Ross Chastain, starting from the back of the field in a backup car, executed a remarkable late-race surge to snatch victory from William Byron in Sunday night’s Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
The win marks Chastain’s first of the season, his first at Charlotte, and the sixth of his NASCAR Cup Series career, securing his spot in the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs.
Byron, who dominated the majority of the race, leading 283 of 400 laps and sweeping the first three stages of NASCAR’s longest event, appeared to have the win in hand.
However, Chastain’s No. 1 Chevrolet found another gear in the closing laps. On Lap 395, Chastain dove beneath Byron’s Chevrolet entering Turn 1, then slid up in Turn 2 to clear Byron off the corner, taking the lead for good. He crossed the finish line 0.673 seconds ahead of the Hendrick Motorsports driver.
Chastain’s triumph was a testament to his team’s relentless effort. After a practice crash on Saturday forced Trackhouse Racing to prepare a backup car, Chastain was unable to qualify and started 40th. He spent the entire race meticulously working his way through the field.
“When I left the shop last night, I went over and sat in this car for the first time,” Chastain shared, praising his team’s dedication. “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.”
He added, “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!”
Byron, who had won Saturday’s NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Charlotte, expressed his disappointment at not completing the sweep. “He was catching me, and I was trying to just defend,” Byron explained regarding the decisive final run. “I was getting a little bit tight. Then the scenario there with the cars we were around (Denny Hamlin after his unscheduled stop and Joey Logano), it was tough.” He concluded, “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.”
While Byron dominated early, Chastain wasn’t a factor for the lead during a thrilling third stage where Byron and Denny Hamlin swapped the lead nine times. After the halfway break, honoring America’s fallen heroes, Byron’s dominance waned slightly as Hamlin relentlessly pursued him until a caution for Zane Smith‘s spin on Lap 237.
A multi-car wreck on Lap 246 in Turn 4 eliminated Ryan Blaney, Kyle Larson and Daniel Suarez. Hamlin briefly took the lead from Byron on Lap 262 after the ensuing restart, but Byron, stronger on long runs, reclaimed the top spot on Lap 291 and held off Hamlin and Carson Hocevar to sweep the first three stages. Hocevar’s strong run for a top-five finish was cut short by an engine failure after 307 laps.
Hamlin’s hopes for victory were dashed during the final green-flag pit stop on Lap 348 when his crew failed to adequately fuel his car, forcing an unscheduled 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 stated. “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 placed fourth, and Brad Keselowski secured his first top-10 result of the season in fifth. Rounding out the top 10 were Chase Elliott, Michael McDowell, Christopher Bell, Ryan Preece and Noah Gragson.
For Kyle Larson, it was a day to forget. After spinning out of the Indianapolis 500 on Lap 92, he flew to Charlotte to start on the front row. While he briefly led for 33 laps, hitting the wall early and a subsequent spin on Lap 42 plagued his run. His day concluded prematurely in the five-car accident on Lap 246. “Just too many mistakes on my end tonight, and it got me behind,” Larson admitted. “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 also ended abruptly on Lap 112 when his No. 84 Toyota broke loose in Turn 4, collecting Cole Custer and Xfinity Series phenom Connor Zilisch, who was making his first Cup start on an oval. Johnson retired in 40th, while Zilisch persevered to finish 23rd.
NASCAR Cup Series Race – Coca-Cola 600
Charlotte Motor Speedway
Concord, North Carolina
Sunday, May 25, 2025
- (40) Ross Chastain, Chevrolet, 400.
2. (3) William Byron, Chevrolet, 400.
3. (1) Chase Briscoe, Toyota, 400.
4. (5) AJ Allmendinger, Chevrolet, 400.
5. (35) Brad Keselowski, Ford, 400.
6. (22) Chase Elliott, Chevrolet, 400.
7. (15) Michael McDowell, Chevrolet, 400.
8. (10) Christopher Bell, Toyota, 400.
9. (28) Ryan Preece, Ford, 400.
10. (8) Noah Gragson, Ford, 400.
11. (11) Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Chevrolet, 400.
12. (18) Josh Berry, Ford, 400.
13. (27) Erik Jones, Toyota, 400.
14. (30) Shane Van Gisbergen #, Chevrolet, 400.
15. (24) Kyle Busch, Chevrolet, 400.
16. (20) Denny Hamlin, Toyota, 400.
17. (16) Joey Logano, Ford, 400.
18. (34) Todd Gilliland, Ford, 399.
19. (19) Ty Dillon, Chevrolet, 399.
20. (26) Austin Dillon, Chevrolet, 399.
21. (29) Cole Custer, Ford, 398.
22. (4) Chris Buescher, Ford, 398.
23. (33) Connor Zilisch(i), Chevrolet, 398.
24. (7) Ty Gibbs, Toyota, 398.
25. (36) Cody Ware, Ford, 398.
26. (12) Tyler Reddick, Toyota, 398.
27. (6) John Hunter Nemechek, Toyota, 398.
28. (31) Riley Herbst #, Toyota, 397.
29. (9) Alex Bowman, Chevrolet, 397.
30. (13) Justin Haley, Chevrolet, 395.
31. (14) Austin Cindric, Ford, 388.
32. (37) Derek Kraus, Chevrolet, 380.
33. (38) Josh Bilicki(i), Ford, Fuel Pressure, 343.
34. (39) Carson Hocevar, Chevrolet, Engine, 307.
35. (32) Bubba Wallace, Toyota, Accident, 307.
36. (25) Daniel Suarez, Chevrolet, Accident, 245.
37. (2) Kyle Larson, Chevrolet, Accident, 245.
38. (21) Ryan Blaney, Ford, Accident, 245.
39. (23) Zane Smith, Ford, Accident, 236.
40. (17) Jimmie Johnson, Toyota, Accident, 111.
Average Speed of Race Winner: 135.781 mph.
Time of Race: 4 Hrs, 25 Mins, 8 Secs. Margin of Victory: .673 Seconds.
Caution Flags: 8 for 52 laps.
Lead Changes: 34 among 11 drivers.
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