2020 Coca-Cola 600
The 2020 Coca-Cola 600, the 61st running of the event, was a NASCAR Cup Series race held at Charlotte Motor Speedway in Concord, North Carolina, which started on May 24 and concluded in the early hours of May 25, 2020.[lower-alpha 1]
| Race details[1][2][3][4][5][6] | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Race 7 of 36 in the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series | |||
| Date | May 24–25, 2020[lower-alpha 1] | ||
| Location | Charlotte Motor Speedway in Concord, North Carolina | ||
| Course |
Permanent racing facility 1.5 mi (2.4 km) | ||
| Distance | 405 laps, 607.5 mi (977.67 km) | ||
| Scheduled Distance | 400 laps, 600 mi (965.6 km) | ||
| Average speed | 135.024 miles per hour (217.300 km/h) | ||
| Pole position | |||
| Driver | Chip Ganassi Racing | ||
| Time | 29.790 | ||
| Most laps led | |||
| Driver | Alex Bowman | Hendrick Motorsports | |
| Laps | 164 | ||
| Winner | |||
| No. 2 | Brad Keselowski | Team Penske | |
| Television in the United States | |||
| Network | Fox | ||
| Announcers | Mike Joy and Jeff Gordon | ||
| Nielsen Ratings | 3.963 million[8] | ||
| Radio in the United States | |||
| Radio | PRN | ||
| Booth Announcers | Doug Rice and Mark Garrow | ||
| Turn Announcers | Rob Albright (1 & 2) and Pat Patterson (3 & 4) | ||
The seventh race of the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series season, the Coca-Cola 600 was scheduled to be held over 400 laps of the 1.5-mile (2.4-kilometre) asphalt speedway, but following a late-race spin by William Byron, a caution period took the race into an overtime finish. Brad Keselowski took the victory after 405 laps had been completed; the 607.5 miles (977.7 kilometres) completed was the longest race distance in NASCAR history.[9]
Report
Background
The race was held at Charlotte Motor Speedway, located in Concord, North Carolina. The speedway complex includes a 1.5-mile (2.4 km) quad-oval track that was utilized for the race, as well as a dragstrip and a dirt track. The speedway was built in 1959 by Bruton Smith and is considered the home track for NASCAR with many race teams based in the Charlotte metropolitan area. The track is owned and operated by Speedway Motorsports Inc. (SMI) with Marcus G. Smith serving as track president.
All four stages were scheduled to consist of 100 laps.
The race was held behind closed doors to an extent, with no spectators admitted in the grandstands. However, owners of the condominiums overlooking turn 1 of the track were able to watch the race from their residences (restricted to up to five per residence for social distancing requirements).[10]
Entry list
- (R) denotes rookie driver.
- (i) denotes driver who are ineligible for series driver points.
Qualifying
Kurt Busch scored the pole for the race with a time of 29.790 and a speed of 181.269 mph (291.724 km/h).[11]
Qualifying results
Race
Stage Results
Stage One Laps: 100
| Pos | No | Driver | Team | Manufacturer | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 88 | Alex Bowman | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 10 |
| 2 | 19 | Martin Truex Jr. | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 9 |
| 3 | 9 | Chase Elliott | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 8 |
| 4 | 8 | Tyler Reddick (R) | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 7 |
| 5 | 22 | Joey Logano | Team Penske | Ford | 6 |
| 6 | 18 | Kyle Busch | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 5 |
| 7 | 3 | Austin Dillon | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 4 |
| 8 | 24 | William Byron | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 3 |
| 9 | 1 | Kurt Busch | Chip Ganassi Racing | Chevrolet | 2 |
| 10 | 6 | Ryan Newman | Roush Fenway Racing | Ford | 1 |
| Official stage one results | |||||
Stage Two Laps: 100
| Pos | No | Driver | Team | Manufacturer | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 88 | Alex Bowman | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 10 |
| 2 | 19 | Martin Truex Jr. | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 9 |
| 3 | 18 | Kyle Busch | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 8 |
| 4 | 24 | William Byron | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 7 |
| 5 | 9 | Chase Elliott | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 6 |
| 6 | 20 | Erik Jones | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 5 |
| 7 | 22 | Joey Logano | Team Penske | Ford | 4 |
| 8 | 3 | Austin Dillon | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 3 |
| 9 | 12 | Ryan Blaney | Team Penske | Ford | 2 |
| 10 | 4 | Kevin Harvick | Stewart-Haas Racing | Ford | 1 |
| Official stage two results | |||||
Stage Three Laps: 100
| Pos | No | Driver | Team | Manufacturer | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 22 | Joey Logano | Team Penske | Ford | 10 |
