{"id":72700,"date":"2020-05-26T10:20:32","date_gmt":"2020-05-26T17:20:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/?p=72700"},"modified":"2020-05-26T10:20:32","modified_gmt":"2020-05-26T17:20:32","slug":"keselowski-takes-coca-cola-600-at-charlotte-motor-speedway","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/keselowski-takes-coca-cola-600-at-charlotte-motor-speedway\/","title":{"rendered":"Keselowski Takes Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"
CONCORD, NORTH CAROLINA – MAY 24: Brad Keselowski, driver of the #2 Miller Lite Ford, celebrates with a burnout after winning the NASCAR Cup Series Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway on May 24, 2020 in Concord, North Carolina. (Photo by Jared C. Tilton\/Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Driver Brad Keselowski brings home a huge OT win at the Coca-Cola 600 after a late caution.<\/p>\n

The race went to overtime for the second time in NASCAR history, Keselowski rushed ahead after a restart on Lap 404 and beat driver Jimmie Johnson to the finish line by .293 seconds to win a race that stretched to 607.5 miles, longest in NASCAR history.<\/p>\n

Elliott led Keselowski\u2019s No. 2 Team Penske Ford by 1.6 seconds before Elliott\u2019s Hendrick Motorsports teammate, William Byron, spun with a flat tire as Elliott\u2019s No. 9 Chevrolet approached the start\/finish line to complete Lap 398 of a scheduled 400.<\/p>\n

Elliott pitted under the eighth caution, as eight drivers stayed out on old tires. Restarting 11th on Lap 404, Elliott charged to third in the two-lap overtime but it wasn’t enough.. On Wednesday, Elliott was running second with a chance to win at Darlington when a misjudgment by Kyle Busch sent him hard into the inside wall minutes before rain halted the race and made a winner of Denny Hamlin.<\/p>\n

“I feel like I\u2019ve thrown this race away a couple of times, and I thought we were going to lose it today,” said Keselowski, who surrendered the lead to Elliott on Lap 363 and watched Elliott gradually pull away. “I know we\u2019ve lost it the way Chase lost it, and that really stinks, and today we finally won it that way (by staying out).<\/p>\n

“It\u2019s major! It\u2019s the Coke 600. That only leaves one major for me, the Daytona 500. We\u2019re checking \u2018em off. We may not have been the fastest car today, but, whoa, did we grind this one out. The pit crew on the yellow before the last had a blazing stop to get us up front.”<\/p>\n

Keselowski\u2019s win was his first NASCAR Cup Series triumph of the season, his second at Charlotte and 31st of his career. The win was Ford\u2019s first in the Coca-Cola 600 since Mark Martin visited Victory Lane back in 2002.<\/p>\n

Elliott unfortunately, found himself in a thankless position after Byron\u2019s spin. Whether crew chief Alan Gustafson brought him to pit road or not for the overtime, cars behind him were certain to do the opposite.<\/p>\n

“That\u2019s got to be a joke,” Elliott said on his radio when the yellow came out for Byron\u2019s spin.<\/p>\n

“You just try to make the best decision you can,” Elliott added after the race. “Those guys are just going to do the opposite of whatever we do. That\u2019s just a part of it. You make decisions and you live with them. It wasn\u2019t the pit call\u2014I think being on offense is fine.<\/p>\n

“Like I said, those guys are going to do whatever\u2019s the opposite of what you do.”<\/p>\n

Opting to stay out, Johnson secured the runner-up position to post his best finish since winning at Dover in the 13th race of 2017. But Johnson\u2019s first thought was for the disappointment his teammate felt.<\/p>\n

“I feel sorry for Chase,” Johnson said. “Last week\u2014Wednesday, it was\u2014he had such a great car, and to be leading here and have the caution come out with a couple to go, I feel bad for him.<\/p>\n

“But I\u2019m very proud of my team, very proud of everybody. Second\u2019s OK, but it\u2019s tough being this close to Victory Lane. But we\u2019ll get there.”<\/p>\n

Rain interrupted the race on Lap 50, necessitating a red-flag period of one hour, eight minutes, 35 seconds for track drying. Starting from the pole after edging Johnson by .009 seconds during qualifying earlier in the day, Kurt Busch led the first 54 laps but lost the lead under caution for the rain and slipped back to 10th by the end of Stage 1.<\/p>\n

Alex Bowman, on the other hand, grabbed the top spot with a two-tire stop under yellow on Lap 54 and won the first 100-lap stage under caution three laps after Clint Bowyer broke a lower control arm in the front suspension and rocketed into the outside wall in Turn 1.<\/p>\n

The No. 14 Ford was billowing smoke when Bowyer climbed out, unharmed but frustrated.<\/p>\n

“It knocked the wind out of me there,” Bowyer acknowledged. “I mean, we\u2019re 100 laps into a 400-lap race, and to be out already\u2014you talk about a helpless feeling. The guys worked really hard on the (car), but it just wasn\u2019t meant to be.<\/p>\n

“We\u2019ll get ready for next Wednesday (the Alsco Uniforms 500 at Charlotte), and we\u2019ll be back at it. I\u2019m going to go somewhere and take this thing (Hans device) off and find somewhere where I can find a cold beer. I\u2019m out of here.”<\/p>\n

