Ross Chastain Wins the 600 at Charlotte

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CONCORD, NC – RIS – In a surprising result, Ross Chastain ‘ who qualified last, passed both Denny Hamlin and William Byron to win Sunday’s Coca-Cola 600 to win the race.  it seemed impossible that Ross Chastain could rally from the 40th-place starting spot in his backup car to win the race. Well, the impossible became possible on Sunday night He methodically marching toward the front of the field through the opening three Stages, Chastain put himself in position as the race was drawing to a close. The driver of the No. 1 Chevrolet made an aggressive race-winning pass on William Byron with six laps remaining, and the Trackhouse Racing pilot was able to hold Byron at bay over the final few laps to capture his first career victory in the crown jewel event.

Chastain explained that an accidental decision to pit later than his competitors on the final green-flag pit sequence actually paid massive dividends, and he believes the fresher tires in the closing laps allowed him to make his daring move to get past Hamlin and Byron for the race win.

"To drive on that final run in the World 600 and pass two cars that had been way better all night... Phil Surgen wanted me to pit two laps earlier. I went two laps longer just out of a little bit of confusion. Man, that paid off at the end," Chastain explained. "These Goodyear Eagles held on longer because they were a little bit fresher."

Chastain had crashed in NASCAR Cup Series practice, and instead of attempting to thrash on the damaged primary car, a decision was made to go back to the Trackhouse Racing shop and get the backup car ready. It was that determination from his race team, which fueled Chastain's fire to win Sunday's race.

"When I left the shop last night, I went over and sat in this car for the first time. It was about 10 o'clock when I left. They worked until 2:30 [AM}," Chastain said. "They were back at 5:30 this morning. Most of them drive 30, 45 minutes home. A little shower, I think. I don't even know if they slept. Back there at 5:30. They get this thing ready, and that's the dedication it takes from Trackhouse."

The win marks the sixth victory of Chastain's NASCAR Cup Series career.

Chase Briscoe, who started from the pole, was able to recover from several issues throughout the race to record a third-place finish in the No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota Camry XSE, and he was followed to the finish line by AJ Allmendinger, who put together perhaps the most complete race of the season for Kaulig Racing.

Right behind Allmendinger in the fifth position was Brad Keselowski, who finally scored his first top-five and top-10 finish in what had been a hard-luck season prior to Sunday's grueling event at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

Chase Elliott, Michael McDowell, Christopher Bell, Ryan Preece, and Noah Gragson rounded out the top-10 finishers in Sunday's race.

Hamlin, who went toe-to-toe with Byron for the race lead virtually all race long, finished a disappointing 16th after he had to make an extra pit stop in the closing laps after his team was unable to get enough fuel on what they had believed was their final pit stop of the evening.

Kyle Larson, who suffered a crash on Lap 92 of the Indianapolis 500 earlier in the afternoon, flew to Charlotte Motor Speedway with hopes of ending his day with a win in the Coca-Cola 600. However, Larson, who led 34 laps early in the race, suffered from a really unfortunate race, His day ended on Lap 112.

