Over the closing laps of Sunday night’s Coca-Cola 600, Brad Keselowski watched Chase Elliott disappearing ahead of him. It looked like he would have to settle for a second place finish.
But a late caution for a spin by William Byron set up an overtime finish and – almost unbelievably – Elliott came to pit road for tires while Keselowski and Jimmie Johnson stayed out.
Keselowski went on to hold off Johnson over the last two laps to score his first career win in the 600-mile classic.
“We might not have been the fastest car today, but, wow, did we grind this one out,” said Keselowski. “The pit crew at the end, the yellow right before the last had a blazing stop to get us up front and put us in position. All these things just came together and I’m tickled to death. It’s a little overwhelming to be honest.”
While Keselowski celebrated, Johnson’s No. 48 Chevy failed in post-race tech inspection. His car was disqualified, costing him the runner-up position and the stage points he earned in the race.
“Yeah, so tonight after the race, post-race inspection, going through the optical scanning station, the 48 car has failed the post-race alignment numbers in the rule book and will be DQ’d,” NASCAR Cup Series managing director Jay Fabian announced.
Keselowski had to start the race at the back of the field for making unapproved changes prior to the race after qualifying in the ninth starting spot. From there, he and his Team Penske crew kept working their way forward. He even led some laps during green flag pit stop cycles.
But the big moment for Keselowski came on the penultimate caution flag, when Joey Gase spun in turn four with 54 laps to go. A quick pit stop by his team got him off pit road second behind Johnson, and on the restart he wrestled the lead away with Elliott following behind.
Over the next 15 laps, the two leaders diced back and forth for the lead. Elliott moved to the point on lap 362, holding off a counter move from Keselowski before moving away with the lead.
Elliott looked to be en route to his first win of the season before his Hendrick Motorsports teammate, Byron, spun with two laps to go. As the field came around to pit road, Elliott made the move to pit road while Keselowski and Johnson stayed out.
“I know we’ve lost it the way Chase lost it and that really stinks, and today we finally won it that way and I’m so happy for my team,” Keselowski said.
With the race going into overtime, Keselowski and Johnson battled hard on the restart before Keselowski moved to the point with a push from Alex Bowman. Johnson wrestled second back away from Bowman, and then tried to chase down Keselowski.
He would come up just short, as Keselowski scored his first career win in NASCAR’s longest race – and leaves just one of the sports “majors” to capture for his resume to be complete.
“I’m tickled to death. One left, the Daytona 500,” Keselowski said. “It’s been a great 10-year career I’ve had so far and I hate it took me 10 years to get this one. I feel like I’ve had cars and a team good enough to do it many times over and it just slipped through our hands and today it didn’t. I’m just really proud of everyone and persistence pays off.”
Elliott would rebound on fresh tires to cross the finish line in third, but was elevated to second after Johnson’s disqualification.
“You just make the best decision you can based on the information you have,” Elliott said. “When you are leading the race like that, people behind you are going to do the exact opposite of what you do. That was the situation we were put in. (Alan Gustafson, crew chief) made the decision, we stuck with it, and it didn’t work out.”
Just as with all the NASCAR events being run this month, there were not fans in the stands due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The empty grandstands were not lost on Keselowski.
“Yeah, just like kind of bummed,” he said. “Like, man, I wanted to win the 600 my whole life. I wish it was in front of everybody. I recognize that’s not always how it works.”
The race ran mostly clean on the night. The only hard crash came when Clint Bowyer slammed the wall in turn 2 due to a broken lower control arm on his No. 14 Ford, resulting in a brief fire. He was uninjured, but his night was over.
“It knocked the wind out of me there,” said Bowyer. “I mean, we’re 100 laps into a 400-lap race and to be out already, you talk about a helpless feeling. The guys worked really hard on the Rush Truck Centers/Mobil 1 Delvac Ford, but it just wasn’t meant to be. We’ll get ready for next Wednesday and we’ll be back at it.”
Another notable incident occurred before the race began, as the car of Denny Hamlin lost a weight on the pace lap. It took eight laps for his Joe Gibbs Racing crew to replace the weight. Hamlin finished 30th, seven laps down in the end.
Bowman swept the first two segments of the race, while Joey Logano used pit strategy and track position to score the win in the second segment.
Kurt Busch led the first 50 laps before the race was delayed by an hour and eight minutes under a red flag due to rain.
The race was also halted briefly just after the halfway point as NASCAR brought all the cars to pit lane and shut of their engines in a moment of silence in honor of Memorial Day.
Ryan Blaney finished in third, with Kyle Busch in fourth and Kevin Harvick in fifth.
Martin Truex, Jr., Kurt Busch, Tyler Reddick, Christopher Bell and Chris Buescher rounded out the top 10.
Sunday night’s race marks the first of a four race stint for NASCAR at the Charlotte Motor Speedway. The NASCAR Xfinity Series will race at the track on Monday night, with the NASCAR Gander Outdoor Truck Series in action on Tuesday night. The Cup Series is back in the spotlight on Wednesday night for a 500-kilometer race.
