| NASCAR Cup SeriesCharlotte Motor SpeedwayCoca-Cola 600Team Chevy Post-Race ReportMay 24, 2026 |
| MEDIA RESOURCES: Photo Gallery | Race AdvancesChevrolet Newsroom |
| · In the rain-shortened Coca-Cola 600, Daniel Suarez capitalized on a clutch late-race two-tire pit strategy to earn his first crown jewel victory in NASCAR’s premier series. The victory marks Chevrolet’s second-straight, and 27th all-time, triumph in the crown jewel event at Charlotte Motor Speedway. · The Monterrey, Mexico, native drove Chevrolet to its fourth-consecutive trip to victory lane in NASCAR’s premier series, setting the season record for the longest points-paying win streak by a single manufacturer with 13 races complete. RACE RECAP: Stage One: With inclement weather altering Saturday’s on-track schedule, the lineup for the 67th running of the Coca-Cola 600 was set by the rulebook, putting Shane van Gisbergen and Michael McDowell on the second row to lead Team Chevy to the green flag. The first green flag run saw the majority of the lead pack settle into their starting positions, quickly approaching lap traffic when the first caution of the day flew at Lap 34. Maintaining a top-10 position for the opening run, the 2017 Coca-Cola winner, Austin Dillon, gave an initial report that he was overall happy with the handling of his No. 3 Chevrolet, resulting in a call for just four tires and fuel under the caution by crew chief Richard Boswell. Kyle Larson turned an 18th-place starting spot into a climb to 11th when the caution flag flew, and with a three-position gain in the race off pit road by the No. 5 pit crew, Larson made his first appearance in the top-10 of the day when the reigning champion inherited the eighth position for the restart. While the next green flag run was short, another trip to pit road saw a mix bag of strategy among the leaders. Electing for another set of four fresh Goodyear tires by crew chief Cliff Daniels, Larson was able to continue his progressive climb through the field with a steady position in the top-five. Yet another caution flew with less than 10 laps to go in the stage, setting up the opportunity to employ a new pit strategy. With a call for four tires and fuel from atop the No. 5 box, Larson took advantage of the fresh rubber on the restart to make a powerhouse move towards the front and enter into the battle for the lead with Denny Hamlin, ultimately going on to lead Team Chevy to the stage win. Stage Two: Electing to stay out during the first stage break, Larson kept his position at the top of the leaderboard to lead the field to the green flag for Stage Two. A long green flag run opened the next 100-lap segment with Larson continuing to be a fixture in the top-five. The first green flag pit cycle of the race was on the horizon near the midway point of the stage. Larson was among the first group of cars to get the call to hit pit road, and once the cycle was completed, the team found themselves back up in the fourth position. Going caution-free for the second-half of the stage, tire wear began to affect the handling of Larson’s Chevrolet, but he was able to hang on to earn fifth-place points in Stage Two. Stage Three: Larson’s average running position in the top-five continued throughout Stage Three, only falling out of the lead pack for a brief single-digit lap count during the green flag pit cycle. Also driving to points-earning efforts in both of the first-two stages, Van Gisbergen and Stenhouse Jr. kept their cars in position to give three Chevrolet organizations representation in the top-10 throughout Stage Three. Larson went on to lead Chevrolet to the green-white checkered flag, becoming one of three drivers to earn top-five points in each of the first-three stages. Final Stage: After a trip down pit road during the final stage break, the No. 5 pit crew kept their driver in the fifth position to take the green flag to mark 88 laps to go in the race. But a short green flag run saw varying pit strategies among the leaders, with Van Gisbergen being one of the two drivers that opted to stay out for track position and a position on the front row for the restart. A masterful restart for the Auckland, New Zealand, native saw the No. 97 Chevrolet take the top position on Lap 328 to lead their first laps of the race. But it was a clutch two-tire call by crew chief Ryan Sparks that gave Daniel Suarez a front-row position for a pair of late-race restarts. Sitting in the top position when rain took over the 1.5-mile oval, Suarez went on to capture his first career Coca-Cola 600 victory. |
