Late charge propels Ross Chastain to victory in Coca-Cola 600: Welcome to the party, Ross Chastain—and to the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs, for that matter. Starting from the rear of the field in a backup car his team needed all night to prepare, Chastain ran down the dominant car of William Byron to win Sunday night’s Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway. [Read More]
#1-Ross Chastain won the 66th Coca-Cola 600 NASCAR Cup Series race at Charlotte Motor Speedway. The win is his first win of the year, first at Charlotte and sixth career win.
#24-William Byron finished 2nd followed by pole sitter #19-Chase Briscoe, #16-A.J. Allmendinger, #6-Brad Keselowski, #9-Chase Elliott, #71-Michael McDowell, #20-Christopher Bell, #60-Ryan Preece, and #4-Noah Gragson.
Byron dominated most of the race, leading 283 laps and winning the first three stages. However, he could not hold off Chastain at the end. Chastain, who started the race from the rear due to a backup car, took the lead with 5 laps to go and pulled out to a .673 second margin of victory.
The fastest lap bonus was earned by #11-Denny Hamlin.
There were 34 lead changes among 11 drivers and 8 cautions for 52 yellow flag laps.
The average speed of the race was: 135.781mph.
See race details at: Race Results, Driver Points Standings, Owner Points Standings, Cumulative Report, Penalty Report.
Race Fast Facts – Charlotte:
Ross Chastain won the Coca-Cola 600, his sixth victory in 236 Cup Series races.
This is his first victory and seventh top-10 finish in 2025.
This is his first victory and second top-10 finish in eight races at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
William Byron (second) posted his fifth top-10 finish in nine races at Charlotte Motor Speedway. It is his eighth top-10 finish in 2025.
Chase Briscoe (third) posted his second top-10 finish in five races at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
Shane Van Gisbergen (14th) was the highest finishing rookie.
William Byron leads the point standings by 29 points over Kyle Larson.
(NASCAR)
Cup Series Playoff Standings after Charlotte:
Race 13 of 26 in the regular season
UPDATED AFTER BUESCHER PENALTY APPEAL
1) #5-Kyle Larson, 3 wins, 470, [23 playoff points]
2) #20-Christopher Bell, 3 wins, 425 [16 playoff points]
3) #11-Denny Hamlin, 2 win, 390 [12 playoff points]
4) #24-William Byron, 1 win, 499 [regular season points leader], [11 playoff points]
5) #1-Ross Chastain, 1 win, 350 [5 playoff points]
6) #22-Joey Logano, 1 win, 338 [7 playoff points]
7) #2-Austin Cindric, 1 win, 279 [7 playoff points]
8) #21-Josh Berry, 1 win, 269 [6 playoff points]
9) #9-Chase Elliott, 415, +141 ahead of 17th
10) #45-Tyler Reddick, 392, +117 ahead of 17th
11) #12-Ryan Blaney, 363, [2 playoff points] +89 ahead of 17th
12) #48-Alex Bowman, 333, +59 ahead of 17th
13) #19-Chase Briscoe, 314, +40 ahead of 17th
14) #23-Bubba Wallace, 312, [2 playoff points], +38 ahead of 17th
15) #47-Ricky Stenhouse, Jr., 284, +10 ahead of 17th
16) #60-Ryan Preece, 280, [1 playoff point], +6 ahead of 17th
Outside the top 16:
17) #16-Chris Buescher, 274, -6 behind 16th
18) #16-A.J. Allmendinger, 267, -13 behind 16th
19) #8-Kyle Busch, 266, -14 behind 16th
20) #71-Michael McDowell, 259, -21 behind 16th
See the Driver Points Standings and Owner Points Standings.
Race updates:
Checkered flag for Chastain. He beats Byron Briscoe, Allmendinger, Keselowski, Elliott, McDowell, Bell, Preece and Gragson.
White flag for Chastain. He’s ahead of Byron by .23 second.
Lap 398 – Three to go. Chastain leads Byron by .414 second.
Lap 396 – Chastain takes the lead with 5 laps remaining.
Lap 394 – It’s Byron and Chastain battling for the win. Third place Briscoe is 7.4 seconds back.
Lap 392 – Nine laps remaining. Byron, Chastain, Briscoe, Allmendinger, Keselowski, McDowell, Elliott, Bell, Preece, ADIllon the top 10.
Lap 389 – Byron starting to extend his lead a bit, up by .32 second on Chastain and Hamlin has to pit for fuel.
Lap 386 – Chastain is there. Now less than a tenth of a second back.
Lap 385 – Now just a lead of .16 second for Byron.
