Event: Coca-Cola 600
Series: NASCAR Cup Series
Location: Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway (1.5-mile oval)
Format: 400 laps, broken into four stages (100 laps/100 laps/100 laps/100 laps)
Start/Finish: 22nd/6th (Running, completed 405 of 405 laps)
Point Standing: (1st with 289 points, 22 points ahead of Joey Logano)
Note: Race extended five laps past its scheduled 400-lap distance due to a green-white-checkered finish.
Race Winner: Brad Keselowski of Team Penske (Ford)
Stage 1 Winner: Alex Bowman of Hendrick Motorsports (Chevrolet)
Stage 2 Winner: Alex Bowman of Hendrick Motorsports (Chevrolet)
Stage 3 Winner: Joey Logano of Team Penske (Ford)
Stage 1 Recap (Laps 1-100):
● Kevin Harvick started 22nd and finished 14th.
● The No. 4 Busch Light Ford Mustang was lacking rear grip early in the race while in 22nd-place.
● On lap 24, Harvick brought his car to pit road for four tires, fuel and a tire pressure and chassis adjustment. Came out in 19th place.
● After a rain-delay of more than an hour, Harvick pitted on lap 54 for four tires, fuel and a chassis adjustment. He was 16th.
Stage 2 Recap (Laps 101-200):
● Harvick started 18th and finished 11th.
● The No. 4 Busch Light Ford Mustang pitted on lap 102 for four tires, fuel and a tire pressure and chassis adjustment. Crew is taking a big swing at it.
● On lap 153, Harvick pitted for four tires, fuel and a tire pressure adjustment. Was in 13th place.
Stage 3 Recap (Laps 201-300):
● Harvick started ninth and finished 19th.
● The No. 4 Busch Light Ford Mustang came to pit road on lap 205 for four tires, fuel and an air pressure adjustment. Car is still lacking rear grip.
● On lap 256, Harvick pitted for four tires, fuel and a tire pressure and chassis adjustment.
● He did not pit and restarted second late in the stage. However, he fell to 19th.
Final Stage Recap (Laps 301-400):
● Harvick started 17th and finished sixth.
● The No. 4 Busch Light Ford Mustang pitted on lap 303 for four tires, fuel and a tire pressure and chassis adjustment.
● On lap 350, Harvick pitted for four tires, fuel and a tire pressure adjustment. Will restart 12th.
● Harvick pitted on lap 400 for four tires as the race went into overtime.
● On the overtime restart, Harvick moved from 13th to sixth-place, which was the highest he’d been all day.
Notes:
● Brad Keselowski won the Coca-Cola 600 to score his 31st career NASCAR Cup Series victory, his first of the season and his second on the oval at Charlotte. His margin of victory over second-place Jimmie Johnson was .293 of a second.
● There were eight caution periods for a total of 52 laps.
● Only 20 of the 40 drivers in the Coca-Cola 600 finished on the lead lap.
● Harvick remains the championship leader after the Coca-Cola 600 with a 22-point advantage over second-place Joey Logano.
● Harvick earned his seventh top-10 of the season and his 18th top-10 in 37 career NASCAR Cup Series starts on the oval at Charlotte.
● Harvick is the only NASCAR Cup Series driver to have finished in the top-10 in every race this season.
● This was Harvick’s second straight top-10 at Charlotte’s oval. He finished 10th in the last year’s Coca-Cola 600.
● Harvick has finished outside the top-10 at Charlotte’s oval just twice since joining SHR in 2014.
Next Up:
The next event on the NASCAR Cup Series schedule is the Alsco Uniforms 500k on Wednesday, May 27 at Charlotte Motor Speedway. The race starts at 8 p.m. EDT with live coverage provided by FS1 and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.
