Ross Chastain executed an improbable comeback from starting at the rear of the field to outdueling William Byron in the closing laps and winning the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway on Sunday, May 25.
The 32-year-old Chastain from Alva, Florida, led twice for eight of 400-schedueld laps in an event where he started at the rear of the field in a back-up car after he wrecked his primary car during Saturday’s practice session. Through methodically driving to the front, Chastain would notch top-10 results in the latter two of the event’s first three stage periods.
Then after making his way into the runner-up spot with approximately 25 laps remaining, Chastain reeled in the dominant Byron and was able to execute a bold overtake on the latter with six laps remaining to assume the lead. With Byron unable to regain any momentum to reclaim the lead, Chastain would proceed to retain the top spot for the remainder of the event and cruise to his first NASCAR Cup Series victory of the 2025 season and his first in a prestigious event.
With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup occurring on Saturday, May 24, Chase Briscoe notched his second Cup pole position with a pole-winning lap at 182.852 mph in 29.532 seconds. Joining Briscoe on the front row was Kyle Larson, the latter of whom clocked in his best qualifying lap at 182.729 mph in 29.552 seconds.
Prior to the event, Ross Chastain dropped to the rear of the field in a backup car. Kyle Busch and Erik Jones also dropped to the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustments made to their respective entries.
When the green flag waved and the race started, pole-sitter Chase Briscoe launched his No. 19 Bass Pro Shops Toyota Camry XSE entry ahead of the field from the inside lane and he proceeded to lead Kyle Larson through the first two turns and the backstretch. As the field fanned out through the backstretch, Larson used the outside lane to draw even with Briscoe and he led the first lap.
During the second lap, Larson and Briscoe continued to duel for the top spot until William Byron executed a three-wide move beneath both teammate Larson and Briscoe through the backstretch to make his presence at the front known. Byron would clear the latter two through Turns 3 and 4 as he led the second lap in his No. 24 AXALTA Chevrolet entry. Byron proceeded to lead through the eighth lap until Larson returned the favor and overtook Byron through the backstretch to reassume the lead. Despite having Byron closing in on his rearview mirror, Larson retained the top spot by the Lap 10 mark while Briscoe, Tyler Reddick and Chris Buescher trailed in the top five, respectively.
Through the first 25-scheduled laps, Larson was leading by four-tenths of a second over teammate Byron while Reddick, Buescher and Briscoe were racing in the top five ahead of John Hunter Nemechek, Christopher Bell, Noah Gragson, Ty Gibbs and AJ Allmendinger, respectively. Behind, Alex Bowman, Michael McDowell, Denny Hamlin, Austin Cindric and Chase Elliott trailed in the top 15 ahead of Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Justin Haley, Zane Smith, Ryan Preece and Joey Logano while Ryan Blaney, Austin Dillon, Carson Hocevar, Josh Berry, Erik Jones, Brad Keselowski, Ty Dillon, Ross Chastain, Bubba Wallace and Jimmie Johnson all trailed in the top 30.
Fifteen laps later, Larson, who brushed the Turn 3 outside wall a few laps earlier but continued to maintain pace at the front, stabilized his early advantage to over teammate Byron while Reddick, Buescher and Briscoe continued to pursue in the top five ahead of Nemechek, Bell, Gragson, Ty Gibbs and Allmendinger.
Just past the Lap 40 mark, a first cycle of green flag pit stops ensued as select names that included Austin Dillon, Josh Berry, Ryan Blaney, Chastain and Jimmie Johnson pitted their respective entries. Then amid the pit stops, the event’s first caution flew on Lap 42 when the leader Larson snapped sideways towards the outside wall in Turns 3 and 4 before he spun his No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet entry below the track and through the frontstretch’s grass. Amid Larson’s incident, where the latter managed to continue and avoided hitting the wall, Byron, who was among many who have yet to pit, was scored the leader ahead of Reddick, Buescher, Briscoe and Nemechek.
