Disappointing Double for Larson, But Awesome Coke 600

  The Greatest Spectacle in Racing was extra special for the second year in a row because Larson was attempting to be the second driver in history to complete all 1100 miles of both races combined. Unfortunately, the weekend ended in disappointment.

  The start of the Indy 500 was delayed by almost an hour due to precipitation. NASCAR has a new rule in place that will deduct the Playoff points a driver accumulated during the regular season if they miss a race. This meant Larson would be unlikely to finish the entire Indy 500. Larson qualified in the 19^th position and could not make any progress in the early portions of the race. During a pit stop under caution, Larson stalled the car in his pit stall, putting him at the back of the field. After a long green-flag run that saw green-flag pit stops, Larson made his way back into the Top 20 and was finally starting to pass drivers. Things were starting to turn around UNTIL the next restart on lap 92, when Larson got tight in traffic and downshifted, which took him and others out of the race. Despite a poor Indy 500 performance, Larson had a chance to redeem himself at Charlotte. Larson started in second and took the lead early from his teammate, Byron. Larson was hanging onto the lead for a brief while until the car snapped loose off Turn 4 and sent Larson spinning through the grass. This was a big setback for Larson as he now had a car slower than 30^th place after the spin. As the race progressed, Larson was slowly making upward progress as high as the Top 20. However, on a restart in Stage 3, Blaney and Suarez collided with each other, and Larson ended up being an unlucky victim in that wreck, which put an end to his disappointing double attempt. Larson may have had a bad Coke 600 on top of a bad Indy 500, but thankfully, the Racing Gods gave us a great 600 to remember.

  The race started at 6:30 PM with Briscoe on the pole. The race would start on a high note with Larson, Briscoe, and Byron duking it out for the lead. Larson spinning out from the lead was a big shocker and turn of events, since he looked like the best car early on. Afterwards, we would see some solid racing throughout the field with many passes and battles happening on track. The Gen 7 car levels the playing field out a lot more than any other generation of cars, and while this is a detriment to other tracks, it is a benefit at intermediate tracks, especially 1.5-mile tracks. With how high-banked and multi-grooved Charlotte is, we see a lot of close racing, side-by-side battles, and passes whenever NASCAR goes there. While still challenging, drivers could pass each other and do battles with one another for some time. For example, late in Stage 2, Byron had an almost ten-second lead on second place, but second through fifth were duking it out amongst each other. Clean air was still crucial to keeping track position as Byron would aero-block Hamlin for a while in Stage 3, but the Stage ended in a hard-fought battle with the two swapping the lead back and forth. The race ended in a long green-flag run that saw green-flag pit stops, and they would be the difference maker in who won the race. Chastain pitted two laps later than Byron, and the fresher tires would be just enough for Chastain as he ran down and passed Byron for the win with under ten laps to go. With the race featuring many battles for position and the lead and ending in a close, organic battle for the win, the Coke 600 is the best race of the season so far.

  Technical Advisor – Scott Korowotny