Posted on by Reid Spencer

CONCORD, N.C. – A lightning delay that turned into a heavy rainstorm made a winner of Christopher Bell in Sunday’s Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

Not that Bell didn’t deserve the victory in the rain-shortened race, which NASCAR was forced to call after 249 of 400 laps were complete.

RELATED: Race results | At-track photos

The driver of the No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota started third, led a race-high 90 laps and won the second stage of the 14th NASCAR Cup Series race of the season.

The decisive juncture in the Memorial Day Weekend race came when Bell held off Darlington winner Brad Keselowski during a 10-lap run after a caution for Corey LaJoie’s spin in Turn 2 on Lap 229.

On the ensuing Lap 236 restart, Bell and Keselowski lined up side-by-side at the front of the field, with Bell prevailing and pulling out to a lead of roughly six car-lengths before NASCAR called the seventh caution for lightning in the area.

After the lightning came heavy rain, and though NASCAR attempted to dry the track when the rain subsided, heavy humidity thwarted efforts to do so in a timely manner. As a result, Bell collected his second victory of the season, his first on the 1.5-mile Charlotte oval and the eighth of his career.

The victory was a welcome momentum shift for Bell, who had finished outside the top 10 in five of his previous six races.

“Man, it feels so good — to win or lose — just to have a great race to go off of,” Bell said. “A race where we led laps. We were able to pass cars. We lost the lead at times and were able to drive back to the lead.

“We had great pit stops. It was a team effort, and it was amazing to have a good race. Hopefully, this is something we can build on and get back to being more consistent.”

SHOP: Winner gear

Keselowski, who posted his third runner-up finish of the season, was convinced he had the fastest car.

“We just didn’t have time for it to play out,” said the driver of the No. 6 RFK Racing Ford, who pressured Bell throughout the final 10-lap run before weather intervened.

Stage 1 winner William Byron ran third behind Bell and Keselowski, with Tyler Reddick and Denny Hamlin finishing fourth and fifth, respectively.

Pole winner Ty Gibbs finished sixth after leading 74 laps, including the first 42 of the race. Chase Elliott finished seventh, followed by Ross Chastain, Alex Bowman and Josh Berry.

After finishing 18th in his Indianapolis 500 debut, Kyle Larson arrived at Charlotte Motor Speedway just before weather forced the stoppage. Larson intended to take over his No. 5 Chevrolet from Justin Allgaier, who had started the race at Charlotte because the Indy 500 was delayed by rain.

Allgaier was running 13th when the race was called, and Larson never had a chance to drive the car.

Defending race winner and reigning series champion Ryan Blaney slammed the outside wall in the second stage and exited the event after 143 laps.

“We’ll have to look if I hit something or… I don’t know,” Blaney said.  “I just went into (Turn) 3 getting up to speed and blew a tire and hit the fence.  It’s an unfortunate end to our night. That sucks.

“We’re not even halfway and just wanting to work on your stuff all night. I thought we were getting it a little better here and there, but won’t get a shot.”

MORE: 2024 Cup Series standings | 2024 Cup Series schedule

The Cup Series’ next race is the Enjoy Illinois 300, scheduled next Sunday (3:30 p.m. ET, FS1, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) at World Wide Technology Raceway.

NOTES: NASCAR officials completed post-race inspection in the Cup Series garage without issue, confirming Bell’s victory. Competition officials indicated that four cars will return to the NASCAR Research & Development Center – the Nos. 34 and 45 for teardown and engine dyno and the Nos. 3 and 99 for engine-dyno testing.

Contributing: Staff reports

Posted on by Staff Report

CONCORD, N.C. — The Coca-Cola 600 has been placed on hold due to inclement weather.

The NASCAR Cup Series’ longest race of the season was red-flagged on Lap 246 as rain overtook the 1.5-mile Charlotte Motor Speedway oval.

Christopher Bell is scored as the leader with 151 laps remaining, ahead of Brad Keselowski, William Byron, Tyler Reddick and Denny Hamlin. Completing the top 10 are Ty Gibbs, Chase Elliott, Ross Chastain, Alex Bowman and Josh Berry.

MORE: Live leaderboard | Track the weather

Justin Allgaier was running 13th at the time of caution, piloting the No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet in place of Kyle Larson. Larson is traveling to the speedway after finishing 18th in his inaugural showing in the Indianapolis 500.

Ryan Blaney, the 2023 winner of the Coca-Cola 600, crashed out of Sunday’s running at Lap 143 after suffering an issue with his right-front tire in Turns 3 and 4 and contacting the outside SAFER barrier.

Noah Gragson also wrecked exiting Turn 2 at Lap 171, nosing into the inside wall and ending his day prematurely.