During the event’s first caution period, the lead lap field led by Byron pitted. Following the pit stops, Byron edged Reddick to exit pit road first and they were followed by Buescher, Bell, Nemechek, Gragson, Hamlin, Allmendinger, Gibbs and Elliott. Amid the pit stops, Brad Keselowski was penalized for vehicle interference while Briscoe was also penalized for an uncontrolled tire violation as a tire rolled out of his pit box. Prior to a scheduled restart within the Lap 50 mark, a right-rear wheel rolled out of Josh Bilicki’s entry in Turn 4, though Bilicki was able to nurse his entry back to his pit stall.
The start of the next restart on Lap 51 featured Byron muscling ahead of the field and retaining the lead over both Buescher and Reddick for a full lap. As Byron proceeded to lead the following lap, Buescher retained the runner-up spot over Reddick while Nemechek, Bell, Gragson and Allmendinger followed suit. As a series of on-track battles within the field ensued around every corner and straightaway, Byron retained the lead through the Laps 55 and 60 marks while Buescher, Reddick, Bell and Nemechek followed suit in the top five.
At the Lap 75 mark, Byron continued to lead by within four-tenths of a second over Reddick while Bell, Buescher and Nemechek pursued in the top five. Byron proceeded to lead by half a second at the Lap 80 mark and by more a second at the Lap 90 mark. Meanwhile, Reddick, who was trying to track Byron back down, retained second place ahead of Bell, Buescher and Nemechek while Allmendinger, Hamlin, Gragson, Alex Bowman and Chase Elliott trailed in the top 10, respectively.
The caution then flew with three laps remaining in the first stage period when Bowman, who was racing in ninth place, snapped sideways exiting Turns 3 and 4, hit the wall and spun through the frontstretch’s grass as he reported a potential broken toe link to his No. 48 Ally Chevrolet entry. Bowman’s incident was enough for the first stage period scheduled to conclude on Lap 100 to officially conclude under caution. As a result, Byron cruised to his fourth Cup stage victory of the 2025 season. Reddicks settled in second ahead of Bell, Nemechek and Allmendinger while Buescher, Hamlin, Gragson, Elliott and Michael McDowell were scored in the top 10, respectively.
Under the stage break, the lead lap field led by Byron returned to pit road for service. Following the pit stops, Byron retained the lead as he exited pit road first with four fresh tires ahead of Reddick while Denny Hamlin gained four spots on pit road by exiting in third place ahead of teammate Bell and Allmendinger. Amid the pit stops, Michael McDowell, who had actually exited pit road first, missed his pit stall, which resulted with him returning to pit road for his pit stall during the following lap. In addition, Ty Dillon was penalized for a pit crew interference.
The second stage period started on Lap 107 as Byron and Reddick occupied the front row. At the start, the latter two dueled for the lead through the first two turns while the field fanned out entering the backstretch. Reddick and Byron would continue to duel for the top spot during the following lap before Byron muscled ahead through the backstretch. As Byron led to the Lap 110 mark, Reddick retained second ahead of Hamlin, Nemechek and Bell while Gragson, Allmendinger, Carson Hocevar, Elliott and Erik Jones trailed in the top 10.
On Lap 112, the caution returned when Jimmie Johnson, who was racing towards the rear of the field, got sideways and barely clipped Connor Zilisch through Turns 3 and 4. As Zilisch made contact and wrecked entering the backstretch with Cole Custer while sliding down the track, Johnson proceeded to hit the outside wall and sustain more damage to his No. 84 Carvana Toyota Camry XSE entry. The incident was enough to terminate Johnson’s run as the latter was making his historic 700th Cup career start.
During the caution period, some including Todd Gilliland, Daniel Suarez, Ryan Preece, Brad Keselowski, Ty Gibbs, Joey Logano, Austin Dillon, Todd Gilliland, Bubba Wallace and Ty Dillon pitted while the rest led by Byron remained on the track.
The start of the next restart on Lap 117 featured Byron and Reddick dueling for the lead for a second consecutive time during the second stage period as both dueled from the first two turns and the backstretch. Byron would proceed to muscle ahead of Reddick through Turns 3 and 4 to lead the following lap while rookie Shane van Gisbergen, who got sideways amid contact with Ricky Stenhouse Jr. through the tri-oval, managed to keep his car racing straight and proceed without drawing a caution.