| Team Chevy Unofficial Top-10 ResultsPos. Driver 1st – Daniel Suarez5th – Kyle Larson9th – William Byron  Chevrolet’s season statistics with 13 NASCAR Cup Series races complete:Wins: 5Poles: 3Top-Fives: 24Top 10s: 47Stage Wins: 11 |
| The 2026 NASCAR Cup Series season continues at Nashville Superspeedway with the Cracker Barrel 400 on Sunday, May 31, at 7 p.m. ET. Live coverage can be found on Amazon Prime, PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90. |
| Post-Race Driver Quotes: Ross Chastain, No. 1 Trackhouse Racing ChevroletSidelined by damage sustained in an accident in the final stage. Finished: 35th “I’m not really sure what happened. We were on the straightaway and the last I saw in my camera was that the No. 47 (Ricky Stenhouse Jr.) had a run. He went to go to the inside of me and hit me in the back bumper. It turned me right into the wall and then I hit the ROVAL chicane wall, which is the worst thing you could hit. Just an unfortunate way to end the night in our Jockey Chevrolet.” Kyle Larson, No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports ChevroletFinished: 5th“The No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet team did a great job tonight. I thought we made the most out of it. We got a stage win there early. Other than that, I thought we had the fifth- or sixth-best car behind the Gibbs cars. I thought the No. 45 (Tyler Reddick) and I were pretty equal, but better at different points of the run. My pit crew did a really good job all night. They were extremely solid. I thought everything was going as good as it could. The restarts could have played out a little differently there at the end. I don’t really know what I could have done differently. Overall, just happy for this entire No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet team. It’s cool to get Chevrolet a win today. We’ll keep trying to build on this. Daniel (Suarez, race winner) earned that win. He had to hold off some extremely good cars behind him. Super happy for Daniel, Jeff Dickerson and everyone at Spire Motorsports. It was really cool and definitely meant to be. It was super special.” Daniel Suarez, No. 7 Spire Motorsports ChevroletFinished: 1stWhat a call by Ryan Sparks, but you’ve got to give the driver a lot of credit on those several restarts. I know you said on our pre-race show, you’ve thought about it since Thursday, how badly did you want this one for Kyle Busch?“It really means a lot. I’ve been saying for years this is my favorite race of the year. I get to have my family here every year. It’s been a very tough week. Kyle (Busch), he was special, man. This one is for Kyle, Samantha, Brexton, Lennix, all his family. This win is for him. If it wasn’t for Kyle, I wasn’t going to be an Xfinity champion. I wasn’t going to have my shot in the Cup Series. To win this race for him is unbelievable.” You mentioned your championship. In some ways, is this win more meaningful than that?“Every win is special, but it’s been a second, right? To win for Spire Motorsports, with Freeway Insurance on the car, it’s just unbelievable. The team did an amazing job. It wasn’t easy. We had a lot of issues throughout the race. They put us in contention, and we executed well. I want to thank all of our partners; Chevrolet, the Hendrick Engine Shop, there’s so many people that makes this program as successful as it is.” Chase Elliott, No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports ChevroletSidelined by damage sustained in an accident in Stage One. Finished: 37th “I just made a mistake, spun out and hit the wall, unfortunately. I hate it. It’s been a terrible race, I feel like, throughout the course of my career, just crashed a bunch. Just a lot of race left. I was trying to find something. We were bleeding pretty bad, and I moved up to the top there, trying to click off some faster laps and, yeah, I made a mistake, stepped over the line and paid the price.” AJ Allmendinger, No. 16 Kaulig Racing ChevroletFinished: 18th “I felt like we got pretty much everything we could out of the No. 16 Black’s Tire Chevrolet. We really struggled on restarts. The dirty air was really bad. I thought our clean air pace was decent, but we would lose so much on the restarts no matter what lane I would choose. It was just a struggle. We got the free pass there that probably saved our race. We just