NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway on May 27, 2012
Photo – Getty Images
Endurance, stamina, and focus will be tested on Sunday night in the longest and most grueling race of the year, the Coca Cola 600. An extra hundred miles of racing can change the course of an event and in years past, it hasn’t always mattered what you did in the first 500 miles, but what you did in the final one-hundred. This race is NASCAR’s answer to a marathon and the two events share a lot of similar aspects. A go for broke attitude won’t win any driver this race, what will, is how a driver endures all 600 miles, spanning from daylight to darkness in the longest night of motorsports.
The Coca Cola 600 is taking place Sunday, May 26, 2013 and the green flag will wave at 6:16 PM EST. To conquer all 600 miles, drivers need to finish all 400 laps which sometimes can be a major test of stamina. The weather forecast couldn’t be better for Sunday night with mostly clear skies and a 0% chance of rain. Catch the race on TV on FOX or listen on the radio at PRN.
A rather calm 600 miles of racing took place last year at the Charlotte Motor Speedway. The drivers all attempted to make it to the finish and most of them accomplished that feat, but only Kasey Kahne was given the trophy. Kahne has been the king of this race in the past and last year’s win was his third victory of this annual event. He knows how to get it done and many drivers are hoping they learn his ways so they are crowned king of this race of all races.
It has been two weeks since all the Sprint Cup cars were on-track in a points event so some of the same storylines after Darlington will apply to this race. One major headline after Darlington was Matt Kenseth who picked up his third victory of the season at the track too tough to tame. Kenseth and the rest of JGR are off to a hot start this season and their five wins as an organization is proof of their success. In Darlington, Kasey Kahne had a little incident with another JGR driver during the race. He and Kyle Busch were racing for the lead when Kahne got loose above Busch and spun out. The incident likely cost Kahne a shot at the win that night and Busch eventually lost the lead to Kenseth.
Jimmie Johnson is still running strong at the top of the standings with two wins this season. He also claimed the million dollar prize last weekend in the All-Star Race, so he knows the key to victory in a night race at Charlotte. Carl Edwards, Matt Kenseth, and Dale Earnhardt Jr. are the ones chasing Johnson for the spot on top of the standings. One slip up by Johnson in a race as long as this one could allow any of the drivers following him to catch-up to him very quickly.
Sunday’s race will surely be a test of man and machine and whichever man can make his machine last the longest will end up in victory lane. Johnson, Kahne, and Kenseth will be the drivers to watch in the race. Seeing one of them in victory lane will not surprise anyone and it will only build on their phenomenal reputations this season. If a driver can make it to the final hundred miles in this race, they’ll have a shot at victory. It’s anyone’s game on Sunday night and only one driver will reign supreme in the longest race of the season.
Next Race – FedEx 400 Benefiting Autism Speaks at the Dover International Speedway in Dover, Delaware
