Coca-Cola 600
After something of a week off at Dover for the All-Star Race festivities, the NASCAR Cup Series drivers are back to business in one of the circuit’s signature races, the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway. With the Memorial Day holiday in mind, this is a Sunday night race and is classified as a “Crown Jewel” race.
This is the 13th race of 36 for the Cup Series season, which includes three road course races as mentioned, a street course in Coronado, a revamped playoff format, the second annual In-Season Challenge, and a whole lot of exciting Saturdays and Sundays for race fans and bettors.
How to Watch The Coca-Cola 600
When: Sunday, May 24, 2026
Where: Charlotte Motor Speedway in Concord, NC
Time: 6 p.m. ET
Channel: Amazon Prime
2026 NASCAR Cup Series Winners and Standings
With 12 races in the books, we have seven total winners, as road course ringer Shane van Gisbergen did his thing once again at Watkins Glen, as he went bowling into Victory Lane after leading the most laps and winning Stage 2. Not surprisingly, SVG’s best finishes this season have come at the Circuit of the Americas in Austin, where he finished second, and this past race at The Glen.
The win only moved van Gisbergen into 16th and does not guarantee entry into the playoffs, as NASCAR changed the rules for this season. While they did increase the point total for a win, the top 16 in points irrespective of race wins qualify for the postseason. So, van Gisbergen is essentially right on the cut line with the Coronado Street Course and the road race at Sonoma left.
Everybody is still chasing five-time winner Tyler Reddick, who ran fifth at The Glen and widened his points lead over Denny Hamlin. Reddick is the only driver in the 500s with 567 points and Hamlin’s 438 points sit 16 points ahead of Chase Elliott, who is in third and also a race winner alongside Reddick and Hamlin. Ryan Blaney, the winner at Phoenix, is fourth and the winless Chris Buescher is fifth.
As far as the rest of the top 10 goes, race winners Ty Gibbs and Carson Hocevar are sixth and seventh, with Kyle Larson, Brad Keselowski, and Bubba Wallace filling out the top 10.
Coca-Cola 600 Winners
The stats over the last 10 races at Charlotte Motor Speedway are a little convoluted because they include the Bank of America “Roval” race, which was run from 2018-25, with the exception of 2020 due to COVID. The Cup Series decided to go back to the traditional oval for 2026, so the following numbers will carry more weight.
Martin Truex Jr. is the only repeat winner over the last 11 versions of the Coca-Cola 600, as he won in 2016 and 2019. Otherwise, we’ve had wins by Larson, Hamlin, Blaney, Christopher Bell, and Ross Chastain over the last five years. Bell’s win came in a rain-shortened race that only went 249 of the 400 laps around the 1.5-mile track.
Coca-Cola 600 Predictions
For the latest odds and VSiN’s NASCAR Best Bets, head to our NASCAR Hub to see Steve Makinen’s simulation results and more stats on the drivers.