This story will be updated.

Posted on by Staff Report

During Stage 2 of Sunday evening’s Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway, Ryan Blaney slammed the wall in Turns 3 and 4 shortly after pitting during green-flag stops.

The defending series and Coke 600 champ suffered a blown tire, ultimately losing control of his No. 12 Team Penske Ford and careening into the outside SAFER barrier.

RELATED: Leaderboard | At-track photos

“I just came off pit road with tires on, and I don’t know if I ran over something, but one of them blew into [Turn] 3,” Blaney said.

Blaney had spent the first half of the race inside the top 10 after starting 16th for the 600-miler. He scored four points after a seventh-place result in Stage 1.

It will be the second consecutive early exit for Blaney after crashing at Darlington Raceway earlier in May, and he is slated to finish 39th in the 40-car field.

“It stinks,” Blaney said. “It’s two unfortunate weekends in a row where I thought we at least had a shot to get better and run close to top 10, maybe top five. We’ll get through it. We just got to hopefully put together a good race together next week.”

Posted on by Staff Report

Inclement weather dashed Kyle Larson’s dream of completing “The Double,” but the driver of the No. 17 Arrow McLaren Dallara Chevrolet did lead laps on his way to an 18th-place finish in his first Indianapolis 500 on Sunday at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

By staying out as the leaders came to pit road late in the race, Larson found himself at the front of the field with 21 laps remaining. However, Larson ultimately had to come to pit road for service and gave up the lead with 17 laps left.

Josef Newgarden of Team Penske and Arrow McLaren’s Pato O’Ward then dueled down the stretch, with Newgarden passing O’Ward on the final lap for the win. It was Newgarden’s second Indianapolis 500 victory.

“I would definitely love to be back next year,” Larson, the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series champion, said after the race. “I feel like I learned a lot throughout the race. I made a couple of mistakes early, but felt like I did a really good job on the restarts. … Obviously, I smoked a left-front or something on the green-flag stop and killed our opportunity. I’m proud to finish, but I’m pretty upset at myself. I just could have executed a better race. You never know what could have happened.”

Larson had fought his way back up to sixth place after spinning the tires and dropping to 14th on an early-race restart, but a pit-road speeding penalty with less than 70 laps left put him a lap down and in 22nd place. After a caution, Larson got back onto the lead lap and then stayed out to briefly hold the lead.

After the Indy 500, Larson was scheduled to be whisked away to try to make it to Charlotte Motor Speedway in time for the conclusion of the Coca-Cola 600 in the NASCAR Cup Series. But because the Indy 500 was delayed by about four hours, Larson’s hopes of completing the 1,100 miles in the double went by the wayside.

By staying to race at Indy, Larson missed the start of the Coca-Cola 600 and a chance to score points and possibly extend his lead in the Cup Series standings. Justin Allgaier, a regular in the NASCAR Xfinity Series for JR Motorsports, started the No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet at Charlotte in Larson’s place.

Larson will need a waiver from NASCAR to be eligible for the 2024 NASCAR Playoffs. According to the NASCAR Rule Book, drivers must start all points races to be eligible for the postseason. The sanctioning body could grant a waiver to that rule for extenuating circumstances.

Posted on by Zach Sturniolo

CONCORD, N.C. — The Charlotte Motor Speedway road course will have a new layout when the NASCAR Cup Series returns for its playoff race in October, the track announced Sunday.

The track’s configuration will feature an elongated straightaway between Turns 5 and 6, setting up a harder braking zone into a sharper right and setting up a hairpin Turn 7 to lead back onto the oval’s banking.

Additionally, the frontstretch chicane just past pit road will see a reconfiguration. Turn 16 will swing farther left toward pit road, setting up a 90-degree right turn, leading to a 90-degree left back to the front straightaway at Turn 17 and back to the start/finish line.

MORE: NASCAR Cup Series schedule

A graphic depicting the new Charlotte road course layout.
Speedway Motorsports

Marcus Smith, CEO of track-owning company Speedway Motorsports, said the genesis of these changes stemmed from drivers’ adaptations to the current course, noting  increased opportunity for passing in higher braking zones.

“We were losing braking zones with the style and the way that the drivers figured out how to ascertain the ‘Roval’ layout,” Smith said. “So we pushed out the apex of the frontstretch chicane, Turn 16. And then by extending and skipping that amazing blind right hander that you come up the hill in the infield on Turn 5, we’re skipping that straight into another right hander. It’s going to bring you into a hairpin turn and will take you back out on NASCAR Turn 1. So two really distinct braking zones that are going to really help some for the competition, for the overtaking opportunity.”

