Coke 600 live updates: Kyle Larson sweeps all 4 stages to win longest race in NASCAR

The NASCAR Cup Series races tonight at Charlotte Motor Speedway. The Coca-Cola 600 starts at 6 p.m. on FS1.

The race is 400 laps (600 miles) on the 1.5-mile quad oval. All times are Eastern.

Check back here for live updates throughout the race and follow NASCAR reporter Alex Andrejev on Twitter at @AndrejevAlex. Full results will be posted here after the race.

COKE 600 NASCAR RACE RESULTS

How many stages in the Coke 600?

The Coca-Cola 600 has four stages, each 100 laps, with breaks at laps 100, 200, 300 and 400. This is the only race in NASCAR’s Cup schedule with four stages, each points-paying.

Coke 600 live updates

Final stage

CHECKERED FLAG: Kyle Larson swept all four stages to win the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Full results will be posted shortly.

10:15 p.m., Lap 376: Only 24 laps to go and Kyle Larson has a 4.5-second lead over teammate Chase Elliott in second place. It will likely take a caution for anyone to catch Larson. There are 14 cars on the lead lap.

10:04 p.m., Lap 355: Kyle Larson had a clean pit stop and is back out in front with a 2.6-second lead over Chase Elliott. He won’t be forced to pit again tonight and is in prime position to sweep all four stages.

10 p.m., Lap 343: Kyle Larson maintains his lead while Chase Elliott has fallen to fourth, almost four seconds behind the lead. Kyle Busch sits in second about 2.2 seconds behind Larson. Martin Truex Jr. had to take an unscheduled pit stop with a flat tire. He got four new tires before heading back to the track.

9:52 p.m., Lap 333: The order settles into Kyle Larson, Chase Elliott, William Byron, Kyle Busch and Alex Bowman. Busch moves up a spot, passing Byron as he gets caught up in traffic. Larson hangs behind Erik Jones on fresher tires, and says that his new tires are actually helping him in the draft.

9:33 p.m., Lap 303: Bubba Wallace gets a penalty for equipment interference while on pit road. The No. 23 was having a solid run beforehand, running in the top-10, but will now have to drop to the rear for the restart. Kyle Busch picks up a spot on pit road, to line up in second behind Kyle Larson. FOX radios Busch to ask how he plans to wins. He responds, “I’m gonna have to wreck ‘em.”

Stage 3

9:27 p.m., Lap 300: Kyle Larson wins the third stage under caution. In the top-10 are William Byron, Kyle Busch, Chase Elliott, Alex Bowman, Tyler Reddick, Denny Hamlin, Austin Dillon, Bubba Wallace and Kevin Harvick. Larson has 234 laps tonight and becomes the first driver to sweep the first three stages of this race since Kyle Busch in 2018.

9:19 p.m., Lap 295: With under 10 to go in the stage, William Byron is chasing down race leader Kyle Larson as they work through lapped traffic. Then a caution! A flat tire sends Ryan Newman into the wall to bunch up the field. Erik Jones will get the free pass.

9:14 p.m., Lap 281: Kyle Larson has put 2.6 seconds between his No. 5 and the No. 24 driven by William Byron in second. Kyle Busch, Chase Elliott and Alex Bowman follow in the top-five. Corey LaJoie, Matt DiBenedetto, Michael McDowell, Chase Briscoe, Daniel Suárez and Christopher Bell are among the drivers at least one lap down.

9:08 p.m., Lap 268: After a quiet night from Denny Hamlin, the No. 11 driver is into seventh place, but he’s still reporting he needs the car to be tighter. Teammate Martin Truex Jr. is in 17th and has been hovering out of the top-10 for this stage. After Christopher Bell’s flat tire, he’s into 23rd, for what’s been overall an unimpressive night for Joe Gibbs Racing. Kyle Busch in third, however, looks like he has a shot to upset the Hendrick teams.

9 p.m., Lap 253: Kyle Larson cycles to the lead after pitting one lap before William Byron. The No. 5 team posts a fast pit stop and Larson is able to move ahead of Byron on pit road strategy and with a fast stop. The order is Larson, Byron, Kyle Busch, Chase Elliott and Alex Bowman in the top-five.

8:53 p.m., Lap 245: Green flag pit stops start with Martin Truex Jr., Joey Logano, Bubba Wallace, Ryan Blaney, Kyle Busch and Denny Hamlin pitting. On lap 248, leaders Chase Elliott, Kyle Larson and Kyle Busch pit for fuel and tires. Richard Childress Racing cars driven by Tyler Reddick and Austin Dillon briefly inherit the lead.

