NASCAR
Stratta’s Six: Who Will Outlast Competition in Coca-Cola 600?
The greatest weekend in motorsports is upon us once again. Memorial Day Sunday will be a race fan’s dream. Breakfast comes in the form of the Formula 1 Monaco Grand Prix, leading into the 107th Indianapolis 500, capping off the night with NASCAR’s Coca-Cola 600. The Charlotte gem of NASCAR crown jewels is simultaneously wide open for potential winners. There are also a few heavyweight standout favorites. Here are a few drivers who could end stock car racing’s longest night standing tall in Charlotte victory lane.
William Byron
The winner of the most recent points race at Darlington, William Byron eyes another major win. Driver 24 calls Charlotte home, and has yet to find victory in his backyard. Two years ago, Hendrick Motorsports put a stamp on a history-making night with four cars in the Coca-Cola 600 top-five. Byron was fourth that night, his best finish yet on the Charlotte oval. Byron now has maximum confidence as a three-time 2023 winner. Entering this year’s Coca-Cola 600, Byron is well poised for a maiden win on his home turf.
“This is one of my favorite races of the season,” Byron said. “Not only are we racing at home, but it’s my home track. I usually have family here and the race just has so much history behind it. I remember going to Charlotte as a kid to watch races and how memorable the weekend was. Not only that, but it’s literally right by the shop. I know winning at Charlotte is a big deal to Mr. Hendrick and all of Hendrick Motorsports. Hopefully, we keep up the good runs we’ve been having this year and can add another one on Sunday.”
Hendrick cars have been the team to beat more weeks than not so far in 2023. Byron won the season’s first mile-and-a-half race at Las Vegas. Expect Byron to be in the mix again at Charlotte. Team 24 has already earned the most wins in a season for William Byron. Sunday could only add to this record with a fourth victory and a first at home.
Kevin Harvick
Tied as Charlotte’s winningest active driver, Kevin Harvick’s owns three Charlotte trophies, two of them coming from the 600. This is in addition to top-10s in each of the last five trips to CMS. No other driver has equaled this stat, while it’s been a decade since Harvick’s latest Coca-Cola 600 triumph. The longest night in racing offers great opportunity for an alternate strategy to bring the field closer together. The Coca-Cola 600 is no stranger to seeing a potential surprise winner. Harvick will make a whopping 23rd start in NASCAR’s longest race. Heading into Sunday, Harvick is optimistic about taking the 4 team to victory lane.
“When you look at Charlotte Motor Speedway, it’s obviously a huge piece of the NASCAR landscape,” Harvick said. “To win one of the crown-jewel races in the Coke 600 and be able to put your name on one of those trophies is something that is important. For me, Charlotte was always one of those racetracks that I was like, ‘Uh, I don’t know, I don’t like it, I do like it, I don’t like it, I do like it.’ But over the last 10 or 12 years, it’s been a racetrack that’s been pretty good to me. I think when you’re in NASCAR racing, you understand that Charlotte Motor Speedway is not only special because it’s the home of the Coke 600. It’s also special because this is really our hub. This is where all the race shops are, this is where all the people are. It’s the place where the folks in the industry get to bring their family to the race and enjoy the weekend. You’re close to home and it’s a homecoming event year after year. It’s always a special weekend – especially when you win, because you get to have people in victory lane that don’t normally get to victory lane. So that’s our goal – get people to victory lane who don’t normally get to go to victory lane.”
At third in points, 2023 has been quite the interesting season so far for Harvick. The 4 earned their best result so far two weeks ago with a Darlington runner-up. Momentum appear to be trending towards an eventual victory in Harvick’s farewell tour. If the Coca-Cola 600 allows for opposing strategies late, The Closer could steal another one at Charlotte.
Kyle Larson
Putting it bluntly, Kyle Larson is on top of the world right now. The Hendrickcars.com 5 team has been the team to beat more weeks than not in 2023. Larson has laps led in all but five races this year, and is coming off a dominant All-Star Race triumph. Larson claimed the Coca-Cola 600 two years ago, putting the NASCAR world on notice en route to his championship. Trying to defend his win last year, Larson rallied from a season’s worth of drama to be leading late. The 5’s roller-coaster night ended in ninth. Larson had the field covered at North Wilkesboro, and now eyes a Carolina sweep.
