NASCAR Coca-Cola 600 Preview
The No. 2 Ford driven by Brad Keselowski is the last non-Chevy to win the Coca-Cola 600.
The Coca-Cola 600 is the longest race on the NASCAR schedule, so sometimes it isn’t the driver with the fastest car that comes away with the win, but rather the driver with the most endurance.
Held at the historic Charlotte Motor Speedway, the race will take place under the lights and the first driver to complete 400 laps around the 1.5 mile tri-oval comes home with the first-place trophy.
Six-time Sprint Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson won last year’s Coca-Cola 600 in his No. 48 Chevrolet, but was penalized with a written warning by NASCAR after last weekend’s All-Star Race because his pit crew was caught modifying the side skirt on his car.
Matt Kenseth and his No. 20 Toyota won the pole for this week’s event with a lap time of 194.252 mph. He’ll be joined on the front row by the No. 22 Ford driven by Joey Logano.
Legendary driver Jeff Gordon will be starting 18th. This will be his last start in the Coca-Cola 600 after announcing he will join the Fox broadcast team in 2016. Gordon announced prior to the first race at Daytona this would be his last season as a full-time driver, as he would be retiring. Gordon picked up the first of his 92 career wins at the 1994 Coca-Cola 600.
Fan favorites Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Danica Patrick will be starting 15th and 20th, respectively.
The track for this weekend’s race is one of the fastest the series visits. Those great speeds are helped made possible by the 24-degrees of banking in the turns and 5-degrees of banking on the straightaways.
The race will start at 6pm on Fox.
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