NASCAR’s longest race was created as a test of drivers and their machines, and on that front, even as everything changes, it stays the same.
The Coca-Cola 600 is still one of the races on the drivers’ bucket lists because it’s not often won by average race teams having an average night. It’s also a home game for the teams, as Charlotte Motor Speedway sits in the heart of racing country.
The 2025 edition was no different; that much was evident in the radio transmission of winner Ross Chastain as he crossed the finish line into immortality. No matter what else he does in his career, Chastain now has a crown jewel win in his pocket.
The night began with a dominant performance from William Byron, who swept the first three stages of the race. Every other weekend, that spells a win, but not on 600 night.
Still, the first three-quarters of the race were a little alarming because the Next Gen racecar is supposed to be more competitive on 1.5-mile tracks than it was at Kansas Speedway and the first three-quarters of the Charlotte event. The only organizations to win in 2025 were Hendrick Motorsports, Joe Gibbs Racing and Team Penske (and its affiliate, Wood Brothers Racing). That’s a far cry from the first year of the current car, when nobody had it figured out and it seemed like just about anyone had a chance to win.
Sunday (May 25) looked like nobody had a chance except for Byron. But one thing that makes the 600 so difficult is the transition from day to night and keeping up with changes to keep the car handling well enough to run up front. Byron’s team handled the track expertly for 550 miles and more. But this race had some surprises.
As the last 100 miles ticked by, Denny Hamlin was able to run with Byron. After the final round of green flag stops, Hamlin closed on Byron. The broadcast made note of the margin seemingly every lap, but an issue for Hamlin on what should have been his final stop reared its head: the car had only taken one of the two cans of fuel needed to make it to the finish. The second can wouldn’t engage with the filler valve. Hamlin would have to pit.
Meanwhile, an eye on the timing and scoring monitor revealed something else: in those closing laps, Chastain was faster than both Hamlin and Byron. The broadcast was focused on the Nos. 24 and 11 until Chastain forced the No. 1 into the conversation, shaving off a tenth of a second a lap, and gaining, gaining on Byron.
Chastain caught Hamlin and passed the No. 11. Gaining. Gaining.
But for most of the race, Chastain wasn’t the surprise everyone was talking about.
That surprise was youngster Carson Hocevar, driving for underdog Spire Motorsports. After spinning in qualifying, Hocevar started the night in 39th (one spot ahead of Chastain). But with a surge in confidence after winning the All-Star Open one week ago, Hocevar steadily drove forward.
Hocevar has shown steady improvement this year and is starting to take on the look of a driver whose first win isn’t just a dream. He’s had terrible luck at times, and other times, he’s been the victim of his aggressive driving style. But he’s racing with the leaders at times, and that’s how drivers learn to race the best cars in the field. Hocevar is soaking in those lessons. He’s looking more and more like a driver on the brink.
Hocevar looked the part Sunday night, running just off the lead. He’d settled into a solid third spot behind Byron and Hamlin and challenged them, if not quite completed a pass. He was in a great position on the restart following the conclusion of the third stage, right there with the leaders. And as the green flag fell to start the final stage, the engine in the No. 77 gave out. The 450 miles it lasted would have been plenty to finish most races, but not this one. His run was a surprisingly good one, but on this night, it ended in heartbreak.
Still under the radar on the final restart, Chastain rode out the final round of green flag stops, finally making everyone take notice inside the last 20 laps as he began to inch closer and closer, until he was finally on the bumper of the No. 24.
Chastain’s first attempt to pass Byron fell just short. Chastain has a short fuse and a willingness to overdrive his car, sometimes to his detriment, but this time, he backed off just a fraction, let his tires cool off, and tried again.
With six to go, Chastain made another move, and this time it stuck.
Oh, and by the way, he was driving a backup car that his crew worked on until 2:30 in the morning to build and then came back at 5:30 in the morning to finish setting up. Chastain started the race in the dead last 40th spot. No one in the Cup Series’ modern era had won a race from an official starting spot of last.
That is, until Sunday night.
Chastain’s win was a surprise in that nobody paid him any attention until he was closing on Byron for the lead. He got some mention on the broadcast as he moved forward, but even in the late laps, the focus was on Byron and Hamlin.
But the surprises kept on coming. One was the performance of Kyle Larson, who attempted to become the second driver ever to complete all 1,100 miles of the Indianapolis 500 and the Coke 600 on the same day.
He finished neither. Indy was just his second start in an Indy car, so his mistake on a restart can certainly be excused by inexperience. An ill-timed shift in an ill-handling car spelled disaster as he spun, damaging his No. 17 beyond repair.
At Charlotte, Larson’s woes continued. He got into the wall early, and while his team made repairs and he eventually got back onto the lead lap, he was mired in traffic and was collected by a spinning Daniel Suarez on lap 246, ending his bid in a race where he was a favorite to win.
Larson is a racer and he’s excellent at compartmentalizing his on-track woes, so it’s unlikely that Indy was still playing on his mind by the time he slipped into the wall at Charlotte, but the day was uncharacteristically underwhelming for Larson.
Perhaps the biggest surprise Sunday held for fans was the race broadcast itself. The first of five races on Amazon Prime’s portion of the schedule was an outstanding production. It featured far fewer commercials than previous Coke 600s on FOX and didn’t have any of FOX’s gimmicks, either.
Aside from a few on-screen graphics pointing out the cars, there weren’t any over-the-top in-race features. There were well-placed cameras that caught more action than just the leaders. Maybe Dale Earnhardt Jr. was a tad rusty after a year off, but he and his counterparts still brought insightful commentary. Carl Edwards proved a solid addition to the broadcast. At times, he exuded the excitement of a kid seeing a race at the track for the first time. Pit reporting was efficient and spot on.
After the race, the broadcast stayed on air with extensive coverage, including an at-track post-race show that featured Byron, Earnhardt and others as well as Chastain and Trackhouse team owner Justin Marks.
All in all, Prime’s stripped-down, talent-rich broadcast was perhaps the best race coverage fans have been treated to in years.
For a race that started as just another race, the Coca-Cola 600 was full of surprises and a race to remember. It was something that the sport needed — and everyone delivered.
Amy is an 20-year veteran NASCAR writer and a six-time National Motorsports Press Association (NMPA) writing award winner, including first place awards for both columns and race coverage. As well as serving as Photo Editor, Amy writes The Big 6 (Mondays) after every NASCAR Cup Series race. She can also be found working on her bi-weekly columns Holding A Pretty Wheel (Tuesdays) and Only Yesterday (Wednesdays). A New Hampshire native whose heart is in North Carolina, Amy’s work credits have extended everywhere from driver Kenny Wallace’s website to Athlon Sports. She can also be heard weekly as a panelist on the Hard Left Turn podcast that can be found on AccessWDUN.com's Around the Track page.