| 2 | 88 | Alex Bowman | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 9 |
| 3 | 12 | Ryan Blaney | Team Penske | Ford | 8 |
| 4 | 19 | Martin Truex Jr. | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 7 |
| 5 | 18 | Kyle Busch | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 6 |
| 6 | 20 | Erik Jones | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 5 |
| 7 | 2 | Brad Keselowski | Team Penske | Ford | 4 |
| 8 | 3 | Austin Dillon | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 3 |
| 9 | 24 | William Byron | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 2 |
| 10 | 8 | Tyler Reddick (R) | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 1 |
| Official stage three results | |||||
Final Stage Results
Stage Four Laps: 100
| Pos | Grid | No | Driver | Team | Manufacturer | Laps | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 9 | 2 | Brad Keselowski | Team Penske | Ford | 405 | 44 |
| 2 | 3 | 9 | Chase Elliott | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 405 | 49 |
| 3 | 26 | 12 | Ryan Blaney | Team Penske | Ford | 405 | 44 |
| 4 | 11 | 18 | Kyle Busch | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 405 | 52 |
| 5 | 22 | 4 | Kevin Harvick | Stewart-Haas Racing | Ford | 405 | 33 |
| 6 | 8 | 19 | Martin Truex Jr. | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 405 | 56 |
| 7 | 1 | 1 | Kurt Busch | Chip Ganassi Racing | Chevrolet | 405 | 32 |
| 8 | 5 | 8 | Tyler Reddick (R) | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 405 | 37 |
| 9 | 15 | 95 | Christopher Bell (R) | Leavine Family Racing | Toyota | 405 | 28 |
| 10 | 19 | 17 | Chris Buescher | Roush Fenway Racing | Ford | 405 | 27 |
| 11 | 14 | 20 | Erik Jones | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 405 | 36 |
| 12 | 28 | 41 | Cole Custer (R) | Stewart-Haas Racing | Ford | 405 | 25 |
| 13 | 7 | 22 | Joey Logano | Team Penske | Ford | 405 | 44 |
| 14 | 6 | 3 | Austin Dillon | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 405 | 33 |
| 15 | 40 | 10 | Aric Almirola | Stewart-Haas Racing | Ford | 405 | 22 |
| 16 | 25 | 38 | John Hunter Nemechek (R) | Front Row Motorsports | Ford | 405 | 21 |
| 17 | 33 | 21 | Matt DiBenedetto | Wood Brothers Racing | Ford | 405 | 20 |
| 18 | 27 | 34 | Michael McDowell | Front Row Motorsports | Ford | 405 | 19 |
| 19 | 12 | 88 | Alex Bowman | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 405 | 47 |
| 20 | 10 | 24 | William Byron | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 404 | 29 |
| 21 | 21 | 77 | Ross Chastain (i) | Spire Motorsports | Chevrolet | 403 | 0 |
| 22 | 29 | 37 | Ryan Preece | JTG Daugherty Racing | Chevrolet | 403 | 15 |
| 23 | 24 | 32 | Corey LaJoie | Go Fas Racing | Ford | 403 | 14 |
| 24 | 17 | 47 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | JTG Daugherty Racing | Chevrolet | 402 | 13 |
| 25 | 16 | 13 | Ty Dillon | Germain Racing | Chevrolet | 401 | 12 |
| 26 | 4 | 42 | Matt Kenseth | Chip Ganassi Racing | Chevrolet | 401 | 11 |
| 27 | 18 | 6 | Ryan Newman | Roush Fenway Racing | Ford | 400 | 11 |
| 28 | 37 | 96 | Daniel Suárez | Gaunt Brothers Racing | Toyota | 399 | 9 |
| 29 | 13 | 11 | Denny Hamlin | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 398 | 8 |
| 30 | 35 | 15 | Brennan Poole (R) | Rick Ware Racing | Chevrolet | 398 | 7 |
| 31 | 31 | 27 | Gray Gaulding | Rick Ware Racing | Ford | 397 | 6 |
| 32 | 36 | 78 | B. J. McLeod (i) | B. J. McLeod Motorsports | Ford | 393 | 0 |
| 33 | 38 | 53 | Garrett Smithley (i) | Rick Ware Racing | Chevrolet | 391 | 0 |
| 34 | 32 | 66 | Timmy Hill (i) | MBM Motorsports | Toyota | 390 | 0 |
| 35 | 30 | 00 | Quin Houff | StarCom Racing | Chevrolet | 390 | 2 |
| 36 | 39 | 51 | Joey Gase (i) | Petty Ware Racing | Ford | 385 | 0 |
| 37 | 34 | 7 | J. J. Yeley (i) | Tommy Baldwin Racing | Chevrolet | 251 | 0 |
| 38 | 23 | 43 | Bubba Wallace | Richard Petty Motorsports | Chevrolet | 164 | 1 |
| 39 | 20 | 14 | Clint Bowyer | Stewart-Haas Racing | Ford | 96 | 1 |
| DSQ | 2 | 48 | Jimmie Johnson [lower-alpha 2] | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 405 | 1 |
| Official race results | |||||||
Race statistics
- Lead changes: 20 among 11 different drivers
- Cautions/Laps: 8 for 52
- Red flags: 1 for 1 hour, 8 minutes and 35 seconds
- Time of race: 4 hours, 29 minutes and 55 seconds
- Average speed: 135.024 miles per hour (217.300 km/h)
Media
Television
Fox Sports televised the race in the United States for the 20th consecutive year. Mike Joy and three-time Coca-Cola 600 winner, Jeff Gordon covered the race from the Steve Byrnes Studio in Charlotte. Jamie Little and Regan Smith handled the pit road duties. Larry McReynolds provided insight from the Fox Sports studio in Charlotte.
