Ross Chastain ran down William Byron over the final 37 laps to capture the NASCAR Cup Series’ longest race, Sunday night’s Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway in Charlotte, North Carolina.
After fending off a battle with Denny Hamlin, Byron withstood a charge from Chastain until the No. 1 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet suddenly closed a three-tenth’s gap and got by with six laps to go to beat Byron by 0.673 seconds for his first win this season in the 66th running of the event.
The Alva, Florida, native started last at the 1.5-mile speedway after going to a backup car following a wreck in practice Saturday. He led just eight laps in his sixth career win, while Byron managed a race- and career-high 283.
Polesitter Chase Briscoe, AJ Allmendinger and Brad Keselowski completed the top five.
Larson passed Briscoe on Lap 9 but fought with his car and soon tagged the wall hard. The 2021 Cup champ then spun by himself off Turn 4 on Lap 42, forcing him to pit road for a long stop.
Running ninth with three circuits left in Stage 1, Alex Bowman’s No. 48 banged the wall off Turn 4 and slid through the frontstretch grass. Byron won the second segment during the second caution period, while Tyler Reddick and Christopher Bell trailed him.
Byron held an 8½-second lead as Stage 2 neared its end. The two-time Daytona 500 champ then eased to the segment win over Hamlin and Reddick with Carson Hocevar continuing his strong run in fourth.
The 400-lap race’s biggest melee was on Lap 246 after a restart. Daniel Suarez, Ryan Blaney and Briscoe made contact, and Larson and Justin Haley were involved in the sixth caution on the frontstretch.
Hamlin led 34 laps in Stage 3, but Byron worked his way past the No. 11 Toyota in the closing circuits to sweep the first three stages and pocket the maximum bonus points.
Restarting second on Lap 308, Hocevar had the engine on his No. 77 Spire Motorsports ride expire, triggering the eighth caution.
Coca-Cola 600 full results
Ross Chastain
William Byron
Chase Briscoe
A.J. Allmendinger
Brad Keselowski
Chase Elliott
Michael McDowell
Christopher Bell
Ryan Preece
Noah Gragson
Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
Josh Berry
Erik Jones
Shane van Gisbergen
Kyle Busch
Denny Hamlin
Joey Logano
Todd Gilliland
Ty Dillon
Austin Dillon
Cole Custer
Chris Buescher
Connor Zilisch
Ty Gibbs
Cody Ware
Tyler Reddick
John Hunter Nemechek
Riley Herbst
Alex Bowman
Justin Haley
Austin Cindric
Derek Kraus
Josh Bilicki
Carson Hocevar
Bubba Wallace
Daniel Suárez
Kyle Larson
Ryan Blaney
Zane Smith
Jimmie Johnson