TRACK: Charlotte Motor Speedway (1.5-mile Oval) DISTANCE: 400 Laps – STAGE 1 (Lap 100, STAGE 2 (100 Laps), Stage 3 (100 Laps) FINAL STAGE 100 LAPS (600 Miles)
WEATHER: RAIN 30%, 79 degrees high, 63 low
Betting favorites
Busch has three Top-3 finishes in his last four starts of the season. Also, in his last five Coke 600 starts, he’s scored four top six finishes including three of his last four being a top three result. He won this race in 2018 and has led one laps, 63 laps, 22 laps, 377 laps and 79 laps respectively in his last five Charlotte oval starts.
Again, why not here? Truex showed promise in Darlington, but Charlotte is his best track. He’s won two of the three Coke 600’s and was second in the other. In fact, he has four straight top three finishes in this race and four in the last five years. He led 116 laps in his win a year ago. In fact, he’s dominated Charlotte’s oval lately with laps led of 131, 0, 392, 0, 233, 91, 0 and 116 in his last eight starts there.
This has actually been a really good start to the year for Elliot. While he hasn’t won, he’s had the speed to compete for victories. At Charlotte, Elliott has two top four finishes in his last three Coke 600 tries.
Why not go for a third Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota here, especially for these odds. Hamlin, has three top five finishes in his last four Charlotte oval starts including seven top 10’s there in his last nine tries. He’s won twice already in 2020 too.
This is another bargain. Bowman, has arguably had the second best speed in all of NASCAR in 2020. He finished ninth in this race in 2018 and seventh last year.
Betting long shots
Johnson has had a much better start to the season. The speed is there again. Also, at one point, Charlotte was Johnson’s playground. Since 2016, while he’s struggled at virtually every race track, this 1.5-mile oval wasn’t one of them. He was third, first, 17th, seventh, fifth and eighth over his last six Charlotte starts.
Hendrick Motorsports has every other driver on here, why not Byron? He was ninth in this race a year ago and should have the speed to compete. Can win No. 1 come in his hometown track? Another NASCAR Hall of Famer earned his first career Cup Series victory in the famed No. 24 Chevrolet in the Coca-Cola 600 too.
Coca-Cola 600 Preview
Pit crews and driver combinations are still going to be the biggest factor in the outcome of this race. Yes, the race is 600 miles long (the longest of the season) and yes this race will be the only one that we qualify for, but that in turn will lead to a lot of communication between the two in order to get the car dialed in right. With no practice this weekend, the way that these cars will handle is still a big unknown.
Also, we have also had two races under our belts over the last week, but those were at Darlington. This is a completely different track and you can’t take anything that you’ve learned over the last few days and translate that over to Charlotte.
Another key tidbit is, the ‘600 has seen a lot of dominance lately. Martin Truex Jr. led 392 of 400 laps in his 2016 win. Kyle Busch followed that up with leading 377 of 400 laps in 2018 only for Truex to lead 116 laps in his win a year ago. Over the last 10 Charlotte oval races, the eventual race winner led at least 91 laps in eight of them with six of those eight leading at least 115 laps.
Also, while Team Penske should be ones to pick, as they’ve been so strong to start this season off with, but what if I told you that they historically struggle in this race. Joey Logano (+700) may have finished runner-up a year ago but that’s his only top five over his last six Charlotte oval starts. Actually, four of his last five Charlotte oval starts have resulted in a finish of 21st or worse.
His teammate Brad Keselowski (+1300) was fourth in 2018 but has three of his last four finishes being 39th, 15th and 19th respectively too.
That leaves Ryan Blaney (+2800). He has no top five finishes in eight career Charlotte oval starts and was 13th or worse in seven of those eight tries.
So, Stewart-Haas Racing may have to ring king for Ford camp, but the blue ovals haven’t also won the ‘600 since 2002 and have just three wins since 2003 overall at Charlotte with all coming in the Fall race.
Toyota could be the front runners in return with winning two in-a-row in the Coca-Cola 600 and four of the last five there overall. All of those wins were dominating performances.
Stat To Watch
Starting position hasn’t mattered much lately in the ‘600 mile race. Four of the last five race winners have come from a starting spot outside of the top 10 including three of the last four coming from Row 7 or worst. So, while we will qualify just prior to this race on Sunday, don’t look for it to hold a whole lot of merit on who will contend for the win or not in the end.
They Said It
“The Coca-Cola 600 is a crown jewel event.” said Joey Logano. “It’s always been that way for us. It’s such a big deal to win it.”
Race Review Online 
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