NASCAR Cup Series race
Motor car race
The 2021 Coca-Cola 600 , the 62nd running of the event , was a NASCAR Cup Series race held at Charlotte Motor Speedway in Concord, North Carolina . Contested over 400 laps on the 1.5 mile (2.42 km) asphalt speedway, it was the 15th race of the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series season, as well as the third of the four crown jewel races .
Report
Background
Charlotte Motor Speedway , the track where the race was held.
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.
Similar to the Daytona 500 , which was a four-stage race (with the first stage being the qualifying heat race), the Coca-Cola 600 is a four-stage race, with this the only race where all four stages are in the main race itself. All four stages are scheduled to consist of 100 laps. The race is official after the second stage.
Entry list
(R) denotes rookie driver.
(i) denotes driver who are ineligible for series driver points.
Practice
Austin Dillon was the fastest in the practice session with a time of 29.845 seconds and a speed of 180.935 mph (291.187 km/h).[ 8]
Practice results
Qualifying
Kyle Larson scored the pole for the race with a time of 29.953 and a speed of 180.282 mph (290.136 km/h).[ 9]
Qualifying results
Race
Kyle Larson won the pole in qualifying. Larson dominated, leading the most laps and winning the first two stages. Kurt Busch had an issue that sent him to the garage, but when he returned to the race, he blew his engine. Several drivers had tire problems including Joey Logano, Kevin Harvick, and Martin Truex Jr. Larson won the third stage and pulled away from teammate Chase Elliott to over a ten-second lead to win his second race of the season, earning the 269th win for Hendrick Motorsports, making them the winningest team in NASCAR history.
Stage Results
Stage One
Laps: 100
Pos
Driver
Team
Manufacturer
Points
1
5
Kyle Larson
Hendrick Motorsports
Chevrolet
10
2
9
Chase Elliott
Hendrick Motorsports
Chevrolet
9
3
24
William Byron
Hendrick Motorsports
Chevrolet
8
4
4
Kevin Harvick
Stewart-Haas Racing
Ford
7
5
3
Austin Dillon
Richard Childress Racing
Chevrolet
6
6
18
Kyle Busch
Joe Gibbs Racing
Toyota
5
7
19
Martin Truex Jr.
Joe Gibbs Racing
Toyota
4
8
8
Tyler Reddick
Richard Childress Racing
Chevrolet
3
9
47
Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
JTG Daugherty Racing
Chevrolet
2
10
48
Alex Bowman
Hendrick Motorsports
Chevrolet
1
Official stage one results
Stage Two
Laps: 100
Pos
Driver
Team
Manufacturer
Points
1
5
Kyle Larson
Hendrick Motorsports
Chevrolet
10
2
9
Chase Elliott
Hendrick Motorsports
Chevrolet
9
3
24
William Byron
Hendrick Motorsports
Chevrolet
8
4
18
Kyle Busch
Joe Gibbs Racing
Toyota
7
5
8
Tyler Reddick
Richard Childress Racing
Chevrolet
6
6
4
Kevin Harvick
Stewart-Haas Racing
Ford
5
7
48
Alex Bowman
Hendrick Motorsports
Chevrolet
4
8
17
Chris Buescher
Roush Fenway Racing
Ford
3
9
11
Denny Hamlin
Joe Gibbs Racing
Toyota
2
10
3
Austin Dillon
Richard Childress Racing
Chevrolet
1
Official stage two results
Stage Three
Laps: 100
Pos
Driver
Team
Manufacturer
Points
1
5
Kyle Larson
Hendrick Motorsports
Chevrolet
10
2
24
William Byron
Hendrick Motorsports
Chevrolet
9
3
18
Kyle Busch
Joe Gibbs Racing
Toyota
8
4
9
Chase Elliott
Hendrick Motorsports
Chevrolet
7
5
48
Alex Bowman
Hendrick Motorsports
Chevrolet
6
6
8
Tyler Reddick
Richard Childress Racing
Chevrolet
5
7
11
Denny Hamlin
Joe Gibbs Racing
Toyota
4
8
3
Austin Dillon
Richard Childress Racing
Chevrolet
3
9
23
Bubba Wallace
23XI Racing
Toyota
2
10
4
Kevin Harvick
Stewart-Haas Racing
Ford
1
Official stage three results
Final Stage Results
Stage Four
Laps: 100
Pos
Grid
Driver
Team
Manufacturer
Laps
Points
1
1
5
Kyle Larson
Hendrick Motorsports
Chevrolet
400
70
2
3
9
Chase Elliott
Hendrick Motorsports
Chevrolet
400
60
3
20
18
Kyle Busch
Joe Gibbs Racing
Toyota
400
54
4
4
24
William Byron
Hendrick Motorsports
Chevrolet
400
58
5
7
48
Alex Bowman
Hendrick Motorsports
Chevrolet
400
43
6
6
3
Austin Dillon
Richard Childress Racing
Chevrolet
400
