Christopher Bell won the Coca-Cola 373.5. That’s what the distance was when rain forced NASCAR to cut short the race at Charlotte Motor Speedway Sunday (5/26).
The NASCAR tradition of the longest race of the year the Sunday before Memorial Day started off looking like it was going to a great 600-mile race for fans to enjoy. There was plenty of racing side-by-side and even tire strategy that was playing into the race from nearly the beginning.
It appeared that William Byron, Ty Gibbs and Christopher Bell would likely be the three cars battling for the win. That is if they could all make to the end of the race with their cars running as well as they were through the first half of the race.
William Byron claimed the win in stage one. Christopher Bell was leading when a caution came out late in stage two ending the stage under the yellow flag and giving Christopher the win in the stage.
It was not quite half-way through the third stage when drivers were being told that weather was approaching the track. It was the same storm system that delayed the start of the Indianapolis 500 earlier in the day. This brought a sense of urgency to the drivers and teams.
Christopher Bell took the lead for the sixth time in the race and totaled a race-high 90 laps as the leader when lightening and rain forced NASCAR to bring the cars to pit road and park them for a delay for weather. During that delay the rain increased making it tougher and tougher for the track personnel to try to dry the track.
Ultimately, it was decided that it would well into the early morning hours before they would be able to get the track dry enough to race again. That paired with the fact that the race had passed the half-way point forced officials to end the race by NASCAR rule. That meant the order the cars were parked on pit road is the order they would finish in the race.
Christopher Bell got his first win at Charlotte Motor Speedway in the NASCAR Cup Series. It is his second win of the season and his 8th career win in NASCAR’s top division.
Brad Keselowski was awarded second-place with William Byron getting credit for third. See the complete 2024 Coca-Cola 600 race results here.
Denny Hamlin moves up two spots in the standings to take over as the leader. Martin Truex Jr. holds steady in second-place. Kyle Larson slides back to third from being the leader. See the complete NASCAR Cup Series Point Standings here.
The drivers and teams head to World Wide Technology Raceway (just across the Mississippi River from St. Louis in Madison, IL) for the Enjoy Illinois 300 this Sunday, June 2nd.
By: Buck Stevens
