The 2017 Coca-Cola 600, the 58th running of the event, was a Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race held on May 28 and 29th, 2017 at Charlotte Motor Speedway in Concord, North Carolina. Contested over 400 laps on the 1.5 mile (2.42 km) asphalt speedway, it was the 12th race of the 2017 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series season. Austin Dillon won the first race of his NASCAR Cup Series career for Richard Childress Racing in car number 3, the first time the 3 car had won a Cup Series event since 2000. It was also the first race to be broken into four stages rather than the normal three.
Entry list Driver Team Manufacturer 1 Jamie McMurray Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 2 Brad Keselowski Team Penske Ford 3 Austin Dillon Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 4 Kevin Harvick Stewart–Haas Racing Ford 5 Kasey Kahne Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 6 Trevor Bayne Roush Fenway Racing Ford 7 J. J. Yeley (i) Tommy Baldwin Racing Chevrolet 10 Danica Patrick Stewart–Haas Racing Ford 11 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 13 Ty Dillon (R) Germain Racing Chevrolet 14 Clint Bowyer Stewart–Haas Racing Ford 15 Reed Sorenson Premium Motorsports Chevrolet 17 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Roush Fenway Racing Ford 18 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 19 Daniel Suárez (R) Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 20 Matt Kenseth Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 21 Ryan Blaney Wood Brothers Racing Ford 22 Joey Logano Team Penske Ford 23 Gray Gaulding (R) BK Racing Toyota 24 Chase Elliott Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 27 Paul Menard Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 31 Ryan Newman Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 32 Matt DiBenedetto Go Fas Racing Ford 33 Jeffrey Earnhardt Circle Sport – The Motorsports Group Chevrolet 34 Landon Cassill Front Row Motorsports Ford 37 Chris Buescher JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet 38 David Ragan Front Row Motorsports Ford 41 Kurt Busch Stewart–Haas Racing Ford 42 Kyle Larson Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 43 Regan Smith (i) Richard Petty Motorsports Ford 47 A. J. Allmendinger JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet 48 Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 51 Timmy Hill (i) Rick Ware Racing Chevrolet 55 Derrike Cope Premium Motorsports Toyota 72 Cole Whitt TriStar Motorsports Chevrolet 77 Erik Jones (R) Furniture Row Racing Toyota 78 Martin Truex Jr. Furniture Row Racing Toyota 83 Corey LaJoie (R) BK Racing Toyota 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 95 Michael McDowell Leavine Family Racing ChevroletOfficial entry list
First practice Erik Jones was the fastest in the first practice session with a time of 28.021 seconds and a speed of .
Pos Driver Team Manufacturer Time 1 77 Erik Jones (R) Furniture Row Racing Toyota 28.021 192.713 2 48 Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 28.056 192.472 3 42 Kyle Larson Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 28.057 192.465Official first practice results
Qualifying
Kevin Harvick scored the pole for the race with a time of 27.918 and a speed of . Harvick said afterwards that in qualifying, the cars were more loose "than they were in practice and just based on past experience here it was a handful through one and two. I just about lost it the first run, but the car was so good in three and four I didn’t want to over-adjust on it and make it too tight down there because you get tighter as the lap runs, so the guys did a good job of making adjustments, but not making it so tight that I couldn’t carry the throttle like I needed to in three and four. So they just did a great job on our Mobil 1 Ford.”
Qualifying results Pos Driver Team Manufacturer 14 Kevin Harvick Stewart–Haas RacingFord 28.335 27.945 27.918 218 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 28.216 27.947 28.050 324 Chase Elliott Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 28.407 28.164 28.087 420 Matt Kenseth Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 28.309 28.259 28.106 577 Erik Jones (R) Furniture Row Racing Toyota 28.302 28.253 28.157 611 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 28.271 28.275 28.159 721 Ryan Blaney Wood Brothers Racing Ford 28.370 28.199 28.164 878 Martin Truex Jr. Furniture Row Racing Toyota 28.543 28.183 28.236 914 Clint Bowyer Stewart–Haas RacingFord 28.590 28.173 28.266 102 Brad Keselowski Team Penske Ford 28.597 28.264 28.297 111 Jamie McMurray Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 28.422 28.295 28.346 1241 Kurt Busch Stewart–Haas RacingFord 28.494 28.209 28.420 1317 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Roush Fenway Racing Ford 28.326 28.327 — 1448 Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 28.370 28.369 — 1510 Danica Patrick Stewart–Haas RacingFord 28.501 28.380 — 1627 Paul Menard Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 28.378 28.385 — 1731 Ryan Newman Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 28.524 28.410 — 186 Trevor Bayne Roush Fenway Racing Ford 28.601 28.419 — 1988 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 28.612 28.430 — 2019 Daniel Suárez (R) Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 28.521 28.455 — 2195 Michael McDowell Leavine Family Racing Chevrolet 28.669 28.478 — 223 Austin Dillon Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 28.651 28.479 — 2322 Joey Logano Team Penske Ford 28.539 28.501 — 245 Kasey Kahne Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 28.557 28.656 — 2543 Regan Smith (i) Richard Petty Motorsports Ford 28.676 — — 2647 A. J. Allmendinger JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet 28.681 — — 2713 Ty Dillon (R) Germain Racing Chevrolet 28.697 — — 2838 David Ragan Front Row Motorsports Ford 28.700 — — 2937 Chris Buescher JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet 28.825 — — 3032 Matt DiBenedetto Go Fas Racing Ford 28.891 — — 3134 Landon Cassill Front Row Motorsports Ford 29.062 — — 3223 Gray Gaulding (R) BK Racing Toyota 29.254 — — 337 J. J. Yeley (i) Tommy Baldwin Racing Chevrolet 29.325 — — 3472 Cole Whitt TriStar Motorsports Chevrolet 29.556 — — 3515 Reed Sorenson Premium Motorsports Chevrolet 29.779 — — 3651 Timmy Hill (i) Rick Ware Racing Chevrolet 30.419 — — 3755 Derrike Cope Premium Motorsports Toyota 30.513 — — 3833 Jeffrey Earnhardt Circle Sport – The Motorsports Group Chevrolet 30.602 — — 3942 Kyle Larson Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 0.000 — — 4083 Corey LaJoie (R) BK Racing Toyota 0.000 — —Official qualifying results
Practice (post-qualifying)
Second practice Ryan Blaney was the fastest in the second practice session with a time of 28.715 seconds and a speed of .
