CONCORD, North Carolina — Of the 37 automobiles that began the 63rd working of the Coca-Cola 600, the overwhelming majority of them ended up both torn up, chewed up, spun out or turned over — which included Denny Hamlin. And in spite of all that, it was Hamlin who took residence arguably essentially the most troublesome version of NASCAR’s longest race ever seen.
After taking 4 recent tires on his closing pit cease heading into overtime, Denny Hamlin emerged from a four-wide battle for the lead on the primary restart, then held off a cost from Kyle Busch in double overtime to win the Coca-Cola 600 for the primary time in his profession. With his win, Hamlin grew to become the twelfth driver in NASCAR historical past to win all three of the game’s majors — the Daytona 500, the Coca-Cola 600, and the Southern 500 — and he did so in what was the longest race in NASCAR historical past at 413 laps and 619.5 miles.
Coca-Cola 600 unofficial outcomes
- #11 – Denny Hamlin
- #18 – Kyle Busch
- #4 – Kevin Harvick
- #14 – Chase Briscoe
- #20 – Christopher Bell
- #8 – Tyler Reddick
- #47 – Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
- #34 – Michael McDowell
- #5 – Kyle Larson
- #48 – Alex Bowman
The end
Towards the tip of 600 miles, the end was shaping up to be a race between Kyle Larson and Chase Briscoe, as Briscoe ran down Larson and made a number of makes an attempt to go Larson on the within line. With two laps to go, Briscoe tried to put a slidejob on Larson in Turn 1, however the transfer did not stick and Briscoe ended up spinning out to carry out the yellow flag.
The ensuing warning resulted in two break up methods: Larson, Ross Chastain, Joey Logano, and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. all took two tires, whereas everybody else from Denny Hamlin on again placed on 4. The end result was monumental a whole swarm of automobiles charging to the entrance on the restart. And coming off Turn 4 coming to the white flag, Larson, Chastain, Hamlin, and Austin Dillon have been all four-wide for the race lead earlier than Larson hooked Dillon into the skin wall, triggering a multi-car crash that arrange double overtime.
After popping out on the opposite aspect of the four-wide scrum, Hamlin was ready to fend off Kyle Busch on the ultimate restart to take the win.
600 miles of mayhem
After offseason testing at Charlotte noticed drivers proper on the sting of management in the Next Gen automobile, there was an expectation that this 12 months’s Coca-Cola 600 could characteristic the next degree of each on-track motion and attrition as a consequence. Those expectations ended up being realized in a race as troublesome on drivers and gear because it was thrilling for the sellout crowd that got here to witness it.
The yellow flag flew 18 instances, with a number of main incidents combined in-between self-spins and different points. Drivers like Kyle Busch, Bubba Wallace, Chase Elliott and Larson all spun out of spots on the entrance of the sector. A dozen automobiles — together with the eventual winner Hamlin — ended up piled up in Turn 2 on a restart.
But essentially the most dramatic crash got here with simply over 50 laps to go, when Daniel Suarez spun sideways in entrance of site visitors and picked up the oncoming automobiles of Todd Gilliland and Chris Buescher. As Buescher’s automobile spun by the infield turf, it ended up getting launched into the air and rolled over 5 instances earlier than coming to relaxation on the roof. Buescher climbed out of his automobile and was unhurt.
In the tip, this 12 months’s Coca-Cola 600 took 5 hours, eight minutes, and 16 seconds to full. It was the primary time the race took greater than 5 hours to full since 2005, when the race was slowed by a Cup Series file 22 cautions.
“Worst race of my life.”
If there was any driver who had to undergo an odyssey to attain the end, it was Kyle Larson. Larson had to begin thirty sixth after hitting the wall in apply and never posting a qualifying lap, and he marched by the sector earlier than a myriad of troubles. Two pit street penalties, a pit street hearth, wall contact, a spin off Turn 4, and a partridge in a pear tree.
At one level earlier than the race reached the midway level, Larson quipped over his team radio that he was having “the worst race of my life”. Shortly after that, crew chief Cliff Daniels rallied his driver with a rousing motivational speech.
“We went from the back to the front more times than I can count. We hit the wall, we spun out, we literally caught on fire. We were also the most penalized team on pit road in the first half,” Daniels stated. “All that means is that in the second half, already we’re gonna be starting way better than what we started the first half.
“We’ve acquired to go execute proper now. I do not actually know what the hell you are nervous about, however I’m high-quality, the crew’s high-quality, all people down right here is nodding their heads and giving a thumbs up. So let’s go.”
Apparently, that verbal kick in the pants was simply what Larson wanted. He ended up main 3 times for 51 laps, together with many of the ultimate laps earlier than the tip of regulation. Then, Larson had to recuperate from spinning in the ultimate huge crash for good measure earlier than coming residence with a high 10 end in ninth.
From the ending order
- With his forty eighth profession win, Denny Hamlin has now tied with Hall of Famer Herb Thomas for sixteenth on the Cup Series’ all-time wins checklist. With his subsequent win, Hamlin will tie one other Hall of Famer and one of his former teammates, Tony Stewart.
- Despite one other slidejob for the win gone mistaken, Chase Briscoe was ready to recuperate with a fourth-place end. It’s Briscoe’s first high 5 end since his first profession win at Phoenix in March.
- Despite falling off the tempo after wall contact late in the race, Christopher Bell was ready to recuperate and end fifth by the tip of overtime. That caps a terrific month of May for Bell, as he scored 4 finishes of sixth or higher with a mean end of fifth.
- With a seventh-place end, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. scored his fourth straight high 10 end. Stenhouse’s present high 10 streak is now the most effective of his profession, breaking three-straight in the course of the 2017 season.
- Speaking of profession milestones, Michael McDowell scored his fifth high 10 end of the 12 months, matching the career-high mark he set final season. Four of McDowell’s high 10s have come in the final six races.
- Harrison Burton was the top-finishing rookie in eleventh, scoring his career-best end and simply lacking out on his first-ever high 10.
- Two drivers who benefitted from the excessive attrition degree have been Cody Ware and B.J. McLeod. Ware scored his second high 20 in the final three races with an 18th-place end, whereas McLeod matched his season-best end in nineteenth.
- Despite points that led to him being 13 laps down on the end, Kaz Grala managed to be the final automobile working in twenty third. That’s a small step for Floyd Mayweather-owned The Money Team Racing, because it’s their greatest end in their third-ever Cup race.
Next race
The NASCAR Cup Series will meet everybody in St. Louis, as they head to World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway for the monitor’s very first Cup Series race, the Enjoy Illinois 300 on Sunday, June 5.
