QUOTABLE QUOTES:Ross Chastain, No. 1 Trackhouse Racing ChevroletHow would you describe a lap around Charlotte Motor Speedway?“Charlotte is rough, my goodness. The vertical loads when we go into the corners in Turns 1 and 2, I get squished into the bottom of the car in the seat, almost harder than anywhere else we go. I would compare it to Dover, but Charlotte is a mile-and-a-half and really fast when you run the bottom. When you run the top of the track up by the wall, it’s almost like a washboard – if you’ve driven on a dirt road that’s rough and it’s really bouncing really aggressively – that’s what Turn 1 up by the wall feels like. In Turns 3 and 4, it gets way more sun throughout the year than Turns 1 and 2, so it has a lot less grip. When you turn down into Turn 3 there isn’t a lot of grip. Wrapping the line for me is my left-front right down by the apron to have a low exit off of Turn 4, or running right up by the wall.” What does racing on Memorial Day weekend mean to you?“It’s an honor to race on Memorial Day weekend. So many people have sacrificed so we can have the ability to go out here and do something we love. In my case it’s racing cars. It’s obviously a special weekend because we are remembering service members on our cars. I have US Army paratrooper Kevin M. McCrea on my car thanks to Jockey and Folds of Honor and we’ll get to meet some of his family members. That’s always a very special moment. And while there is nothing we can do to bring their family member back, I hope the race gives them a chance to think about something different for a little bit.” Justin Haley, No. 7 Spire Motorsports ChevroletWith the Coca-Cola 600 being the longest race of the season, how do you and your team prepare mentally and physically for such a demanding night?“The Coca-Cola 600 at home in Charlotte is always a favorite. Two years ago, I did the Xfinity race and the Cup race on the same day, which was quite eventful and something I’ll never be able to top. But knowing I’ve come close to completing 900 miles on the same track in one day makes the 600-mile Cup race seem a little less demanding. We’ve had so much speed in our 1.5-mile program and I’m excited to get a handle on it Saturday evening. This is the longest race of the year and where we can score the most points. The biggest thing we need to work on is getting in a better position to execute on restarts and we’ll have a couple of shots at that with four stages in Sunday’s race. This race is always an important one for teams and for the families of the military members that we are honoring.” Kyle Busch, No. 8 Richard Childress Racing ChevroletWhat do you think it is about the Coca-Cola 600 that make strong drivers end up in victory lane?“The Coke 600 is the Coke 600. It’s the longest race of the year. It’s a demanding race. You work as hard as you can on yourself with your training and whatnot to be able to withstand the elements for that race.” As the sport becomes more competitive each week and you see how close times are in qualifying, does that make a difference in a 600-mile race?“No, it doesn’t. It’s a longer race so you have more time from sunlight to nighttime, and typically you don’t really worry about how your car is until you get to the nighttime because that’s when the money’s paid, so you want to be fast at that time of the day.” There’s been a lot of speed in your racecars here of late. What do you credit that to?“It’s a lot of little things. That’s what you’re dealing with in this day and age. There are so many little details that you can find. If you find 100 small, tiny details, then that’s all going to add up. The guys at the shop have been doing a good job working on all of that, whether it’s car build or little things in the setups.” You look at Texas Motor Speedway and Kansas Speedway, you’ve had a lot of speed. Do you feel like a win is coming around the corner?“Texas Motor Speedway was good. I didn’t feel that good about Kansas Speedway. I got up to 11th at Kansas and then kind of stalled out. I feel like if you could have taken me and placed me in fifth, then I probably could have ran in fifth. But, I couldn’t get myself there on my own. Texas, though, I felt like I drove my way up to the front the whole time.” AJ Allmendinger, No. 16 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet“Charlotte is one of the staples that we have in NASCAR, one of the crown jewels, and it’s fun to be a part of it. This weekend is a long, grueling race, but our mile and a half program has been really solid this year. We have the opportunity to have speed and be competitive. Charlotte’s always been one of my favorite mile-and-a-half racetracks; it’s definitely very heat sensitive, technical, and rough in three and four. We’re looking forward to going there after the All-Star race where we had a break from points racing. We were able to reset knowing that this can be a really good stretch of races for us ahead. We’re looking to kick it off right with a good 600-mile run.” Ricky Stenhouse Jr., No. 47 Hyak Motorsports Chevrolet“The Coca-Cola 600 is one of the biggest tests we face all season – it’s long, it’s demanding, and it really shows you what your team is made of. I’m proud to have FunPops riding with us again this weekend. Their energy and enthusiasm match what we’re bringing to the track. We’re locked in and ready to battle for every position under the lights at Charlotte.” Michael McDowell, No. 71 Spire Motorsports ChevroletIs it a little extra preparation for you physically for a race of this length with the heat, and talk about how important the weekend is outside of your physical preparation? “Yeah, I think it is. I just up my calories as far as my intake goes for the day, but other than that, it’s pretty much business as usual. I think the harder part of that is just the time of when you start the race and the track’s transition from day to night paired with the speed differences. Charlotte is just one of those really temperature-sensitive tracks. Even throughout the years—whether it was a repave or going through this Next Gen car—it’s just super, super sensitive to the temperature change and more track temperature. The sun going down and not beating on the racetrack changes the dynamic of the last half of that race. Making good adjustments and all those things—I feel like that’s the hardest part. You can be decent in the beginning and then really bad at the end, and vice versa. You can be bad at the beginning and get to where you need to be, especially with this car, with the heights being so important.
