Sunday’s
Coca Cola 600 (FOX, live 6 p.m. EDT) is the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series’
longest race and arguably most arduous both on track and pit road. At
600 miles – 400 laps around the 1.5-mile Charlotte Motor Speedway – the
race likely will consume more than four hours and require drivers and
crews to bring their A games through heat and ever-changing track
conditions. Kevin Harvick is the race’s defending winner, driving past
an out-of-fuel Dale Earnhardt Jr. on the final lap.
Five-time
NASCAR Sprint Cup champion Jimmie Johnson returns to Charlotte with a
full head of steam, having captured Hendrick Motorsports’ 200th
victory at Darlington, the Sprint Pit Crew Challenge and the Sprint
All-Star Race on May 19. Johnson hopes to become the third driver in
five seasons to win both the 600 and All-Star Race.
This
could be the week that Daytona 500 winner re-takes the championship
lead from Roush Fenway Racing teammate Greg Biffle. Kenseth, who won the
Coca-Cola 600 in 2000, trails Biffle by two points after the season’s
first 11 races. Biffle is winless at Charlotte.
AJ Allmendinger hopes to become the third driver since 2007 to make the Coca-Cola 600 his first NASCAR Sprint Cup victory.
Danica
Patrick does double duty for the third time this season competing in
her first Coca-Cola 600 as well as Saturday’s NASCAR Nationwide Series
race. She ranks 10th in Nationwide Series points.
It’s a busy week with voting for the NASCAR Hall of Fame’s fourth class of inductees taking place on Wednesday.
The
NASCAR Nationwide Series switches gears from short-track racing at Iowa
Speedway to the fast 1.5-miler at Charlotte in Saturday’s History 300,
at 2:30 p.m. on ABC.
The
NASCAR Camping World Truck Series takes a one-week break over the
Memorial Day weekend before heading to Dover International Speedway on
June 1. Justin Lofton, the season’s fifth different winner, heads the
championship by a single point over Timothy Peters.
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