NASCAR Coke 600 race results: Denny Hamlin wins in overtime

Denny Hamlin earned his 48th career NASCAR Cup victory, winning the Coca-Cola 600 in overtime Sunday at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Kyle Busch finished second and Kevin Harvick was third.

It was Hamlin’s first Coke 600 victory.

Kyle Larson was in position to win in overtime but got pinched by Ross Chastain and Austin Dillon, causing a crash and for him to fall back in the pack during a caution. Larson started 36th and almost climbed his way to his second straight Coke 600 victory.

Chastain led the most laps (153).

Live updates will be posted in the section below and will be published throughout the day and frequently during the race. Refresh this page for the latest news. Full results will be posted after the race.

Coke 600 NASCAR race results

Coke 600 live updates

Stage 4

CHECKERED FLAG: Denny Hamlins wins the Coca-Cola 600. Kyle Busch finished second. Full results will be posted shortly.

Lap 370: We’re back racing under green and Kyle Larson has moved his way to first place ahead of Chase Briscoe and Ross Chastain, who fell back to third after the restart.

Lap 346: Red flag is thrown as big crash claims Daniel Suarez and Chris Buescher’s nights. Buescher’s car flipped multiple times and landed on its roof as crews had to work to flip it back upright before he could get out. He was taken to the infield care center and released.

Lap 340: Left rear tire went down for Tyler Reddick and he had to drive a good portion of this lap on the rim. He’s pitting with the caution flag. Ross Chastain maintains the lead.

Lap 326: Smooth racing so far in the final stage with no cautions. Ross Chastain made a recent pass of Tyler Reddick to move back into first place. Kyle Larson is the one to watch. He’s in third (started 36th) and had hit the wall early in the race. He won’t go away, and won here last year.

Stage 3

Lap 300: Ross Chastain wins Stage 3, the second stage victory of the Coke 600 for Trackhouse Racing. Also earning stage points (in order): Briscoe, Larson, Reddick, Suarez, Logano, Custer, Buescher, Austin Dillon, Hamlin.

Lap 253: Unlucky No. 13 in the caution department tonight, and this time it’s Xfinity Series star Noah Gragson, driving up in Cup for Kaulig Racing, who got loose in Turn 4, hit the wall and spun into the turf infield.

Lap 232: Thirteen laps of green-flag racing here at Charlotte and Ross Chastain is back up in front, leading Joey Logano and Chase Briscoe. Tonight has been strong for Trackhouse with Daniel Suarez winning Stage 2; he’s in fourth.

Lap 219: We were flying along until caution No. 12 of the night was thrown, this time for the No. 4 and Kevin Harvick, who has complained about steering issues around Turn 2 and side-swiped the wall.

Who’s out of the race? Blaney, Keselowski, Byron, Elliott, Cindric, LaJoie, Bilicki, Preece and Kurt Busch. We started the race with 37 cars and only 13 have avoided any kind of crash or spin.

Stage 2

Lap 200: Daniel Suarez wins Stage 2. Suarez is looking for his first NASCAR Cup win. Also earning stage points (in order): Chastain, Jones, Briscoe, Stenhouse, Logano, Harvick, Truex, Reddick and Bell.

Lap 191: That’s probably “The Big One” of the Coke 600, and it’s shockingly not on Turn 4. Ryan Blaney got on the apron, lost control of his car and spun, blocking off the track. Bubba Wallace, Kurt Busch, Kevin Harvick, William Byron, Harrison Burton, Denny Hamlin, Ryan Keselowski, Michael McDowell are all involved in a wreck that included about a dozen cars. Chase Elliott (previous caution) and Byron are out of the race — two Hendrick drivers. Blaney said afterward in a TV interview he had “made a mistake” and hated that it was that mistake that “tore up” so many cars.

Lap 186: Turn 4 strikes again. This time it’s Chase Elliott, who falls back from third to 19. He hit the wall briefly with his right rear and had a problem with that tire. That’s nine cautions tonight. Ross Chastain holds the lead, followed by Trackhouse teammate Daniel Suarez in second.

Lap 165: The caution comes out for Kyle Larson, who was driving in 10th, losing control and spinning in Turn 4. He didn’t blow a tire and is able to stay out and avoid the pit but falls back to 30th. Chase Elliott is in the lead, followed by Ross Chastain and Kurt Busch. Larson has had a rough weekend so far — in this race he had to start at the back due to a crash in qualifying and in the race itself he has been penalized and had enough problems that he has sounded very frustrated on the radio.

Lap 146: Caution No. 7 on the night as Austin Cindric blows his left rear tire, spinning and hitting the wall on his driver side. He was running in ninth, but his day is done. That’s the seventh caution of the day and the fourth on Turn 4.

Lap 126: Make that three cautions on Turn 4 as Bubba Wallace cut his front right tire a slid down the front straightaway ... And conveniently, toward his pit stall, as he dropped from fourth place to 33rd.

Stage 1

Lap 100: Chase Elliott wins Stage 1 with Tyler Reddick in second. “Clean air is king,” comes across Elliott’s radio. In order, Bell, Chastain, Wallace, Blaney, Stenhouse, Truex, Bowman and Hamlin earned stage points.

