Getty Kyle Larson (top) & Denny Hamlin (bottom) race at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
A Crown Jewel is on the line on May 28 as the Cup Series drivers compete in the Coca-Cola 600. According to BetMGM, two previous winners are among the top three favorites.
Kyle Larson enters the weekend with the best odds to win his second Coca-Cola 600. He sits at +500, just ahead of Hendrick Motorsports teammate William Byron at +700. Defending Coca-Cola 600 winner Denny Hamlin is third overall at +800.
Just behind Hamlin sit more drivers with Charlotte Motor Speedway wins. Two-time Coca-Cola 600 champion Martin Truex Jr. is at +900 while 2018 Coca-Cola 600 winner Kyle Busch is at +1,000.
The two-time Cup Series champion is in a tie with Christopher Bell, Chase Elliott, and points leader Ross Chastain. Elliott is the only driver in this group that has won at Charlotte Motor Speedway. He captured the 2020 Alsco Uniforms 500.
Joe Gibbs Racing Survived & Contended in 2022
GettyCup Series drivers race at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
The first Coca-Cola 600 of the Next Gen era was a wild event. The action was fierce, continuing the Gen 7’s improvements at intermediate tracks, and there were plenty of frantic restarts.
The Coca-Cola 600 had 18 total cautions as the race went 413 laps instead of the original 400. Three were for stage breaks while 11 were for single-car incidents. Three others collected several prominent drivers.
The four cars in the Joe Gibbs Racing lineup were able to largely avoid the chaos, which set up a strong finish for the organization. Hamlin won in a car that he has since described as capable of roughly fifth place.
Busch, who drove the No. 18 JGR Toyota at the time, finished second while Bell finished fifth. Truex Jr. rounded out the group with a 12th-place finish.
“Last year was a great outing for us,” Joe Gibbs told Heavy ahead of the Coca-Cola 600. “Denny winning the race — as you reflected on the fact — we were pretty strong all the way across the board. We think we’re going to the race track right now with real good cars. But it takes so much.
“You’re talking about 600 miles, and it takes so much to go your way. Can you stay out of the confusion of wrecks? Can you have pit stops? So it is a total team effort, and I think that’s the reason why our fan base really has so much attention focused on this race.”
Hendrick Motorsports Leads NASCAR in Charlotte Wins
GettyKyle Larson does a burnout at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
Hamlin’s win was Joe Gibbs Racing’s eighth at Charlotte Motor Speedway. This moved the organization into a tie for the second-most all-time with RFK Racing, Richard Childress Racing, and Jimmie Johnson.
The seven-time champion’s eight wins at the Concord track helped Hendrick Motorsports take the top spot on the all-time list. The organization has celebrated 21 wins at Charlotte Motor Speedway, which includes a dominant performance by Larson.
The driver of the No. 5 turned in a dominant performance at the intermediate track on May 30, 2021. Larson started from the pole and he swept all four stages while leading 327 of the 400 laps.
This win marked the turning point of Larson’s season. He already had a secure spot in the playoffs from a win two months prior at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, but he had gone winless in the other races leading up to the Coca-Cola 600.
The Crown Jewel race was Larson’s second win of the season. He went on to add eight more en route to winning both the regular-season championship and the Cup Series championship.
Now, Larson will return to Charlotte Motor Speedway in pursuit of another Coca-Cola 600 win. He will do so one week after delivering an “a**-whipping” in the All-Star Race at North Wilkesboro Speedway.