“I feel like this season has felt so similar to 2021,” Larson said. “We’ve had a car capable of winning every weekend. Honestly, even a little better than we were in 2021 to this point. I feel like those races were a little more drama-free for us in 2021. We would get those good finishes or finish around where we deserved. So far in 2023, we’ve probably not led as many laps. But I feel like we’ve challenged for more wins to this point than we did then. We’ve had a lot of things not work out. We’ve won twice and won the All-Star Race, so things are great. But if things had gone right like it seemed everything did in 2021, we’d probably have like six or seven wins right now. I’ve been super happy with the team and the racecars that we bring to the track. I’m confident that we can keep it up throughout the summer and into the postseason. We proved that we could do it in 2021 and we were really strong in last year’s Playoffs.”
Calling this season similar to 2021 for Larson should send shockwaves throughout the garage. The Coca-Cola 600 was where Larson’s sheer 2021 dominance was on full display, leading 327 of 400 laps. Short of getting lost on the way to Charlotte Motor Speedway, little may keep prerace favorite Larson from another checkered flag.
Denny Hamlin
12 months ago, Denny Hamlin took his first Charlotte win with the Coca-Cola 600. Only leading a handful of laps at the start and in overtime, the 11 was in the right spot when it mattered most. Hamlin’s lone win of 2023 was at a similar track in Kansas. With that intermediate pace in mind, Hamlin could be facing back-to-back Coca-Cola 600 wins.
“I feel like our cars have definitely gotten better on the mile-and-a-half tracks,” Hamlin said. “Obviously, we did win the last mile-and-a-half at Kansas, so I’m optimistic going into this weekend. We know we will have to beat the Hendrick guys if we want to have a shot. But I feel like we’ve been trending in the right direction on these types of tracks. We have as good a chance as anyone. We just have to execute throughout the race and be there at the end.”
Toyota vs. Hendrick appears to be the primary battle shaping up for Sunday. Hamlin hopes to be on the winning side of this dogfight. It was two Joe Gibbs Racing Toyotas that dueled last year at Charlotte, the same outcome could happen again.
Kyle Busch
Seemingly always a threat in recent years at Charlotte is Kyle Busch. The 2018 Coca-Cola 600 winner, that night Rowdy led 377 of 400 laps, falling just shy of the all-time record. In the four years since, Busch has a worst 600 result of fourth. In his first Charlotte outing with the No. 8 crew, Busch plans on putting RCR back on top in Charlotte.
“To me the 2018 Coca-Cola 600 is one of the most dominant performances of my career and I think it’s a very special one,” Busch said. “I say that because we led so much of that race and had such a fast car, a dominating car, and our team did everything perfectly. During that race they had PJ1 sprayed down and a lot of guys were running in the PJ1 to make time. Our stuff was good and we were so fast that we didn’t even have to use it and run in it. We could beat everybody outside of it. That really helped our tire life and our long run speed where people would wear their tires out in the glue and just take life out of their tires by having to run up there. That was a really cool win and that was the final track that I needed to get a points-paying win at that was still on the schedule. I accomplished winning at every single venue on the schedule at that point and time. It was really cool to have that honor.”
Since winning at Talladega in April, Busch has seen two finishes outside of the top-20. Two weeks ago in Darlington though, a quietly great day for the 8 ended with a long pit stop. Busch would fade to finish seventh. If Busch’s team can bring a similarly fast car to Charlotte, they may be eyeing victory lane again.
Martin Truex Jr.
No list of possible Coca-Cola 600 threats is complete without mentioning Martin Truex Jr. The two-time 600 winner led a record 392 laps in 2016, and won it again three years later. Truex is tied with Harvick for most Charlotte wins in Sunday’s field. Racing’s longest night may very easily turn into another Truex masterclass.
“My favorite thing about the Coke 600 is how much the track changes and how long the race is,” Truex said. “It’s such a big challenge to get prepared for and get through the whole race. We’ve been fortunate to win it a few times. For whatever reason, it’s been a really good race for me and my Bass Pro Shops team the past seven or eight years. I always look forward to the challenge – it’s a grind and I love that. Always honored to not only have a fallen soldier riding along with me, but also for all the work Bass Pro Shops does with the USO and all their great work with our military heroes.”
Joe Gibbs Racing saw a Coca-Cola 600 win last year at the hands of Denny Hamlin. Should Truex be anywhere near the top-five late Sunday night, then expect the 19 to bring it home for a second-straight Charlotte win with Coach Gibbs.
Kicking off the second half of 2023’s regular season, the Coca-Cola 600 should clearly tell the championship contenders from the pretenders. Coverage of this crown jewel event begins at 6:00 p.m. ET Sunday on FOX, PRN, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90. Whoever does stand tall in Charlotte victory lane has the chance to start the summer off on the right foot.
Written by Peter Stratta
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Photo Credit to James Gilbert/Getty Images for NASCAR
