NASCAR: 2021 Coca-Cola 600 – Live qualifying updates
By Asher Fair
Follow along with our live qualifying updates for NASCAR’s longest race of the 2021 season, the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
That’s right; for the first time since before the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series season officially began with the Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway back in mid-February, NASCAR is set to see a single-car qualifying session to set the starting lineup for a race.
NASCAR saw its first qualifying session in over three months at Circuit of the Americas last weekend, but with that track being a road course, qualifying was done using a much different format than the usual single-car oval qualifying format.
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Qualifying was supposed to take place for the dirt race at Bristol Motor Speedway back in late March before it was rained out, although that qualifying format included heat races — again, not a single-car format.
When you really get down to it, today’s qualifying session for the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway is the first of its kind in over a year.
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Not since last year’s Coca-Cola 600 has NASCAR run a traditional single-car qualifying session.
Starting lineups throughout the remainder of the 2020 season were all compiled via either random draw or the starting lineup formula, the same formula which has been used to set most starting lineups so far this season. Sure, this year’s Daytona 500 did feature qualifying, but the single-car qualifying session for this race only solidifies the front row; the real qualifying is done in the Bluegreen Vacations Duels.
So for the first time since last May, we are set for a true single-car qualifying session today.
Who will qualify where for this 400-lap race around the four-turn, 1.5-mile (2.414-kilometer) oval in Concord, North Carolina? Follow along with our live qualifying updates to find out.
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Qualified
Rank – Driver – Car, Team, Manufacturer – Speed (miles per hour)
1st – Kyle Larson – #5, Hendrick Motorsports, Chevrolet – 180.282
2nd – Ricky Stenhouse Jr. – #47, JTG Daugherty Racing, Chevrolet – 180.24
3rd – Chase Elliott – #9, Hendrick Motorsports, Chevrolet – 180.186
4th – William Byron – #24, Hendrick Motorsports, Chevrolet – 180.18
5th – Kevin Harvick – #4, Stewart-Haas Racing, Ford – 180.042
6th – Austin Dillon – #3, Richard Childress Racing, Chevrolet – 179.826
7th – Alex Bowman – #48, Hendrick Motorsports, Chevrolet – 179.73
8th – Martin Truex Jr. – #19, Joe Gibbs Racing, Toyota – 179.617
9th – Daniel Suarez – #99, Trackhouse Racing Team, Chevrolet – 179.587
10th – Ross Chastain – #42, Chip Ganassi Racing, Chevrolet – 179.569
11th – Ryan Blaney – #12, Team Penske, Ford – 179.462
12th – Kurt Busch – #1, Chip Ganassi Racing, Chevrolet – 179.462
13th – Brad Keselowski – #2, Team Penske, Ford – 179.336
14th – Denny Hamlin – #11, Joe Gibbs Racing, Toyota – 179.33
15th – Tyler Reddick – #8, Richard Childress Racing, Chevrolet – 179.146
16th – Joey Logano – #22, Team Penske, Ford – 179.128
17th – Christopher Bell – #20, Joe Gibbs Racing, Toyota – 179.051
18th – Bubba Wallace – #23, 23XI Racing, Toyota – 178.767
19th – Erik Jones – #43, Richard Petty Motorsports, Chevrolet – 178.625
20th – Kyle Busch – #18, Joe Gibbs Racing, Toyota – 178.566
21st – Chase Briscoe – #14, Stewart-Haas Racing, Ford – 178.394
22nd – Matt DiBenedetto – #21, Wood Brothers Racing, Ford – 178.371
23rd – Cole Custer – #41, Stewart-Haas Racing, Ford – 178.23
24th – Michael McDowell – #34, Front Row Motorsports, Ford – 178.083
25th – Ryan Newman – #6, Roush Fenway Racing, Ford – 178.071
26th – Corey LaJoie – #7, Spire Motorsports, Chevrolet – 178.042
27th – Chris Buescher – #17, Roush Fenway Racing, Ford – 178.006
28th – Ryan Preece – #37, JTG Daugherty Racing, Chevrolet – 177.62
29th – Anthony Alfredo – #38, Front Row Motorsports, Ford – 177.544
30th – Justin Haley – #77, Spire Motorsports, Chevrolet – 175.85
31st – Aric Almirola – #10, Stewart-Haas Racing, Ford – 175.131
32nd – Quin Houff – #00, StarCom Racing, Chevrolet – 174.537
33rd – B.J. McLeod – #78, Live Fast Motorsports, Ford – 174.464
34th – Cody Ware – #53, Rick Ware Racing, Ford – 174.357
35th – James Davison – #15, Rick Ware Racing, Chevrolet – 171.467
36th – Garrett Smithley – #51, Petty Ware Racing, Chevrolet – 171.434
37th – Josh Bilicki – #52, Rick Ware Racing, Ford – 171.054
38th – David Starr – #66, MBM Motorsports, Toyota – 163.285
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The Coca-Cola 600 is set to be broadcast live on Fox from Charlotte Motor Speedway beginning at 6:00 p.m. ET on Sunday, May 30.