2018 Coca-Cola 600


The 2018 Coca-Cola 600, the 59th running of the event, was a Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race held on May 27, 2018 at Charlotte Motor Speedway in Concord, North Carolina. Contested over 400 laps on the 1.5 mile asphalt speedway, it is the 13th race of the 2018 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series season.

Report

Background

The race was held at Charlotte Motor Speedway, which is located in Concord, North Carolina. The speedway complex includes a quad-oval track that will be utilized for the race, as well as a dragstrip and a dirt track. The speedway was built in 1959 by Bruton Smith and is considered the home track for NASCAR with many race teams based in the Charlotte metropolitan area. The track is owned and operated by Speedway Motorsports Inc. with Marcus G. Smith serving as track president.

First practice

Denny Hamlin was the fastest in the first practice session with a time of 28.401 seconds and a speed of.

Qualifying

Kyle Busch scored the pole for the race with a time of 28.149 and a speed of.

Practice (post-qualifying)

Second practice

Second practice session for Saturday was cancelled due to weather.

Final practice

Erik Jones was the fastest in the final practice session with a time of 28.870 seconds and a speed of.

Race

Stage Results

Stage 1
Laps: 100
Stage 2
Laps: 100
Stage 3
Laps: 100

Final Stage Results

Stage 4
Laps: 100

Race statistics

  • Lead changes: 4 among different drivers
  • Cautions/Laps: 11 for 54
  • Red flags: 0
  • Time of race: 4 hours, 23 minutes and 22 seconds
  • Average speed:

Media

Television

Fox Sports televised the race in the United States for the eighteenth consecutive year. Mike Joy was the lap-by-lap announcer, while three-time Coca-Cola 600 winner, Jeff Gordon and five-time race winner Darrell Waltrip were the color commentators. Jamie Little, Regan Smith, Vince Welch and Matt Yocum reported from pit lane during the race.

Radio

Radio coverage of the race was broadcast by the Performance Racing Network, and was simulcasted on Sirius XM NASCAR Radio. Doug Rice, Mark Garrow and Wendy Venturini called the race in the booth when the field raced through the quad-oval. Rob Albright reported the race from a billboard in turn 2 when the field was racing through turns 1 and 2 and halfway down the backstretch. Pat Patterson called the race from a billboard outside of turn 3 when the field raced through the other half of the backstretch and through turns 3 and 4. Brad Gillie, Brett McMillan, Jim Noble and Steve Richards were the pit reporters during the broadcast.

Standings after the race

;Drivers' Championship standings
;Manufacturers' Championship standings