To win in the NASCAR Cup Series, sometimes you must take a risk. That’s exactly what long-time crew chief Ryan Sparks did on Sunday at Charlotte Motor Speedway to get Daniel Suarez and Spire Motorsports a victory in the Coca-Cola 600.
When the field came to pit road under caution at Lap 354 – the first of three weather-related cautions in the final 20 laps of the event – Sparks elected to put just right-side tires on the No. 7 Freeway Insurance Chevrolet, while the remainder of the field chose to put on four tires, anticipating a 40-plus lap run to the finish.
Suarez was BARELY able to hold off Christopher Bell and Denny Hamlin not just once, but two times, on a multi-lap green-flag run, and both times, was mere seconds away from being overtaken by a Joe Gibbs Racing driver, when a caution would be displayed for a weather-related reason.
Eventually, the NASCAR Cup Series field ran out of opportunities, and the rain came pouring down in Concord, North Carolina, forcing NASCAR to almost immediately determine the Coca-Cola 600 official after just 373 laps.
Sunday’s Coca-Cola 600 is the third win for Daniel Suarez in his 336th NASCAR Cup Series start.
“This one really means a lot. I’ve been saying for years that this is my favorite race of the year, I get to have my family here, every year, this is most of the time the only race that they get to come,” Suarez told Prime Video post-race. “This has been a very tough week. Kyle [Busch], he was special man. This one is for Kyle. For Kyle, Samantha, Brexton, Lennix, for all of his family.”
It’s a special moment for Suarez, who on Saturday, came into the non-mandatory media availability at Charlotte Motor Speedway and shared stories about Kyle Busch, and how the late NASCAR legend was a mentor for him when he came to the United States to compete in NASCAR’s National Series, from Mexico.
“This one has a special flavor because of Kyle,” Suarez added. “If it wasn’t for Kyle, I wasn’t going to be an Xfinity Series champion, I wasn’t going to have my shot in the Cup Series, and to be able to win this race for him is unbelievable.”
It’s the third victory for Spire Motorsports in the NASCAR Cup Series – all three of which have come with different drivers (Justin Haley, Carson Hocevar, and Daniel Suarez).
Christopher Bell and Denny Hamlin put up one hell of a fight to try and get around Daniel Suarez in those rainy green-flag stints but had to settle for second and third place, respectively. Tyler Reddick led a race-high 119 laps, but finished fourth, with Kyle Larson rounding out the top five.
Ty Gibbs, Ryan Blaney, Joey Logano, William Byron, and Zane Smith completed the top-10.
Shane Van Gisbergen had a career night (at least on an oval), finishing in the 11th position after spending the majority of the event running inside the top-10, and at times, inside the top five. There was one point in the race, with less than 100 laps remaining, that Van Gisbergen stayed out on old tires and managed to wrangle the lead from Ty Gibbs – which he held for 11 laps.
The event featured a total of 12 cautions for 75 laps, a number of which were from incidents.
On Lap 52, Austin Cindric went for a spin and collected rookie Connor Zilisch, ending both of their evenings prematurely. Chase Elliott also wrecked before the one-quarter mark of the Coca-Cola 600, spinning down the backstretch at Lap 89.
The biggest wreck of the night happened at Lap 330, when Chase Briscoe got into the back of Chris Buescher, spinning the RFK Racing driver around and collecting Ryan Preece. Preece then spun down the racetrack and destroyed the No. 19.
Leaving Charlotte, Tyler Reddick continues to hold a 122-point lead over Denny Hamlin in the NASCAR Cup Series standings. Ryan Blaney, Ty Gibbs, and Chase Elliott are the top-five in points. Next up for the Cup series is a trip to Nashville on Sunday, May 31 at 7:00 PM ET on Prime Video.