Steve Swift, the senior vice president of operations and development at Speedway Motorsports, noted the company is working with iRacing on reconstructing the track’s infield to accommodate the incoming changes that will begin to take shape following Sunday’s Coca-Cola 600 (6 p.m. ET, FOX, PRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

“Once the 600’s finished up, we’ll tear into the dirt and start moving some things around to get this in place by this fall for this (October) race,” Swift said. “We’ve got to make sure geometry (is accurate). And we’ve met with some of the drivers to talk through some of the little nuances to make sure we’re putting in the things in from a safety perspective and a competition perspective for sure.

“We’ve worked out all those kinks and got the actual design drawings and we’re ready to go to work as soon as the 600 rolls out.”

Posted on by Staff Report

Justin Allgaier started Sunday’s Coca-Cola 600 in the No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet in place of Kyle Larson, who remained in Indianapolis to compete in the weather-delayed Indy 500.

Allgaier, who drives full-time for JR Motorsports in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, was with the Hendrick team in the garage Sunday afternoon going through final systems check.

Heavy rain and severe weather in Indianapolis forced a lengthy delay to the start of the Indianapolis 500, the first race Larson planned to run as part of his attempt at the “Double.” With that race slated to start at approximately 4:45 p.m. ET, the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series champion didn’t make it back in Charlotte in time for the green flag of today’s Cup Series event.

Because Larson qualified the No. 5 Chevrolet car Saturday, the driver change meant Allgaier started from the rear of the field.

“Which makes it even more difficult,” Allgaier told reporters with a laugh. “It does give me some time to get acclimated to the car. … This car is still really, really different (than the Xfinity Series car). We’re going to have challenges.

“The goal obviously is to start and go as hard as we can. If you lay up at all at the beginning of the race, you’ll go a lap down early. I have to get acclimated within the first few laps to do my job well.”

A few more notes on today:

• Larson will need a waiver from NASCAR to qualify for the 2024 Playoffs. The Rule Book states all playoff drivers must start every race, but NASCAR can award a waiver for extenuating circumstances.

• With Allgaier starting the race, he is the official driver of record. That means if Larson joins the race in progress and puts the No. 5 in Victory Lane, it would be a win for Allgaier.

• Because he will not start the race, Larson will not receive points — even if he finishes the race in the No. 5 car.

“No matter what time Kyle gets here, I want to give him the best opportunity to win the race,” Allgaier said. “There is no doubt in my mind he’s got the opportunity to win both races. My goal is to keep him get as far forward as we possibly can.”

Posted on by Alex Cadavid

Editor’s note: Original projections have been updated after Saturday practice and qualifying.

After a wild All-Star Race Weekend that saw tempers flare and $1 million paid out to Joey Logano, the Cup Series regular season is back in full swing this weekend with a crown-jewel race on tap in the Queen City.

RELATED: Set your Fantasy Live roster | Weekend schedule

The advance metrics once again have sights set on Kyle Larson to end up in Victory Lane, despite there being a chance he might not make it to the race because of delays in Indianapolis. Larson, of course, is attempting the Memorial Day double, which is a challenge unto itself, but if Larson makes it to race in Charlotte, he will be on a 1.5-mile track where he has dominated.

In 2021, when Larson won the Coca-Cola 600, he swept each stage and led 327 laps. He also has 21 stage wins on 1.5-mile tracks since ’21 and has the most top-five finishes in night races in the Next Gen era with seven.

Following Larson in the projections are Joe Gibbs Racing’s Denny Hamlin and Martin Truex Jr. (up two spots since the original projection), 23XI Racing’s Tyler Reddick and Hendrick’s Chase Elliott.

William Byron, Ryan Blaney, Alex Bowman, Christopher Bell and Ross Chastain round out the projected top 10.

OTHER DRIVERS TO WATCH

TYLER REDDICK: Reddick has impressively finished in the top 10 in each of his four Coca-Cola 600 starts, giving him an average finish of 7.0 in NASCAR’s longest race and ranking second-best all-time among drivers with more than two starts. Reddick also has scored the second most points on 1.5-mile tracks (113) this season.

MARTIN TRUEX JR.: Truex has remained consistent all year. He currently sits second in the driver standings and is the only one without a trip to Victory Lane in the top six, but that could change soon. Truex has led the most laps in four of the last nine Coca-Cola 600s, including his remarkable 2016 win where he led 392 laps.

CHASE ELLIOTT: Elliott’s 9.85 average finish is currently the best in the Cup field. He already has an intermediate win this year at Texas. At Charlotte, he has finished top five in four of the last six oval races, including a pair of runner-up finishes in the last five events and Hendrick has won 12 Coca-Cola 600s.