41
7
14
11
Denny Hamlin
Joe Gibbs Racing
Toyota
400
36
8
27
17
Chris Buescher
Roush Fenway Racing
Ford
400
32
9
15
8
Tyler Reddick
Richard Childress Racing
Chevrolet
400
42
10
5
4
Kevin Harvick
Stewart-Haas Racing
Ford
400
40
11
13
2
Brad Keselowski
Team Penske
Ford
400
26
12
2
47
Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
JTG Daugherty Racing
Chevrolet
400
27
13
11
12
Ryan Blaney
Team Penske
Ford
400
24
14
18
23
Bubba Wallace
23XI Racing
Toyota
400
25
15
9
99
Daniel Suárez
Trackhouse Racing Team
Chevrolet
398
22
16
19
43
Erik Jones
Richard Petty Motorsports
Chevrolet
398
21
17
16
22
Joey Logano
Team Penske
Ford
398
20
18
22
21
Matt DiBenedetto
Wood Brothers Racing
Ford
398
19
19
26
7
Corey LaJoie
Spire Motorsports
Chevrolet
398
18
20
24
34
Michael McDowell
Front Row Motorsports
Ford
398
17
21
23
41
Cole Custer
Stewart-Haas Racing
Ford
397
16
22
31
10
Aric Almirola
Stewart-Haas Racing
Ford
397
15
23
21
14
Chase Briscoe (R)
Stewart-Haas Racing
Ford
397
14
24
17
20
Christopher Bell
Joe Gibbs Racing
Toyota
397
13
25
29
38
Anthony Alfredo (R)
Front Row Motorsports
Ford
397
12
26
28
37
Ryan Preece
JTG Daugherty Racing
Chevrolet
397
11
27
25
6
Ryan Newman
Roush Fenway Racing
Ford
396
10
28
30
77
Justin Haley (i)
Spire Motorsports
Chevrolet
395
0
29
8
19
Martin Truex Jr.
Joe Gibbs Racing
Toyota
391
12
30
34
53
Cody Ware (i)
Rick Ware Racing
Chevrolet
389
0
31
33
78
B. J. McLeod (i)
Live Fast Motorsports
Ford
389
0
32
32
00
Quin Houff
StarCom Racing
Chevrolet
389
5
33
35
15
James Davison
Rick Ware Racing
Chevrolet
388
4
34
36
51
Garrett Smithley (i)
Petty Ware Racing
Chevrolet
387
0
35
37
52
Josh Bilicki
Rick Ware Racing
Ford
382
2
36
38
66
David Starr (i)
MBM Motorsports
Toyota
369
0
37
10
42
Ross Chastain
Chip Ganassi Racing
Chevrolet
359
1
38
12
1
Kurt Busch
Chip Ganassi Racing
Chevrolet
139
1
Official race results
Race statistics
Lead changes: 23 among 13 different drivers
Cautions/Laps: 4 for 26
Red flags: 0
Time of race: 3 hours, 58 minutes and 45 seconds
Average speed: 150.785 miles per hour (242.665 km/h)
Television
Fox Sports televised the race in the United States for the 21st consecutive year. Mike Joy was the lap-by-lap announcer, while three-time Coca-Cola 600 winner, Jeff Gordon and 2012 Fall Charlotte winner Clint Bowyer were the color commentators. Jamie Little , Regan Smith and Vince Welch reported from pit lane during the race. Larry McReynolds provided insight from the Fox Sports studio in Charlotte.
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 RiceAnnouncer: Mark Garrow
Turns 1 & 2: Rob AlbrightTurns 3 & 4: Pat Patterson
Brad Gillie Brett McMillanWendy Venturini
Standings after the race
Drivers' Championship standings
Manufacturers' Championship standings
Note : Only the first 16 positions are included for the driver standings.
. – Driver has clinched a position in the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs .
References
^ "2021 schedule" . Jayski.com . Jayski's Silly Season Site . Retrieved April 18, 2021 .
^ "Charlotte Motor Speedway" . NASCAR.com . NASCAR Media Group, LLC. January 3, 2013. Archived from the original on September 29, 2015. Retrieved April 18, 2021 .
^ "Entry List" (PDF) . Jayski.com . Jayski's Silly Season Site . May 24, 2021. Retrieved May 24, 2021 .
^ "Practice Results" . NASCAR.com . NASCAR Media Group, LLC. May 28, 2021. Retrieved May 28, 2021 .
^ "Qualifying Results" . NASCAR.com . NASCAR Media Group, LLC. May 29, 2021. Retrieved May 29, 2021 .
^ "Coca-Cola 600 Results" . NASCAR.com . NASCAR . May 30, 2021. Retrieved May 30, 2021 .
^ "Points standings" (PDF) . Jayski.com . Jayski's Silly Season Site . May 30, 2021. Retrieved May 30, 2021 .
^ Utter, Jim (May 28, 2021). "Austin Dillon and Chevrolet lead Coke 600 practice" . Motorsport.com . Charlotte, North Carolina : Motorsport Network . Retrieved May 28, 2021 .
^ Utter, Jim (May 29, 2021). "Kyle Larson wins Coke 600 pole as Chevys dominate" . Motorsport.com . Charlotte, North Carolina : Motorsport Network . Retrieved May 29, 2021 .