2022 Coca-Cola 600 Race Review
The Coca-Cola 600! The Nascar Cup Series made a stop at Charlotte Motor Speedway in Charlotte, North Carolina. Denny Hamlin wins the Coca-Cola 600 in a long battle at Charlotte Motor Speedway. This is Hamlin’s 2nd win of the 2022 season, and the 48th of his career. In his 18-year career, this is Hamlin’s first time being crowned the winner of the Coca-Cola 600.
(Denny Hamlin in Victory Lane)
This was the longest Nascar Cup Series race in history. This race went five hours and 13 minutes, which is insane. This race was a wild 600-mile event, cautions, new faces up front and a sold-out crowd watched it unfold. Coming to the white flag in the 1st overtime, Kyle Larson and Ross Chastain led the field to the green flag. They battled side by side until Austin Dillon with a power move, dived to the inside. Dillon, Hamlin, Larson, and Chastain were four-wide coming to the white flag. Kyle Larson spun Austin Dillon, causing a huge pile coming to the white flag. A second restart came where Denny Hamlin and Kyle Busch battled it out until the finish. Kyle Busch got loose on the outside of Denny Hamlin, giving Hamlin the win.
(Denny Hamlin Post-Race)
Let’s rewind to stage 1 where Chase Elliott was the winner. Elliott jumped out to an early lead over Tyler Reddick, and Christopher Bell. He went on to lead most of stage 1 as he cruised to his 31st career stage win. Trouble later struck for Chase Elliott as he got up into the wall and was later caught up in a 12-car wreck. What looked like a promising evening ended short for the #9 team. Daniel Suarez was the stage 2 winner. This was the 2nd of his career. Trackhouse Racing has been a surprise and successful team this season. Today they continued that with Ross Chastain and Daniel Suarez running inside the top 10 for most of the night. The stage 3 winner was Ross Chastain. This is the 3rd of his career. Chastain led most of the second stage, he ran 2nd to Tyler Reddick in the final stage to end off a bittersweet night for Trackhouse Racing.
(Denny Hamlin leading the field)
Notable drivers throughout tonight’s Coca-Cola 600 were Tyler Reddick, Ross Chastain, Daniel Suarez, Cole Custer, Kyle Larson, and Chase Briscoe. Tyler Reddick for Richard Childress Racing ran great all night long. Reddick qualified 8th on Saturday night. But a left rear tire derailed Reddick's chances at his 1st Coca-Cola 600 win. Daniel Suarez started the race in 12th. He was later involved in a wreck as Chase Briscoe got into the back of him, sending him into the wall and collecting Chris Buescher. Buescher’s car flipped coming into the front stretch at the start/finish line. Daniel Suarez had a big night for Trackhouse Racing, he led 36 laps but finished 24th. Cole Custer had a career night. This was by far his best finish since his July win at Kentucky Speedway in 2020. Tonight was his first top 10 since Dover of 2021. Kyle Larson had an eventful night. Larson had three pit-road penalties, a spin, and an issue with the fuel of the car that caused a fire. Larson had an eventful night as his team rebounded for a 9th place finish. Chase Briscoe had a good race as he finished 4th. The #14 car ran a great race as this was truly the first time since the Bristol Dirt race that Briscoe had run well. With two laps to go Chase Briscoe spun coming into turn 4, he was on the rear quarter panel of Kyle Larson for the race win. Honorable mentions go out to Kyle Busch who led 36 laps and finished 2nd. Lastly, Kevin Harvick who finished 3rd after an up and down weekend.
Drivers that saw issues in today’s 600-mile race were Ryan Blaney, Bubba Wallace, Kurt Busch, and Austin Cindric. Ryan Blaney in the middle of the corner was taken three-wide by Kevin Harvick. Ryan Blaney hit the apron of the track and slid up taking 12 cars for a spin. Blaney, who was set to have a good race after qualifying decently on Saturday, finished 29th after crashing out. Other drivers involved were Kurt Busch and Bubba Wallace. The 23XI Racing teammates were caught up in “the big one”. Wallace qualified 7th, as he ran strong all night. Wallace led a lap as his #23 car was more than capable of winning tonight’s race. Kurt Busch was also involved in this crash, he finished 31st. Busch ran around the top 15 all night, carrying momentum from his Kansas win, a great finish was in line for the #45 team. Corey LaJoie also saw trouble. He crashed both his primary and backup car this weekend. A deja-vu moment occurred in today’s race, as he cut a tire down early in stage 1. Notable names like William Byron, Brad Keselowski, Chris Buescher, Daniel Suarez, Austin Dillon, Cole Custer, and Joey Logano were all caught up in wrecks after this 413-lap race.
(The Flipped Car of Chris Buescher)
In my opinion, today was huge for motorsports. As a whole, today was a prestigious day for the top three racing leagues across the world. Formula 1 Racing held the prestigious Monaco Grand Prix this morning, followed by the iconic staple, the Indianapolis 500 for the NTT Indycar Series. Capped off by the crown jule, Coca-Cola 600. This race was over five hours long, with drivers, teams, and race fans going the 619.5-miles. Today’s race started at 6:40pm and ended at 11:53pm ET time. This by far was the best Coca-Cola 600 ever, and the best race of the 2022 Nascar season. The pre-race ceremonies honoring the fallen soldiers who made the ultimate sacrifice this Memorial Day weekend were great. Nascar saw a sold-out crowd this evening which was also a pleasant addition. Taking all action into consideration, I’d rate today’s race a 10 out of 10, officially ruling tonight’s race, the best so far this season. On a side note, the “honor and remember” wording above each tire was a great touch by Nascar. The new edition of the World Wide Technology Raceway on the Nascar schedule, known as “Gateway” to many just outside of St. Louis should be fun next weekend.
Leaving Memorial Day weekend and the Coca-Cola 600 behind, we head to World Wide Technology Raceway. Located in Madison, Illinois, this 1.2-mile track puts on some great action. This will be the first time ever that the Nascar Cup Series will race at World Wide Technology Raceway. Normally, the Camping World Truck Series only holds events at the 1.2-mile track. Both the Cup and Truck Series will make the trip out west, as the Xfinity Series heads to Portland International Raceway in Portland, Oregon. Practice and qualifying for the Truck Series will be on Friday in the evening, and the race will be Saturday afternoon at 1:30pm ET. Following will be the Cup Series holding practice on Friday evening with qualifying Saturday morning. The Xfinity Series will hold practice in the morning on Friday, with qualifying being that night. The Xfinity Series race in Portland will be Saturday at 4:30pm ET. For the Enjoy Illinois 300, tune in Sunday, at 3:30pm ET for the Cup Series at WWT Raceway(World Wide Technology Raceway) only on FS1.
( All images credited to https://www.foxsports.com/nascar/cup-series.)
For next week's race information please view the link down below:
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