CHRIS BUESCHER: The Buescher camp has suffered heartbreak in the last two points-paying races. Despite that, the No. 17 team has been hitting its stride and has been in contention to win in a handful of races this year. Charlotte could be the weekend they finally put it all together and get a breakthrough win.

KYLE BUSCH: It’s been an up-and-down year for Rowdy, but across the last seven Coca-Cola 600s, he’s finished sixth or better. His 1,061 laps led in the 600 ranks third best all-time. Not to mention Busch has 16 career wins on 1.5-mile tracks. Plus, two of Busch’s five top-10 finishes came on intermediates this year.

RACING INSIGHTS’ PROJECTIONS FOR THE COCA-COLA 600

Racing Insights’ advanced statistical formula includes current track, current track type, recent performance, team data and pit-crew data to arrive at a projected winner and full race results.

FinishCar NumberDriver
15Kyle Larson
211Denny Hamlin
319Martin Truex Jr.
445Tyler Reddick
59Chase Elliott
624William Byron
712Ryan Blaney
848Alex Bowman
920Christopher Bell
101Ross Chastain
1154Ty Gibbs
128Kyle Busch
136Brad Keselowski
1423Bubba Wallace
1514Chase Briscoe
1622Joey Logano
1710Noah Gragson
1899Daniel Suárez
1934Michael McDowell
2017Chris Buescher
214Josh Berry
223Austin Dillon
2347Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
2443Erik Jones
2541Ryan Preece
2642John Hunter Nemechek
2751Justin Haley
287Corey LaJoie
2977Carson Hocevar
3071Zane Smith
312Austin Cindric
3221Harrison Burton
3338Todd Gilliland
3431Daniel Hemric
3584Jimmie Johnson
3615Kaz Grala
3716Shane van Gisbergen
3850Ty Dillon
3944J.J. Yeley
4066BJ McLeod

Posted on by Staff Report

Severe weather in the greater Indianapolis area created a string of uncertainties and, ultimately, a worst-case scenario for Kyle Larson’s attempt to run “The Double” on Sunday. In the end, the Hendrick Motorsports driver stayed in Indianapolis to race in the Indy 500 and missed the start of the Coca-Cola 600.

Persistent rain and lightning put the Indy 500 in line for a 4:45 p.m. ET start, meaning Larson was not able to run both the Indianapolis 500 and Coca-Cola 600 in full as planned.

Hendrick Motorsports confirmed Sunday afternoon that Larson would stay in Indianapolis, and he took the green flag from the fifth position before ultimately finishing 18th. After an early miscue on a restart, Larson appeared comfortable on the track in an open-wheel machine. He methodically worked his way up and was running as high as sixth place before a late pit-road speeding penalty dashed his day.

Larson led a handful of laps late during pit cycles, but had to pit from the lead for fuel with less than 20 laps remaining. His plan now: Board a plane and fly to Charlotte to join the in-progress Cup Series race.

“I would definitely love to be back next year,” Larson said after the race. “I feel like I learned a lot throughout the race. I made a couple of mistakes early on the restart, but felt like I did a really good job on the restarts. … Obviously, I smoked a left-front or something on the green-flag stop and killed our opportunity. I’m proud to finish, but I’m pretty upset at myself. I just could have executed a better race. You never know what could have happened.”

RELATED: NASCAR garage eager to watch Larson attempt ‘Double’

On standby for Larson in Charlotte was Justin Allgaier, a longtime veteran of the NASCAR Xfinity Series with 24 victories, 146 top fives and 267 top 10s, tied for the series record.

Allgaier started the Coca-Cola 600, meaning Larson — the current regular-season points leader — will need a waiver from NASCAR to be eligible for the 2024 NASCAR Playoffs. According to the NASCAR Rule Book, drivers must start all points races to be eligible for the postseason. The sanctioning body could grant a waiver to that rule for extenuating circumstances.

In last week’s time trials, Larson qualified fifth in his No. 17 Arrow McLaren Dallara-Chevrolet for his inaugural Indy 500 appearance. Back in his weekly wheelhouse on Saturday, Larson drove the No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet to a 10th-place qualifying effort around the 1.5-mile Charlotte Motor Speedway.

“It’s not just my decision,” Larson said of his Sunday plans. “I think it’s everyone within Hendrick — Rick Hendrick, Hendrick Automotive Group, Hendrick Motorsports, I think we’re all part of the decision. … There’s just been so much time and investment to make this Indy 500 happen. It’s been a build-up for over a year, so we need to run it, and I want to. I feel like I’ve got a really good shot to have a good run and potentially win. I want to be here, but I just wish it would all work out. I just want to be able to race both races the full distance.”

