Trackhouse Racing's Ross Chastain spoiled Hendrick Motorsports' William Byron's dominant night with a pass in the closing laps to win his first Coca-Cola 600. He only led eight laps and held off Byron by 0.673 seconds. After starting 40th, Chastain became the first driver in the race's history to win the Coca-Cola 600 from that deep in the field.
The win was Chastain's sixth of his Cup Series career. Behind Chastain and Byron in the top five were Joe Gibbs Racing's Chase Briscoe, Kaulig Racing's AJ Allmendinger and Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing's Brad Keselowski, who picked up his first top-10 of the season.
Updated Cup Series standings after Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte
Driver Standings | Points | Behind |
|---|---|---|
1. William Byron | 499 | 0 |
2. Kyle Larson | 470 | -29 |
3. Christopher Bell | 425 | -74 |
4. Chase Elliott | 415 | -84 |
5. Tyler Reddick | 392 | -107 |
6. Denny Hamlin | 390 | -109 |
7. Ryan Blaney | 363 | -136 |
8. Ross Chastain | 350 | -149 |
9. Joey Logano | 338 | -161 |
10. Alex Bowman | 333 | -166 |
With three stage wins and 65 points scored at Charlotte, Byron leapfrogs his HMS teammate Kyle Larson to become the new points leader (+29). Chastain was the biggest riser, moving up three spots to eighth after his Charlotte win. Blaney and Bowman each fall two spots after subpar results in 38th and 29th, respectively.
Notable drivers outside the top 10 include Bubba Wallace (12th), Talladega winner Austin Cindric (15th), Las Vegas winner Josh Berry (16th), Kyle Busch (18th) and Keselowski (32nd). Keep in mind, a win will most likely guarantee a driver a playoff berth with 16 spots up for grabs. After Charlotte, Larson, Bell, Hamlin, Byron, Logano, Cindric, Berry and Chastain are the season's eight winners.
Currently, that 16th and final spot for postseason eligibility goes to RFK Racing's Ryan Preece (+13) over Allmendinger. Preece is 14th in the overall standings, but wins by Cindric and Berry, both of whom are below him in the standings, move him down to the 16th and final spot for playoff eligibility. Obviously, things are going to change, but that is the position drivers currently find themselves in after Charlotte.
One thing to keep in mind is the importance of both regular-season points standings and playoff standings. While drivers with wins vault to the top of the points standings and guarantee themselves a playoff spot, assuming there are no more than 16 winners, the overall points are equally important. The regular-season champion by season's end will earn an additional 15 playoff points, second place will get 10 and drivers third-to-10th in points will receive points in descending order down to one point for 10th.