NASCAR: Ford finally ends long Coca-Cola 600 win drought

By Asher Fair | May 25, 2020

Brad Keselowski, Team Penske, Charlotte Motor Speedway, NASCAR, Cup Series (Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images) /

Entering Sunday’s race, Ford had not won the Coca-Cola 600 since the 2002 NASCAR Cup Series season. Brad Keselowski changed that.

As the laps wound down in the early hours of Monday morning during the Coca-Cola 600, which began on Sunday evening but ended up going past midnight due to a red flag period that lasted over one hour due to rain, it appeared as though Ford’s misfortune at NASCAR“s longest race would continue.

Hendrick Motorsports’ Chase Elliott had passed Team Penske’s Brad Keselowski for the lead with 38 laps remaining in what was scheduled to be a 400-lap race around the four-turn, 1.5-mile (2.414-kilometer) oval in Concord, North Carolina, and he drove his #9 Chevrolet several seconds ahead of Keselowski’s #2 Ford.

It looked as though Chevrolet would get their first Coca-Cola 600 win since Austin Dillon won a fuel mileage race back in 2017.

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But with two laps remaining, William Byron, one of Elliott’s teammates, brought out a caution flag when he spun with a flat tire.

Elliott made the decision to pit for new tires, promoting Keselowski to the lead for what would be the final restart of the now 405-lap race on lap 404. Elliott restarted in 11th place.

Elliott charged his way through the field up to third place, but he did not have enough for Keselowski, who held off Jimmie Johnson, another one of Elliott’s teammates, by 0.293 seconds to secure the victory.

Johnson ended up being disqualified after his #48 Chevrolet failed post-race inspection, so Elliott was scored in second place, 0.674 seconds behind Keselowski.

It marked Ford’s first Coca-Cola 600 win since 2002 when Roush Racing’s Mark Martin led a 1-2-3-4 Ford sweep ahead of teammate Matt Kenseth, PPI Motorsports’ Ricky Craven and Yates Racing’s Ricky Rudd in second, third and fourth place, respectively.

Since 2002, Chevrolet has won the race nine times, Toyota has won it five times and Dodge, which no longer competes in the Cup Series, won it three times. Dodge’s third win during this span came in 2010 when Kurt Busch took the checkered flag. This victory had been Team Penske’s most recent victory in the race before Keselowski won Sunday night’s edition.

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Ford had won at Charlotte Motor Speedway since 2002 prior to Keselowski’s Coca-Cola 600 win, but not in this particular race. Ford drivers won the October races at the track in 2011, 2013 and 2015 with Kenseth, Keselowski and Joey Logano, respectively. Kenseth was driving for Roush Fenway Racing at the time while both Keselowski and Logano were driving for Team Penske.

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