need more speed in our racecars. I’m proud of everyone on this team. We’re trying, but it’s just hard. I thought we maximized the day. I thought we would be maybe one or two spots better, but we weren’t much better than that.” Michael McDowell, No. 71 Spire Motorsports ChevroletFinished: 14th“It’s amazing to see my teammate, Daniel Suarez, get the win. It was a great call there by Ryan Sparks (crew chief for the No. 7 team) to take two-tires and get track position. Just really happy for everyone at Spire Motorsports. That’s two wins this year for the organization. The No. 71 Modo Casino Chevrolet team had a good run today, too. We lost a few spots on that last restart, but I felt really good about our speed tonight.” Connor Zilisch, No. 88 Trackhouse Racing ChevroletSidelined by damage sustained in an accident in Stage One. Finished: 39th “I saw the No. 2 (Austin Cindric) spinning quite aways in front of me. As soon as I hit the apron, I was just going too fast to really be able to maneuver the car. I got loose and ended up getting clipped in the right-rear. It’s really unfortunate for our No. 88 Red Bull Chevrolet team. I felt like we made a good adjustment on that last pit stop. We just have to keep our heads down and it’ll turn around.” Shane van Gisbergen, No. 97 Trackhouse Racing ChevroletFinished: 11th“It’s hard. I had an amazing day, but I’m pissed. We were a top-five or six car, but we just didn’t execute at the end. It was really cool to run up front all day. We were gifted a good starting position with qualifying getting canceled. It was a good call by Stephen (Doran, crew chief) to stay out there. It was awesome to be able to lead some laps.” You said you had some balance issues early in the race, but you were ripping the fence like you’ve been doing it for decades. How was that experience for you? “I was just a little bit tight. When the track was fresh after every restart, I couldn’t find good speed in dirty air. But when it migrated to the top, my No. 97 SuperFile Chevrolet came alive. My late-run speed was really good because I started tight. Some restarts were good, and others, I was putting myself in bad spots. But overall, it was a lot of fun.” |
| NASCAR Cup SeriesCharlotte Motor SpeedwayCoca-Cola 600Team Chevy Post-Race ReportMay 24, 2026 |
Suarez, Chevrolet Earns the Victory in the 67th Running of the Coca-Cola 600 |
| MEDIA RESOURCES: Photo Gallery | Race AdvancesChevrolet Newsroom |
| · In the rain-shortened Coca-Cola 600, Daniel Suarez capitalized on a clutch late-race two-tire pit strategy to earn his first crown jewel victory in NASCAR’s premier series. The victory marks Chevrolet’s second-straight, and 27th all-time, triumph in the crown jewel event at Charlotte Motor Speedway. · The Monterrey, Mexico, native drove Chevrolet to its fourth-consecutive trip to victory lane in NASCAR’s premier series, setting the season record for the longest points-paying win streak by a single manufacturer with 13 races complete. RACE RECAP: Stage One: With inclement weather altering Saturday’s on-track schedule, the lineup for the 67th running of the Coca-Cola 600 was set by the rulebook, putting Shane van Gisbergen and Michael McDowell on the second row to lead Team Chevy to the green flag. The first green flag run saw the majority of the lead pack settle into their starting positions, quickly approaching lap traffic when the first caution of the day flew at Lap 34. Maintaining a top-10 position for the opening run, the 2017 Coca-Cola winner, Austin Dillon, gave an initial report that he was overall happy with the handling of his No. 3 Chevrolet, resulting in a call for just four tires and fuel under the caution by crew chief Richard Boswell. Kyle Larson turned an 18th-place starting spot into a climb to 11th when the caution flag flew, and with a three-position gain in the race off pit road by the No. 5 pit crew, Larson made his first appearance in the top-10 of the day when the reigning champion inherited the eighth position for the restart. While the next green flag run was short, another trip to pit road saw a mix bag of strategy among the leaders. Electing for another set of four fresh Goodyear tires by crew chief Cliff Daniels, Larson was able to continue his progressive climb through the field with a steady position in the top-five. Yet another caution flew with less than 10 laps to go in the stage, setting up the opportunity to employ a new pit strategy. With a call for four tires