It has been a long, long weekend, but the time has finally come. It was a home game tonight for the greatest drivers in the world as they fired their engines to take on the Charlotte Motor Speedway. A crown jewel of NASCAR, the Coca-Cola 600 is a marathon that focuses just as much on survival as it does sheer speed. You can’t be in contention to win if you make a mistake that wipes you or someone else out of the race. It’s a long race and one of the key things drivers focus on for this event is patience.
There were a lot of storylines heading into today’s race. The obvious one being Kyle Larson’s ill-fated Double attempt. He crashed out in Indy but rolled off second here today in his number 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet. It also marks Amazon Prime’s first broadcast for NASCAR. Heading the booth tonight was Adam Alexander with NASCAR Hall of Famer Dale Earnhardt Jr. and crew chief Steve Letarte as the color commentators. Many fans were excited and curious as to what they can bring to the table compared to FOX. Jimmie Johnson, a four-time champion of the Coca-Cola 600, also made his 700th start tonight.
So, with all those storylines put out there for us to follow and examine, it’s time to start our engines. Here are the 4 biggest takeaways from the 2025 running of the Coca-Cola 600.
One of the deciding factors in this race was the race off pit road. For the final green flag pit stop of the race, Byron and Hamlin pitted together, nose-to-tail. However, on exit, Byron got through the gears better, cushioning Byron with a 1.5-second lead over Hamlin. It appeared as though it was William Byron’s race to lose. We then found out that Denny Hamlin didn’t get his car full of fuel. This was due to the female and male parts of the second gas could not connect properly. This resulted in a gas spill for Hamlin and the 11 car was away without taking any fuel from that second can. He was about 12 laps short from the end. That was the final nail in the coffin for Hamlin’s chances.
After Hamlin’s issue, it looked like Byron had this one in the bag. Unfortunately, out of nowhere, Ross Chastain chased him down and passed him with 5 laps to go. In the last two laps, William Byron tried multiple times to dive in low in turns 3 and 4. He gained some momentum but, ultimately, his number 24 car was all used up. Ross Chastain went on to win the 2025 Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway. This was Chastain’s first win of the season and he officially punched his ticket to the NASCAR Playoffs.
All eyes were on Larson today as he attempted, for the second consecutive year, to complete all 1,100 miles of the Indianapolis 500 and Coca-Cola 600 Double. Needless to say, it has been an eventful month of May for Larson. Prior to him starting practice at Indy on Tuesday of last week, Kyle Larson won the last points-paying race at Kansas. Then, the next week, he qualified 21st for the Indy 500 and ran well in the All-Star Race at North Wilkesboro and was contending for the lead when he got into the wall and bent a right rear toe link.
This year, Larson’s performance in the Indy 500 didn’t quite rise to expectations. After the Penske cars were disqualified, he started 19th and ran in the bottom half of the top 20 the rest of his race. On Lap 94, just shy of halfway, Larson’s car snapped loose while battling for 17th. He went around and backed it into the wall. You can read all about his performance in this year’s Indy 500 in the article below.
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When Larson touched down in Charlotte, he had something to prove. He started on the outside pole and ran there for a little bit before challenging his teammate William Byron for the race lead. Larson cleared Byron and was officially atop the scoring board in NASCAR’s Hub.
Unfortunately, like last week at Wilkesboro, Larson was pushing his number 5 Hendrick Chevy a little too hard. Coming out of turn 4, before even getting to the end of the first stage, the car stepped out from behind him. From the lead, Kyle Larson spun down into the infield. Fortunately for him, he was able to keep it off the wall and the underbody was undamaged. Thank goodness for the turf at Charlotte Motor Speedway as opposed to real grass! Watch him go around in the snippet below.
Though he didn’t receive any damage, Kyle Larson did get into the wall earlier in the run. He came over the radio and expressed concern for how it might affect the handling of the car as the race went on. They made several pit stops in the cautions that followed and Larson fell down to 26th, one lap down by the end of Stage 2.
Near the halfway point of the third stage, Kyle Larson was back on the lead lap and trying his best to work his way through the field. Unfortunately, being that far back in traffic, he was more at risk than others to be caught up in someone else’s mess. That was exactly what happened. Racing three-wide coming out of turn 4, Daniel Suarez thought he was clear of the 19 of Briscoe. He was not. As a result, Briscoe turned Suarez into Ryan Blaney. This wreck caused Blaney to DNF for the fifth time this year. Also caught up in the carnage was Kyle Larson. Larson drove into the infield to avoid the carnage but was tagged in the right rear by Suarez, who turned down the track. The impact broke the right rear toe link, ending his night.
