The 2022 Coca-Cola 600, the 63rd running of the event, was a NASCAR Cup Series race held on May 29, 2022, at Charlotte Motor Speedway in Concord, North Carolina. Contested over 413 laps – extended from 400 laps due to an overtime finish, on the asphalt speedway, it was the 14th race of the 2022 NASCAR Cup Series season, as well as the third of the four crown jewel races.
Report
Background
The race was held at Charlotte Motor Speedway, located in Concord, North Carolina. The speedway complex includes a quad-oval track that was 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. (SMI) with Marcus G. Smith serving as track president.
Entry list (R) denotes rookie driver. (i) denotes driver who is ineligible for series driver points.
Driver Team Manufacturer 1 Ross Chastain Trackhouse Racing Team Chevrolet 2 Austin Cindric (R) Team Penske Ford 3 Austin Dillon Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 4 Kevin Harvick Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 5 Kyle Larson Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 6 Brad Keselowski RFK Racing Ford 7 Corey LaJoie Spire Motorsports Chevrolet 8 Tyler Reddick Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 9 Chase Elliott Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 10 Aric Almirola Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 11 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 12 Ryan Blaney Team Penske Ford 14 Chase Briscoe Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 15 Ryan Preece (i) Rick Ware Racing Ford 16 Noah Gragson (i) Kaulig Racing Chevrolet 17 Chris Buescher RFK Racing Ford 18 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 19 Martin Truex Jr. Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 20 Christopher Bell Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 21 Harrison Burton (R) Wood Brothers Racing Ford 22 Joey Logano Team Penske Ford 23 Bubba Wallace 23XI Racing Toyota 24 William Byron Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 31 Justin Haley Kaulig Racing Chevrolet 34 Michael McDowell Front Row Motorsports Ford 38 Todd Gilliland (R) Front Row Motorsports Ford 41 Cole Custer Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 42 Ty Dillon Petty GMS Motorsports Chevrolet 43 Erik Jones Petty GMS Motorsports Chevrolet 45 Kurt Busch 23XI Racing Toyota 47 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet 48 Alex Bowman Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 50 Kaz Grala (i) The Money Team Racing Chevrolet 51 Cody Ware Rick Ware Racing Ford 77 Josh Bilicki (i) Spire Motorsports Chevrolet 78 B. J. McLeod Live Fast Motorsports Ford 99 Daniel Suárez Trackhouse Racing Team ChevroletOfficial entry list
Practice Kyle Larson was the fastest in the practice session with a time of 29.589 seconds and a speed of .
Practice results Pos Driver Team Manufacturer Time 1 5 Kyle Larson Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 29.589 182.500 2 48 Alex Bowman Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 29.637 182.205 3 1 Ross Chastain Trackhouse Racing Team Chevrolet 29.703 181.800Official practice results
Qualifying Denny Hamlin scored the pole for the race with a time of 29.399 and a speed of .
Qualifying results Pos Driver Team Manufacturer 1 11 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 29.577 29.399 2 45 Kurt Busch 23XI Racing Toyota 29.459 29.402 3 20 Christopher Bell Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 29.462 29.403 4 18 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 29.452 29.427 5 24 William Byron Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 29.466 29.520 6 2 Austin Cindric (R) Team Penske Ford 29.535 29.621 7 23 Bubba Wallace 23XI Racing Toyota 29.655 29.623 8 8 Tyler Reddick Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 29.584 29.638 9 48 Alex Bowman Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 29.652 29.643 10 34 Michael McDowell Front Row Motorsports Ford 29.861 29.820 11 12 Ryan Blaney Team Penske Ford 29.617 — 12 99 Daniel Suárez Trackhouse Racing Team Chevrolet 29.701 — 13 9 Chase Elliott Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 29.721 — 14 19 Martin Truex Jr. Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 29.725 — 15 14 Chase Briscoe Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 29.760 — 16 3 Austin Dillon Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 29.822 — 17 21 Harrison Burton (R) Wood Brothers Racing Ford 29.865 — 18 4 Kevin Harvick Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 29.868 — 19 17 Chris Buescher RFK Racing Ford 29.914 — 20 31 Justin Haley Kaulig Racing Chevrolet 29.929 — 21 41 Cole Custer Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 29.929 — 22 1 Ross Chastain Trackhouse Racing Team Chevrolet 29.946 — 23 22 Joey Logano Team Penske Ford 29.994 — 24 10 Aric Almirola Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 30.020 — 25 43 Erik Jones Petty GMS Motorsports Chevrolet 30.020 — 26 15 Ryan Preece (i) Rick Ware Racing Ford 30.141 — 27 16 Noah Gragson (i) Kaulig Racing Chevrolet 30.188 — 28 42 Ty Dillon Petty GMS Motorsports Chevrolet 30.223 — 29 47 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet 30.232 — 30 38 Todd Gilliland (R) Front Row Motorsports Ford 30.317 — 31 78 B. J. McLeod Live Fast Motorsports Ford 30.469 — 32 77 Josh Bilicki (i) Spire Motorsports Chevrolet 30.729 — 33 51 Cody Ware Rick Ware Racing Ford 30.958 — 34 50 Kaz Grala (i) The Money Team Racing Chevrolet 31.884 — 35 6 Brad Keselowski RFK Racing Ford 58.599 — 36 5 Kyle Larson Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 0.000 — 37 7 Corey LaJoie Spire Motorsports Chevrolet 0.000 — Official qualifying results