Lap 383 – With 18 laps to go, Chastain is now just .46 second back.
Lap 380 – Chastain has cut the lead down to .86 second.
Lap 376 – Chastain is now second, 1.1 second behind Byron. Hamlin back to third, possibly saving fuel.
Lap 372 – Hamlin’s team says they did not get enough gas in the car during the last stop and do not have enough to finish.
Lap 371 – With 30 laps remaining, Byron leads Hamlin by 1.47 second. They are followed by Chastain, Briscoe, Allmendinger, Keselowski, Gibbs, Bell, ADillon and McDowell.
Lap 365 – Hamlin is back to second, 1.6 second behind Byron.
Lap 364 – Byron passes Gibbs to take the lead. Hamlin is 1.7 second back, Chastain 2.6 seconds off the lead.
Lap 361 – Ty Gibbs leads but has not pitted. Byron is second, then Hamlin, Chastain, and Briscoe.
Lap 356 – Byron and Hamlin are currently 6th sand 7th as pit stops continue. Byron is over 1 second ahead of Hamlin on track.
Lap 351 – Chastain pits from the lead. Reddick is too fast on pit road.
Lap 350 – Byron beats Hamlin off pit road.
Lap 349 – Byron pits from the lead. Hamlin follows him in, Chastain takes the lead.
Lap 348 – Bell pits from 7th place.
Lap 342 – ADillon now pits to kick off green flag stops.
Lap 340 – Nemechek comes to pit road after some contact with the wall.
Lap 335 – Byron takes the lead from Hamlin again. Everyone still need to pit once more for fuel before the end of the race.
Lap 328 – Hamlin leads Byron at the line as they continue to battle. Reddick has fallen to 4th.
Lap 318 – Reddick takes second from Hamlin. He’s .68 second behind Byron for the lead.
Lap 316 – Byron takes the lead back from Hamlin.
Lap 314 – Green flag back out. Hamlin leads Byron, Bell, Reddick, Chastain, Elliott, Allmendinger, Briscoe, ADillon and Preece.
Lap 309 – CAUTION out for Hocevar. The engine blew up and he spun on the backstretch after the restart. Buescher and Wallace also suffered damage. Wallace goes behind the wall.
Lap 308 – Green flag for the start of the final stage. Hamlin, Hocevar, Byron, Reddick, Bell Chastain, Elliott, Briscoe, Allmendinger, ADillon the top 10.
Lap 304 – Leaders pit during the final stage break. Off pit road: Hamlin, Hocevar, Byron.
Lap 301 – CAUTION for the end of stage 3. Byron wins it, sweeping the first three stages tonight. He followed by Hamlin, Hocevar, Reddick, Chastain, Allmendinger, Elliott, Briscoe, Preece.
Lap 297 – Byron back out front.
Lap 296 – Hamlin gets back around Byron for the lead.
Lap 292 – Byron takes the lead back from Hamlin.
Lap 291 – Ten laps remaining in stage 3. Byron is working on Hamlin for the lead.
Lap 278 – Hamlin leads Byron by .44 second with 23 laps left in stage 2.
Lap 271 – Thirty laps left in stage 3. Hamlin leads Byron, Hocevar, Reddick, Allmendinger, Chastain, Elliott, Briscoe, Gragson, and Bell.
Lap 265 – Blaney is officially out tonight.
Lap 263 – Hamlin takes the lead from Byron.
Lap 253 – Hocevar to third on the restart.
Lap 252 – Green flag back out. Byron, Hamlin, Chastain, Reddick. Hocevar the top five.
Lap 249 – Larson is done for the night.
Lap 246 – CAUTION – Briscoe, Suarez, Blaney, Larson Haley involved in an accident on the frontstretch. Larson and Suarez go to the garage. Blaney is towed to the garage.
Lap 244 – Back to green. Byron out front for the 196th lap tonight.
Lap 240 – Pit road open again and everyone comes back down for service. Byron off first, then Hamlin, Reddick, Chastain, Gragson, Elliott.
Lap 237 – CAUTION for accident involving Zane Smith. Front end of the car is destroyed. He just got loose in the corner.
Lap 225 – Byron leads Hamlin by .36 second. Then Hocevar, Reddick and Allmendinger.
Lap 209 – Green flag for the start of the third (but not final) stage. Byron still the leader.
Lap 206 – Pit road is open for service. Lead lap cars are in. Off pit road: Byron, Hamlin, Reddick, Hocevar, Allmendinger, Chastain, Gragson, Elliott, Nemechek, Buescher.
Lap 204 – Cars are brought to pit road and stopped for the traditional moment of silence. Red flag is displayed.
