Coca-Cola 600 weekend schedule: Speed Street, races and concerts
NASCAR is gearing up for its annual Coca-Cola 600 on Memorial Day Weekend. The 600-mile crown jewel event is at 6 p.m. on May 29 at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
This year marks the 63rd running of the race that was originally called the World 600. Speed Street, the annual music and entertainment festival leading up to the race, will be held at the speedway in Concord rather than its traditional venue in uptown Charlotte.
Performances by Flo Rida, Steve Miller Band and Lynyrd Skynyrd are on the weekend concert lineup. Any race ticket gets fans into Speed Street and the Friday and Saturday concerts; otherwise, it’s $20 at the gate.
Here’s the schedule and what to know about the weekend races.
When is the Coca-Cola 600?
The four-stage race is Sunday, May 29 at 6 p.m. Carolina Panthers wide receiver D.J. Moore will drive the pace car.
Who to watch?
NASCAR’s defending Cup Series champion Kyle Larson is also the defending winner of the race. His No. 5 Chevrolet team swept all stages of last year’s Coke 600 to hand Hendrick Motorsports its 269th victory. Now the organization is up to 285 wins, two of which have come from Charlotte native William Byron and his No. 24 Chevy team this year. Larson, Chase Elliott and Alex Bowman each have one win this season.
The Hendrick cars will again be likely favorites along with the Joe Gibbs Racing No. 18 team and its driver Kyle Busch, who finished in the top five at the last two Coke 600 races.
The race will be 400 laps at the 1.5-mile oval.
What else is going on at the track?
The venue will be busy in the hours and days prior to the main race. On Friday, gates will open for track activity as well as the spectacles of the Circle K Speed Street Festival that includes a ferris wheel and shows like the Globe of Death motorcycle riders, extreme pogoing and BMX stunt riders. There will be a pre-race military salute and practice and qualifying for all series.
Coca-Cola 600 weekend schedule
Friday
▪ Speed Street opens, 2 p.m.
▪ Truck Series qualifying, 2 p.m.
▪ Xfinity qualifying, 4 p.m.
▪ ARCA race, 6 p.m.
▪ Truck Series race, 8:30 p.m.
▪ Flo Rida concert, 9:30 p.m.
Saturday
▪ Speed Street opens, 9 a.m.
▪ Xfinity race, 1 p.m.
▪ Coca-Cola 600 qualifying, 7:35 p.m.
▪ Steve Miller Band concert, 8:30 p.m.
Sunday
▪ Speed Street opens, 10 a.m.
▪ Lynyrd Skynyrd concert (pit road), 3:50 p.m.
▪ Military appreciation show, 4:55 p.m.
▪ Driver introductions, 5:30 p.m.
▪ Coca-Cola 600, 6 p.m.