Race
Stage 1 Outside pole sitter Kurt Busch took the lead from pole sitter Denny Hamlin and led the first lap. Hamlin would take the lead on lap 3 as Busch and Hamlin raced side by side with each other for the first 3 and a half laps. On lap 10, Kyle Busch took the lead from his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate. On lap 18, the first caution of the race occurred for a three car crash in turn four involving Ryan Preece, Noah Gragson, and Chris Buescher. Kyle Busch won the race from pit road and led the field to the restart on lap 23. On lap 33, the second caution flew when Josh Bilicki crashed in turn 3. The race restarted on lap 39. Bubba Wallace led lap 40 as he and Busch battled for the lead before Kyle took it back the next lap. On lap 46, Daniel Suárez began to battle Kyle Busch for the lead. On that same lap while they were battling, Busch's car got loose in the middle of turns 1 and 2 and ended up spinning out bringing out the third caution of the race. The race restarted on lap 51. On lap 61, the fourth caution flew when Corey LaJoie crashed in turn 2. Chase Elliott won the race from pit road and led the field to the restart on lap 68. Elliott would end up winning stage one as the caution flew for the stage end.
Stage 2 Elliott won the race from pit road and led the field to the restart to begin stage 2 on lap 108. On lap 111, Ross Chastain took the lead from Elliott. On lap 126, the 6th caution flew when Bubba Wallace spun off at turn 4. During pit stops, a little fire occurred in Kyle Larson's pit. Chase Elliott won the race from pit road and led the field to the restart on lap 132. On lap 146, the 7th caution occurred when Austin Cindric blew a left rear tire and crashed in turn 3. Elliott won the race from pit road again to keep his lead. The race would restart on lap 152. On lap 165, Ryan Blaney's car slid and hit the wall in turns 1 and 2 but kept on going with no caution thrown. However, the 8th caution would be thrown on the next lap when Kyle Larson spun off at turn 4. The race restarted on lap 171. On that restart, Ross Chastain would take the lead from Chase Elliott. On lap 186, Chase Elliott was battling Daniel Suárez for second when Chase attempted to pass Suárez in turn 1, he tried to slide up in front of him but ended up sliding into the wall. About 20 seconds after that happened, Elliott blew a right rear tire and spun off at turn 4 bringing out the 9th caution of the race. The race restarted on lap 192. One lap later, the tenth caution came out when a large crash ("The Big One") occurred in turn 1. It started when Ryan Blaney hit the apron of the track and slid up into Kevin Harvick and then spun around, collecting Brad Keselowski, Denny Hamlin, Noah Gragson, Martin Truex Jr., Harrison Burton, Bubba Wallace, William Byron, Michael McDowell, Todd Gilliland, and Kurt Busch. The race would restart on lap 197 with 4 laps to go in stage 2. On that restart, Daniel Suárez would take the lead from his Trackhouse Racing teammate Ross Chastain. Suárez would end up winning stage 2. After stage 2 ended, the field turned onto pit road and stopped for a moment of silence for the ones who were lost while serving in the military for Memorial Day.
Stage 3 Suárez won the race from pit road but Joey Logano, Martin Truex Jr., Christopher Bell, and Kyle Busch did not stop and Logano led the field back to the green to start stage 3 on lap 209. On lap 214, Daniel Suárez took the lead from Logano, on lap 220, the 12th caution flew when Kevin Harvick got loose when he tried to pass Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and hit the wall in turn 2. During the caution, Harvick went behind Stenhouse when Stenhouse appeared to brake check Harvick. Suárez went down and pitted and gave the lead to his teammate Ross Chastain. The race restarted on lap 225. On lap 252, Suarez charged his way from the back all the way to the lead. On lap 254, the 13th caution flew when Noah Gragson spun off at turn 4. Chastain won the race from pit road and lead the field to the restart on lap 259. Chase Briscoe challenged Chastain for the lead and lead lap 260 and got out in front of him before Chastain pulled a crossover move on Briscoe and took the lead back. Chastain would end up winning stage 3.
Final stage