May 25, 2025
By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service
CONCORD, N.C. — Welcome to the party, Ross Chastain—and to the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs, for that matter.
Starting from the rear of the field in a backup car his team needed all night to prepare, Chastain ran down the dominant car of William Byron to win Sunday night’s Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
Byron led 283 of 400 laps and swept the first three stages of NASCAR’s longest race. Chastain led the final six after diving below Byron’s Chevrolet entering Turn 1 on Lap 395 and sliding up in Turn 2 to clear Byron off the corner.
Chastain crossed the finish line 0.673 seconds ahead of the Hendrick Motorsports driver to win for the first time this season, the first time at Charlotte and the sixth time in his career.
It was a far cry from Saturday’s practice, when Chastain blew a tire on his No. 1 Chevrolet and crashed into the outside wall between Turns 3 and 4, ultimately forcing his Trackhouse Racing team to build a backup car.
Unable to make a qualifying run, Chastain took the green flag in 40th and spent the rest of the race methodically working his way toward the front.
Chastain had nothing but admiration for his Trackhouse organization.
“When I left the shop last night, I went over and sat in this car for the first time,” Chastain said. “It was about 10 o’clock when I left. They worked until 2:30. 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. There were people there that had their Saturdays off yesterday and they came in.
“To drive on that final run in the (Coke) 600 and pass two cars that had been way better all night … (Crew chief) Phil Surgen wanted me to pit two laps earlier (in the final stage). I went two laps longer (to Lap 350) just out of a little bit of confusion. Man, that paid off at the end. These Goodyear Eagles held on longer because they were a little bit fresher.
“Holy cow, we just won the 600!”
Winner of Saturday’s NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Charlotte, Byron was understandably disappointed at his failure to complete the sweep.
“He was catching me, and I was trying to just defend,” Byron said of the decisive final run. “I was getting a little bit tight. Then the scenario there with the cars we were around (Hamlin after his unscheduled stop and Joey Logano), it was tough.
“So, yeah, he got a run on me and was able to get to the bottom and clear me off of (Turn) 2. Disappointing just to lead that many laps and such a great effort by our whole team. Yeah, I guess just could have anticipated that last run a little better. I ran in dirty air for a long time and heated my tires up. Then we lost a chunk of time and the 45 (Tyler Reddick) about crashed in front of us. Yeah, sucks.
“We’ll just keep going and keep trying to put races together like that.”
Chastain, however, wasn’t a factor for the lead as Byron and Denny Hamlin battled for the top spot in a thrilling third stage that saw them swap the lead nine times.
After the halfway break, when the cars stopped on pit road to honor America’s fallen heroes with a moment of silence, Byron was not as dominant as he had been in the first two stages. Hamlin hounded him mercilessly until Zane Smith spun off Turn 2 to cause the fifth caution on Lap 237.
A five-car wreck in Turn 4 nine laps later eliminated the Ford of Ryan Blaney and the Chevrolets of Kyle Larson and Daniel Suarez. Hamlin ran down Byron after the subsequent restart and passed him for the lead on Lap 262.
Stronger on the long run, however, Byron reclaimed the top spot on Lap 291 and held off Hamlin and Carson Hocevar to complete a sweep of the first three stages. Hocevar was a contender for at least a top-five finish until an engine failure ended his race after 307 laps.
Hamlin continued to challenge in the final 100 laps, until a mistake on pit road foiled his winning chances. During the final green-flag pit stop on Lap 348 Hamlin’s crew failed to get the second can of fuel in the car, and Hamlin bowed out of contention with an unplanned pit stop on Lap 388.
“I’m not a pit guy, but I tried to do everything I could for the National Debt Relief Toyota team,” Hamlin said. “We had a great car, and it was fun battling up front. It was a heck of a battle there.
“I would have liked to see it through, but unfortunately, just didn’t get enough gas in it and had to come back in.”
Pole winner Chase Briscoe overcame a tire violation on his first pit stop to finish third. AJ Allmendinger ran fourth and Brad Keselowski came home fifth, posting his first top-10 result of the season.
Chase Elliott, Michael McDowell, Christopher Bell, Ryan Preece and Noah Gragson completed the top 10.
It’s a good thing Larson has a self-professed short memory, because Sunday was a day to forget for the driver of the No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet. After spinning in Takuma Sato’s wake on Lap 92 of the Indianapolis 500 and falling out of the race, Larson flew to Charlotte to start on the front row for the Coke 600.
For a short while, Larson’s fortunes improved. He passed Byron for the lead on Lap 9 and stayed out front for 33 circuits. During that run, however, Larson slapped the outside wall. On Lap 42, he spun off Turn 4 and slid sideways through the turf in the tri-oval
“The toe might be barely off,” Larson radioed to crew chief Cliff Daniels. “I hit the wall pretty hard, and not square. Check it please.”
The toe (tire angle) was more than barely off, and repeated pit stops couldn’t make it right. Larson’s forgettable day ended in the five-car accident on Lap 246 when the spinning car of Daniel Suarez applied the coup de grace to the suspension of Larson’s Chevrolet.
“Just too many mistakes on my end tonight, and it got me behind,” Larson said after a trip to the infield care center. “I got loose in (while) leading early and smacked the wall and just kind of got us behind, but I thought our team got the car back in better shape there.
“I hate the way that the day went. I wish I could just reset and try again tomorrow.”
Jimmie Johnson’s 700th Cup Series start came to an end just as suddenly. In Turn 4 on Lap 112, Johnson’s No. 84 Toyota broke loose and collected the cars of Cole Custer and Connor Zilisch, the Xfinity Series phenom who was making his first Cup start on an oval track.
Johnson retired from the race in 40th. Zilisch persevered to come home 23rd.
NASCAR Cup Series Race – Coca-Cola 600
