May 26, 2025 | By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service

Late charge propels Ross Chastain to victory in Coca-Cola 600

CONCORD, N.C.—Welcome to the party, Ross Chastain—and to the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs, for that matter.

Starting from the rear of the field in a backup car his team needed all night to prepare, Chastain ran down the dominant car of William Byron to win Sunday night’s Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

Byron led 283 of 400 laps and swept the first three stages of NASCAR’s longest race. Chastain led the final six after diving below Byron’s Chevrolet entering Turn 1 on Lap 395 and sliding up in Turn 2 to clear Byron off the corner.

Chastain crossed the finish line 0.673 seconds ahead of the Hendrick Motorsports driver to win for the first time this season, the first time at Charlotte and the sixth time in his career.

It was a far cry from Saturday’s practice, when Chastain blew a tire on his No. 1 Chevrolet and crashed into the outside wall between Turns 3 and 4, ultimately forcing his Trackhouse Racing team to build a backup car.

Unable to make a qualifying run, Chastain took the green flag in 40th and spent the rest of the race methodically working his way toward the front.

Chastain had nothing but admiration for his Trackhouse organization.

“When I left the shop last night, I went over and sat in this car for the first time,” Chastain said. “It was about 10 o’clock when I left. They worked until 2:30. They were back at 5:30 this morning. Most of them drive 30, 45 minutes home. A little shower, I think.

…“I don’t even know if they slept. Back there at 5:30. They get this thing ready, and that’s the dedication it takes from Trackhouse. There were people there that had their Saturdays off yesterday, and they came in.

"To drive on that final run in the (Coke) 600 and pass two cars that had been way better all night … (Crew chief) Phil Surgen wanted me to pit two laps earlier (in the final stage). I went two laps longer (to Lap 350) just out of a little bit of confusion. Man, that paid off at the end. These Goodyear Eagles held on longer because they were a little bit fresher.

“Holy cow, we just won the 600!”

Winner of Saturday’s NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Charlotte, Byron was understandably disappointed at his failure to complete the sweep.

“He was catching me, and I was trying to just defend,” Byron said of the decisive final run. “I was getting a little bit tight. Then the scenario there with the cars we were around (Hamlin after his unscheduled stop and Joey Logano), it was tough.

“So, yeah, he got a run on me and was able to get to the bottom and clear me off of (Turn) 2. Disappointing just to lead that many laps and such a great effort by our whole team. Yeah, I guess just could have anticipated that last run a little better. I ran in dirty air for a long time and heated my tires up. Then we lost a chunk of time, and the 45 (Tyler Reddick) about crashed in front of us. Yeah, sucks.

“We’ll just keep going and keep trying to put races together like that.”

Chastain, however, wasn’t a factor for the lead as Byron and Denny Hamlin battled for the top spot in a thrilling third stage that saw them swap the lead nine times.

After the halfway break, when the cars stopped on pit road to honor America’s fallen heroes with a moment of silence, Byron was not as dominant as he had been in the first two stages. Hamlin hounded him mercilessly until Zane Smith spun off Turn 2 to cause the fifth caution on Lap 237.

A five-car wreck in Turn 4 nine laps later eliminated the Ford of Ryan Blaney and the Chevrolets of Kyle Larson and Daniel Suarez. Hamlin ran down Byron after the subsequent restart and passed him for the lead on Lap 262.

Stronger on the long run, however, Byron reclaimed the top spot on Lap 291 and held off Hamlin and Carson Hocevar to complete a sweep of the first three stages. Hocevar was a contender for at least a top-five finish until an engine failure ended his race after 307 laps.

Hamlin continued to challenge in the final 100 laps, until a mistake on pit road foiled his winning chances. During the final green-flag pit stop on Lap 348 Hamlin’s crew failed to get the second can of fuel in the car, and Hamlin bowed out of contention with an unplanned pit stop on Lap 388.

“I’m not a pit guy, but I tried to do everything I could for the National Debt Relief Toyota team,” Hamlin said. “We had a great car, and it was fun battling up front. It was a heck of a battle there.

“I would have liked to see it through, but unfortunately, just didn’t get enough gas in it and had to come back in.”

Pole winner Chase Briscoe overcame a tire violation on his first pit stop to finish third. AJ Allmendinger ran fourth and Brad Keselowski came home fifth, posting his first top-10 result of the season.