Just past the Lap 125 mark, Byron was leading by two-tenths of a second over Reddick as Hamlin, Hocevar and Allmendinger were in the top five. Byron stabilized his lead to two-tenths of a second by Lap 130 and by more than a second over Reddick towards Lap 140 while Hamlin, Hocevar and Nemechek were scored in the top five.
Towards the Lap 150 mark, a cycle of green flag pit stops commenced as Nemechek pitted from fifth place. Briscoe, Reddick, Stenhouse, Erik Jones and Justin Haley would pit their respective entries over the next three laps along with Allmendinger, Gragson and Buescher before Byron pitted from the lead on Lap 152. Meanwhile, Hamlin, who assumed the lead, pitted towards the Lap 155 mark along with Zane Smith, Austin Cindric and Chastain while Hocevar cycled into the lead.
By Lap 160 and with various pit strategies ensuing around Charlotte Motor Speedway, Byron cycled back into the lead once Bell pitted. As Byron led, Nemechek emerged in second place before Reddick reclaimed the spot by Lap 164. With Hamlin and Hocevar scored in the top five, Byron held an advantage of more than eight seconds over Reddick and Nemechek by Lap 170 while Allmendinger, Erik Jones, Gragson, Elliott and Chastain were trailing in the top 10.
At the Lap 185 mark, Byron added another second to his advantage as he led by more than nine seconds over Hamlin while Reddick trailed in third place by 10 seconds. Nemechek and Hocevar remained in the top five as Byron continued to lead within the Lap 190 mark.
When the second stage period concluded on Lap 200, Byron cruised to his second consecutive Cup stage victory of the 2025 season. Hamlin followed suit in second ahead of Reddick, Hocevar and Nemechek while Allmendinger, Jones, Chastain, Gragson and Elliott were scored in the top 10, respectively.
Under the stage break, a brief intermission period occurred as the field peeled off the racetrack and parked on pit road. During the intermission period, the entire NASCAR community took a moment of silence to honor and observe the men and women who sacrificed their lives in service of the United States of America on Memorial Day weekend.
Once the on-track activities resumed, the lead lap field led by Byron returned to pit road for service. Following the pit stops, Byron exited pit road first and he was followed by Hamlin, Reddick, Hocevar, Allmendinger, Chastain, Gragson, Elliott, Nemechek and Buescher, respectively.
The third stage period started on Lap 208 as Byron and Hamlin occupied the front row. At the start, Hamlin briefly muscled ahead from the outside lane through the backstretch as both he and Byron dueled for the lead through the first two turns and the backstretch. Byron would then use the inside lane to muscle his No. 24 AXALTA Chevrolet entry ahead through Turns 3 and 4 as he led the next lap. With Byron leading, Hocevar was up into third place while Reddick and Allmendinger pursued in front of Gragson, Elliott, Chastain, Bell and Ty Gibbs.
Through the Lap 225 mark, Byron, who was nearly challenged for the lead from Hamlin a few laps earlier, maintained his advantage by within three-tenths of a second over the latter while Hocevar, Reddick and Allmendinger continued to pursue in the top five. Hamlin would narrow the deficit to within one-tenth of a second by Lap 235 despite Byron maintaining the lead through every turn and straightaway.
On Lap 237, the caution flew when Zane Smith, who was racing in 20th place, got loose in front of van Gisbergen entering the backstretch, spun to the bottom of the track and pounded the inside wall head-on. During the caution period, the lead lap field returned to pit road for service. Following the pit stops, Byron managed to beat Hamlin off of pit road first as they were followed by Redick, Chastain, Gragson, Elliott, Hocevar, Allmendinger, Jones and Briscoe, respectively.
The start of the next restart on Lap 243 featured Byron outdueling Hamlin through the first two turns and the backstretch to retain the lead while Reddick, Hocevar and Gragson made brief contact while battling for fourth place entering the frontstretch.
