1. Jeff Gordon: Gordon overcame back spasms to post a seventh in the Coca Cola 600 at Charlotte. He remains atop the Sprint Cup points standings, 11 ahead of Matt Kenseth.
With military tributes abounding and NASCAR patriotism at its best, here is what was surprising and not surprising from the 55th annual running of the sport’s longest race, the Coca Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s night in the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway went drastically haywire after engine issues, during the latter stages, prohibited him from competing inside the top dozen.
Jeff Gordon battled through rigid pain throughout the weekend and into the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway, though, the four-time champion proved his toughness, leading eight laps en route to a seventh place finish.
Matt Kenseth remained tough while running, or blocking, machines to the apron, while attempting to maintain the race lead in the closing laps. However, Jimmie Johnson coasted around him in the remaining moments handing the 2003 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion another thrashing.
From lap one to lap 400, Sunday Night at Charlotte belonged solely to Jimmie Johnson. Johnson and his No. 48 team dominated as they perfectly executed a game plan en route to their first victory of the year.
The 2013 season was arguably the best season of Matt Kenseth’s career. Seven wins, 12 top-fives and 20 top-10s, very impressive stats by anyone’s standards. He also came up just short of a championship, finishing second to six-time series champion, Jimmie Johnson.
Kyle Busch's expectations of cruising to a 66th victory in the NASCAR Nationwide Series were diminished after finishing third in the History 300 at Charlotte Motor Speedway on Saturday afternoon.
Regan Smith, following a seventh place finish in the History 300 at Charlotte Motor Speedway on Saturday, expressed disappointment within his JR Motorsports organization despite being the NASCAR Nationwide Series points leader entering the summer months.
Kyle Larson ran the entire 2013 NASCAR Nationwide Series season without a win but he now has two in 2014. Larson scored his first career win at California in March and he backed that up Saturday with an impressive win at Charlotte in the History 300.
