Coca-Cola 600

May 24Charlotte Motor Speedway400 Laps

RACE RECAP

Daniel Suárez won the Coca-Cola 600 with a pit call, a restart and 17 laps of blocking before the weather made the result official. Crew chief Ryan Sparks took two right-side tires under the Lap 356 lightning caution, moving Suárez from the middle of the pack to the lead. After rain paused the race again and NASCAR restarted it on Lap 370, Suárez cleared Christopher Bell with a push from Kyle Larson and stayed in front until the sky opened for good three laps later.

The race was called after 373 of 400 scheduled laps, giving Suárez the third Cup victory of his career, his first crown-jewel win and his first victory with Spire Motorsports' No. 7 Chevrolet. The moment landed with extra weight because Suárez dedicated the win to Kyle Busch, who had mentored him after he arrived from Mexico and helped launch the path that eventually made Suárez an O'Reilly Series champion and Cup winner.

Bell finished second after leading 44 laps, one spot short of a second rain-shortened Coca-Cola 600 win in three years. Denny Hamlin was third, polesitter Tyler Reddick fourth and Larson fifth. Reddick had the strongest car for much of the night, leading a race-high 119 laps, but the late caution and two-tire call flipped the race away from the long-run favorites. The event featured 32 lead changes among 13 drivers and 12 cautions for 75 laps.

BY THE NUMBERS

32
Lead Changes
13
Leaders
12/75
Cautions / Laps
8
DNFs
Under Caution
Margin of Victory
119.921
Avg MPH
4:39:56
Race Time
Stage Winners
S1Kyle Larson
S2Denny Hamlin
Caution Breakdown
1L36394L#21 spin turn 2LD #66
2L54596L#2, 88 incident turn 2LD #7
3L91955L#9 incident backstretchLD #23
4L1021087LStage 1 ConclusionLD #77
5L2022076LStage 2 ConclusionLD #16
6L2112155LLost wheel from #78LD #38
7L30231211LStage 3 ConclusionLD #24
8L3193268L#1, 47 incident backstretchLD #71
9L3303378L#60, 17, 19, 21 incident backstretchLD #7
10L3543596LInclement weatherLD #48
11L3623698LPrecipitation [Red Flag: Lap 367, 7:55]LD #67
12L3733731LUnknown

KEY TAKEAWAYS

01Suárez and Sparks won the race on pit road with a two-tire call that gained 13 positions.
02The final restart mattered: Larson's push helped Suárez clear Bell before the rain returned.
03Reddick led 119 laps and left with the points lead, but strategy beat raw speed.
04Bell came up one spot short in the same rain-shortened crown jewel he won two years earlier.
05The Busch tribute gave Suárez's first Spire win a much larger emotional frame.

VALUE PICKS

6.8
pts/$
Car #97
Shane van Gisbergen$5
P11S1:P10S2:P9Led:11
6.25
pts/$
Car #41
Cole Custer$4
P16
5.85
pts/$
Car #38
Zane Smith$6
P10Led:31
5.84
pts/$
Car #7
Daniel Suarez$8
P1Led:17
5.25
pts/$
Car #34
Todd Gilliland$4
P20

BUSTS

0.3
pts/$
Car #2
Austin Cindric$10
P38
0.31
pts/$
Car #9
Chase Elliott$13
P37
0.57
pts/$
Car #1
Ross Chastain$11
P35Led:3
1.17
pts/$
Car #17
Chris Buescher$12
P30S2:P8
1.40
pts/$
Car #33
Austin Hill$10
P27

PERFECT LINEUP

Optimal 5-driver roster for this race

Salary
$50/50
Avg Finish
P3
Total Points
309.50
GroupDriverSalaryFinishPts
A
Car #1
Ross Chastain
$101
90.00
2 × 45.00
B
Car #24
William Byron
$102
71.75
1.75 × 41.00
C
Car #19
Chase Briscoe
$103
60.00
1.5 × 40.00
D
Car #16
A.J. Allmendinger
$104
48.75
1.25 × 39.00
E
Car #6
Brad Keselowski
$105
38.00
1 × 38.00