The 2023 Coca-Cola 600 got moved to Memorial Day Monday and delivered another action-packed race for fans on the three-day weekend!
Charlotte Motor Speedway was deluged with rain Sunday (5/28). That forced NASCAR officials to postpone the Coca-Cola 600 to Monday (5/29). However, the one-day delay did not dampen the excitement created in the race.
When the green flag waived to start the longest race of the year a day late, the excitement was almost instantaneous. The cars were racing two and three-wide through the field by the first turn.
Thirteen different drivers exchanged the lead 31 times during the race. William Byron was the winner of stage one. Chris Buescher was the winner in stage two. This is the only race of the season that has four stages in it. Ryan Blaney was the winner of stage three. He also led the most laps during the race with 163 of the 400 laps as the leader. When Ryan won stage three, the TV commentators pointed out that in three of the last five Coca-Cola 600s, the winner of stage three went on to win the race.
There were 16 caution periods during the race including the end of the first three stages of the race. There was also a brief red-flag period for rain.
The final re-start of the race came with 20 laps remaining. Ryan Blaney was able to race out to maintain his lead and hold it for those final laps and win the race. This was his first win in 59 races. The win was his first ever Coca-Cola 600 win and his eighth career win in the Cup Series. This also gave Roger Penske, owner of Penske Racing his best best ever Memorial Day Weekend. Penske Racing also won the Indianapolis 500 as Josef Newgarden was victorious Sunday (5/28).
William Byron took home a second-place finish in the Coca-Cola 600. Martin Truex Jr. finished in third. See the complete race results for the 2023 Coca-Cola 600 here.
Following the race at Charlotte, Ross Chastain remains the leader in the point standings. Ryan Blaney moves up to second-place and William Byron takes over third. See the complete NASCAR Cup Series Point Standings here.
The NASCAR drivers and teams head to Madison, Illinois (just across the river from St. Louis) this week for the Enjoy Illinois 300 presented by TicketSmarter at Word Wide Technology Raceway Sunday, June 4th.
(Feature photo credit: YouTube)
By: Buck Stevens