Pos Driver Team Manufacturer Time 1 21 Ryan Blaney Wood Brothers Racing Ford 28.715 188.055 2 77 Erik Jones (R) Furniture Row Racing Toyota 28.785 187.598 3 78 Martin Truex Jr. Furniture Row Racing Toyota 28.864 187.084Official second practice results
Final practice Kyle Larson was the fastest in the final practice session with a time of 28.970 seconds and a speed of .
Pos Driver Team Manufacturer Time 1 42 Kyle Larson Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 28.970 186.400 2 21 Ryan Blaney Wood Brothers Racing Ford 29.054 185.861 3 20 Matt Kenseth Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 29.182 185.046Official final practice results
Race First stage Kevin Harvick led the field to the green at 6:24 p.m. He got loose in Turn 3 the following lap and Kyle Busch passed him on his high side to take the lead. Exiting Turn 4 on lap 19, a piece of Jeffrey Earnhardt's car fell off and was hit by Chase Elliott's car, which burst into flames in the engine area near the start/finish line. Brad Keselowski was making a pass on Martin Truex Jr. when Elliott's car started slowing down in front of him. He attempted to veer away too late and slammed into the rear-end of Elliott, bringing out the first caution of the race and was also the competition caution despite it being scheduled for lap 25. Keselowski said afterwards that someone "broke," oil "was just...everywhere (though NASCAR stated later that there was no oil)" and that he "couldn’t turn. I ran into the back of Chase. Somebody broke in front of him and then he ran over what they broke and then he broke." Harvick exited pit road first. Jamie McMurray restarted from the tail-end of the rear for speeding.
The race settled into a green flag run after the lap 28 restart and was only interrupted by a cycle of green flag stops on lap 67, which Truex came out of as the race leader. He led unchallenged until lap 87, when Busch closed the gap to half a second. Two laps later, Busch faked him out and passed under him on the backstretch to retake the lead entering Turn 3 on lap 89. Busch went on to win the first stage at lap 100, and the second caution flew the same lap for the conclusion of the stage. As was the case with the previous caution, Harvick exited pit road first.
Second stage Truex got the superior restart and took back the lead on lap 108. Harvick settled into second, but made an unscheduled stop for what turned out to be a loose left-rear wheel on lap 125. Rounding Turn 1 on lap 141, Matt DiBenedetto suffered a right-front tire cut and slammed the wall, bringing out the third caution. The red flag was displayed two laps later for lightning in the area, and the ensuing downpour, for over 90 minutes (1:39.56). When the red flag was lifted shortly after 9:30 p.m., the field paced a few laps under yellow to help the drying process.
The race resumed on lap 154. Jimmie Johnson reeled in Truex, but the clean air advantage Truex maintained as the race leader proved too much for Johnson to make the pass for the lead. The run lasted just 20 laps, as caution flew for the fourth time on lap 174 when Danica Patrick cut a right-side tire and got out of the racing groove, but didn't make contact with the wall. Ryan Blaney, who was running in the top-five, broke a rear axle exiting pit road, sending him to the garage for a few laps. Paul Menard stayed out to save a set of tires but got gobbled up on the restart by guys with fresh tires.
The final 21 laps of the second stage were uneventful for Truex, who drove on to win the second stage. The race went back under caution for the end of the stage at lap 200.
Third stage When the race resumed on lap 205, it settled into a green flag run with Truex in control. It was disrupted on lap 245 when Ty Dillon blew an engine exiting Turn 4, bringing out the sixth caution. Harvick, running 10th, spun out in the oil trail left by Dillon. Kasey Kahne ran through the oil trail and slammed the wall in Turn 3. Kyle Larson also made contact with the wall in Turn 4, but made it to pit road to repair the damage. Johnson, who pitted under the prior caution, opted not to pit under this caution when Truex and the others did and assumed the race lead.
Truex got a superior restart to Johnson on the lap 252 restart. As with the previous run, this settled into a green flag run, halted when Larson suffered a right-front tire blowout and slammed the wall in Turn 1 on lap 292, bringing out the seventh caution. Larson said he was "really loose" entering (Turn) 3, "hit the wall" earlier in the stage, sustained "a lot of damage and the tire started to go down and then exploded in (Turn) 1. I just hate it that I made a mistake there in Turn 3 and got in the wall. I was not even running hard up there. I just got loose and then I hit it and it ruined our day.” Ricky Stenhouse Jr. elected not to pit and assumed the race lead who also alongside Menard tried to also save a set of tires.
The race resumed under a three-lap shootout to end the stage. Stenhouse spun his tires on the restart and clogged up the field as he fell through on the outside line. This allowed Denny Hamlin on the inside line to take the lead and win the stage. Caution flew for the eighth time on lap 300 for the conclusion of the stage.
Final stage
Busch took the lead on the restart with 94 laps to go. Truex caught him with 85 to go and remained hot on his tail. Caution flew for the ninth time with 72 to go when Patrick hit the wall in Turn 3.