Defending Winner Kahne Chasing Fourth Coca-Cola 600 Victory

NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES – COCA-COLA 600, SUNDAY, MAY 26, 6 P.M. EDT ON SPEED

Defending Winner Kahne Chasing Fourth Coca-Cola 600 Victory

The defending winner of the Coca-Cola 600, Kasey Kahne looks for his fourth victory in NASCAR Sprint Cup racing’s longest race. Kahne’s Charlotte statistics are impressive: four victories overall, a sweep of spring/fall races in 2006 and leader of six of the nine Coca-Cola 600 events in which he’s competed. Kahne ranks sixth in series points standings with a victory at Bristol Motor Speedway. He finished fourth in Saturday’s night’s NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race.

Johnson-Busch Battle Seems Likely In NASCAR’s Longest Race

Consider Saturday night’s NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race a preview of Coca-Cola 600 things to come – a battle between a champion whose Charlotte dominance is unquestioned and another who’s red-hot in 2013 but has yet to win at the 1.5-mile speedway. Jimmie Johnson, a three-time 600 winner, won his record fourth All-Star Race. Kyle Busch, whose Charlotte Driver Rating of 107.7 ranks second only to Johnson’s 111.7, was the third-place All-Star finisher after winning two of the four 20-lap segments. Busch finished third in last year’s 600.

Coca-Cola 600 Favors Sprint Cup Champions

Charlotte’s Coca-Cola 600 is a race for champions. All but three NASCAR Sprint Cup titleholders from 1993 through the present have a least one victory in the season’s longest race. Among the missing – surprisingly – is three-time champion Tony Stewart, whose only Charlotte victory came in the track’s 2003 fall race. Stewart has just one Coca-Cola 600 top-10 finish – sixth in 2007 – in his most recent eight races. His best finish, third, came in 2001. Reigning NASCAR Sprint Cup champion Brad Keselowski also searches for his first Coca-Cola 600 victory. Keselowski finished fifth a year ago in his third 600 start. Terry Labonte, the 1996 series champion, is the third. He won the fall 1996 race at Charlotte, but never the 600-miler.

Gordon’s March Into Sprint Cup History Began With 600 Victory

Sunday’s Coca-Cola 600 is a special for Jeff Gordon. This year’s marks the 20^th anniversary of his first Coca-Cola 600 start in 1993 (he finished second to Dale Earnhardt). Gordon recorded the first of his 87 NASCAR Sprint Cup victories in the following year’s race. He won back-to-back races in 1997-98 – the most recent seasons in which the Coca-Cola 600 winner also was the Sprint Cup champion.

Several Past Coca-Cola 600 Winners Nabbed First Sprint Cup Victory

Gordon isn’t the only Coca-Cola 600 starter to win for the first time in Charlotte’s spring race. The list of current drivers includes Sprint Cup champions Matt Kenseth (2000) and Bobby Labonte (1995); and Casey Mears (2007) and David Reutimann (2009). NASCAR Hall of Fame member David Pearson scored the first of his 105 Sprint Cup victories in the second running of the Coca-Cola 600 in 1961. Jamie McMurray’s first Sprint Cup victory came in Charlotte’s 2002 fall race.

Pole Winners Most Have Struck Out In Recent 600s

A Coors Light Pole will get a driver attention – and a spot in next year’s Sprint Unlimited at Daytona – but it’s hardly a ticket to the Coca-Cola 600’s Victory Lane. Beginning in 1998 just two pole winners – Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson (2004) have won the 600. Other winners have come from throughout the starting field including Johnson’s all-time deepest-in-the-field start of 37^th in 2003.