NASCAR Cup Series
Charlotte Motor Speedway – Concord, NC
Coca-Cola 600 – May 24, 2020
1. (9) Brad Keselowski, Ford, 405.
2. (3) Chase Elliott, Chevrolet, 405.
3. (26) Ryan Blaney, Ford, 405.
4. (11) Kyle Busch, Toyota, 405.
5. (22) Kevin Harvick, Ford, 405.
6. (8) Martin Truex, Jr., Toyota, 405.
7. (1) Kurt Busch, Chevrolet, 405.
8. (5) Tyler Reddick #, Chevrolet, 405.
9. (15) Christopher Bell #, Toyota, 405.
10. (19) Chris Buescher, Ford, 405.
11. (14) Erik Jones, Toyota, 405.
12. (28) Cole Custer #, Ford, 405.
13. (7) Joey Logano, Ford, 405.
14. (6) Austin Dillon, Chevrolet, 405.
15. (40) Aric Almirola, Ford, 405.
16. (25) John Hunter Nemechek #, Ford, 405.
17. (33) Matt DiBenedetto, Ford, 405.
18. (27) Michael McDowell, Ford, 405.
19. (12) Alex Bowman, Chevrolet, 405.
20. (10) William Byron, Chevrolet, 404.
21. (21) Ross Chastain(i), Chevrolet, 403.
22. (29) Ryan Preece, Chevrolet, 403.
23. (24) Corey LaJoie, Ford, 403.
24. (17) Ricky Stenhouse, Jr., Chevrolet, 402.
25. (16) Ty Dillon, Chevrolet, 401.
26. (4) Matt Kenseth, Chevrolet, 401.
27. (18) Ryan Newman, Ford, 400.
28. (37) Daniel Suarez, Toyota, 399.
29. (13) Denny Hamlin, Toyota, 398.
30. (35) Brennan Poole #, Chevrolet, 398.
31. (31) Gray Gaulding, Ford, 397.
32. (36) B.J. McLeod(i), Ford, 393.
33. (38) Garrett Smithley(i), Chevrolet, 391.
34. (32) Timmy Hill(i), Toyota, 390.
35. (30) Quin Houff #, Chevrolet, 390.
36. (39) Joey Gase(i), Ford, 385.
37. (34) J.J. Yeley(i), Chevrolet, DVP, 251.
38. (23) Bubba Wallace, Chevrolet, Vibration, 164.
39. (20) Clint Bowyer, Ford, Accident, 96.
DQ: (2) Jimmie Johnson, Chevrolet, 405.
Average Speed of Race Winner: 135.042 mph.
Time of Race: 4 Hrs, 29 Mins, 55 Secs. Margin of Victory: .293 Seconds.
Caution Flags: 8 for 52 laps.
Lead Changes: 20 among 11 drivers.
Lap Leaders: K. Busch 1-54;A. Bowman 55-159;J. Johnson 160-162;J. Nemechek # 163;R. Preece 164;R. Stenhouse Jr. 165;A. Bowman 166-223;M. Truex Jr. 224-255;B. Keselowski 256-262;M. Truex Jr. 263-277;J. Logano 278-302;A. Bowman 303;M. DiBenedetto 304-306;J. Logano 307;M. Truex Jr. 308;M. DiBenedetto 309-311;M. Truex Jr. 312-350;J. Johnson 351-353;B. Keselowski 354-362;C. Elliott 363-400;B. Keselowski 401-405.
Leaders Summary: (Driver, Times Lead, Laps Led) Alex Bowman 3 times for 164 laps; Martin Truex Jr. 4 times for 87 laps; Kurt Busch 1 time for 54 laps; Chase Elliott 1 time for 38 laps; Joey Logano 2 times for 26 laps; Brad Keselowski 3 times for 21 laps; Matt DiBenedetto 2 times for 6 laps; Jimmie Johnson 2 times for 6 laps; Ryan Preece 1 time for 1 lap; John Hunter Nemechek # 1 time for 1 lap; Ricky Stenhouse Jr. 1 time for 1 lap.
Stage #1 Top Ten: 88,19,9,8,22,18,3,48,24,1
Stage #2 Top Ten: 88,19,18,24,9,20,22,3,12,48
Stage #3 Top Ten: 22,88,12,48,19,18,20,2,3,24
Top 10 in Points: 1. Kevin Harvick – 291 (1 Win); 2. Joey Logano – 268 (2 Wins); 3. Alex Bowman – 266 (1 Win); 4. Chase Elliott – 241; 5. Brad Keselowski – 235 (1 Win); 6. Martin Truex, Jr. – 235; 7. Ryan Blaney – 212; 8. Denny Hamlin – 209 (2 Wins); 9. Kyle Busch – 209; 10. Aric Almirola – 208.