8:49 p.m., Lap 231: William Byron passes his teammate Kyle Larson for the lead. On Lap 236, Kevin Harvick pits for a loose wheel. He was hovering in the top-10. His stop comes a few laps early in the fuel window but likely will start green flag pit stops shortly.

8:45 p.m., Lap 225: The Hendrick cars have resumed their position, with Kyle Larson, William Byron and Chase Elliott, in the top-three and Alex Bowman hovering a few cars behind in fifth. Kyle Busch sits between them in fourth.

8:33 p.m., Lap 205: Kyle Larson leads the field after the restart, and William Byron passes Chase Elliott for second followed by Kevin Harvick and Kyle Busch. Chris Buescher drops out of the top-10 on the restart. Christopher Bell appears to scrub the outside wall, which sends his right front tire down after a few laps. He pits on Lap 217.

Stage 2

8:25 p.m., Lap 200: Kyle Larson sweeps the first two stages at Charlotte. Chase Elliott, William Byron, Kyle Busch, Tyler Reddick, Kevin Harvick, Alex Bowman, Chris Buescher, Denny Hamlin and Austin Dillon finish in the top-10 this round. The field pauses for a 20-second moment of silence between the stage breaks to honor fallen military members who gave their life in service of their country. Engines are turned off, then re-fired.

8:17 p.m., Lap 188: Kyle Larson battles back to the front and passes Chase Elliott for first. It’s been a battle of the Hendrick drivers all night. Denny Hamlin is down to seventh, as Kyle Busch slides by him low with two fresher tires (Hamlin took just two tires at the last flag). Alex Bowman, in fourth, also took two tires.

8:16 p.m., Lap 185: Chase Elliott takes the lead from Denny Hamlin, as Hamlin slides down to fourth, then fifth place. He’s losing pace on older tires.

8:08 p.m., Lap 175: Alex Bowman stays out under caution, as does Denny Hamlin. They will line up in the front row (Bowman on the inside, Hamlin on the outside). On the restart, Hamlin snipes the lead from Bowman, but Chase Elliott won’t hold either hold it for long.

8:05 p.m., Lap 172: The caution comes out for Kurt Busch’s car smoking and slowed between Turns 1 and 2. Busch had hardly returned to the race before another issue will force him out. The team had attempted to repair the engine earlier, but the problem persists. “We’ll try another pair of shoes next week,” the No. 1 radio says. Their day ends early.

7:51 p.m., Lap 147: Green flag pit stops are underway with the leaders coming in. Leaders Chase Elliott and Kyle Larson ride side-by-side into the pits, and Larson emerges first under green. Christopher Bell inherits the lead but pits five laps later. Larson runs up to first again today.

7:46 p.m., Lap 139: Kurt Busch comes to the garage saying that he has no power steering nor oil pressure. This is the second issue for a Chip Ganassi Racing car tonight. David Starr has been black-flagged by NASCAR for failing to meet minimum speed. Green flag pit stops will start shortly.

7:44 p.m., Lap 131: Chase Elliott reduces Kyle Larson’s lead to lead than half a second. He’s on his bumper and chasing him down until finally Elliott makes his pass. He rides the high line as the two move by lapped traffic, and finally takes the lead.

7:34 p.m., Lap 115: Joey Logano gets a good jump after the restart and is running in eighth as Penske teammate Ryan Blaney is up to 23rd after his earlier stop. Brad Keselowski is in 17th. Kevin Harvick is the fastest running Ford in third.

7:30 p.m., Lap 106: Kyle Larson lines up on the inside with Kevin Harvick behind him. Chase Elliott is on the outside, and the order settles into Larson, Elliott and Harvick. William Byron is battling with Harvick for the third place spot, and further back, Austin Dillon and Kyle Busch battle for fifth, with Busch, followed by Martin Truex Jr. eventually surging past Dillon.

Stage 1

7:18 p.m., Lap 100: Kyle Larson easily wins the first stage at Charlotte. He’s followed by Chase Elliott, William Byron, Kevin Harvick, Austin Dillon, Kyle Busch, Martin Truex Jr., Tyler Reddick, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Alex Bowman finish in the top-10 for points for an early strong showing by Hendrick Motorsports cars.

7:11 p.m., Lap 86: Kyle Larson continues to lead. He’s three seconds ahead of Chase Elliott in second. William Byron, Kevin Harvick, Austin Dillon, Kyle Busch, Martin Truex Jr., Tyler Reddick, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Daniel Suárez are running in the top-10.

