NASCAR Cup Series: Looking back at the last five Charlotte races
By Asher Fair
The 13th race of the 2018 NASCAR Cup Series season is set to take place at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Let’s look back at the last five races at the track.
The Coca-Cola 600 is the 13th race on the 2018 NASCAR Cup Series schedule, and it is set to take place at four-turn, 1.5-mile Charlotte Motor Speedway quad oval in Concord, North Carolina. The race is scheduled to start shortly after the live broadcast of it begins on Fox at 6:00 pm ET on Sunday, May 27.
This visit to Charlotte Motor Speedway is the first of the usual two this season for the Cup Series, with the other coming in September as the third and final race of the round of 16 of the 2018 Cup Series playoffs. However, that race is set to take place on the Charlotte Motor Speedway road course as opposed to the Charlotte Motor Speedway oval like the Coca-Cola 600 is.
Before the 2018 KC Masterpiece 400, let’s look back at what has happened in the last five races at Charlotte Motor Speedway, which have featured four different winners.
October 2015
Joey Logano started the race in third place and went on to win it after leading 227 of its 334 laps. He won the race by 0.703 seconds over Kevin Harvick in second. Race polesitter Matt Kenseth finishing in 42nd after leading 72 laps before he crashed on lap 237. The race featured 14 lead changes among 10 different drivers and nine caution flag periods for 44 laps.
May 2016
Martin Truex Jr. started the race from the pole position and went on to win it after leading 392 of its 400 laps. He won the race by 2.572 seconds over Kevin Harvick in second. The race featured nine lead changes among four different drivers and four caution flag periods for 19 laps.
October 2016
Jimmie Johnson started the race in 11th place and went on to win it after leading 155 of its 334 laps, which was a field-high total of laps led. He won the race by 1.474 seconds over Matt Kenseth in second. Race polesitter Kevin Harvick finished in 38th after leading 12 laps before an engine failure ended his race on lap 156. The race featured 17 lead changes among nine different drivers and eight caution flag periods for 51 laps.
May 2017
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Austin Dillon started the race in 22nd place and went on to win it after leading only two of its 400 laps. He won the race by 0.835 seconds over Kyle Busch in second after stretching out his final fuel stint and crossing the finish line with just enough fuel to make it to the end of the race. Race polesitter Kevin Harvick finished in eighth after leading 45 laps. Martin Truex Jr., who started the race in eighth, dominated the race by leading 233 laps and finished in third. The race featured 23 lead changes among 10 different drivers and nine caution flag periods for 53 laps.
October 2017
Martin Truex Jr. started the race in 17th place and went on to win it after leading 91 of its 337 laps, as the race went to overtime. He won the race by 0.911 seconds over Chase Elliott in second. Race polesitter Denny Hamlin finished in fourth after leading 45 laps. Kevin Harvick led led the most laps of anyone in the field with a total of 149 laps led before finishing in third after starting in third. The race featured 14 lead changes among eight different drivers and 10 caution flag periods for 44 laps.
Next: Top 10 NASCAR drivers of all-time
Tune in to the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway in Concord, North Carolina this Sunday, May 27 by watching the live broadcast of it at 6:00 pm ET on Fox.