News

Mobil 1 Driver Advances to Fourth in Championship Driver Standings 

Date: May 28, 2017

Event: Coca-Cola 600 (Round 12 of 36)

Series: Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series

Location: Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway (1.5-mile oval)

Format: 400 laps, broken into four stages (100 laps/100 laps/100 laps/100 laps)

Start/Finish: 1st/8th (Running, completed 400 of 400 laps)

Point Standing: 4th (388 points, 103 points out of first)

 

Race Winner: Austin Dillon of Richard Childress Racing (Chevrolet)

Stage 1 Winner: Kyle Busch of Joe Gibbs Racing (Toyota)

Stage 2 Winner: Martin Truex Jr. of Furniture Row Racing (Toyota)

Stage 3 Winner: Denny Hamlin of Joe Gibbs Racing (Toyota)

 

Stage 1 Recap (Ended on Lap 100):

• Kevin Harvick started first, finished third and earned eight bonus points.
• Fell back to second at the start but gained a position on pit road during the competition caution to regain the lead.
• Gave up the lead to come to pit road under green-flag conditions on lap 66 for four tires, fuel and several adjustments.
• Led twice for 41 laps in Stage 1.
• Pitted for four tires, fuel and multiple adjustments following Stage 1 and won the race off pit road to retake the lead.

Stage 2 Recap (Ended on Lap 200):

• Started first, finished 13th.
• Gave up the third position to come to pit road under green-flag conditions after reporting a loose wheel on lap 124.
• Lost a lap to the leaders and dropped to the 23rd position due to the unscheduled pit stop for the loose wheel.
• Severe weather led to a red flag on lap 144 lasting one hour and 48 minutes.
• Returned to the lead lap under caution on lap 150 by way of a free pass immediately following the weather delay.
• Restarted 22nd on lap 154 and raced up to 13th by the end of Stage 2.
• Pitted for four tires, fuel and air pressure adjustments following Stage 2 and gained five positions on pit road.

Stage 3 Recap (Ended on Lap 300):

• Started eighth, finished seventh and earned four bonus points.
• Slid through oil on lap 147 and nearly spun while racing in the 10th position, but saved it without making contact with the wall.
• Pitted under caution on lap 249 for four tires, fuel and air pressure and wedge adjustments.
• Restarted 14th on lap 253 and raced his way to the 11th position by the caution on lap 294.
• Raced his way up to seventh in the final three laps of the stage and stayed out following the stage.

Final Stage Recap (Ended on Lap 400):

• Started seventh, finished eighth.
• Pitted from the seventh position for four tires, fuel and air pressure adjustments under caution on lap 330.
• Restarted sixth on lap 333 and raced into the top-five by lap 334.
• Surrendered the second position for a four-tire pit stop under green on lap 369.
• Several cars gambled on fuel strategy that paid off, and Harvick raced to an eighth-place finish in the closing laps.

Notes:

• Harvick won the pole position for the Coca-Cola 600 on Thursday night with a lap of 27.918 seconds at 193.424 mph.
• Harvick scored his 15th top-10 finish in 33 career NASCAR Cup Series starts at Charlotte and his seventh top-10 finish of 2017.
• Harvick scored 12 stage points and led three times for 45 laps.
• Austin Dillon scored his first career NASCAR Cup Series victory.

Next Up:

The next event on the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series schedule is the AAA 400 Drive for Autism on Sunday, June 4 at Dover (Del.) International Speedway. The race starts at 1 p.m. EDT with live coverage provided by FS1.

---

Next News Story →

← Previous News Story