2022 Coca-Cola 600

The 2022 Coca-Cola 600, the 63rd running of the event, was a NASCAR Cup Series race held on May 29, 2022, at Charlotte Motor Speedway in Concord, North Carolina. Contested over 413 laps – extended from 400 laps due to an overtime finish, on the asphalt speedway, it was the 14th race of the 2022 NASCAR Cup Series season, as well as the third of the four crown jewel races.

Report

Background

The race was held at Charlotte Motor Speedway, located in Concord, North Carolina. The speedway complex includes a 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 is ineligible for series driver points.

Practice

Kyle Larson was the fastest in the practice session with a time of 29.589 seconds and a speed of .

Practice results

Qualifying

Denny Hamlin scored the pole for the race with a time of 29.399 and a speed of .

Qualifying results

Race

Stage 1

Outside pole sitter Kurt Busch took the lead from pole sitter Denny Hamlin and led the first lap. Hamlin would take the lead on lap 3 as Busch and Hamlin raced side by side with each other for the first 3 and a half laps. On lap 10, Kyle Busch took the lead from his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate. On lap 18, the first caution of the race occurred for a three car crash in turn four involving Ryan Preece, Noah Gragson, and Chris Buescher. Kyle Busch won the race from pit road and led the field to the restart on lap 23. On lap 33, the second caution flew when Josh Bilicki crashed in turn 3. The race restarted on lap 39. Bubba Wallace led lap 40 as he and Busch battled for the lead before Kyle took it back the next lap. On lap 46, Daniel Suárez began to battle Kyle Busch for the lead. On that same lap while they were battling, Busch's car got loose in the middle of turns 1 and 2 and ended up spinning out bringing out the third caution of the race. The race restarted on lap 51. On lap 61, the fourth caution flew when Corey LaJoie crashed in turn 2. Chase Elliott won the race from pit road and led the field to the restart on lap 68. Elliott would end up winning stage one as the caution flew for the stage end.

Stage 2

Elliott won the race from pit road and led the field to the restart to begin stage 2 on lap 108. On lap 111, Ross Chastain took the lead from Elliott. On lap 126, the 6th caution flew when Bubba Wallace spun off at turn 4. During pit stops, a little fire occurred in Kyle Larson's pit. Chase Elliott won the race from pit road and led the field to the restart on lap 132. On lap 146, the 7th caution occurred when Austin Cindric blew a left rear tire and crashed in turn 3. Elliott won the race from pit road again to keep his lead. The race would restart on lap 152. On lap 165, Ryan Blaney's car slid and hit the wall in turns 1 and 2 but kept on going with no caution thrown. However, the 8th caution would be thrown on the next lap when Kyle Larson spun off at turn 4. The race restarted on lap 171. On that restart, Ross Chastain would take the lead from Chase Elliott. On lap 186, Chase Elliott was battling Daniel Suárez for second when Chase attempted to pass Suárez in turn 1, he tried to slide up in front of him but ended up sliding into the wall. About 20 seconds after that happened, Elliott blew a right rear tire and spun off at turn 4 bringing out the 9th caution of the race. The race restarted on lap 192. One lap later, the tenth caution came out when a large crash ("The Big One") occurred in turn 1. It started when Ryan Blaney hit the apron of the track and slid up into Kevin Harvick and then spun around, collecting Brad Keselowski, Denny Hamlin, Noah Gragson, Martin Truex Jr., Harrison Burton, Bubba Wallace, William Byron, Michael McDowell, Todd Gilliland, and Kurt Busch. The race would restart on lap 197 with 4 laps to go in stage 2. On that restart, Daniel Suárez would take the lead from his Trackhouse Racing teammate Ross Chastain. Suárez would end up winning stage 2. After stage 2 ended, the field turned onto pit road and stopped for a moment of silence for the ones who were lost while serving in the military for Memorial Day.

Stage 3

Suárez won the race from pit road but Joey Logano, Martin Truex Jr., Christopher Bell, and Kyle Busch did not stop and Logano led the field back to the green to start stage 3 on lap 209. On lap 214, Daniel Suárez took the lead from Logano, on lap 220, the 12th caution flew when Kevin Harvick got loose when he tried to pass Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and hit the wall in turn 2. During the caution, Harvick went behind Stenhouse when Stenhouse appeared to brake check Harvick. Suárez went down and pitted and gave the lead to his teammate Ross Chastain. The race restarted on lap 225. On lap 252, Suarez charged his way from the back all the way to the lead. On lap 254, the 13th caution flew when Noah Gragson spun off at turn 4. Chastain won the race from pit road and lead the field to the restart on lap 259. Chase Briscoe challenged Chastain for the lead and lead lap 260 and got out in front of him before Chastain pulled a crossover move on Briscoe and took the lead back. Chastain would end up winning stage 3.

