CONCORD, N.C. — The NASCAR Cup Series celebrates one of its most prestigious races with tonight’s Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
Here are a few things to keep an eye on in tonight’s race, which marks the midpoint of the regular season:
Kyle Larson double
Kyle Larson looks to complete the quest started last year when he made his first attempt to run in the Indianapolis 500 and Coca-Cola 600 in the same day. Rain thwarted that attempt. That shouldn’t be an issue Sunday.
Larson seeks to become only the fifth driver to compete in both races in the same day. Only one, Tony Stewart, completed all 1,100 miles.
Larson qualified second at Charlotte and will be among the favorites in tonight’s race. Larson’s three wins, eight top-five finishes, nine top-10 results and 817 laps led this season are his most through 12 races in a season.
Larson has a chance to add to his legacy today in a significant way.
Is Denny Hamlin the luckiest driver?
After qualifying 20th for the Coca-Cola 600, Denny Hamlin walked into the media center and lamented the pit stall he was likely to have. Cup teams pick their pit stalls based on how they qualify. That meant Hamlin would not have one of the better pit stalls. And likely would have either a good car ahead of him or behind him that would make it harder to get into his pit stall or exit it, costing him time.
In last year’s 600, Hamlin got blocked in by Chris Buescher on pit road and lost spots on pit road on each of the caution pit stops last year.
Hamlin worried he was in for a similar night until his luck changed Saturday.
After qualifying, crew chiefs pick their pit stalls. Hamlin’s crew chief, Chris Gayle, selected pit stall 10. The crew chiefs for the two cars starting in the next-to-last row each picked around Hamlin. That put Derek Kraus in the No. 44 car in the stall ahead of Hamlin. Josh Bilicki in the No. 66 car will pit in the stall behind Hamlin.
That’s significant because both cars are not likely to be on the lead lap for much of the race. Hamlin should have an open entry and open exit to his pit stall most of that race. That could help him gain spots on pit road.
Can Tyler Reddick’s team bounce back?
Tyler Reddick enters today’s race having finished outside the top 10 in five of the last six events.
He starts 12th and this is a key race for Reddick and the No. 45 team, according to team co-owner Denny Hamlin.
“The 45 team in specific needs a reset,” Hamlin said. “They need to get back to the basics and not chase a bunch of things. Certainly, with the success that kind of the 20 and the 11 have on intermediates, I think that sometimes you can get caught kind of focusing on the wrong things.
“ … Both of them are all talented enough, the driver, the crew chief, the team. The cars, I know, have absolute speed in them. They just are struggling to find the balance right now.”
Whose mistakes will cost them?
In a 600-mile race, it’s as much avoiding mistakes as having the best car.
Drivers can overcome mistakes, just as William Byron did in Saturday’s Xfinity race. Byron won both stages but was caught speeding on pit road at the start of the final stage. Byron rallied to win in overtime.
Have a penalty or lose time on pit road can be overcome but it becomes harder in the Cup Series with so many good teams and drivers. Sometimes it’s not who wins a race but who loses it.
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