Coca-Cola 600 tonight at Charlotte: 4 things to know about this year’s race
NASCAR’s longest race is tonight at Charlotte Motor Speedway. The Coca-Cola 600 starts at 6 p.m. on FOX. Here’s what to know ahead of the race:
Tickets still on sale
Charlotte Motor Speedway is welcoming fans back at full capacity this weekend with North Carolina lifting gathering restrictions two weeks ago. As of Sunday afternoon, tickets were not sold out for the race, which is expected to see a crowd of around 50,000 people. Prices range from $59 to $225 for a single adult ticket for grandstand or club seating on Ticketmaster. Tickets cost $10 for children 13 and younger.
Masks are not required for fans outdoors, but the speedway requests that fans who haven’t been vaccinated still wear face coverings. The track is hosting two clinics on-site where fans are able to get vaccinated; There will be a station in the Fan Zone starting at 3:30 p.m. with the single-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine administered by Atrium Health, as well as a station with the first dose of the Pfizer vaccine administered by Walmart pharmacists at the track in Concord, N.C.
The Fan Zone opens at 2 p.m. and spectator gates and suites open at 4 p.m.
Honoring our troops
The Memorial Day weekend race has a deep-rooted tradition of honoring military service members. A pre-race military appreciation show begins at 5 p.m. followed by driver introductions at 5:45 p.m.
NASCAR Cup teams and drivers will each honor a fallen member of the U.S. Armed Forces with a name of the service member on their car windshields. The tradition, called “600 Miles of Remembrance,” has been part of every Coca-Cola 600 since 2015.
Among those honored on three Stewart-Haas Racing cars will be soldiers who fought in the Iraq War as part of the most highly decorated Special Operations Unit. Those soldiers are Marc Lee (on the No. 14 driven by Chase Briscoe), Michael Monsoor (on the No. 10 driven by Aric Almirola), and Ryan Job (on the No. 41 driven by Cole Custer). Lee and Monsoor were killed in action during Operation Iraqi Freedom. Job was critically injured when a bullet hit his rifle and sent shattered pieces of the weapon into his eyes, leaving him blind. He passed during a medical procedure, as a result of his injuries, a few years later.
“The NASCAR industry takes tremendous pride in honoring those who serve our country, along with their families and communities,” NASCAR VP of partnership marketing Michelle Byron said in a statement. “It’s impossible to describe their sacrifices to protect and support our communities throughout the past year during the pandemic – it’s our privilege to recognize them through NASCAR Salutes annually.”
Hendrick on pace for another win
Once the racing begins Sunday, Hendrick Motorsports will be gunning for another milestone win. The Cup team tied Petty Enterprises in all-time wins in the series last weekend when Chase Elliott won a rain-shortened race at Circuit of the Americas for the organization’s 268th victory. Hendrick drivers Kyle Larson (+350 odds) and Elliott (+500) are favored to win, according to BetMGM. Larson is on the pole with all four Hendrick drivers starting in the top-10, with the team well-poised to break the Cup record.
“I think it’s kind of the same as any race win and they’re all too hard to get to pick and choose when and where,” Elliott said. “I think the boss knows that as well as anybody, so if we can knock down that barrier as a company I think we’ll be happy to do it wherever.”
Team owner Rick Hendrick said last weekend that a Coke 600 win would be a special marker.
“Our shops are about a mile away (from Charlotte) and everybody would be able to celebrate together, so that would be awesome,” Hendrick said, smiling at Larson. “Kyle needs to do it.”
No rest for 600 miles
But standing in Hendrick Motorsports’ way could be veteran drivers who have won the race before. Team Penske’s Brad Keselowski is the defending Coke 600 winner looking to become the seventh different driver to score back-to-back victories in the race.
Buddy Baker, Darrell Waltrip, Neil Bonnett, Dale Earnhardt, Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson are also on that list. Johnson, who is part of the broadcast crew for this year’s Indianapolis 500 also on Sunday, leads the Cup series in consecutive Coca-Cola 600 wins with three straight between 2003 and ‘05.
Martin Truex Jr. (2016, ‘17 and ‘19) and Kevin Harvick (2011, ‘13 and ‘14) are the active drivers with the most wins at Charlotte Motor Speedway, and Truex has the most wins this season with three victories. He’s among the drivers with the best odds (+650) to win Sunday, according to BetMGM, but said that he doesn’t expect any driver to dominate the race like he did in 2016, when he led a record 392 of 400 laps.
“With this 550 package, everybody’s so limited on horsepower,” Truex said. “The lap times are so close together throughout the field. There’s less opportunity to really, really get your car dialed in and drive away from the field.”
Truex said that changes to the cars and rules over time have created closer racing, meaning there will be no waiting until the end of 600 miles to play catch up.
“You talk to guys that were racing here 15 years ago, they’re like, ‘If we stay on the lead lap the first 300 miles, 300 laps, we’re happy. We’ve got a chance,’” Truex said. “Now you don’t. You have to stay up front. You have to keep your track position, and you’ve gotta have that thing on 100 percent all day long, and it’s tough.”
This story was originally published May 30, 2021 at 4:32 PM.
