NASCAR: Coke 600 Race Review
After the glitz of the All Star week it was back to good old racing for Championship points. The venue remained the same though but not wanting to be just another race in the schedule this race is the longest of the year with the teams having to go 600 miles to get into victory lane. With an average race length of over 4 hours it is a war of attrition that sets the toughest test of the year for cars and drivers alike.
May 23, 2013; Concord, NC, USA; NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver Denny Hamlin (11) celebrates after winning the pole and setting a track record of 195.624 mph during qualifying for the Coca Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Mandatory Credit: Randy Sartin-USA TODAY Sports
Thursday night’s qualifying once again proved a record breaker for the gen 6 car as yet another track record was broken this time by eight drivers. Evening qualifying usually favours the cars going out later due to the cooler air and this session proved no different. Going third from last proved the perfect time to set the fastest time and it was Denny Hamlin who was in that spot and set a blistering time of 27.604 seconds (195.624 mph) beating provisional pole sitter Kurt Busch into second place.
When the green flag comes out Hamlin has no problems pulling away from the rest of the pack as his team-mate Matt Kenseth gets around Kurt Busch for second. As the cars come onto the back straightaway the top five are already in single file. Hamlin’s lead doesn’t last long though as a few laps later Kenseth finds a way passed by diving to the inside of the track, and carrying more speed than the 11 car, is able to swoop back up in front of Hamlin. While Kenseth is able to start to establish a gap from the chasing pack they are pushing hard to close him down and chief amongst those chasers is now Kasey Kahne who after starting in sixth has worked his way up to second. The pace of the leaders means that after only twenty laps they have already started to catch the slower cars and as Kenseth starts to get held up by them it allows Kahne to be all over the 20’s rear bumper. While in the past few races Kahne has struggled to get by cars he appears to have no such issue now as he pulls the same move that Kenseth made on Hamlin earlier to take the lead.
The early stages of the race are just a case of staying in touch, keeping the car healthy and working through the changing track and air temperatures. The first round of green flag stops come and go but it is still the 5 car out in front and has now increased his lead from 2.5 seconds pre pit stop to just over 4 seconds. Behind him though Kyle Busch has been able to get by Kenseth for second and although the places two to five are covered by only a couple of seconds nobody can get close to Kahne who has now lapped nearly half the field as he gets by 23rd place runner Aric Almirola. But that’s as far through the filed as Kahne gets as on lap 65 debris is spotted and the first caution of the day comes out. With the leaders all coming to pit row Kahne is able to come out still in front from Kyle Busch and a great stop by Hamlin seems him move from sixth to third.
On the restart Kahne appears to get a good push from Hamlin but it isn’t enough for him to get clear of Kyle who sticks with him on the outside and a lap later the 18 is able to clear the 5 and take the lead. Kahne isn’t going to let Kyle get away and he sticks with the 18 for the next few laps harassing and trying to find a way by. On lap 80 Kahne gets a great run off turn two and is able to fly by the 18 to retake the lead. Kyle might just be taking it easy though as a couple of laps later he is also passed by team-mate Kenseth for second place.
May 26, 2013; Concord, NC, USA; NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver Kasey Kahne (5) during the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Mandatory Credit: Randy Sartin-USA TODAY Sports
As the race passes the quarter distance the top five are, Kahne, Kenseth, Kyle Busch, Hamlin and Kurt Busch and the positions remain the same until on lap 114 the second caution comes out after Casey Mears blows out a tyre and slides up into the outside wall. A slow stop for Kahne, who has jack issues, sees him lose the lead to Kyle and will restart in third behind Kenseth. It is also a poor stop for Kurt who loses six places and will restart in tenth. But there are no issues for Kyle on the restart who easily leads going into turn one as Kenseth just doesn’t get going and is almost collected by Hamlin. Kahne is able to take advantage of the 20’s poor restart and takes second ahead of the 20 and 11 cars.