Since rejoining the NASCAR Cup Series as a team owner, Jimmie Johnson’s race results have been less than stellar. After making his return, he has only finished two races, one of those being a 29th-place finish in the Coca-Cola 600 last year. Still, in recent weeks, Legacy Motor Club has shown some improvements in speed. John Hunter Nemechek scored a pair of top 10 finishes and Jones has been pretty sporty as well. After his own 3rd-place finish in the 2025 Daytona 500, maybe Jimmie Johnson was feeling rather confident in his effort tonight.
Tonight, Jimmie Johnson fired his engine in NASCAR for the 700th time. It’s only fitting that this milestone comes at a track where he’s had so much success–Charlotte Motor Speedway. He rolled off 17th tonight. Not too bad for the four-time winner of this race.
At the drop of the green flag, Jimmie started to fall through the field. By the end of the first stage, he had fallen all the way down to 36th, one lap down. During the stage break, Johnson came down pit road for adjustments. When the race restarted, he was again racing in the back of the field. Unfortunately, a crash on Lap 112 ended his race prematurely. As you can see in the clip below, Jimmie got into the wall coming out of Turn 4. As a response, he overcorrected and lost control, taking out Connor Zilisch and Cole Custer in the process. The damage the 84 Toyota received in this wreck was significant enough to end Jimmie’s 700th start prematurely.
On the bright side, his two team cars were looking pretty sporty in the first two stages of the race. John Hunter Nemechek and Erik Jones both collected some stage points here tonight.
Considering that just a handful of years ago NASCAR opted to race at the infield road course in the fall because the racing at Charlotte was so dull is crazy in retrospect. While tracks like Chicagoland, Kansas, and Homestead have been great under any generation of car, the same could not be said for the SMI tracks. This is why Atlanta is now a superspeedway and the fall Charlotte race is on the road course. But ever since we switched over to this new car, Charlotte has become one of the tracks that consistently has the best racing each and every time we go there.
In the earlier stages of the race, it was a one-sided show! William Byron led almost every lap of the first three stages, sweeping them in the process. Since NASCAR introduced stage racing in 2017, twice has a driver won Stage 1 and 2 in the same night. Both of those times, the driver in question went on to win the whole thing. But, as the sun went down, the heat really started to get turned up.
Denny Hamlin and his driver, Tyler Reddick, entered the picture for the win. Behind them were Ross Chastain and Chase Briscoe. Carson Hocevar was even in contention for the win late in the going before his engine expired while running 2nd. That was a heartbreaking turn of events for them. When the race restarted, William Byron and Denny Hamlin played hot potato with the lead, swapping back and forth. It looked as though the cars of Byron and Hamlin were equally strong, perhaps Hamlin having a slight advantage on the short run. Still, as the race went on, Hamlin hung with Byron as he desperately tried to extend his lead.
During green flag pit stops, Byron and Hamlin pitted together, and it was a drag race off pit road. Amazingly, neither were nabbed for speeding, but Byron did a better job getting through his gears. This gave him a slight advantage when they blended in with the rest of the field.
To say that there was some excitement amongst fans that the FOX portion of the season was over and we were heading into the Prime era would be a massive understatement. Fans were starved for some fresh and respectful coverage that didn’t make a mockery of the sport we love so much. Once the best of the best, FOX has fallen off their game. What was acceptable in 2001 and looked so groundbreaking now just comes off as stale and goofy–cartoonish. Fans wanted sophistication when it came to the broadcast of their favorite sport, not silly gimmicks. Not to mention that it is believed by fans that Mike Joy, while still likeable, is past his prime as a play-by-play announcer and many consider Clint Boyer and his antics annoying. And though Kevin Harvick is generally liked, that’s a lot for one man to carry.
Tonight, fans got to see what NASCAR on Prime had to offer and, overall, the feedback has been very positive. Unlike with FOX, this team was assembled by NASCAR Productions, similarly to the broadcast for the Xfinity Series on the CW. It was refreshing to see the sport being taken seriously. The broadcast booth of Adam Alexander, Dale Earnhardt Jr., and Steve Letarte was much more polished than with FOX. Not to mention we didn’t get any weird close-ups of kids in the stands. Also gone were the goofy graphics. Overall, the production was cleaner with less gaffes and the constant side-by-side commercials was the icing on the cake.
In our opinion, this is the future of how NASCAR should be broadcast. This is the ideal standard. Maybe it is the Dale Jr. Effect talking, but I think that’s only a small piece of it. The guys at Prime knew how to keep the energy up and create a compelling show for all the fans.
That does it for us, Daily Downforce readers! The greatest (and longest) day in motorsports is officially in the books. What did you think of this race? What about the broadcast? Did you enjoy Prime or do you think there is room for improvements? What about that finish!? Let us know all your thoughts and concerns in socials! And don’t forget to flood Chastain’s X feed with pictures of smashed watermelons!
That’s it for Charlotte! Now, on to Music City in Nashville!
