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Coca-Cola 600: Power Rankings

William Byron has been really good this season.

By Mark Abell
NASCAR Cup Series Bank of America ROVAL 400 Photo by Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images

Race Information

Race: Coca-Cola 600
Laps: 400
Date: May 30th @ 6:00pm
Venue: Charlotte Motor Speedway
2020 Winner: Brad Keslowski (4:29:55)
Network: FS1

Track

Charlotte Motor Speedway. Opened in 1960 by Bruton Smith and Curtis Turner, this 1.5 mile quad oval asphalt track is home to two races each year. The turns are at 24 degrees and the straights bank at five degrees. This track was the first modern superspeedway to host night racing. This is among the faster tracks on the circuit given distance and open space to ramp up speed before the turns.

NASCAR Xfinity Series Drive for the Cure 250 presented by Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina Photo by Sean Gardner/Getty Images

Favorites

Chase Elliott (second selection this year) — Fresh off a dominant victory under less than ideal circumstances, he comes to Charlotte where he won last year and has a myriad of top 10s recently.

William Byron (third selection this year) — William has a handful of top 15 finishes at Charlotte since 2019. He is also 2nd in points right now, having top 12 finishes in his last 12 consecutive races.

High Risk/High Reward

Ryan Blaney (four selection this year) — Ryan is 6th in points right now and comes to Charlotte where he had nothing but top 5 finishes last year across three races.

Matt DiBenedetto (second selection this year) – He struggled earlier on with faster tracks this year (outside top 15 at Homestead and Las Vegas) but he’s rebounded since then, finishing 11th at Atlanta and 5th at Talladega. He’s also steadily improved at Charlotte over the years going from an average finish of 30th to 25th to 18th last year.

The Dark Horse

Ricky Steinhouse (second selection this year) – In three of his last four regular season races at Charlotte, Ricky finished 5th or better. He’s learned and strengthened here recently and it shows. He fared well at some of the quicker races this season, finishing 13th at Homestead and 11th at Las Vegas.

Fun Fact: Coca-Cola has sponsored this race since 1985.

2021 Results

Favorite: Avg Finish 13th (35th Percent)
High Risk/High Reward: Avg Finish 18th (47th Percent)
Dark Horse: Avg Finish 16th (41st Percent)