As the field jostled for spots during the following lap, the caution returned when Suarez went up the track and squeezed Briscoe into Blaney, which resulted with Briscoe making contact with Blaney before he turned Suarez into Blaney as the latter two collided against one another through the frontstretch’s outside wall. Suarez’s wrecked car then swerved to the left and clipped both Haley and Larson, which sent the latter two spinning through the frontstretch, while the rest of the field scattered to avoid the carnage. The incident knocked Larson out of contention and it capped off an eventful double-duty attempt as he had returned from both competing and being involved in an accident during the 109th running of the Indianapolis 500 with Arrow McLaren.
When the event restarted under green on Lap 251, Hamlin used the outside lane to muscle his No. 11 National Debt Relief Toyota Camry XSE entry ahead of Byron from the outside lane through the first two turns before Byron side-drafted Hamlin through the backstretch and reassumed the lead entering Turns 3 and 4. With Byron leading the next lap, Hocevar used the outside lane to rocket past Reddick for third place before he dueled with Hamlin for the runner-up spot. Hamlin would fend off Hocevar entering the frontstretch on Lap 253 to retain the runner-up spot, but Hocevar kept pace with Hamlin as Byron led to the Lap 255 mark.
Then on Lap 261, Hamlin, who had been gaining ground on Byron, made his move beneath Byron through the first two turns in a bid for the lead. He would continue to battle with Byron through the backstretch before he assumed the top spot entering Turns 3 and 4. Hamlin proceeded to lead to the Lap 270 mark, where his lead stood to seven-tenths of a second over Byron while Hocevar, Reddick and Allmendinger were scored in the top five.
By Lap 280, Hamlin, who had held a steady advantage over Byron over the previous 10 laps, was reeled in by Byron, who was stronger on the long runs, through Turns 3 and 4 as he nearly reassumed the lead. Hamlin, however, blocked Byron’s momentum and retained the lead while third-place Hocevar tried to close in on the two leaders. Hamlin, whose car was beginning to lose handling grip on the long runs compared to the short runs, retained a narrow advantage over Byron through the Lap 290 mark before he side-drafted and reassumed the lead from Hamlin during the next lap. As Byron muscled away with the lead, Hamlin just fended off Hocevar for the runner-up spot while Reddick and Allmendinger trailed by within two seconds in the top five.
When the third stage period concluded on Lap 300, Byron, who prevailed in a three-wide battle with Hamlin and Hocevar four laps earlier, made himself three-for-three through the first three stage periods as he also racked up his sixth Cup stage victory of the 2025 season. Hamlin settled in second ahead of Hocevar, Reddick and Chastain while Allmendinger, Bell, Elliott, Briscoe and Ryan Preece were scored in the top 10, respectively.
During the stage break, the lead lap field pitted for service. Following the pit stops, Hamlin, who opted to not wait to have his fuel tank full on fuel, exited pit road first and he was followed by Hocevar, Byron, Reddick, Bell, Chastain, Briscoe, Elliott, Allmendinger and Austin Dillon, respectively.
With 93 laps remaining, the final stage period commenced as Hamlin and Hocevar occupied the front row. At the start, Hamlin and Hocevar briefly dueled for the lead entering the first two turns. Then through the turns, Hocevar’s strong run at the front evaporated when he fell off the pace and had smoke billowing out from beneath the left front of his No. 77 Ride the ‘Dente Chevrolet entry. As Hocevar continued to fall off the pace through the backstretch, the field scattered to avoid him before Buescher, who had gotten sideways amid contact with rookie Riley Herbst and Bubba Wallace, collided into Hocevar and sent the latter spinning and coming to a halt below the backstretch.
As the event restarted with 87 laps remaining, Hamlin received a push from Reddick from the inside lane to muscle ahead of Byron through the first two turns and the backstretch while the field fanned out and scrambled for late positions. Despite Hamlin’s efforts to lead the following lap, Byron stormed back into the lead during the next lap while Hamlin was being intimidated by Reddick for the runner-up spot. Behind, Allmendinger and Chastain fiercely dueled for fourth place while Bell tried to close in from sixth place.