7:03 p.m., Lap 68: There are just 15 cars on the lead lap with around 30 laps to go in the stage. The Hendrick cars are slicing through the field, as is Kyle Busch, who is up to sixth. He reports that his car is pretty good, but Austin Dillon, in fifth, is running the same speed as him. Among those a lap down are Ryan Newman, Chase Briscoe and Aric Almirola. Ryan Blaney is up to 29th.

6:57 p.m., Lap 59: Trouble for Ryan Blaney puts the No. 12 car a lap down after Matt DiBenedetto and Anthony Alfredo pit from the lead. Kyle Larson returns to first followed by Chase Elliott and William Byron. Ross Chastain drives his car to the garage a few laps earlier to make repairs. FOX reports that the fix is for a broken oil pump that came detached. He will be able to return to the race if they’re able to get it fixed.

6:53 p.m., Lap 47: Green flag pit stops are underway with the leaders coming in around the same time for fuel and tires. Brad Keselowski assumes the lead, followed by Matt DiBenedetto and Anthony Alfredo. But Kyle Larson, who pitted, is already back up to forth, along with Chase Elliott and William Byron.

6:42 p.m., Lap 29: Austin Dillon makes his pass for fifth place, finally surging ahead of Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Kurt Busch, who dropped to the rear for unapproved adjustments ahead of the race, is up to 26th. His brother, Kyle Busch, is up from 18th to eigth place. The running order is Kyle Larson, Chase Elliott, William Byron, Kevin Harvick and Dillon in the top-five.

6:37 p.m., Lap 20: Further back, in positions 10 through 12, Kyle Busch, Ryan Blaney and Ross Chastain battle for positions, with the order settling into Blaney, Chastain and Busch, but Blaney makes a move to pass Chastain, which backfires when Chastain gets a run on the inside. Busch, drafting on Chastain’s tail, moves around both seconds later to move into the top-10.

6:32 p.m., Lap 10: The grace goes green with Hendrick teams jumping out to an early lead. Pole-sitter Kyle Larson leads all of the opening laps. Kurt Busch dropped to the rear for the start of the race for an unapproved adjustment and is up to 29th. The running order is Larson, Chase Elliott, William Byron, Kevin Harvick and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. in the top-five.

Pre-race

6 p.m.: Pre-race ceremonies are underway with a presentation of colors by the Official Color Guard of the U.S. Marine Corps and the Marine Barracks of Washington. The Charlotte Fire Department Pipe Band performs “Amazing Grace” followed by a performance of “Taps” by the bugler from Fort Bragg. A member of the Color Guard, Megan Weikleenget performs the national anthem live in front of fans in the grandstands.

Carolina Panthers running back Christian McCaffrey drives the pace car ahead of the race and “Tonight Show” host Jay Leno and former producer Kevin Eubanks give the command to fire engines.

5:35 p.m.: This race is bringing out the stars, including co-grand marshals from “The Tonight Show” Jay Leno and Kevin Eubanks, as well as Tyson Fury, Pitbull, Tony Robbins, Christian McCaffrey and Joe Brady. Charlotte Motor Speedway owner Bruton Smith is also in attendance tonight, as his son and Speedway Motorsports president Marcus Smith.

4:44 p.m.: It would be hard to ask for better weather for the Coke 600. No rain in the forecast. Temperatures in the mid-60s. This feels like a fall race, not an event on Memorial Day weekend in North Carolina. But the 50,000 or so fans at Charlotte Motor Speedway today should appreciate not dying in the heat.

HOW TO LIVE STREAM NASCAR COKE 600

• Race: Coca-Cola 600
• Track: Charlotte Motor Speedway
• Date: Sunday, May 30
• Time: 6 p.m. ET
• TV/Live stream: FOX (5:30 p.m. ET)
• Radio: PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio
• Distance: 600 miles (400 Laps) with stages ending on laps 100, 200, 300 and 400
• Last year’s winner: Brad Keselowski

Coke 600 starting grid

# rookie

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This story was originally published May 30, 2021 at 4:46 PM.

Alexandra Andrejev

The Charlotte Observer

NASCAR and Charlotte FC beat reporter Alex Andrejev joined The Observer in January 2020 following an internship at The Washington Post. She is a two-time APSE award winner for her NASCAR beat coverage and National Motorsports Press Association award winner. She is the host of McClatchy’s podcast “Payback” about women’s soccer. Support my work with a digital subscription