John Davison
12:00 AM (51 minutes ago)
to me

Unofficial Results: Coca-Cola 600, May 25, 2025 - Charlotte Motor Speedway
Fin, Str, Driver, Car, Laps, Stage 1 Pos, Stage 2 Pos, Pts, Status, Tms, Laps, Playoff Pts
1) 40, Ross Chastain, No. 1 Jockey x Folds of Honor Chevrolet, 400, , 7, 50, Running, 2, 8, 5
2) 3, William Byron, No. 24 Axalta Chevrolet, 400, 1, 1, 65, Running, 14, 283, 3
3) 1, Chase Briscoe, No. 19 Bass Pro Shops Toyota, 400, , , 36, Running, 1, 1,
4) 5, AJ Allmendinger, No. 16 LeafFilter Gutter Protection Chevrolet, 400, 5, 6, 49, Running, , ,
5) 35, Brad Keselowski, No. 6 BuildSubmarines.com Ford, 400, , , 32, Running, 1, 5,
6) 22, Chase Elliott, No. 9 NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet, 400, 9, 10, 37, Running, 1, 2,
7) 15, Michael McDowell, No. 71 Veterans 1001 Chevrolet, 400, 10, , 31, Running, , ,
8) 10, Christopher Bell, No. 20 Rheem Toyota, 400, 3, , 41, Running, 2, 5,
9) 28, Ryan Preece, No. 60 Kroger/Irish Spring Ford, 400, , , 29, Running, , ,
10) 8, Noah Gragson, No. 4 Rush Truck Centers Ford, 400, 8, 9, 32, Running, , ,
11) 11, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., No. 47 FunPops Chevrolet, 400, , , 26, Running, , ,
12) 18, Josh Berry, No. 21 Eero Ford, 400, , , 25, Running, , ,
13) 27, Erik Jones, No. 43 AdventHealth Toyota, 400, , 8, 27, Running, , ,
14) 30, Shane Van Gisbergen #, No. 88 WeatherTech Chevrolet, 400, , , 23, Running, , ,
15) 24, Kyle Busch, No. 8 zone Chevrolet, 400, , , 22, Running, , ,
16) 20, Denny Hamlin, No. 11 National Debt Relief Toyota, 400, 7, 2, 44, Running, 8, 53,
17) 16, Joey Logano, No. 22 Pennzoil Ultra Platinum Ford, 400, , , 20, Running, , ,
18) 34, Todd Gilliland, No. 34 Overplay Ford, 399, , , 19, Running, , ,
19) 19, Ty Dillon, No. 10 Grizzly Nicotine Pouches Chevrolet, 399, , , 18, Running, , ,
20) 26, Austin Dillon, No. 3 Bass Pro Shops/Winchester Chevrolet, 399, , , 17, Running, , ,
21) 29, Cole Custer, No. 41 Texas A&M Ford, 398, , , 16, Running, , ,
22) 4, Chris Buescher, No. 17 Body Guard Ford, 398, 6, , 20, Running, , ,
23) 33, * Connor Zilisch(i), No. 87 Red Bull Chevrolet, 398, , , 0, Running, , ,
24) 7, Ty Gibbs, No. 54 Monster Energy Toyota, 398, , , 13, Running, 1, 6,
25) 36, Cody Ware, No. 51 Jacob Const/Evel Kneivel Ford, 398, , , 12, Running, , ,
26) 12, Tyler Reddick, No. 45 The Beast Toyota, 398, 2, 3, 35, Running, 1, 1,
27) 6, John Hunter Nemechek, No. 42 Dollar Tree Toyota, 398, 4, 5, 23, Running, , ,
28) 31, Riley Herbst #, No. 35 Monster Energy Zero Sugar Toyota, 397, , , 9, Running, , ,
29) 9, Alex Bowman, No. 48 Ally Chevrolet, 397, , , 8, Running, , ,
30) 13, Justin Haley, No. 7 Gainbridge/NC National Guard Chevrolet, 395, , , 7, Running, , ,
31) 14, Austin Cindric, No. 2 Menards/Duracell Ford, 388, , , 6, Running, , ,
32) 37, * Derek Kraus, No. 44 Western States Flooring Chevrolet, 380, , , 5, Running, , ,
33) 38, * Josh Bilicki(i), No. 66 AstraZeneca Ford, 343, , , 0, Fuel Pressure, , ,
34) 39, Carson Hocevar, No. 77 Chili's Ride the 'Dente Chevrolet, 307, , 4, 18, Engine, 1, 2,
35) 32, Bubba Wallace, No. 23 Chumba Casino Toyota, 307, , , 2, Accident, , ,
36) 25, Daniel Suarez, No. 99 Freeway Insurance Chevrolet, 245, , , 1, Accident, , ,
37) 2, Kyle Larson, No. 5 HendrickCars.com Hendrick 1100 Chevrolet, 245, , , 1, Accident, 2, 34,
38) 21, Ryan Blaney, No. 12 BodyArmor Chill Ford, 245, , , 1, Accident, , ,
39) 23, Zane Smith, No. 38 Benebone Ford, 236, , , 1, Accident, , ,
40) 17, * Jimmie Johnson, No. 84 Carvana Toyota, 111, , , 1, Accident, , ,
(i) Ineligible for driver points in this series, (*) Must qualify on time, (#) Rookie

Race Length: 400 Laps, 600. Miles
Time of Race: 4 Hrs, 25 Mins, 8 Secs.
Average Speed: 135.781 MPH
Margin of Victory: .673 Seconds

Fastest Lap: Denny Hamlin, No. 11 National Debt Relief Toyota on lap 210, 29.367 sec

Stage 1 Top 10: 24, 45, 20, 42, 16, 17, 11, 4, 9, 71
Stage 2 Top 10: 24, 11, 45, 77, 42, 16, 1, 43, 4, 9
Stage 3 Top 10: 24, 11, 77, 45, 1, 16, 20, 9, 19, 60

Comments: Ross Chastain won the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway, his sixth NASCAR Cup Series victory.

Prior to the start, the following cars dropped to the rear of the field for the reasons indicated: No. 8, 43 (unapproved adjustments), No. 1 (backup car).

Cautions: 8 for 52 laps;
Laps: 43-51 (No. 5 spin frontstretch [84]);
99-107 (No. 48 incident turn 4 / Stage 1 Conclusion [51]);
113-117 (No. 41, 84, 87 incident turn 4 [35]);
202-208 (Stage 2 Conclusion [Red Flag: Lap 202, 2:08] [5]);
238-243 (No. 38 incident backstretch [6]);
247-251 (No. 5, 7, 99, 19, 12 incident turn 4 [21]);
302-307 (Stage 3 Conclusion [47]);
309-313 (No. 17, 77 incident backstretch [22]).

Lead Changes: 34 among 11 drivers;
C. Briscoe 0;
K. Larson 1;
W. Byron 2-8;
K. Larson 9-41;
W. Byron 42-44;
C. Briscoe 45;
W. Byron 46-102;
C. Bell 103;
W. Byron 104-107;
T. Reddick 108;
W. Byron 109-152;
D. Hamlin 153;
C. Hocevar 154-155;
C. Bell 156-159;
W. Byron 160-204;
D. Hamlin 205;
W. Byron 206-207;
D. Hamlin 208;
W. Byron 209-238;
D. Hamlin 239;
W. Byron 240-261;
D. Hamlin 262-290;
W. Byron 291-294;
D. Hamlin 295;
W. Byron 296-302;
D. Hamlin 303-314;
W. Byron 315-326;
D. Hamlin 327-333;
W. Byron 334-347;
R. Chastain 348-349;
B. Keselowski 350-354;
C. Elliott 355-356;
T. Gibbs 357-362;
W. Byron 363-394;
R. Chastain 395-400.