Coca-Cola 600 highlights, stage results and more from Charlotte

The only 600-mile race on the NASCAR schedule returned to Charlotte Motor Speedway, and we have all the highlights and stage results from the Coca-Cola 600.

It’s hard to argue with the idea that the Sunday before Memorial Day is the biggest day in motorsports. The day begins in Monaco, goes to Indianapolis for the 500 and ends at Charlotte Motor Speedway for the Coca-Cola 600.

Despite the fact that it’s the longest race on the NASCAR schedule, it’s been surprisingly good to first-time winners (seven before this year), and there were plenty in the 2018 field looking for that first NASCAR Cup Series victory. There were also hopefuls like pole-sitter Kyle Busch, who’s won nearly everywhere and plenty of times at Charlotte, but never in a Cup Series points race.

The problem with the Coca-Cola 600 is that there are so many factors out of a driver’s control, or even a team’s control for that matter. Who stepped up and showed both the speed and endurance to triumph at Charlotte this year?

The outside line has worked more often than not on starts and restarts in 2018, but Joey Logano, who started second but from the inside, was able to lead the early laps.

However it didn’t take long for Kyle Busch to track Logano down, and running close to the bottom of the track. he was able to both catch and pass Logano.

Parker Kligerman hit the wall and looked like he would bring out the first caution of the night, but he was able to continue under green. Instead, the yellow flag flew for a former Coca-Cola 600 winner as Austin Dillon got into the wall himself and was definitely the worse for wear.

Kyle Busch predicted it would only take Kevin Harvick 55 laps to get from 39th to the top five. It took about 11 laps longer than that, but the 4 was challenging Kyle Larson when the unexpected happened: Harvick blew a right front tire and slammed into the wall, bringing out another caution.

Brad Keselowski won the race off pit road, but replays showed it was because he was unable to even get into his pit and just passed straight through. On the restart, Brad K. looked like he was standing still, losing a ton of positions and somehow not causing a wreck.

Kyle Busch was the beneficiary, and he held on over the final 12 laps to take Stage 1.

Stage 1 results

1. Kyle Busch, 10 points plus one bonus playoff point
2. Ryan Blaney, 9 points
3. Kyle Larson, 8 points
4. Martin Truex Jr., 7 points
5. Jimmie Johnson, 6 points
6. Aric Almirola, 5 points
7. Clint Bowyer, 4 points
8. Denny Hamlin, 3 points
9. Ricky Stenhouse Jr., 2 points
10. Erik Jones, 1 point

Except for Jimmie Johnson, the Hendrick drivers were mired in a pack with each other in the teens when Stage 2 began. That didn’t work out for William Byron, who got loose and smashed his right rear corner into the wall, bringing out the caution flag again.

We barely got underway before the yellow flag had to fly again. This time Denny Hamlin tapped Johnson and sent him around, and miraculously, pretty much everyone missed him as he spun. Joey Logano also got turned around while trying to dodge the chaos, bumping ever so slightly into Erik Jones.

Some interesting pit strategies came into play during Stage 2 because of the early cautions, but everything cycled back to Kyle Busch in the end. The Candyman claimed his second stage win of the night and looked like he was on track to break his Cup Series winless streak at Charlotte.

Stage 2 results

1. Kyle Busch, 10 points plus one bonus playoff point
2. Martin Truex Jr., 9 points
3. Kyle Larson, 8 points
4. Denny Hamlin, 7 points
5. Clint Bowyer, 6 points
6. Aric Almirola, 5 points
7. Chase Elliott, 4 points
8. Jimmie Johnson, 3 points
9. Ryan Newman, 2 points
10. Erik Jones, 1 point

With Kyle Busch continuing to dominate, Truex had not one but two pit road penalties that shuffled him back an made him race back to the front. A one-car incident involving Chris Buescher made the 18 crew earn its money again on pit road, but they got the patriotic M&M’s ride out in front again.

On lap 272, another top driver had a scary moment. Running in fourth place, Larson got loose, spun out and somehow kept it off the inside wall.

With a little more than 20 laps to go in Stage 3, Blaney, a noted comic book fan, did an inadvertent Ghost Rider impression when his No. 12 car, already struggling with either electrical or engine issues, literally caught fire and sent flames streaming from the front tires and rear compartment.

That was a lot more dramatic than what was happening up front, as Kyle Busch eased to his third stage win of the night.

Stage 3 results

1. Kyle Busch, 10 points plus one playoff point
2. Erik Jones, 9 points
3. Brad Keselowski, 8 points
4. Kurt Busch, 7 points
5. Jamie McMurray, 6 points
6. Denny Hamlin, 5 points
7. Kasey Kahne, 4 points
8. Martin Truex Jr., 3 points
9. Ricky Stenhouse Jr., 2 points
10. Ryan Newman, 1 point

Not much to report in the final stage? That’s because Kyle Busch dominated it, putting all but nine cars at least a lap down, and with only Truex closer than 13 seconds back.

The victory gives Kyle Busch a Cup Series win at every current NASCAR track. He and Harvick have written almost the entire story of the 2018 NASCAR season, and the most recent chapter was one of the more dominant ones yet.