Chase Elliott, Michael McDowell, Christopher Bell, Ryan Preece and Noah Gragson completed the top 10.

It’s a good thing Larson has a self-professed short memory, because Sunday was a day to forget for the driver of the No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet. After spinning in Takuma Sato’s wake on Lap 92 of the Indianapolis 500 and falling out of the race, Larson flew to Charlotte to start on the front row for the Coke 600.

For a short while, Larson’s fortunes improved. He passed Byron for the lead on Lap 9 and stayed out front for 33 circuits. During that run, however, Larson slapped the outside wall. On Lap 42, he spun off Turn 4 and slid sideways through the turf in the tri-oval

“The toe might be barely off,” Larson radioed to crew chief Cliff Daniels. “I hit the wall pretty hard, and not square. Check it please.”

The toe (tire angle) was more than barely off, and repeated pit stops couldn’t make it right. Larson’s forgettable day ended in the five-car accident on Lap 246 when the spinning car of Daniel Suarez applied the coup de grace to the suspension of Larson’s Chevrolet.

“Just too many mistakes on my end tonight, and it got me behind,” Larson said after a trip to the infield care center. “I got loose in (while) leading early and smacked the wall and just kind of got us behind, but I thought our team got the car back in better shape there.

“I hate the way that the day went. I wish I could just reset and try again tomorrow.”

Jimmie Johnson’s 700th Cup Series start came to an end just as suddenly. In Turn 4 on Lap 112, Johnson’s No. 84 Toyota broke loose and collected the cars of Cole Custer and Connor Zilisch, the Xfinity Series phenom who was making his first Cup start on an oval track.

Johnson retired from the race in 40th. Zilisch persevered to come home 23rd.


NASCAR Cup Series Race Number 13
Race Results for the Coca-Cola 600 - Sunday, May 25, 2025
Charlotte Motor Speedway - Concord, NC - 1.5 - Mile Paved

Total Race Length - 400 Laps - 600. Miles

Provided by NASCAR Statistics - Sunday, 5/25/2025 @ 11:04 PM Eastern

Fin Str Car Driver Team Laps Stage 1 Pos Stage 2 Pos Pts Status Tms Laps Playoff Pts
1 40 1 Ross Chastain Jockey x Folds of Honor Chevrolet 400  7 50 Running 2 8 5
2 3 24 William Byron Axalta Chevrolet 400 1 1 65 Running 14 283 3
3 1 19 Chase Briscoe Bass Pro Shops Toyota 400   36 Running 1 1
4 5 16 AJ Allmendinger LeafFilter Gutter Protection Chevrolet 400 5 6 49 Running  
5 35 6 Brad Keselowski BuildSubmarines.com Ford 400   32 Running 1 5
6 22 9 Chase Elliott NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet 400 9 10 37 Running 1 2
7 15 71 Michael McDowell Veterans 1001 Chevrolet 400 10  31 Running  
8 10 20 Christopher Bell Rheem Toyota 400 3  41 Running 2 5
9 28 60 Ryan Preece Kroger/Irish Spring Ford 400   29 Running  
10 8 4 Noah Gragson Rush Truck Centers Ford 400 8 9 32 Running  
11 11 47 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. FunPops Chevrolet 400   26 Running  
12 18 21 Josh Berry Eero Ford 400   25 Running  
13 27 43 Erik Jones AdventHealth Toyota 400  8 27 Running  
14 30 88 Shane Van Gisbergen # WeatherTech Chevrolet 400   23 Running  
15 24 8 Kyle Busch zone Chevrolet 400   22 Running  
16 20 11 Denny Hamlin National Debt Relief Toyota 400 7 2 44 Running 8 53
17 16 22 Joey Logano Pennzoil Ultra Platinum Ford 400   20 Running  
18 34 34 Todd Gilliland Overplay Ford 399   19 Running  
19 19 10 Ty Dillon Grizzly Nicotine Pouches Chevrolet 399   18 Running  
20 26 3 Austin Dillon Bass Pro Shops/Winchester Chevrolet 399   17 Running  
21 29 41 Cole Custer Texas A&M Ford 398   16 Running  
22 4 17 Chris Buescher Body Guard Ford 398 6  20 Running  
23 33 87 * Connor Zilisch(i) Red Bull Chevrolet 398   0 Running  
24 7 54 Ty Gibbs Monster Energy Toyota 398   13 Running 1 6
25 36 51 Cody Ware Jacob Const/Evel Kneivel Ford 398   12 Running  
26 12 45 Tyler Reddick The Beast Toyota 398 2 3 35 Running 1 1
27 6 42 John Hunter Nemechek Dollar Tree Toyota 398 4 5 23 Running  
28 31 35 Riley Herbst # Monster Energy Zero Sugar Toyota 397   9 Running  
29 9 48 Alex Bowman Ally Chevrolet 397   8 Running  
30 13 7 Justin Haley Gainbridge/NC National Guard Chevrolet 395   7 Running  
31 14 2 Austin Cindric Menards/Duracell Ford 388   6 Running  
32 37 44 * Derek Kraus Western States Flooring Chevrolet 380   5 Running  
33 38 66 * Josh Bilicki(i) AstraZeneca Ford 343   0 Fuel Pressure  
34 39 77 Carson Hocevar Chili's Ride the 'Dente Chevrolet 307  4 18 Engine 1 2
35 32 23 Bubba Wallace Chumba Casino Toyota 307   2 Accident  
36 25 99 Daniel Suarez Freeway Insurance Chevrolet 245   1 Accident  
37 2 5 Kyle Larson HendrickCars.com Hendrick 1100 Chevrolet 245   1 Accident 2 34
38 21 12 Ryan Blaney BodyArmor Chill Ford 245   1 Accident  
39 23 38 Zane Smith Benebone Ford 236   1 Accident  
40 17 84 * Jimmie Johnson Carvana Toyota 111   1 Accident  

