Coca-Cola 600

Coca-Cola 600

Venue	Charlotte Motor Speedway
Sponsor	Coca-Cola
First race	1959
Distance	600 miles (965.606 km)
Laps	400
Previous names	World 600 (1960–1984) Coca-Cola World 600 (1985) Coca-Cola Racing Family 600 (2002)

The Coca-Cola 600, formerly known as the World 600, is a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race held each year at Charlotte Motor Speedway in Concord, North Carolina on Memorial Day weekend. Run since 1960, it is the longest race sanctioned by NASCAR at 600 miles (956.606 km).

History

The event was started as an attempt by NASCAR to stage a Memorial Day weekend event that would rival the open-wheel Indianapolis 500. It was not until 1974, however, that both races competed head-to-head on the same day.^[1] Before 1974, the two races were held on different days of the week, and on a few occasions, some drivers drove in both; this continued even after the 600 was moved to the same day, albeit to a smaller degree. In fact, the first World 600 was not held on the Memorial Day weekend; it was held on June 16 due to snowstorms that delayed the completion of Charlotte Motor Speedway. The 2009 race, because the race was postponed from its original May 24 date, was the first race to have run on Memorial Day itself.

With the installation of lights in 1992, fans complained to circuit management to have the race start later in the day because of the notorious North Carolina heat and humidity. They wanted to follow The Winston's popularity the previous week and switch the race to a nighttime finish to create cooler temperatures for spectators. The start time was moved back several times throughout the 1990s, and finally settled at 5:30 pm in 2001, to attempt to have the race finished by 10 p.m. ET, in time for local news on Fox affiliates.

With the new starting time came new challenges. Not only do race teams have to deal with the blistering Carolina heat, but the considerable temperature change at night make track conditions completely different.

The nighttime portion of the race is lit with a system that uses parabolic reflectors so that dangerous glare that would otherwise be in the drivers' eyes is minimized. The move of the race to the early evening made it possible for drivers to participate in both the 600 and the Indianapolis 500 by flying from Indianapolis to Charlotte as soon as the Indianapolis race was over. Experts disagree over whether, for health and safety reasons, anyone should be allowed to race 1100 miles in one day, but no regulation has been passed yet by any governing body to prevent it. From 2005-2010, the issue became moot as the state of Indiana finally decided to go to daylight saving time. This resulted in only about a one hour span between the end of the Indianapolis race and the start of the Charlotte race. The Indianapolis 500 start time was moved back to 11:00 AM Eastern in 2011, but no driver will make the attempt this year. Over twenty million dollars has been offered to the first driver who wins both.

Until the Ferko lawsuit settlement took effect, the race was considered the third leg of the grand slam, and was once part of the Winston Million. It is considered one of the top five annual NASCAR races.^[2]

Past races

The 1974 running, shortened to 540 miles because of the nation's short-lived fuel crisis, was won by David Pearson over Richard Petty. The lead changed 37 times between Pearson, Petty, Cale Yarborough, Buddy Baker, and Donnie Allison, the most lead changes in the event's history to that point.

In 1976 Bruton Smith reassumed full control of the speedway with the resignation of former track president Richard Howard. In a move to boost promotion of the race, Janet Guthrie was entered in a car wrenched by Ralph Moody. Pearson edged Petty again after a cut tire dropped Yarborough off the lead lap.

1979 saw the most lead changes (59) in the race's history. Darrell Waltrip took the win over Richard Petty and Dale Earnhardt.

1980's running lasted seven hours due to 14 caution flags and two lengthy red flags for rain. Multiple tire failures helped lead to an epidemic of wrecks; at Lap 275 Dale Earnhardt blew a tire and his spin caught up Bobby Allison, Cale Yarborough, and David Pearson. Waltrip had the lead but in the final 20 laps was challenged by Benny Parsons; the two battled with the lead changing some seven times before Parsons edged Waltrip by a car length.

1988 came a week after multiple tire failures marred the All-Star Race; the failures involved Goodyear tires but in the 600 Hoosier tires began blowing. Darrell Waltrip survived and edged Rusty Wallace for the win.

1992 saw a controversial finish. Dale Earnhardt emerged from late green-flag pitstops with the lead after trailing by some three seconds entering the pits; there were complaints from several teams, notably Morgan-McClure whose driver Ernie Irvan finished second, that Earnhardt had broken NASCAR's mandated pit road speed limit.

1995 was a dramatic affair as the lead changed 32 times, the most since 1988, and the battle for the lead became a spirited multilap affair between Bobby Labonte, Dale Earnhardt, Rusty Wallace, and Sterling Marlin. Labonte punted Earnhardt out of the lead late in the race and sweated out late green-flag stops for fuel to take the win, his first in Winston Cup.

On Sunday, May 29, 2005, a new record for the most cautions of any NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race was set at 22 cautions. In addition, there was one red flag. During that race Jimmie Johnson slid past Bobby Labonte in turn four on the final lap, claiming the checkered flag. In doing so he became the first driver to win three consecutive Coca-Cola 600 races. He would finish a distant second to Kasey Kahne the following year.