Final stage

Tyler Reddick won the race from pit road and lead the field to the green to start the final stage on lap 308. On lap 323, Ross Chastain took the lead from Reddick. On lap 340, the 15th caution would fly when Tyler Reddick's left rear tire blew and laid debris on the race track. Chastain won the race from pit road and kept his lead. The race would restart on lap 346. But on that same lap, the wildest crash of the night would occur. Coming off turn 4, Suárez attempted to get in front of Briscoe, but Briscoe bumped Suárez turning Suárez around. While Suárez was spinning, he was broadsided by Todd Gilliland and then got hit again by Buescher, who was already spinning after he got rear ended by Harrison Burton. Buescher's impact into Suárez ended up breaking the right front axle on Buescher's car completely apart with the tether still attached. Buescher did a 360 spin in the grass before the right front wheel of his car dug into the grass, causing the car to flip over four times before coming to a rest upside down on the apron turn 1 of the Roval course. The race was red-flagged for ten minutes while rescue workers uprighted Buescher's car so he could climb out. The race would get back under way on lap 353 with 48 laps to go. With 47 to go, Kyle Larson took the lead from Ross Chastain. Chase Briscoe would pass Chastain for second. Larson soon began to pull away with an almost 2 second lead. But with 31 to go, Chase Briscoe began to close the gap on Larson. With 22 to go, Briscoe was in the rear view mirror of Larson. Briscoe attempted to pass Larson with 13 to go but couldn't make it stick. Briscoe tried again with 5 to go and actually beat Larson to the line to lead that lap and tried to put a slide job on Larson but failed and Larson got by Briscoe. With 2 to go, Briscoe attempted to pass Larson on the inside again in turn 1 but he drove in the corner hard and in doing so, his car ended up getting sideways and spun around on him which also brought out the 17th caution of the race. The caution would set up overtime. Larson would win the race from pit road narrowly edging out Chastain. On the restart, Larson got ahead. Austin Dillon, who restarted 6th, got a big run and passed both Chastain and Joey Logano who were racing each other for second and Dillon attempted to pass Larson in turn 3. In turn 4, Chastain got himself a run and went to the outside of Larson and Dillon while Hamlin went to the inside of the three and made it four wide at turn 4. But coming out of turn four, Larson and Chastain made a little contact which sent Larson down and turning Austin Dillion around and into the wall in a wreck that also collected Chastain, Larson, Martin Truex Jr., Joey Logano, Cole Custer, and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. The 18th and final caution flew before the white flag was shown. Denny Hamlin was the race leader for the first time since lap 9 of the race. Chastain decided not to pit for his damaged front of his car and restarted next to Hamlin. On the 2nd overtime restart, Chastain's car did not get up to speed and ended up cutting down a tire and falling way back. Kyle Busch attempted to pass his teammate Hamlin for the lead and lead when they took the white flag but Busch could not do it and Denny Hamlin would win his first ever Coca-Cola 600 race. This would be Hamlin's 2nd win of 2022. Kyle Busch, Kevin Harvick, Chase Briscoe, and Christopher Bell rounded out the top 5 while Tyler Reddick, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Michael McDowell, Kyle Larson, and Alex Bowman rounded out the top 10.

The 2022 Coca-Cola 600 was the longest running race in NASCAR history by distance as the race went for 619.5 miles. The race is also the fourth longest Coca-Cola 600 by time as it was 5 hours, 13 minutes, and 8 seconds long behind 2005, 1961, and 1960.

Stage Results

Stage One
''Laps:'' 100

Stage Two
''Laps:'' 100

Stage Three
''Laps:'' 100

Final Stage Results

Stage Four
''Laps:'' 100

Race statistics

* Lead changes: 31 among 13 different drivers
* Cautions/Laps: 18 for 90
* Red flags: 2 for 12 minutes
* Time of race: 5 hours, 13 minutes and 8 seconds
* Average speed:

Media

Television

Fox Sports televised the race in the United States for the 22nd consecutive year. Mike Joy was the lap-by-lap announcer, while 2012 Fall Charlotte winner Clint Bowyer and two-time winner Jamie McMurray 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 Alan Cavanna were the pit reporters during the broadcast.

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

{{Coca-Cola 600

Coca-Cola 600
Coca-Cola 600
Coca-Cola 600
NASCAR races at Charlotte Motor Speedway