| Fox | ||
|---|---|---|
| Booth announcers | Pit reporters | In-race analyst |
| Lap-by-lap: Mike Joy Color-commentator: Jeff Gordon | Jamie Little Regan Smith | Larry McReynolds |
Radio
Radio coverage of the race was broadcast by the Performance Racing Network (PRN), and was simulcasted on Sirius XM NASCAR Radio. Doug Rice and Mark Garrow called the race in the booth when the field raced through the quad-oval. Rob Albright called the race from a billboard in turn 2 when the field was racing through turns 1 and 2 and halfway down the backstretch. Pat Patterson called the race from a billboard outside of turn 3 when the field raced through the other half of the backstretch and through turns 3 and 4. Brad Gillie, Brett McMillan and Wendy Venturini were the pit reporters during the broadcast.
| PRN Radio | ||
|---|---|---|
| Booth announcers | Turn announcers | Pit reporters |
| Lead announcer: Doug Rice Announcer: Mark Garrow | Turns 1 & 2: Rob Albright Turns 3 & 4: Pat Patterson | Brad Gillie Brett McMillan Wendy Venturini |
Standings after the race
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Notes
- The race started on Sunday evening, and following a rain delay of over an hour, concluded at 12:09 am Eastern Daylight Time (EDT) on Monday morning.[7]
- Johnson initially finished 2nd, but was disqualified after failing post-race inspection. [12]
References
- "2020 schedule". Jayski.com. Jayski's Silly Season Site. January 17, 2020. Retrieved March 18, 2020.
- "Charlotte Motor Speedway". NASCAR.com. NASCAR Media Group, LLC. January 3, 2013. Retrieved March 18, 2020.
- "Entry List". MRN.com. Motor Racing Network. May 22, 2020. Retrieved May 22, 2020.
- "Starting Lineup". MRN.com. Motor Racing Network. May 24, 2020. Retrieved May 24, 2020.
- "Coca-Cola 600 Results". MRN.com. Motor Racing Network. May 25, 2020. Retrieved May 25, 2020.
- "Points standings" (PDF). Jayski.com. Jayski's Silly Season Site. May 25, 2020. Retrieved May 25, 2020.
- "Commercial breakdown: 2020 Coca-Cola 600". Jayski's Silly Season Site. NASCAR Digital Media Network. May 25, 2020. Retrieved May 25, 2020.
- "Coca-Cola 600 ratings". ShowBuzzDaily. Mitch Metcalf. Retrieved May 27, 2020.
- Spencer, Reid (May 24, 2020). "Brad Keselowski wins Coca-Cola 600 in overtime". NASCAR.com. NASCAR Media Group, LLC. Retrieved May 25, 2020.
In Sunday night's Coca-Cola 600, which went to overtime for the second time in its history, Keselowski surged ahead after a restart on Lap 404 and beat Jimmie Johnson to the finish line by .293 seconds to win a race that stretched to 607.5 miles, longest in NASCAR history.
- "Speedway Condo Owners to Get Front-Row Seat to Coca-Cola 600". Spectrum News. May 15, 2020. Retrieved June 2, 2020.
- DeGroot, Nick (May 24, 2020). "Kurt Busch tops Jimmie Johnson for Coke 600 pole". Motorsport.com. Charlotte, North Carolina: Motorsport Network. Retrieved May 24, 2020.
- "No. 48 fails inspection; Jimmie Johnson disqualified at Charlotte". NASCAR. May 25, 2020. Retrieved May 26, 2020.
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NASCAR Cup Series 2020 season |
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