It’s a fun race, but a hard race. It builds, and you can kind of feel that it builds toward the end. Most weekends, you feel like you don’t have enough time—here at Charlotte, you feel like you have a little bit of time. More than anything, it’s just one of the coolest weekends in racing altogether. I love it. I grew up loving motorsports and watching the Indianapolis 500, watching the Monaco Grand Prix, and the Coca-Cola 600. It’s just a fun weekend as a fan and as a competitor. It’s special, being on Memorial Day and always carrying a fallen soldier on the car. I have Specialist James Waters on the car of the United States Army, and it’s always a privilege and honor to do that. It’s a great reminder of what freedom is and what it’s not. So, it’s a special weekend.” Carson Hocevar, No. 77 Spire Motorsports ChevroletWe’ve seen the No. 77 team come to life on the mile-and-a-half tracks as of late. How can the team capitalize on the extra-long event to find success?“Our intermediate track program has come a long way since even the start of the year. As a whole, the organization has won the pole twice on mile-and-a-halves and we’ve been up front at nearly every race so far. For us, it comes down to having the time to recover from things that happen late in the race. It happened at Texas with a caution that seemed bad but worked out in our favor before we got caught in an incident. Then at Kansas we just ran out of laps with a flat tire coming so late in the game. Hopefully we don’t need to take advantage of having four stages to recover from anything. We have the speed, it’s just about putting all the little pieces together to reach the end goal.”
Last weekend was a big weekend for Spire Motorsports, winning the Pit Crew Challenge with the No. 71 team and advancing to the All-Star Race with the No. 77 team. How does a weekend like that change the environment in the shop?“It’s more positive for sure. Every week we’ve had something to celebrate, and we kept it going. People outside of this building are noticing the payoff of the effort that everyone is putting in and it’s a lot easier to take the disappointment of an 11th-place finish when there is a win to celebrate. It shows a lot of progress that we can even be disheartened by missing out on a top 10, so I think it changes it a lot in a good way, but just makes everyone that much hungrier for the next win.” Connor Zilisch, No. 87 Trackhouse Racing ChevroletWhat does it mean to you to be racing this weekend in Charlotte?“I’m super-excited to be making my second Cup start at Charlotte. The 600 is one of the biggest races in NASCAR and the longest. It’s going to be all about patience and thankfully I’ve got some endurance racing in my back pocket from the last two years that will help prepare me for this race mentally. I’ve done 24-hour races and 12-hour races but racing for five hours in a stock car is another challenge. Nine hundred miles in one weekend can be a lot, but I’ve got a great group of people around me to help keep me settled and prepare me for a weekend like this. The race starts during the day and ends at night, and the track changes a lot, so staying on top of that is going to be really important. That’s also really tough for me just because I’ve never done it before. I’m going to ask as many people as I can for advice and make sure I’m the best prepared I can be for the race.” Shane van Gisbergen, No. 88 Trackhouse Racing ChevroletIt seems you are running better on oval tracks and last weekend you started on the pole for the first time on an oval. Would you say this is showing your improvement?“Yes, one hundred percent. There is definitely light at the end of the tunnel. I feel like we are making steps, understanding each other, myself and Stephen (Doran), trying to get better. Majority of the races are ovals and we can’t be running at the back every week, so we are working on everything, getting our average finish better and keep working on getting good results. We’ve taken a lot of steps forward recently and last weekend at North Wilkesboro showed that.” Does NASCAR still feel somewhat new for you, or do you feel it’s just racing at the end of the day?“Well, it (NASCAR) feels like a completely different sport to anything else I’ve ever done. On the ovals, the techniques, the way you drive, the way the races are, it’s like nothing else around the world I’ve ever done. It’s so foreign to me, but the road course stuff feels normal. It’s a bit chaotic on the restarts and the way the race is, but the ovals are a world away from anything I’ve ever done.” Are you looking forward to racing 600 miles this weekend?“Yes, we didn’t get to finish it last year because it got rained out. So, looking forward to completing all 600 miles. Should be a fun race going back there for the second time. Hopefully we can keep building on momentum. My WeatherTech Chevy looks epic!” Daniel Suarez, No. 99 Trackhouse Racing ChevroletHow important is Sunday’s race to you?