Lap 201 – CAUTION out for the end of the second stage. Bryon wins it and is followed by Hamlin, Reddick, Hocevar, Nemechek, Allmendinger, Chastain, Jones, Gragson, Elliott. There are 25 drivers on the lead lap. Larson will get the free pass. Busch spun in the frontstretch as the stage ended but continues on.
Lap 191 – Ten laps remaining in stage 2. Byron over Hamlin by 8.9 seconds.
Lap 180 – Byron’s lead is up to 9.3 seconds over Reddick. 26 cars on the lead lap.
Lap 165 – Byron leads Reddick, Nemechek, Hamlin, Allmendinger, Jones, Hocevar, Gragson, Elliott, and Chastain.
Lap 161 – Larson is the leader, but pits. Stops have cycled through and Byron is the leader once again, 6.2 seconds ahead of Nemechek.
Lap 159 – Bell pits from the lead.
Lap 157 – Hocevar pits and Bell takes the lead. Herbst spun coming on to pit road but didn’t hit anything.
Lap 154 – Hamlin pits from the lead. Now Hocevar out front.
Lap 153 – Byron pits from the lead.
Lap 151 – Green flag pit stops beginning.
Lap 147 – Hamlin gets around Reddick for second.
Lap 146 – The field is starting to spread out as the halfway point of the stage nears. Bryon leads Reddick, Hamlin, Hocevar, and Nemechek. The top 5 are separated by more than 5 seconds.
Lap 130 – Byron continues to lead but has not gotten away from Reddick. His lead is .2 second.
Lap 120 – Johnson is officially out of the race. He will finish last in his 700th Cup start.
Lap 118 – Back to green flag. Byron leads Reddick, Hamlin, Bell, and Nemechek.
Lap 114 – Johnson has gone to the garage. Pits are open, leaders stay out.
Lap 112 – CAUTION out for an accident involving Johnson, Custer and Zilisch.
Lap 110 – Byron retakes the lead.
Lap 109 – Reddick leads Byron at the line.
Lap 108 – Green flag for the start of the second stage.
Lap 104 – Pit stop underway. Lead lap cars all come in. Off pit road: Byron Reddick, Hamlin, Bell, Allmendinger, Nemechek, Elliott, Gragson, Buescher, Hocevar. Larson team is doing more repairs.
Lap 101 – End of stage 1: Byron, Reddick, Bell, Nemechek, Allmendinger, Buescher, Hamlin, Gragson, Elliott, McDowell.
Lap 98 – CAUTION out for Bowman spinning through the frontstretch. Byron still the leader over Reddick. The stage will end under caution.
Lap 76 – With 25 laps left in stage 1, Byron leads Reddick, Bell and Buescher.
Lap 60 – Byron leads Buescher by .27 second. Then Reddick, Bell and Nemechek.
Lap 52 – Green flag back out.
Lap 50 – Restart waved off. Bilicki has lost a wheel on the track.
Lap 46 – Pit road open and leaders are in for service. Off pit road: Byron, Reddick, Buescher, Bell, Nemechek. Larson getting repairs on his car. Briscoe had an uncontrolled tire.
Lap 43 – CAUTION out when Larson spins on the frontstretch and into the infield grass. He doesn’t hit anything. Byron now the leader.
Lap 41 – Herbst on pit road to kick off green flag pit stops.
Lap 36 – Larson got into the wall in turn 4. His lead dropped to just over a half second.
Lap 34 – Larson leads Byron by 1.3 second. Then Reddick, Buescher, Briscoe, Nemechek, Bell, Gragson, Gibbs, and Allmendinger.
Lap 22 – Blaney has fallen to 23rd.
Lap 10 – Larson back to the lead over Byron, Briscoe, Reddick, and Buescher.
Lap 3 – Byron now the leader.
Lap 2 – Larson leads lap 1.
6:30pm/et – Green flag at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
6:17pm/et – Engines fired at Charlotte.
6:07pm/et – As always, an amazing Coca-Cola 600 pre-race ceremony.
6:01pm/et – Pre-race ceremonies are underway.
5:07pm/et – To the rear so far: #1-Ross Chastain (backup car), #8-Kyle Busch (unapproved adjustments), #43-Erik Jones (unapproved adjustments)
5:00pm/et – Amazon Prime is now streaming pre-race coverage.
3:25pm/et – Kyle Larson has wrecked out of the Indianapolis 500. He is fine and will be headed to Charlotte soon.
#8 -Kyle Busch is expected to drop to the rear tonight for unapproved adjustments. He’s scheduled to stat 24th.
