COCA-COLA 600 NOTEBOOK: How Xfinity race helped ÔRowdy' roll to win and other tidbits from CMS
CONCORD – As it turned out, the 59th running of the Coca-Cola 600 became the Kyle Busch Invitational.
The No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing driver dominated the rest of the field, leading 377 of the 400 laps, en route to his fourth Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series victory of the 2018 campaign.
Talent and a strong race car weren’t the only things that helped Busch to victory lane. He said one element to his dominant performance was feeling out the track by running in Saturday's Xfinity Series Alsco 300 at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
"It seemed like it was more important to run higher (Saturday) than it was tonight," he said. "Tonight, it kind of seemed like the bottom would progress nicely throughout the runs and you could kind of stay down there. It was dependent on what your car was doing on where you wanted to run. My car was so loose yesterday, I had to run higher."
The victory gives Kyle Busch a 67-point lead in the standings over Joey Logano.
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Second place went to Martin Truex, Jr. followed by Denny Hamlin, Brad Keselowski, Jimmie Johnson, Jamie McMurray, Kyle Larson, Kurt Busch, Alex Bowman, and Ricky Stenhouse, Jr.
Busch's crew chief Adam Stevens was confident that even with Truex charging hard toward the end of the race that he would not catch the No. 18.
"It would have worried me more had we got a caution," he said. "Because I felt like (Truex) was pretty strong at the end of the race. But we had such a gap and such a number of cars in between us that the two- or three-tenths that he was making, he wasn't going to be able to close that gap."
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It was a return to the regular aerodynamics package for the Coca-Cola 600 after much conversation about the package used for the All-Star Race, which included a restrictor plate. The package used for the All-Star race received rave reviews.
"Obviously, last week's race arguably would be a bit more entertaining than tonight's race," Busch said. "But we're race car drivers. Our teams and the 600 people at Joe Gibbs Racing try to build fast race cars."
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Last year's winner of the Coca-Cola 600 -- Austin Dillon -- did not fare as well for this rendition. Issues with the No. 3 Chevy's right rear tire prompted the first caution of the race on Lap 37. In addition, Dillon was penalized for speeding on pit road. He reentered the race after the conclusion of the first stage down 52 laps.
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Mother Nature was a story for the last week’s All-Star Race. Mother Nature was a story at the Alsco 300 Xfinity race. The skies above Cabarrus County were once again a potential story for the Coca-Cola 600. At the race's outset, gray skies could be visible in spite of what was said to be a gradually improving forecast for Sunday throughout the week. Nonetheless, no precipitation occurred.
The clouds actually led to cooler conditions on the track prior to the start of Stage 2, which gave tires better grip of the track.
Spectators attending the Coca-Cola 600 more than likely spotted an advertisement at pit road for Charlotte Motor Speedway's "Roval" that will be introduced for the Bank of America 500 in late September. The concept combines the speedway’s traditional mile-and-a-half oval elements with those of a road course, like those in Sonoma and Watkins Glen.
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When pundits refer to the 600 as NASCAR's version of the marathon -- it rings true. This year's race took approximately four hours and 28 minutes to complete.
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With it being Memorial Day weekend, there was no shortage of patriotism and paying homage to the Armed Forces. Several cars featured specially red, white, and blue paint schemes, including the No. 18 Toyota of Kyle Busch, Keselowski's No. 2 Ford, the Johnson's No. 48 Chevy, and the No. 9 Chevy of Chase Elliott.
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Prior to the race, Jeffrey Earnhardt, driver of the No. 55 Angels of America's Fallen Chevrolet gave a press conference to announce the presentation of a $15,000 donation to Angels of America's Fallen. The proceeds came from T-shirt sales from a fundraising initiative between Earnhardt and Nine Line Apparel as he was making his return to the Cup series.
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Every driver, during pre-race introductions, also introduced a member of the U.S. Armed Forces. Captain Skye Martin of the U.S. Marine Corps performed the national anthem.
The pre-race Salute to the Troops also put a spotlight on the Department of Defense's "This is Your Military" initiative. Marching in the pre-race festivities were 600 troops each from the Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force, and Coast Guard. The Fort Bragg Firing Party also participated in a 21-gun salute.
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What is a major event such as the Coca-Cola 600 without a musical number? Providing the tunes before the start of the race were country musicians Eli Young Band.
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N.C. football coach Dave Doeren was on hand Sunday, as was celebrity chef Robert Irvine, who was this year's grand marshal.
The race brought out a few political notables as well -- such as Arkansas governor Asa Hutchinson, Charlotte mayor Vi Lyles, and Rep. Richard Hudson (R-NC). Hudson represents the state's eighth congressional district, which includes all of Cabarrus County.