Monday, May 25, 2009, although nicknamed by many as the 24 Hours of Charlotte, saw the shortest run of the race in its history. The race was delayed from Sunday to Monday due to a rainstorm, and the following day, more rain forced the race to go only 227 laps, although it took a 6 and a half hour marathon to reach that point, due to frequent interruptions by competition cautions and three red flags, including a two hour period under the red flag which ended the race and declared David Reutimann the winner, one of few drivers who opted not to pit under the final caution. Reutimann was the second surprise first-time winner in 2009 after Brad Keselowski at Talladega.

2011, at 402 laps and 603 miles, was the longest race in NASCAR history.^[3]

Name changes

From 1960 to 1984 the race was known as the World 600. In 1985, the race's name was changed to the Coca-Cola World 600. In 1986 the name was shortened to the Coca-Cola 600, or Coke 600 which it was referred to at the time. The name changed again in 2002 to the Coca-Cola Racing Family 600 referring to the Coca-Cola family of drivers who are sponsored by Coca-Cola. After 2002, the name returned to the Coca-Cola 600.

Future

Bruton Smith, owner of Charlotte Motor Speedway, has indicated that he's working on setting up a $20 million bonus for winning both the Indy 500 and the Coca-Cola 600, starting in 2011. To make this possible the Coca-Cola 600 could potentially be moved to Saturday night on Memorial Day weekend.

In early 2011 Fox Sports president David Hill voiced his displeasure with the race's 600-mile length and stated his desire to see the race shortened. Charlotte Motor Speedway has not been receptive to the idea.^[4]

First time winners

The Coca-Cola 600 has been the site of many drivers' first wins, including future champions David Pearson (1961), Jeff Gordon (1994), Bobby Labonte (1995), and Matt Kenseth (2000). The most recent driver to have the 600 as his first win was David Reutimann, who won a rain-shortened event in 2009. That was the second time in three years that a driver won their first race at the Coca-Cola 600; Casey Mears won his only race to date in the 2007 running.