Lap 79: We’re an hour into the race and we haven’t hit the quarter mark yet. There have been four cautions here in Stage 1. There were only four cautions the entire 2021 Coca-Cola 600.

Lap 61: Corey LaJoie’s day is done as he crashes his second car of the weekend (he also crashed during practice Saturday at the same spot in Turn 2). The No. 7 Camaro blew a tire, spun and had his driver’s side hit the wall. He’s being taken to the infield care center.

Lap 45: Turn 2 has claimed its first victim with Kyle Busch — who has led all but the first two laps — spins himself around trying to hold off Daniel Suarez. There did not appear to be any contact between Suarez’s and Busch’s cars. The crowd at Charlotte Motor Speedway got excited seeing “Rowdy” drop to the back. He has headed to pit road.

Lap 43: Ryan Preece and Josh Bilicki have been evaluated and released from the infield care center.

Lap 32: Caution No. 2 on the day, and again it comes in Turn 4 where Josh Bilicki and the No. 77 slammed into the wall. He’ll be taken to the infield care center.

Lap 18: First caution of the night with Ryan Preece getting loose around Turn 4 and skidding right behind (and into him) was Chris Buescher. Noah Gragson was also caught up in it, but none of the three cars — Nos. 15, 16 and 17 — made contact with the wall. All went to pit road. Preece is done for the day.

Lap 13: Denny Hamlin is quickly falling back in the pack down to fifth, passed by Kyle Busch (1st), Bubba Wallace (2nd), Tyler Reddick (3rd) and William Byron (4th).

Green flag, 6:25 p.m.: And we’re off! Denny Hamlin leads the first lap. Only 598.5 miles to go.

5:53 p.m.: Ryan Blaney won $1 million last week at the NASCAR All-Star Race but he told the Fox Sports crew that if he were to win the Coca-Cola 600 today, it would be the biggest win of his career.

5:40 p.m.: We’re inching closer to the green flag. Driver introductions are going on right now with each being introduced by active duty service members.

4:30 p.m.: Thomas Davis is in the house. The legendary Carolina Panthers linebacker is here today as a guest of 23XI, the team co-owned by Michael Jordan and Denny Hamlin with drivers Kurt Busch and Bubba Wallace. Lynyrd Skynyrd just wrapped its pre-race concert in the infield — and yes, they finished with “Freebird.” If you’ve been to enough concerts, you know that “Freebird” is often called out as a request for non-Skynyrd bands. Also in the Lynyrd Skynyrd set — “Sweet Home Alabama” and “Gimme Three Steps.”

4:00 p.m.: We’re 2 hours from the race starting and it is hot at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Temperatures are still sitting at 85 degrees and Lynyrd Skynyrd is performing down on pit road. All general admission and assigned seating is sold out for the Coke 600.

2:30 p.m.: The sun is out and it’ll stay that way throughout Sunday’s race, local forecasts say. It’s 85 degrees and partly cloudy in Concord as of 2:30 p.m.

11:00 a.m.: Kyle Larson won the Coke 600 at Charlotte last year (and the NASCAR Cup championship) but he’ll have 35 cars to pass today if he wants to win another race for Hendrick Motorsports. Larson crashed during practice Saturday and did not post a qualifying time and will start 36th on the grid while Corey LaJoie, who also crashed in practice, starting 37th.

Coke 600 betting odds

According to our partners at Bookies.com, Kyle Busch is the favorite to win today’s Coca-Cola 600 NASCAR race at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Busch’s odds are +500, followed by Kyle Larson (+550), Chase Elliott (+650), Martin Truex Jr. (+700) and Ryan Blaney (+750) rounding out the top five.

Our complete Coke 600 betting guide can be found here.

What time does the Coca-Cola 600 start?

The Coke 600 NASCAR race is scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. (Green flag will likely be waved closer to 6:20 p.m.) Driver introductions will take place at 5:30 p.m.

Check here for a full schedule of today’s Coke 600 events.

Coke 600 starting order

Here’s the starting grid for the Coca-Cola 600 NASCAR race. Denny Hamlin is on the pole.

This story was originally published May 29, 2022 at 11:00 AM.

Alex Zietlow

The Herald

Alex Zietlow writes about sports and the ways in which they intersect with life in York, Chester and Lancaster counties for The Herald, where he has been an editor and reporter since August 2019. Zietlow has won nine S.C. Press Association awards in his career, including First Place finishes in Feature Writing, Sports Enterprise Writing and Education Beat Reporting. He also received two Top-10 awards in the 2021 APSE writing contest and was nominated for the 2022 U.S. Basketball Writers Association’s Rising Star award for his coverage of the Winthrop men’s basketball team.

Scott Fowler

The Charlotte Observer

704-358-5136

Columnist Scott Fowler has written for The Charlotte Observer since 1994 and has earned 26 APSE awards for his sportswriting. He hosted The Observer’s podcast “Carruth,” which Sports Illustrated once named “Podcast of the Year.” Fowler also conceived and hosted the online series and podcast “Sports Legends of the Carolinas,” which featured 1-on-1 interviews with NC and SC sports icons and was turned into a book. He occasionally writes about non-sports subjects, such as the 5-part series “9/11/74,” which chronicled the forgotten plane crash of Eastern Air Lines Flight 212 in Charlotte on Sept. 11, 1974. Support my work with a digital subscription