“The Coca-Cola 600 is a very special race for many different reasons. We get to remember all the people who have made the ultimate sacrifice and given us the freedoms we have in the most amazing country in the world. I came from a different country and am now a citizen. To come here and enjoy these freedoms, to enjoy what I am able to do, it’s not by magic. It’s also nice to see all of the work Coca-Cola does to make this event the success it has been over the years.” Thoughts on 300th start on Sunday?“Wow, time flies. It’s such an honor to reach this mark. So many people to thank and so many people who have supported me. I never dreamed I would be celebrating this, but I feel very fortunate.” You recently visited Fort Bragg as part of Coca-Cola’s Mission 600 program.“I have always appreciated the military, and what all the men and women do for this amazing country. But, when you experience exactly what they must do 24/7, it’s a completely different level. Huge respect for them. The level of discipline is pretty high. I greatly appreciate the opportunity to spend time with the military.” How do you prepare for Sunday?“As a human being you try and perform at 100 percent the entire time, but when you’re running a marathon, you’re not going to be as strong in the last 30 minutes. That’s normal. Fatigue is setting in, your muscles are tired, you’re running out of fluid, and you’re hungry. Racing is the same way, especially in the Coca-Cola 600. We start running out of energy and you’re mind gets tired after four hours of racing. But I look to this race as a marathon, and you have to be on top of your game for the last part of this race. So, I always try to keep that in my mind when I’m in the car. This isn’t a sprint, it’s a marathon.” |
Charlotte Motor Speedway is the home of one of NASCAR’s four crown jewel events – the Coca-Cola 600. The most physically and mentally demanding race on the circuit, the 600-mile event holds the honors of capping off what’s famously known as the “Greatest Day in Motorsports”. Chevrolet leads the series with 25 all-time victories in the crown jewel event – dating back to Joe Lee Johnson’s win in the inaugural race in 1960. Most recently, it was Kyle Larson that collected the crown in his championship-earning season (2021) – a victory that earned Hendrick Motorsports the record as the winningest organization in Cup Series history. Larson is one of just eight past Coca-Cola 600 winners entered in this weekend’s event, with fellow Chevrolet drivers Austin Dillon and Kyle Busch also earning a spot on that elite list with one win each. 
For Dillon, his win in the 2017 Coca-Cola 600 was his first career victory in NASCAR’s top division, making him one of just 10 drivers in series’ history to become a first-time winner at Charlotte Motor Speedway. The Welcome, North Carolina, native is among just a handful of drivers with multiple crown jewel triumphs to their name, with the Richard Childress Racing driver also having a Daytona 500 victory under his belt (2018). 
“H1100”: Take Two The “Greatest Day in Motorsports” hits even closer to home for Chevrolet as the only manufacturer that competes in the two U.S.-based crown jewel events – the Indianapolis 500 and the Coca-Cola 600. Along with its series-leading 25 Coca-Cola 600 victories, Chevrolet has also amassed 13 Indianapolis 500 wins, with the manufacturer looking to go three-in-a-row in the 109th running of the prestigious event. One of Chevrolet’s own, Kyle Larson, will make his second attempt at becoming just the fifth driver in history to accomplish the famed Memorial Day weekend “Double”. Contesting in both events would put Larson in company of some of motorsports’ greatest drivers including John Andretti, Tony Stewart, Robby Gordon and Kurt Busch. Taking it one step further, the 32-year-old Elk Grove, California, native could become just the second driver, alongside Stewart, to complete all 1,100 miles. 
Ankrum Setting up for a Career Season With the second-half of the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series’ regular season in full swing, the true championship contenders are starting to surface. Among those includes McAnally-Hilgemann Racing’s Tyler Ankrum, who enters the Charlotte race weekend steady in the fourth position of the series’ points standings. Ankrum led Chevrolet to the checkered flag at North Wilkesboro Speedway last weekend – tallying a third-place finish in his No. 18 Silverado RST. The result marked Ankrum’s sixth top-four finish in the series’ past seven races, including his first win of the season that came at Rockingham Speedway one month ago. The 24-year-old San Bernardino, California, native has been arguably one of the most consistent drivers thus far this season – owning a series-best seven top-fives and eight top-10 finishes with 10 races complete. 
Chevrolet’s season statistics with 12 NASCAR Cup Series races complete:
Chevrolet’s season statistics with 12 NASCAR Xfinity Series races complete:
Chevrolet’s season statistics with 10 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series races complete: