Coca-Cola 600 preview, predictions: What to expect in NASCAR’s longest race

The Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series is ready to go for 600 miles under the lights once again on Memorial Day weekend, and we tell you what to watch for at Charlotte.

Can racing be exciting at Charlotte Motor Speedway without extra measures being taken to make it that way? That’s the biggest question for the Coca-Cola 600, the longest race on the NASCAR schedule, as it gets set to drop the green flag on Sunday evening.

The NASCAR All-Star Race has been all the rage to talk about over the past week after restrictor plates and a special aero package made the racing much tighter and more interesting than in previous years. The cars are back to normal this Sunday, meaning they will be faster and more likely to be spread out, which could mean long runs without a lot going on — though the XFINITY Series race on Saturday afternoon reminded us that it’s not a certainty, as it featured an eventful final stage.

The Coca-Cola 600 may have gotten the extra dose of intrigue it needed when Kevin Harvick, this season’s most dominant driver, didn’t even make it out for a qualifying attempt and ended up saddled with the 39th starting position. He’ll be coming hard and likely passing a ton of cars early on but has to be wary that this race is a marathon and not a sprint.

As one might expect, fuel mileage and pit strategy might come into play throughout Sunday night as well, and the cars running up front in the first half of the race aren’t necessarily the ones that will be there when the laps wind down. Because of its prestige and sheer length, the race should be worth watching even if it isn’t quite the spectacle we saw a week ago.

Next: Full Coca-Cola 600 starting grid lineup

Forecast

Precipitation has been an issue over the last few days in Charlotte, washing out a Cup Series practice session and causing a rain delay of just over an hour in the XFINITY Series race. Right now, however, the Weather Channel expects clouds but no rain for the race, which is a good thing, because the forecast is horrible for the next four days. The Coca-Cola 600 really needs to be be run Sunday night if at all possible.

Three things to watch

• Can teams take anything from last week to this Sunday? The cars are so different from the ones run at the NASCAR All-Star Race that there’s nothing much the teams can use as far as setup notes that will do them any good for the Coca-Cola 600. That said, it will be interesting to see if the likes of AJ Allmendinger, who impressed by running the outside groove and committing to it, can at least take some extra confidence into this race.
• Will Hendrick Motorsports show up? None of the Hendrick cars were good in qualifying, and all four will start 21st or worse. There was obviously something amiss team-wide, which has been the case a couple other times this season, so it could be a longer than usual 600 miles if they don’t get right in race trim.
• Can Martin Truex Jr. fight back? The defending Cup Series champion has been an afterthought for much of the 2018 season so far, with Harvick and Kyle Busch rightfully earning the lion’s share of the headlines and accolades. But he was phenomenal at Charlotte in 2017, finishing third in the spring and willing the fall race, so this could be where he serves notice that he shouldn’t be forgotten.

Predictions

The Coca-Cola 600 is one of the more difficult NASCAR races to call simply because a lot can happen over 600 miles. Kyle Busch is starting up front and would be a great pick to win, but he’s never managed to get to Victory Lane during his stellar career. The likes of Truex, Denny Hamlin and perhaps a Kyle Larson or Ryan Blaney could figure into the race for the win as well, and Brad Keselowski should have plenty of self-confidence after winning the XFINITY Series on Saturday. Still, this race is so long that the 39th starting spot shouldn’t bother Kevin Harvick, and we like him to race his way to the front and put even more of a stranglehold on this season.

And for a dark horse pick, we’ve finally reached the point where Jimmie Johnson is eligible, so let’s ride with him as a potential upset winner. If anyone knows how to stay out of trouble, improve as the night goes on and potentially steal a race where he doesn’t have the fastest car, so why not him? Unless he goes laps down in the first two stages, don’t be shocked if he’s sniffing a top-five or better when the night gets late.