Bowman dominated Stage 2, leading comfortably except for a cycle of green-flag pit stops midway through the 94-lap green-flag run to the halfway point. On Lap 203, the cars stopped in line on pit road in remembrance of the fallen heroes who have become such an integral part of the Memorial Day weekend race.<\/p>\n

After pit stops, Bowman kept his advantage and led the first 23 laps of Stage 3, but Martin Truex Jr., the runner-up in the first and second stages, got past Bowman in traffic on Lap 224 and held the point through a cycle of green-flag stops.<\/p>\n

But Truex lost the lead in the pits under caution for Matt Kenseth\u2019s contact with the outside wall on Lap 276, when Joey Logano, Kevin Harvick and Chase Elliott stayed out on old tires. Uncomfortable with the feel of his car after a two-tire stop, Truex restarted fourth and fell back to fifth by the end of Stage 3, which Logano held on to win, with Bowman running second.<\/p>\n

Truex held the held early in the final stage but couldn\u2019t get back to the front after the penultimate restart on Lap 353.<\/p>\n

Ryan Blaney ran fourth, followed by Kyle Busch, Kevin Harvick, Truex and Kurt Busch. Tyler Reddick ran ninth and Christopher Bell 10th, the best finish of the season for the Sunoco Rookie of the Year contender.<\/p>\n

Bowman led a race-high 164 laps, followed by Truex with 87. Keselowski was out front for 21 circuits.<\/p>\n

Wednesday night\u2019s Darlington winner, Denny Hamlin, had a major issue before the race started. On the pace laps, a two blocks of tungsten ballast fell off the No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota, forcing Hamlin to the pits to have the weight replaced.<\/p>\n

By the time Hamlin exited pit road, he was eight laps down, scored 40th. Additional post-race penalties are likely, given how serious an infraction NASCAR deems the failure to secure ballast.<\/p>\n

NASCAR Cup Series Race – 61st Annual COCA-COLA 600
\nCharlotte Motor Speedway
\nConcord, North Carolina
\nSunday, May 24, 2020<\/p>\n

1. (9) Brad Keselowski, Ford, 405.
\n2. (2) Jimmie Johnson, Chevrolet, 405.
\n3. (3) Chase Elliott, Chevrolet, 405.
\n4. (26) Ryan Blaney, Ford, 405.
\n5. (11) Kyle Busch, Toyota, 405.
\n6. (22) Kevin Harvick, Ford, 405.
\n7. (8) Martin Truex Jr., Toyota, 405.
\n8. (1) Kurt Busch, Chevrolet, 405.
\n9. (5) Tyler Reddick #, Chevrolet, 405.
\n10. (15) Christopher Bell #, Toyota, 405.
\n11. (19) Chris Buescher, Ford, 405.
\n12. (14) Erik Jones, Toyota, 405.
\n13. (28) Cole Custer #, Ford, 405.
\n14. (7) Joey Logano, Ford, 405.
\n15. (6) Austin Dillon, Chevrolet, 405.
\n16. (40) Aric Almirola, Ford, 405.
\n17. (25) John Hunter Nemechek #, Ford, 405.
\n18. (33) Matt DiBenedetto, Ford, 405.
\n19. (27) Michael McDowell, Ford, 405.
\n20. (12) Alex Bowman, Chevrolet, 405.
\n21. (10) William Byron, Chevrolet, 404.
\n22. (21) Ross Chastain(i), Chevrolet, 403.
\n23. (29) Ryan Preece, Chevrolet, 403.
\n24. (24) Corey LaJoie, Ford, 403.
\n25. (17) Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Chevrolet, 402.
\n26. (16) Ty Dillon, Chevrolet, 401.
\n27. (4) Matt Kenseth, Chevrolet, 401.
\n28. (18) Ryan Newman, Ford, 400.
\n29. (37) Daniel Suarez, Toyota, 399.
\n30. (13) Denny Hamlin, Toyota, 398.
\n31. (35) Brennan Poole #, Chevrolet, 398.
\n32. (31) Gray Gaulding, Ford, 397.
\n33. (36) BJ McLeod(i), Ford, 393.
\n34. (38) Garrett Smithley(i), Chevrolet, 391.
\n35. (32) Timmy Hill(i), Toyota, 390.
\n36. (30) Quin Houff #, Chevrolet, 390.
\n37. (39) Joey Gase(i), Ford, 385.
\n38. (34) JJ Yeley(i), Chevrolet, DVP, 251.
\n39. (23) Bubba Wallace, Chevrolet, Vibration, 164.
\n40. (20) Clint Bowyer, Ford, Accident, 96.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Driver Brad Keselowski brings home a huge OT win at the Coca-Cola 600 after a late caution.<\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":17,"featured_media":72701,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1082,3470,22],"tags":[3053,4545,2052,7798,127,41,1101,1632],"class_list":["post-72700","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-press-release","category-news","category-event-coverage","tag-brad-keselowski","tag-coca-cola-600","tag-events","tag-keselowski-takes-coca-cola-600-at-charlotte-motor-speedway","tag-nascar","tag-news","tag-press-release-2","tag-racing"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/Brad-Keselowski-e1590513523349.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p42YSK-iUA","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72700","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/17"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=72700"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72700\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":72702,"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72700\/revisions\/72702"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/72701"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=72700"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=72700"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=72700"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}