and fuel from atop the No. 5 box, Larson took advantage of the fresh rubber on the restart to make a powerhouse move towards the front and enter into the battle for the lead with Denny Hamlin, ultimately going on to lead Team Chevy to the stage win. Stage Two: Electing to stay out during the first stage break, Larson kept his position at the top of the leaderboard to lead the field to the green flag for Stage Two. A long green flag run opened the next 100-lap segment with Larson continuing to be a fixture in the top-five. The first green flag pit cycle of the race was on the horizon near the midway point of the stage. Larson was among the first group of cars to get the call to hit pit road, and once the cycle was completed, the team found themselves back up in the fourth position. Going caution-free for the second-half of the stage, tire wear began to affect the handling of Larson’s Chevrolet, but he was able to hang on to earn fifth-place points in Stage Two. Stage Three: Larson’s average running position in the top-five continued throughout Stage Three, only falling out of the lead pack for a brief single-digit lap count during the green flag pit cycle. Also driving to points-earning efforts in both of the first-two stages, Van Gisbergen and Stenhouse Jr. kept their cars in position to give three Chevrolet organizations representation in the top-10 throughout Stage Three. Larson went on to lead Chevrolet to the green-white checkered flag, becoming one of three drivers to earn top-five points in each of the first-three stages. Final Stage: After a trip down pit road during the final stage break, the No. 5 pit crew kept their driver in the fifth position to take the green flag to mark 88 laps to go in the race. But a short green flag run saw varying pit strategies among the leaders, with Van Gisbergen being one of the two drivers that opted to stay out for track position and a position on the front row for the restart. A masterful restart for the Auckland, New Zealand, native saw the No. 97 Chevrolet take the top position on Lap 328 to lead their first laps of the race. But it was a clutch two-tire call by crew chief Ryan Sparks that gave Daniel Suarez a front-row position for a pair of late-race restarts. Sitting in the top position when rain took over the 1.5-mile oval, Suarez went on to capture his first career Coca-Cola 600 victory. |
| Team Chevy Unofficial Top-10 ResultsPos. Driver 1st – Daniel Suarez5th – Kyle Larson9th – William Byron Chevrolet’s season statistics with 13 NASCAR Cup Series races complete:Wins: 5Poles: 3Top-Fives: 24Top 10s: 47Stage Wins: 11 |
| The 2026 NASCAR Cup Series season continues at Nashville Superspeedway with the Cracker Barrel 400 on Sunday, May 31, at 7 p.m. ET. Live coverage can be found on Amazon Prime, PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90. |
| Post-Race Driver Quotes: Ross Chastain, No. 1 Trackhouse Racing ChevroletSidelined by damage sustained in an accident in the final stage. Finished: 35th “I’m not really sure what happened. We were on the straightaway and the last I saw in my camera was that the No. 47 (Ricky Stenhouse Jr.) had a run. He went to go to the inside of me and hit me in the back bumper. It turned me right into the wall and then I hit the ROVAL chicane wall, which is the worst thing you could hit. Just an unfortunate way to end the night in our Jockey Chevrolet.” Kyle Larson, No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports ChevroletFinished: 5th“The No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet team did a great job tonight. I thought we made the most out of it. We got a stage win there early. Other than that, I thought we had the fifth- or sixth-best car behind the Gibbs cars. I thought the No. 45 (Tyler Reddick) and I were pretty equal, but better at different points of the run. My pit crew did a really good job all night. They were extremely solid. I thought everything was going as good as it could. The restarts could have played out a little differently there at the end. I don’t really know what I could have done differently. Overall, just happy for this entire No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet team. It’s cool to get Chevrolet a win today. We’ll keep trying to build on this. Daniel (Suarez, race winner) earned that win. He had to hold off some extremely good cars behind him. Super happy for Daniel, Jeff Dickerson and everyone at Spire Motorsports. It was really cool and definitely meant to be. It was super special.” Daniel Suarez, No. 7 Spire Motorsports ChevroletFinished: 1stWhat a call by Ryan Sparks, but you’ve got to give the driver a lot of credit on those several restarts. I know you said on our pre-race show, you’ve thought about it since Thursday, how badly did you want this one for Kyle Busch?