2022 NASCAR Cup Series preview - Coca-Cola 600
Brenden Martin previews the Coca-Cola 600, NASCAR’s longest race, at Charlotte Motor Speedway in the NASCAR Cup Series where Toyotas have shown to be the cars to beat.
The second half of the 2022 NASCAR Cup Series season could not begin with any bigger of a bang as the series embarks on the longest race on the calendar — the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
Per tradition on Memorial Day Weekend, the 600 miles run for one of NASCAR’s crowning jewels are in remembrance of the U.S. service members who paid the ultimate sacrifice while defending the nation.
Instead of having each racer’s name on the front of the car like usual, each car will carry the name of a fallen soldier. Many cars will also sport red, white and blue schemes in honor of Memorial Day.
The 400-lap affair in Concord, North Carolina also serves as the home track for many NASCAR teams, adding to the honor of coming home with the trophy. Being one of the most notable races in the circuit, part-time teams that don’t enter other races ensure they have this one circled on the calendar from the get-go.
The Money Team Racing, owned by former boxing champion Floyd Mayweather, will be entering its third race of the season after No. 50 Kaz Grala finished 26th in the Daytona 500 and 25th in the Echopark Texas Grand Prix at Circuit of the Americas. Grala had some issues during practice on Saturday as his hood flopped right open leaving pit road.
The Money Team Racing qualified 34th of 37 entered cars and will also be without an engineer and forgo its pit selection due to failing technical inspection.
Kaulig Racing No. 31 Justin Haley also failed inspection twice and will undergo the same penalty.
The three cars starting behind Grala all had their own set of issues that resulted in them starting from the rear.
Spire Motorsports No. 7 Corey LaJoie had an early spin on Lap 4 in Group A of practice, resulting in a hard crash into the wall that totaled his Chevrolet Camaro.
Bob Pockrass @bobpockrass
caution for LaJoie. Heavy damage.LaJoie said that he had a tire go down, a concern that many teams have after the multitude of tire issues at Kansas Speedway and the All-Star race at Texas Motor Speedway. LaJoie will be the only driver to move to a backup car, starting 37th.
"It hurt a lot more than what it looks like on camera,” LaJoie told Fox Sports’ Jaime Little.
Last year’s Coca-Cola 600 winner, Hendrick Motorsports No. 5 Kyle Larson, also had an issue in practice by hitting the wall on Lap 10. While the team diagnosed that the damage was exclusive to the body, Larson was unable to post a qualifying time, meaning he will have to make his way to the front from 36th.
Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing No. 6 Brad Keselowski spun in Turn 4 on his qualifying lap, hurting his time and speed as he finished on pit road. He will start 35th.
Rick Ware Racing No. 15 Ryan Preece is running triple duty this weekend having run in the truck race on Friday and the Xfinity race on Saturday.
In the truck race, Preece was battling for the lead with Niece Motorsports No. 42 Carson Hocevar when the two crashed together. Hocevar was fighting for his first career win while Preece was trying to earn his second and keep his top-10 truck finish streak alive. He fell just short in 11th.
In the Xfinity race, Preece was racing up front with a handful of JR Motorsports cars and came away in fifth.
Hendrick Motorsports came into form at this time last season.
Last year, Larson swept every stage in the Coca-Cola 600 while all four Hendrick cars finished in the top five. This time around, Joe Gibbs Racing seems to be the team that is rising high, riding off a win from 23XI Racing No. 45 Kurt Busch at Kansas two weeks ago.
Toyotas continued to show speed in practice and qualifying once again. Joe Gibbs Racing No. 11 Denny Hamlin won the pole with a lap time of 29.399 at 183.680 MPH with the following two cars finishing three and four thousandths behind him.
Kurt Busch, who finished dead last in the Coca-Cola 600 last season, will join his team co-owner in the front row. Joe Gibbs Racing No. 20 Christopher Bell and No. 18 Kyle Busch fell right behind them in Row 2.
Toyotas, as a whole, have been very strong of late with all six Camrys finishing in the top 10 at Kansas.
The Coca-Cola 600 has more tangible meaning on top of the atmosphere surrounding the weekend. The race consists of four stages instead of the usual three, at 100 laps apiece, allowing more chances for stage points. Larson swept all four stages last year to take the win. With how spread out the field is so far this season, multiple racers have chances to come away with big points that can change the outlook of their season.
The Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway will begin on Sunday, May 29 at 6;00 p.m. ET. The race can be viewed on Fox and listened to on the Performance Racing Network and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.
Practice Results:
Starting Lineup:
To the rear:
No. 7 Corey LaJoie — Backup Car
No. 5 Kyle Larson — Did Not Qualify
No. 10 Aric Almirola — Unapproved Adjustments
No. 41 Cole Custer — Unapproved Adjustments
No. 47 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. — Unapproved Adjustments
No. 50 Kaz Grala — Unapproved Adjustments
Pit Stall Selections:
Goodyear Tires Notes:
NASCAR Cup Series – Race No. 14 – 400 laps / 600 miles
Charlotte Motor Speedway (1.5-mile oval) – Concord, N.C.
Fast Facts for May 27-29, 2022
Tire: Goodyear 18-inch Eagle Speedway Radials
Set limits: Cup: 1 set for practice, 1 set for qualifying and 13 sets for the race
(12 race sets plus 1 set transferred from qualifying)
Tire Codes: Left-side — D-5168; Right-side — D-5122
Tire Circumference: Left-side — 2,254 mm (88.74 in.); Right-side — 2,280 mm (89.76 in.)
Minimum Recommended Inflation:
Left Front — 20 psi; Left Rear — 22 psi;
Right Front — 50 psi; Right Rear — 46 psi
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