The forecast from the National Weather Service:
Today: A slight chance of showers before 7am, then a chance of showers after 11am. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 73. Chance of precipitation is 30%. New precipitation amounts of less than a tenth of an inch possible.
Tonight: A 50 percent chance of showers. Otherwise, cloudy, with a low around 60. New precipitation amounts between a tenth and quarter of an inch possible.
Race details:
Broadcast: NASCAR on Prime, PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio
Distance: 400 laps / 600 miles
Stages: 100 / 200 / 300 / 400
Average time of race: 4:43:34
Pit road speed: 45 mph
Caution car speed: 55 mph
Fuel Window: 68 laps
Timing (all times local & subject to change)
As traditionally done in years past during the Coca-Cola 600, a moment of silence to recognize the fallen will be observed at the completion of Stage 2. Competitors will be brought down pit road and engines will be shut off.
Invocation: 6:01:20 p.m.
National Anthem: 6:05:45 p.m.
Command: 6:16:45 p.m.
Green Flag: 6:27:00 p.m.
Paint Schemes
Cars to the rear: #1-Ross Chastain (backup car), #8-Kyle Busch (unapproved adjustments), #43-Erik Jones (unapproved adjustments)
Pit Stall Selections: The selections of pit stalls for the Coca-Cola 600 NASCAR Cup Series race at Charlotte Motor Speedway have been made.
Pole winner #19-Chase Briscoe chose pit stall 1.
Outside pole sitter #5-Kyle Larson took the 15th stall, with an opening in front of it.
See all pit choices on the Charlotte Pit Stall page.
#19-Chase Briscoe won the Busch pole for the Coca-Cola 600 NASCAR Cup Series race at Charlotte Motor Speedway with a speed of 182.852mph for his first pole of the year, first at Charlotte and 4th of his career.
#5-Kyle Larson will start second followed by #24-William Byron, #17-Chris Buescher, #16-A.J. Allmendinger, #42-John Hunter Nemechek, #54-Ty Gibbs, #4-Noah Gragson, #48-Alex Bowman, #and 20-Christopher Bell.
See the complete qualifying results and the Coca-Cola 600 Starting Lineup.
Charlotte Motor Speedway – Qualifying Fast Facts:
Chase Briscoe won the Pole Award for the Coca-Cola 600 with a lap of 29.532 seconds, 182.852 mph.
This is his fourth pole in 157 NASCAR Cup Series races.
This is his second pole and fourth top-10 start in 2025.
This is his first pole in five races at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
Kyle Larson (second) posted his seventh top-10 start of 2025 and his fourth in 15 races at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
William Byron (third) posted his eighth top-10 start at Charlotte Motor Speedway. It is his ninth in 13 races this season.
Shane Van Gisbergen (30th) was the fastest qualifying rookie.
(NASCAR)
Qualifying Order
Practice for the Coca-Cola 600 NASCAR Cup Series race at Charlotte Motor Speedway is over. The results:
#77-Carson Hocevar 180.445
#54-Ty Gibbs 180.366
#16-A.J. Allmendinger 179.312
#11-Denny Hamlin 178.938
#45-Tyler Reddick 178.869
Slowest: #66-Josh Bilicki, 165.578mph
Most laps run: #7-Justin Haley, 45 laps.
Best 10 consecutive lap avg (of 37 drivers): #1-Ross Chastain, 177.400mph
Notes: #1-Ross Chastain crashed during Group 2 when a tire went down. He will likely go to a backup car.
See the fastest speeds, best 10 consecutive lap average, laps run on the Coca-Cola 600 Practice speeds page.
Pre-race inspection in the NASCAR Cup Series garage is complete. The No. 71 failed twice (loss of pit selection; crew member ejection).
Crew Rosters
The entry list for the Coca-Cola 600 NASCAR Cup Series race at Charlotte Motor Speedway is posted, 40 teams/drivers [for 40 spots] are listed.
Open teams entered are: #44-Derek Kraus, #66-Josh Bilicki, #84-Jimmie Johnson, #87-Connor Zilisch.
See the full entry list on the Coca-Cola 600 Entry List page.
NASCAR National Series News & Notes – Charlotte Motor Speedway
Statistical Advance: Analyzing the Coca-Cola 600: A look at the top statistical performers at Charlotte Motor Speedway
Goodyear Fast Facts — Charlotte Motor Speedway: Cup teams have run this right-side tire code at Las Vegas, Homestead, Darlington, Kansas and Texas already this season . . . this is the first time these teams have run this left-side tire code.
Race rules and information:
