See what drivers we are picking to take the checkered flag
Members of the NASCAR.com editorial team make their predictions for the longest race of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season, the Coca-Cola 600 (6 p.m. ET, FOX, PRN, SiriusXM).
Zack Albert
Kurt Busch: Last season, Busch had designs on a 1,100-mile Memorial Day Sunday by splitting time between Indiana and North Carolina — a double play that few have dared to try. This year, Busch’s singular focus on the Coca-Cola 600, plus the ever-improving performance of the Stewart-Haas Racing No. 41 camp, should have Busch celebrating at the end of NASCAR’s longest race.
Kenny Bruce
Kevin Harvick: Jimmie Johnson has been a beast on the 1.5-mile tracks this year, winning three of four. But Harvick has finished no worse than second in all four (he won at Las Vegas), with another runner-up in last Saturday night’s non-points Sprint All-Star Race at Charlotte. “I still think he’s the car to beat right now,” Johnson said of the Stewart-Haas Racing driver at Kansas.
Holly Cain
Jimmie Johnson: Johnson is always a favorite at Charlotte, where he is the all-time best (seven wins). With a series-high three wins this season, he’s carrying Championship No. 7 momentum into the Coca-Cola 600. He won this race from the pole last May. Easy pick here.
Pat DeCola
Brad Keselowski: The 2012 Sprint Cup Series champion’s past history at Charlotte Motor Speedway isn’t exceptional and his only win there came in the Chase — while he was out of it. Combine that with the heartbreak of narrowly missing out on his first Sprint All-Star Race victory last weekend — he led a race-high 49 laps — and Keselowski’s propensity for conquering mile-and-a-halves as a whole, and it makes for a recipe in which the tenacious driver crosses one of NASCAR’s landmark races off his bucket list.
Stu Hothem
Kasey Kahne: One of only three drivers with a driver rating better than 100 at Charlotte, Kahne will join one of the others, Jimmie Johnson, as a four-time winner of NASCAR’s longest event and punch his ticket to the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup.
RJ Kraft
Jeff Gordon: His first premier series win came in this race in 1994. The four-time champion has been making steady gains since a slow start to the 2015 season and will pick up his first win of his final full-time season back where the winning began.
Brad Norman
Kevin Harvick: No one has been more dominant on intermediate tracks than the No. 4 team this year, and that group showed plenty of speed in practice and qualifying. Throw in Hendrick horsepower, and “Happy” looks poised to win his third Coca-Cola 600 in the past five years.
Jessica Ruffin
Jimmie Johnson: Johnson has been unflappable at intermediate tracks this season, winning three of the four races at 1.5-mile venues. The reigning Coca-Cola 600 champion, Johnson is also the all-time winner at Charlotte with seven victories and has led the most laps (1,733) around the North Carolina oval among active drivers. Couple Johnson’s 2015 success with his expertise at Charlotte, and you’ve got a recipe for victory this weekend in NASCAR’s longest race.
Kathy Sheldon
Matt Kenseth: It’s an endurance race, and the No. 20 has completed all but one of the laps run this season. Plus, Kenseth has a win in the 600, though it came in 2000. He last won at Charlotte four years ago but with one win and six top-10s through the first 11 points races this season, Kenseth can tap the Joe Gibbs Racing speed (he will start from the pole) for another win at Charlotte.
George Winkler
Joey Logano: Logano’s average finish of 10.0 at Charlotte is tops among active drivers, and a qualifying spot on the front row indicates he’s ready to add the second crown jewel to his collection by winning the Coca-Cola 600 in the same year as the Daytona 500.