the lead for 405-411. Kyle Busch led 412 on the final restart before Hamlin reasserted himself to lead lap 413 for his first 600 victory. “Things worked out tonight like they hadn’t worked out earlier in the season,” he said. “We didn’t make any mistakes; we took opportunities of our chances; we stayed with the plan. It was a struggle and we sometimes weren’t very good, but things finally went our way.”
With 10 laps remaining in regulation and with Larson and Chastain easily driving away in their private scrap for the victory, Hamlin faced the inevitable. “I thought maybe I could finish fourth,” he admitted. “I was fourth or fifth at that point, and that was about as good as I’d been in a long time. Frankly, I was just ready to finish the race and get out of here.”
By the way the race was the longest in NASCAR’s history with the 413 laps beating the “old” record set in 2020 at the same race of 403 laps.
Keyword: NASCAR’s Coca-Cola 600 Decided in 60 Seconds