NASCAR
Kyle Busch Sets Historic Precedent in 1st Career Coca-Cola 600 Victory
On the greatest day in motorsports, Kyle Busch was nearly perfect in the Coca-Cola 600. A driver who was looking for his 1st win at Charlotte Motor Speedway, Busch dominated NASCAR’s longest race from beginning to end.
Stock car racing’s longest, toughest night has added pressure and championship benefits with stage racing. The Coca-Cola 600 is newly defined by 4 stages, with each segment at 100 laps each. As a result, Charlotte in May is a major points night, with 8 Playoff points to gain.
Qualifying Highlights
Unlike other night races, Coca-Cola 600 qualifying has a racetrack very similar to race-conditions. Thursday night saw several top drivers have mixed results. Kevin Harvick, looking for his 6th win of the season, never turned a lap in qualifying. The 4 team failed inspection 3 times, and would be forced to start 39th with a very fast Ford. The man on top for qualifying at Charlotte would be Kyle Busch.
With the pole award, Kyle Busch was trying to achieve a major career goal. In 28 previous starts at Charlotte Motor Speedway, Busch had yet to score a win for a points-paying event. This was in spite of Busch having a record 8 Xfinity and 7 Truck Series wins at Charlotte. In addition, Busch won the All-Star Race 1 season ago. Charlotte was the only winless track for Busch in the Cup Series.
Early Race Drama
Even with the pole position, Kyle Busch was unable to lead the first few laps. Joey Logano, who started in 2nd position, would take the lead from Busch on lap 1, leading the first 4 circuits. Logano was also looking for his first win in the Coca-Cola 600.
Last year’s Coca-Cola 600 was memorable for Austin Dillon scoring his first career Cup Series win. However, Dillon would not go back-to-back in the 600, as he blew a tire on lap 38. The damage would send the 3 car behind the wall for several laps, relegating him to a dismal 34th-place finish.
To nobody’s surprise, Kevin Harvick set a blistering pace in the first run of the Coca-Cola 600. He predicted to be in the top 5 by lap 55, and he was nearly spot on. Harvick would enter the top 5 on lap 67. But disaster would soon strike, as Harvick would also blow a tire while running 4th on lap 85. Harvick was looking for 3-straight wins for the second time this year. He would have been the first to this feat since Dale Earnhardt in 1987, yet would finish the Coca-Cola 600 in dead last. This marked Harvick’s first ever last place finish in any level of NASCAR.
The caution for Harvick saw Busch lose the lead, but this was due to another driver’s error. While coming down pit road, Brad Keselowski missed his pit stall. The 2 was forced to drive through, and since he did not stop, inherited the lead. In spite of the lead, Brad had older tires, while everyone behind him had 4 brand new tires. This resulted in Brad losing the lead very quickly on the restart, and falling through the field. Kyle Busch would hold on to win Stage 1.
Mid-Race Results
Stage 2 of the Coca-Cola 600 saw more drivers out front, and some mistakes made by others. Lap 116 saw rookie William Byron hit the wall in turn 1. Byron, who was racing in the top 15 at the time, was racing 3 wide for position just laps before this incident.
On the following restart, calamity nearly struck at the front of the field. Jimmie Johnson made slight contact with Denny Hamlin in turn 4 on lap 121, sending the 48 spinning. Somehow nobody else hit Johnson, but Joey Logano spun while avoiding contact. Lap 121 trouble in a 400 lap race was only a slight stumble for both Logano and Johnson, as Logano was leading again on lap 166. Meanwhile, the 48 was also solid all night long, eventually finishing in a strong 5th place.
Stage 3 was nothing but the lead for Kyle Busch, as the 18 would lead all 100 laps in this segment. This was regardless of a few cautions for single-car spins. One of these unfortunate drivers was Kyle Larson. While running 4th on lap 274, Larson looped his car after snapping loose in turn 2. Larson used his wealth of dirt track racing experience to his benefit here, as he kept his car off of both walls.
Lap 280 saw a caution for oil on the track after a scary incident for Ryan Blaney. The 12 car had engine issues all race long, and the engine finally let go on lap 278. Blaney’s car had a large fire underneath it as he was forced out of contention for the Coca-Cola 600.
NASCAR’s Longest Race Ends with the Longest Green Flag Run
The end of Stage 3 would be the final caution period for the Coca-Cola 600, as everyone was wondering just how they could beat the 18. The final stage was run entirely under green flag conditions. Because of this, the midpoint of the stage saw a cycle of green flag pit stops. Martin Truex Jr. was the big winner here, as he made up 3 seconds on Busch in the closing laps.
In the end though, it was Kyle Busch taking home a very dominant win in the 59th annual Coca-Cola 600. His performance was very similar to Martin Truex Jr.’s 600 win 2 years ago, as Busch led 377 of 400 laps. This win was very significant in a historical sense. Kyle Busch has now won on every active track in the NASCAR Cup Series. He is the first driver in NASCAR’s 70-year history to achieve this stat. Busch also gained 8 Playoff points, adding to his now 67-point lead in the championship standings. This win marks Busch’s 4th of 2018, 47th of his Cup Series career, and 1st at Charlotte.
The top 10 finishers in the Coca-Cola 600 were Kyle Busch, Martin Truex Jr., Denny Hamlin, Brad Keselowski, Jimmie Johnson, Jamie McMurray, Kyle Larson, Kurt Busch, Alex Bowman, and Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
How to Watch the Next Race
The next stop for the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series will be The Tricky Triangle of Pocono Raceway. The Pocono 400 will be live on Sunday, June 3 at 2 PM EST on Fox Sports 1, MRN, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio. This race marks the 1-year anniversary of Ryan Blaney’s first career win, can he win 2 straight at Pocono?