Fastest Lap Bonus:  # lap 210 / 29.367
11                                                                   

Time of Race: 4 Hrs, 25 Mins, 8 Secs. Average Speed: 135.781 MPH Margin of Victory: .673 Seconds

Stage 1 Top 10: 24, 45, 20, 42, 16, 17, 11, 4, 9, 71
Stage 2 Top 10: 24, 11, 45, 77, 42, 16, 1, 43, 4, 9
Stage 3 Top 10: 24, 11, 77, 45, 1, 16, 20, 9, 19, 60

Race Comments: Ross Chastain won the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway, his sixth NASCAR Cup Series victory. Prior to the green flag, the following cars dropped to the rear of the field for the reasons indicated: No. 8, 43 (unapproved adjustments), No. 1 (backup car).

Failed to Qualify: None.

Caution Flags: 8 for 52 laps; Laps: 43-51 (#5 spin frontstretch  [84]); 99-107 (#48 incident turn 4 / Stage 1 Conclusion [51]); 113-117 (#41, 84, 87 incident turn 4 [35]); 202-208 (Stage 2 Conclusion [Red Flag: Lap 202, 2:08] [5]); 238-243 (#38 incident backstretch [6]); 247-251 (#5, 7, 99, 19, 12 incident turn 4 [21]); 302-307 (Stage 3 Conclusion [47]); 309-313 (#17, 77 incident backstretch [22]).

Lead Changes: 34 among 11 drivers; C. Briscoe 0; K. Larson 1; W. Byron 2-8; K. Larson 9-41; W. Byron 42-44; C. Briscoe 45; W. Byron 46-102; C. Bell 103; W. Byron 104-107; T. Reddick 108; W. Byron 109-152; D. Hamlin 153; C. Hocevar 154-155; C. Bell 156-159; W. Byron 160-204; D. Hamlin 205; W. Byron 206-207; D. Hamlin 208; W. Byron 209-238; D. Hamlin 239; W. Byron 240-261; D. Hamlin 262-290; W. Byron 291-294; D. Hamlin 295; W. Byron 296-302; D. Hamlin 303-314; W. Byron 315-326; D. Hamlin 327-333; W. Byron 334-347; R. Chastain 348-349; B. Keselowski 350-354; C. Elliott 355-356; T. Gibbs 357-362; W. Byron 363-394; R. Chastain 395-400.