Weather forecasts over the past week warned of Sunday trouble as Larson, 31, attempted to become just the fifth driver to compete in both historic events on the same day. By Thursday, Larson admitted stress from the inclement conditions predicted to interfere, “but you just can’t really do anything or react until it’s kind of the moment,” he said.

Kurt Busch, the 2004 NASCAR Cup Series champion and 2017 Daytona 500 winner, was the last NASCAR racer to attempt the double back in 2014. Busch collected the Indy 500 Rookie of the Year honors with a sixth-place finish in Indianapolis before finishing 40th at Charlotte due to a mid-race engine failure.

Posted on by Chris Murdock

CONCORD, N.C. — Perhaps the busiest driver in the Cup Series garage, Kyle Larson has had no shortage of air time — literally in terms of flying to and from Charlotte, North Carolina and Indianapolis, Indiana, and figuratively relating to the coverage around his anticipated attempt at the double.

On Sunday, Larson, the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series champion, will race both the Indianapolis 500 and the Coca-Cola 600 (6 p.m. ET, FOX, PRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) in the same day.

RELATED: Cup Series lineup | At-track photos: Charlotte

Although NASCAR’s best are preparing for their own war of attrition as they prepare to strap in for a 600-mile endurance race, most of them have their eyes on the Elk Grove, California, native as he shines as stock-car racing’s Indy example at the Brickyard.

“I’m interested just like all you guys are,” Denny Hamlin said Saturday. “I’m a fan of his tomorrow, at least until 6 p.m., and then I’ll switch to being his rival. We’re rooting for him. Certainly, it would be hard-pressed for any of these Cup Series drivers not to be rooting for him. He’s representing us and NASCAR tomorrow, so hopefully, he has a great run tomorrow.”

Team Penske driver Austin Cindric looks at Larson’s attempt in a different light as he has experience with the IndyCar operation within his own team’s race shop. He ultimately wishes nothing but the best for his typical Sunday competition.

“I think he’s living the racer’s dream in a lot of ways, to go run the Indy 500 but also do it two environments with running the double in two well-oiled programs,” Cindric said. “Obviously, even with an additional entry to McLaren, they’ve been on their game, Kyle’s been on his game. He’s, in my opinion, a generational talent, so not necessarily surprised but definitely intrigued to see him running so well. Hopefully, Penske can keep it one-two-three; I think it suits my narrative the best if he finishes fourth.”

Kyle Larson looks on from the NASCAR Cup Series qualifying grid at Charlotte ahead of the Coca-Cola 600.
Alex Daus | NASCAR Digital Media

Indiana native Chase Briscoe is no stranger to the Indianapolis 500, attending a span of six straight Indy 500s a decade ago and is excited to be represented on a different stage — not only to put NASCAR on display but to bring back the representation of sprint car drivers.

“I think for me, the sprint car side of things is what’s the coolest, knowing that he is a sprint car guy and tying it back to the Indy 500,” Briscoe said. “We haven’t had a sprint car guy at the Indy 500 since Bryan Clauson, so it’s pretty cool to have the sprint car world kind of behind Kyle.

“I mean, I think now, we all know him as this NASCAR guy, but to me, he’s still just a sprint car guy, and it’s cool to have a sprint car guy represented in the Indy 500.”

MORE: Cup Series standings

Hendrick Motorsports drivers Chase Elliott and William Byron, Larson’s NASCAR teammates, have tried their best to keep up with their fellow teammate as he makes this 1,100-mile endurance run on Sunday both while Larson makes laps around the 2.5-mile Indianapolis Motor Speedway and the work that the 2021 Cup Series champion puts into his No. 5 car back at the Concord, North Carolina race shop.

“I’ve tried to keep up for sure,” said Elliott. “It’s been fun to watch what I have been able to keep up with, and it seems like they’re doing a great job at Indy. Obviously, I work closely with Cliff (Daniels), and I hear a lot from him, way more than the IndyCar side.

“(Cliff) is a really well-prepared guy, so I know he’s gonna do what it takes to make sure his side of the picture goes really well. So, I wouldn’t be concerned if I was Kyle or anybody else, but I think they seem to be handling it all really well.”

“I love it,” William Byron said. “I’m just admiring what he’s been able to do, obviously not surprised. I think Dale Jr. said this: ‘Not surprised but impressed.’ I feel like he picks it up so naturally, and I would love to pursue that one day.”

Larson is already off to a hot start for the big day with a fifth-place starting position for the Indianapolis 500 and a 10th-place grid spot when he arrives for the Coca-Cola 600.