“It really means a lot. I’ve been saying for years this is my favorite race of the year. I get to have my family here every year. It’s been a very tough week. Kyle (Busch), he was special, man. This one is for Kyle, Samantha, Brexton, Lennix, all his family. This win is for him. If it wasn’t for Kyle, I wasn’t going to be an Xfinity champion. I wasn’t going to have my shot in the Cup Series. To win this race for him is unbelievable.” You mentioned your championship. In some ways, is this win more meaningful than that?“Every win is special, but it’s been a second, right? To win for Spire Motorsports, with Freeway Insurance on the car, it’s just unbelievable. The team did an amazing job. It wasn’t easy. We had a lot of issues throughout the race. They put us in contention, and we executed well. I want to thank all of our partners; Chevrolet, the Hendrick Engine Shop, there’s so many people that makes this program as successful as it is.” Chase Elliott, No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports ChevroletSidelined by damage sustained in an accident in Stage One. Finished: 37th “I just made a mistake, spun out and hit the wall, unfortunately. I hate it. It’s been a terrible race, I feel like, throughout the course of my career, just crashed a bunch. Just a lot of race left. I was trying to find something. We were bleeding pretty bad, and I moved up to the top there, trying to click off some faster laps and, yeah, I made a mistake, stepped over the line and paid the price.” AJ Allmendinger, No. 16 Kaulig Racing ChevroletFinished: 18th “I felt like we got pretty much everything we could out of the No. 16 Black’s Tire Chevrolet. We really struggled on restarts. The dirty air was really bad. I thought our clean air pace was decent, but we would lose so much on the restarts no matter what lane I would choose. It was just a struggle. We got the free pass there that probably saved our race. We just need more speed in our racecars. I’m proud of everyone on this team. We’re trying, but it’s just hard. I thought we maximized the day. I thought we would be maybe one or two spots better, but we weren’t much better than that.” Michael McDowell, No. 71 Spire Motorsports ChevroletFinished: 14th“It’s amazing to see my teammate, Daniel Suarez, get the win. It was a great call there by Ryan Sparks (crew chief for the No. 7 team) to take two-tires and get track position. Just really happy for everyone at Spire Motorsports. That’s two wins this year for the organization. The No. 71 Modo Casino Chevrolet team had a good run today, too. We lost a few spots on that last restart, but I felt really good about our speed tonight.” Connor Zilisch, No. 88 Trackhouse Racing ChevroletSidelined by damage sustained in an accident in Stage One. Finished: 39th “I saw the No. 2 (Austin Cindric) spinning quite aways in front of me. As soon as I hit the apron, I was just going too fast to really be able to maneuver the car. I got loose and ended up getting clipped in the right-rear. It’s really unfortunate for our No. 88 Red Bull Chevrolet team. I felt like we made a good adjustment on that last pit stop. We just have to keep our heads down and it’ll turn around.” Shane van Gisbergen, No. 97 Trackhouse Racing ChevroletFinished: 11th“It’s hard. I had an amazing day, but I’m pissed. We were a top-five or six car, but we just didn’t execute at the end. It was really cool to run up front all day. We were gifted a good starting position with qualifying getting canceled. It was a good call by Stephen (Doran, crew chief) to stay out there. It was awesome to be able to lead some laps.” You said you had some balance issues early in the race, but you were ripping the fence like you’ve been doing it for decades. How was that experience for you? “I was just a little bit tight. When the track was fresh after every restart, I couldn’t find good speed in dirty air. But when it migrated to the top, my No. 97 SuperFile Chevrolet came alive. My late-run speed was really good because I started tight. Some restarts were good, and others, I was putting myself in bad spots. But overall, it was a lot of fun.” |