2021 Coca-Cola 600
The 2021 Coca-Cola 600, the 62nd running of the event, was a NASCAR Cup Series race held at Charlotte Motor Speedway in Concord, North Carolina. Contested over 400 laps on the 1.5 mile (2.42 km) asphalt speedway, it was the 15th race of the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series season, as well as the third of the four crown jewel races. Report. Background. The race was held at Charlotte Motor Speedway, located in Concord, North Carolina. The speedway complex includes a quad-oval track that was utilized for the race, as well as a dragstrip and  a dirt track. The speedway was built in 1959 by Bruton Smith and is considered the home track for NASCAR with many race teams based in the Charlotte metropolitan area. The track is owned and operated by Speedway Motorsports Inc. (SMI) with Marcus G. Smith serving as track president. Similar to the Daytona 500, which was a four-stage race (with the first stage being the qualifying heat race), the Coca-Cola 600 is a four-stage race, with this the only race where all four stages are in the main race itself. All four stages are scheduled to consist  of 100 laps. The race is official after the second stage. Practice. Austin Dillon was the fastest in the practice session with a time of 29.845 seconds and a speed of . Qualifying. Kyle Larson scored the pole for the race with a time of 29.953 and a speed of . Race. Kyle Larson won the pole in qualifying. Larson dominated, leading the most laps and winning the first two stages. Kurt Busch had an issue that sent him to the garage, but when he returned to the race, he blew his engine. Several drivers had tire problems including Joey Logano, Kevin  Harvick, and Martin Truex Jr. Larson won the third stage and pulled away from teammate Chase Elliott to over a ten-second lead to win his second race of the season, earning the 269th win for Hendrick Motorsports, making them the winningest team in NASCAR history. Stage Results. Stage One "Laps:" 100 Stage Two "Laps:" 100 Stage Three "Laps:" 100 Final Stage Results. Stage Four "Laps:" 100 Media. Television. Fox Sports televised the race in the United States for the 21st consecutive year. Mike Joy was the lap-by-lap announcer, while three-time Coca-Cola 600 winner, Jeff Gordon  and 2012 Fall Charlotte winner Clint Bowyer were the color commentators. Jamie Little, Regan Smith and Vince Welch reported from pit lane during the race. Larry McReynolds provided insight from the Fox Sports studio in Charlotte. Radio. Radio coverage of the race was broadcast by the Performance Racing Network (PRN), and was simulcasted on Sirius XM NASCAR Radio. Doug Rice and Mark Garrow called the race in the booth when the field raced through the quad-oval. Rob Albright called the race from a billboard in turn 2 when the field was racing through turns 1 and 2 and halfway  down the backstretch. Pat Patterson called the race from a billboard outside of turn 3 when the field raced through the other half of the backstretch and through turns 3 and 4. Brad Gillie, Brett McMillan and Wendy Venturini were the pit reporters during the broadcast.