Past winners

Year	Date	Driver	Team	Manufacturer	Race Distance		Race Time	Average Speed (mph)
					Laps	Miles (km)
1960	June 19	Joe Lee Johnson	Paul McDuffie	Chevrolet	400	600 (965.606)	5:34:06	107.735
1961*	May 28	David Pearson	John Masoni	Pontiac	400	600 (965.606)	5:22:29	111.633
1962	May 27	Nelson Stacy	Holman-Moody	Ford	400	600 (965.606)	4:46:44	125.552
1963	June 2	Fred Lorenzen	Holman-Moody	Ford	400	600 (965.606)	4:31:52	132.417
1964*	May 24	Jim Paschal	Petty Enterprises	Plymouth	400	600 (965.606)	4:46:14	125.772
1965	May 23	Fred Lorenzen	Holman-Moody	Ford	400	600 (965.606)	4:55:38	121.722
1966	May 22	Marvin Panch	Petty Enterprises	Plymouth	400	600 (965.606)	4:26:35	135.042
1967	May 28	Jim Paschal	Frieden Enterprises	Plymouth	400	600 (965.606)	4:25:02	135.832
1968	May 26	Buddy Baker	Ray Fox	Dodge	255*	382.5 (615.574)	3:04:14	104.207
1969	May 25	LeeRoy Yarbrough	Junior Johnson	Mercury	400	600 (965.606)	4:27:56	134.361
1970	May 24	Donnie Allison	Banjo Matthews	Ford	400	600 (965.606)	4:37:36	129.68
1971	May 30	Bobby Allison	Holman-Moody	Mercury	400	600 (965.606)	4:16:20	140.422
1972	May 28	Buddy Baker	Petty Enterprises	Dodge	400	600 (965.606)	4:13:04	142.255
1973	May 27	Buddy Baker	Nord Krauskopf	Dodge	400	600 (965.606)	4:26:53	134.89
1974*	May 26	David Pearson	Wood Brothers Racing	Mercury	360*	540 (869.045)	3:58:21	135.72
1975	May 25	Richard Petty	Petty Enterprises	Dodge	400	600 (965.606)	4:07:42	145.327
1976	May 30	David Pearson	Wood Brothers Racing	Mercury	400	600 (965.606)	4:22:06	137.352
1977	May 29	Richard Petty	Petty Enterprises	Dodge	400	600 (965.606)	4:21:29	137.676
1978	May 28	Darrell Waltrip	DiGard Motorsports	Chevrolet	400	600 (965.606)	4:20:12	138.355
1979*	May 27	Darrell Waltrip	DiGard Motorsports	Chevrolet	400	600 (965.606)	4:23:24	136.674
1980	May 25	Benny Parsons	M C Anderson	Chevrolet	400	600 (965.606)	5:01:51	119.265
1981	May 24	Bobby Allison	Harry Rainer	Buick	400	600 (965.606)	4:38:22	129.326
1982	May 30	Neil Bonnett	Wood Brothers Racing	Ford	400	600 (965.606)	4:36:48	130.058
1983	May 29	Neil Bonnett	RahMoc Enterprises	Chevrolet	400	600 (965.606)	4:15:51	140.707
1984	May 27	Bobby Allison	DiGard Motorsports	Buick	400	600 (965.606)	4:38:34	129.233
1985	May 26	Darrell Waltrip	Junior Johnson	Chevrolet	400	600 (965.606)	4:13:52	141.807
1986*	May 25	Dale Earnhardt	Richard Childress Racing	Chevrolet	400	600 (965.606)	4:16:24	140.406
1987	May 24	Kyle Petty	Wood Brothers Racing	Ford	400	600 (965.606)	4:33:48	131.483
1988	May 29	Darrell Waltrip	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	400	600 (965.606)	4:49:15	124.46
1989	May 28	Darrell Waltrip*	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	400	600 (965.606)	4:09:52	144.077
1990	May 27	Rusty Wallace	Blue Max Racing	Pontiac	400	600 (965.606)	4:21:32	137.65
1991	May 26	Davey Allison	Robert Yates Racing	Ford	400	600 (965.606)	4:19:05	138.951
1992*	May 24	Dale Earnhardt	Richard Childress Racing	Chevrolet	400	600 (965.606)	4:30:43	132.98
1993*	May 30	Dale Earnhardt	Richard Childress Racing	Chevrolet	400	600 (965.606)	4:07:25	145.504
1994	May 29	Jeff Gordon	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	400	600 (965.606)	4:18:10	139.445
1995	May 28	Bobby Labonte	Joe Gibbs Racing	Chevrolet	400	600 (965.606)	3:56:55	151.952
1996	May 26	Dale Jarrett	Robert Yates Racing	Ford	400	600 (965.606)	4:03:56	147.581
1997	May 25	Jeff Gordon	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	333*	499.5 (803.867)	3:39:10	136.745
1998	May 24	Jeff Gordon	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	400	600 (965.606)	4:23:53	136.424
1999	May 30	Jeff Burton	Roush Racing	Ford	400	600 (965.606)	3:57:50	151.367
2000	May 28	Matt Kenseth	Roush Racing	Ford	400	600 (965.606)	4:12:23	142.64
2001	May 27	Jeff Burton	Roush Racing	Ford	400	600 (965.606)	4:20:40	138.107
2002	May 26	Mark Martin	Roush Racing	Ford	400	600 (965.606)	4:21:23	137.729
2003	May 25	Jimmie Johnson	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	276*	414 (666.268)	3:16:50	126.198
2004	May 30	Jimmie Johnson	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	400	600 (965.606)	4:12:10	142.763
2005*	May 29	Jimmie Johnson	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	400	600 (965.606)	5:13:52	114.698
2006	May 28	Kasey Kahne	Evernham Motorsports	Dodge	400	600 (965.606)	4:39:25	128.84
2007	May 27	Casey Mears	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	400	600 (965.606)	4:36:27	130.222
2008	May 25	Kasey Kahne	Gillett Evernham Motorsports	Dodge	400	600 (965.606)	4:25:09	135.772
2009*	May 25*	David Reutimann	Michael Waltrip Racing	Toyota	227*	340.5 (547.981)	2:48:59	120.899
2010	May 30	Kurt Busch	Penske Racing	Dodge	400	600 (965.606)	4:08:20	144.966
2011	May 29	Kevin Harvick	Richard Childress Racing	Chevrolet	402*	603 (970.434)	4:33:14	132.414

• 1961: The race saw numerous crashes, including a very bad hit involving Reds Kagle, who lost a leg when his Ford smashed through the guardrail in Turn Three.
• 1964: Edward Glenn Roberts suffers a hard crash in this race, resulting in an inferno. Roberts was severely burned, and would die of related complications on July 2 of that year.
• 1968 & 2003: Race shortened due to rain.
• 1974: Race scheduled for 360 laps / 540 miles due to energy crisis and the event was the first year it was scheduled for the same day as the Indianapolis 500.
• 1979: The race set the track record for lead changes at 59.
• 1986: Indy 500 was rained out; races were not held against each other.
• 1989: Darrell Waltrip becomes the first and only driver to win the event for a record 5th time (1978, 1979, 1985, 1988, 1989).
• 1992: Final time the race was scheduled at the same starting time as the Indy 500.
• 1993: Race changed to an evening/night race.
• 1997: Race shortened due to lateness caused by a rain delay and a 1 a.m. curfew.
• 2005: The race set the series record for most cautions at 22.
• 2009: 50th Running of the Coca-Cola 600. Race postponed from Sunday to Monday and was shortened due to rain.
• 2011: Race extended due to a Green-white-checker finish.

See also

• List of current NASCAR races
• List of Coca-Cola 600 broadcasters

References

1. ^ Back in the Day with Dale Earnhardt, Jr. - SpeedTV - Coca Cola 600 episode
2. ^ NASCAR's Best Races
3. ^ "Kevin Harvick Wins Coke Cola 600 – Longest NASCAR Race Ever – Crazy Finish". Racing News Digest. Racing News Digest. http://racingnewsdigest.com/2011/05/kevin-harvick-wins-coke-cola-600-longest-nascar-race-ever-crazy-finish/. Retrieved 2011-10-30. 
4. ^ NASCAR races too long, Fox boss reiterates, singling out the 600