(i) Ineligible for driver points in this series

Next Race: June 1, 2025 - Nashville Superspeedway

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NASCAR Cup Series Points Report
Charlotte Motor Speedway
Coca-Cola 600

UNOFFICIAL Provided by NASCAR Statistics - Sunday, 5/25/2025 @ 11:40 PM Eastern UNOFFICIAL

Rank Driver Car Starts GL Points Ldr Nxt Race Wins Stage Wins Playoff Pts
1. William Byron 24 13 -1 499 0 0 1 6 11
2. Kyle Larson 5 13 1 470 -29 29 3 8 23
3. Christopher Bell 20 13 0 425 -74 45 3 1 16
4. Chase Elliott 9 13 0 415 -84 10 0 0 0
5. Tyler Reddick 45 13 -1 392 -107 23 0 0 0
6. Denny Hamlin 11 13 -1 390 -109 2 2 2 12
7. Ryan Blaney 12 13 2 363 -136 27 0 2 2
8. Ross Chastain 1 13 -3 350 -149 13 1 0 5
9. Joey Logano 22 13 0 338 -161 12 1 2 7
10. Alex Bowman 48 13 2 333 -166 5 0 0 0
11. Chase Briscoe 19 13 -1 314 -185 19 0 0 0
12. Bubba Wallace 23 13 2 312 -187 2 0 2 2
13. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. 47 13 -1 284 -215 28 0 0 0
14. Ryan Preece 60 13 -1 280 -219 4 0 1 1
15. Austin Cindric 2 13 2 279 -220 1 1 2 7
16. Josh Berry 21 13 0 269 -230 10 1 1 6
17. AJ Allmendinger 16 13 -8 267 -232 2 0 0 0
18. Kyle Busch 8 13 1 266 -233 1 0 0 0
19. Michael McDowell 71 13 -1 259 -240 7 0 0 0
20. John Hunter Nemechek 42 13 2 257 -242 2 0 0 0
21. Carson Hocevar 77 13 2 248 -251 9 0 0 0
22. Todd Gilliland 34 13 -1 246 -253 2 0 0 0
23. Chris Buescher 17 13 -1 244 -255 2 0 0 -5
24. Austin Dillon 3 13 3 244 -255 0 0 0 0
25. Ty Gibbs 54 13 -1 230 -269 14 0 0 0
26. Zane Smith 38 13 4 228 -271 2 0 0 0
27. Erik Jones 43 13 -2 223 -276 5 0 0 0
28. Noah Gragson 4 13 -3 213 -286 10 0 0 0
29. Justin Haley 7 13 1 213 -286 0 0 0 0
30. Daniel Suarez 99 13 3 210 -289 3 0 0 0
31. Ty Dillon 10 13 1 206 -293 4 0 0 0
32. Brad Keselowski 6 13 -1 180 -319 26 0 0 0
33. Shane Van Gisbergen # 88 13 -2 161 -338 19 0 0 0
34. Riley Herbst # 35 13 2 160 -339 1 0 0 0
35. Cole Custer 41 13 1 155 -344 5 0 0 0
36. Cody Ware 51 13 0 80 -419 75 0 0 0
37. * Jimmie Johnson 84 2 0 35 -464 45 0 0 0
38. Corey Lajoie  3 0 24 -475 11 0 0 0
39. Katherine Legge  1 -1 7 -492 17 0 0 0
40. * Derek Kraus 44 1 40 5 -494 2 0 0 0
41. Casey Mears  1 0 2 -497 3 0 0 0
42. Burt Myers  1 0 1 -498 1 0 0 0
43. Chad Finchum  1 0 1 -498 0 0 0 0
44. Martin Truex, Jr.  1 0 1 -498 0 0 0 0
45. Justin Allgaier(i)  1 1 0 -499 1 0 0 0
46. Corey Heim(i)  1 0 0 -499 0 0 0 0
47. Bj Mcleod(i)  2 0 0 -499 0 0 0 0
48. * Connor Zilisch(i) 87 2 -3 0 -499 0 0 0 0
49. Jesse Love(i)  3 1 0 -499 0 0 0 0
50. Anthony Alfredo(i)  1 1 0 -499 0 0 0 0
51. Austin Hill(i)  1 1 0 -499 0 0 0 0
52. Jj Yeley(i)  4 12 0 -499 0 0 0 0
53. * Josh Bilicki(i) 66 2 1 0 -499 0 0 0 0
54. Chandler Smith(i)  0 1 0 -499 0 0 0 0
55. Helio Castroneves  1 1 0 -499 0 0 0 0

-Ldr/-Nxt = Points behind Leader/Next higher, (i) Ineligible for driver points in this series