Down to the final 75 laps of the event, Byron held a narrow lead over Hamlin, the latter of whom reclaimed the runner-up spot from Reddick three laps earlier, while Chastain overtook Reddick for third place. Two laps later, Hamlin then used the inside lane to get to Byron’s left-rear quarter panel entering the frontstretch. Amid a fierce duel between the two, Hamlin rocketed back ahead entering the first two turns. Byron, however, reeled Hamlin back in and reassumed the lead with 68 laps remaining, though Hamlin kept intimidating Byron through every corner and straightaway. Byron would proceed to slightly stretch his lead to three-tenths of a second over Hamlin with 60 laps remaining.
Another lap later, a late cycle of green flag pit stops slowly commenced as Austin Dillon pitted. By then, Nemechek, who made earlier contact with the outside wall, pitted under green a lap earlier before Bell pitted with 53 laps remaining. The leaders Byron and Hamlin then pitted simultaneously with 52 laps remaining and Byron managed to muscle ahead of Hamlin off of pit road first.
Over the next 12 laps, more names including Briscoe, Reddick, Allmendinger, Stenhouse, Preece, Erik Jones, Gilliland, McDowell, Keselowski, Chastain, Joey Logano, Elliott, van Gisbergen and Kyle Busch all pitted their respective entries under green while Ty Gibbs, who has yet to pit, led. Despite Gibbs’ effort to strategically remain on the track and lead with 40 laps remaining, Byron would track down and overtake Gibbs two laps later. As Byron proceeded to lead with 35 laps remaining, Hamlin, who was slowly gaining ground on Byron, trailed the lead by more than a second while Chastain, Gibbs and Briscoe occupied the top-five spots.
Down to the final 30 laps of the event, Byron maintained his advantage of one-and-a-half seconds over Hamlin while Chastain, Briscoe and Allmendinger were scored in the top five ahead of Keselowski, Bell, Gibbs, Austin Dillon and McDowell. By then, Hamlin, who did not receive enough fuel to potentially finish the event, went into fuel conservation mode as Chastain overtook him for the runner-up spot with nearly 25 laps remaining. By then, both trailed the leader Byron by more than a second as the latter, who barely dodged an incident involving Reddick in the backstretch a few laps later, retained the lead with 20 laps remaining.
Then with 15 laps remaining, Chastain, who spent the previous five laps slowly reeling in on Byron through every turn and straightaway, trailed Byron by a tenth of a second as he drew his No. 1 Jockey Chevrolet entry within inches of Byron’s rear bumper. With the leaders mired in lapped traffic, Byron went on defensive mode in an effort to stall Chastain’s late momentum while Hamlin, who ran out of fuel, pitted under green with 12 laps remaining. Amid Hamlin’s late-race misfortune, Byron continued to lead by two-tenths of a second with 10 laps remaining.
With seven laps remaining, Byron briefly got loose through Turns 3 and 4. This allowed Chastain to utilize a huge run through the turns to get close to Byron as Hamlin was trying to un-lap himself in the process. Then after getting to Byron’s rear bumper through the frontstretch for the following lap, Chastain made a move to the inside lane in Turn 1 and executed a bold slide job move to assume the lead from Byron as Byron barely scrubbed the outside wall. With Byron trying to reel Chastain back in, the latter led by three-tenths of a second with five laps remaining and he would continue to lead by as high as four-tenths of a second over a hard-charging Byron during the next four laps.
When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Chastain remained in the lead by two-tenths of a second over Byron. Despite Byron’s attempt to reel Chastain back in, the latter used the outside lane to maintain his momentum without slipping and cycle back to the frontstretch to claim the checkered flag and emerge victorious by six-tenths of a second.
With the victory, Chastain notched his sixth career win in NASCAR’s premier series, his first-ever crown jewel win, his first at Charlotte Motor Speedway and his first series’ victory since he won at Kansas Speedway in September 2024. The victory was also the fifth of the year for the Chevrolet nameplate and the first for Trackhouse Racing.
During his post-race celebration, Chastain, who smashed a watermelon on the frontstretch, credited the overnight work made by his No. 1 Trackhouse Racing team to have the back-up car competitive prior to Sunday’s marathon event. He also took a moment to dedicate the victory to the Late Army Specialist Kevin McCrae, whose name was featured on Chastain’s entry’s windshield, and his family as part of NASCAR’s 600 Miles of Remembrance program.
“When I left the shop last night, I went over, sat in this car for the first time,” Chastain said on the frontstretch on Prime Video. “It was about 10 o’clock [p.m.] when I left. [The No. 1 team] worked till 2:30 [a.m.]. They were back at 5:30 [a.m.] this morning. I don’t even know if they slept back there at 5:30 to get this [car] ready. That’s the dedication it takes from Trackhouse. There was people there that had their Saturdays off yesterday and they came in.”
“The McCrea family told me to be a sponge,” Chastain added. “That was something that their dad told thema lot and I gotta tell you [that] I didn’t feel much like a sponge tonight. I was rattling around out there, but to drive on that final run in the [Coca-Cola] 600 and pass two cars that have been way better all night. [Crew chief] Phil [Surgen] wanted me to pit two laps earlier. I went two laps longer just out of a little bit of confusion and man, that paid off at the end. These Goodyear Eagles [tires] held on longer because we they were a little bit fresher. Holy crown, we just won the [Coca-Cola] 600!”
As Chastain celebrated on the frontstretch and in Victory Lane, Byron was left dejected after being denied a home track victory despite leading a race-high 283 laps and sweeping the event’s first three stage periods.
“[Chastain] was catching me, and I was trying to just defend,” Byron said. “I was getting a little bit tight. Then the scenario there with the cars we were, it was tough. So yeah, he got a run on me and was able to get to the bottom and clear me off of [Turn] 2. Disappointing just to lead that many laps and such a great effort by our whole team. 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 [Reddick] about crashed in front of us. Sucks. We’ll just keep going and keep trying to put races together like that.”
Chase Briscoe came home in third place while AJ Allmendinger and Brad Keselowski finished in the top five. Chase Elliott, Michael McDowell, Christopher Bell, Ryan Preece and Noah Gragson completed the top 10 in the final running order.
There were 34 lead changes for 11 different leaders. The race featured eight cautions for 52 laps. In addition, 17 of 40 starters finished on the lead lap.
Following the 13th event of the 2025 Cup Series season, Byron leads the regular-season standings by 29 points over teammate Kyle Larson, 74 over Christopher Bell, 84 over Chase Elliott, 107 over Tyler Reddick and 109 over Denny Hamlin.
Results:
1. Ross Chastain, eight laps led
2. William Byron, 283 laps led, Stages 1, 2 & 3 winner
3. Chase Briscoe, one lap led
4. AJ Allmendinger
5. Brad Keselowski, five laps led
6. Chase Elliott, two laps led
7. Michael McDowell
8. Christopher Bell, five laps led
9. Ryan Preece
10. Noah Gragson
11. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
12. Josh Berry
13. Erik Jones
14. Shane van Gisbergen
15. Kyle Busch
16. Denny Hamlin, 53 laps led
17. Joey Logano
18. Todd Gilliland, one lap down
19. Ty Dillon, one lap down
20. Austin Dillon, one lap down
21. Cole Custer, two laps down
22. Chris Buescher, two laps down
23. Connor Zilisch, two laps down
24. Ty Gibbs, two laps down
25. Cody Ware, two laps down
26. Tyler Reddick, two laps down, one lap led
27. John Hunter Nemechek, two laps down
28. Riley Herbst, three laps down
29. Alex Bowman, three laps down
30. Justin Haley, five laps down
31. Austin Cindric, 12 laps down
32. Derek Kraus, 20 laps down
33. Josh Bilicki – OUT, Fuel Pressure
34. Carson Hocevar – OUT, Engine, two laps led
35. Bubba Wallace – OUT, Accident
36. Daniel Suarez – OUT, Accident
37. Kyle Larson – OUT, Accident, 34 laps led
38. Ryan Blaney – OUT, Accident
39. Zane Smith – OUT, Accident
40. Jimmie Johnson – OUT, Accident
Next on the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series schedule is Nashville Superspeedway in Lebanon, Tennessee, for the Cracker Barrel 400. The event is scheduled to occur next Sunday, June 1, and air at 7 p.m. ET on Prime Video.
