How Ross Chastain went from last to first in Coca-Cola 600

Normally, qualifying dead last at a 1.5-mile track means you’re in for a long day, but fortunately for Ross Chastain, doing so on the longest day of the NASCAR Cup Series season worked in his favour at the Coca-Cola 600.

Chastain’s Coca-Cola 600 weekend started on a sour note when a flat tyre in Saturday practice caused him to crash, preventing him from setting a qualifying time.

With the race on Sunday, his Trackhouse Racing team had to build him a new car in 36 hours; crew chief Phil Surgen noted it usually takes three to four weeks to build a car, and even that entails working from Monday to Friday for nine hours each day.

Using a chassis and body that had been assembled for the upcoming Nashville race, the team scrambled to transfer the engine from the original car into it along with the necessary decals.

With the car prepared, Chastain rolled off the grid 40th and last at the Coca-Cola 600. Despite his starting spot, the race being 600 miles and nearly four-and-a-half hours long meant he had plenty of time to work through the grid.

“We spent the first half the race really just kind of slowly chipping away at it,” Surgen explained. “In Stage 1, a caution came out unfortunately and set us back. We had gained ten or 12 spots and set us back five or six of those, so a little bit of a reset halfway through Stage 1. It was really just a slow progression.

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“We started the race a little bit tight. We knew that the balance would come to us as we got better track position, but we were kind of banking on that. Over the course of Stage 2, we had a green flag cycle that proved the car was where it needed to be once we had clean air.”

By the halfway point, he was in the top ten as he finished seventh. Chastain then improved to fifth once the Coca-Cola 600 hit the final stage break at Lap 300. Still, he was not expected to be much of a contender, not when William Byron was winning every stage and leading 283 of 400 laps.

Byron, who also won the Xfinity Series race on Saturday, looked poised to score his second win of the season as the fourth and final stage progressed. Behind him, Chastain methodically sliced through the top five before catching him in the closing laps.

Chastain made his move with six laps remaining, diving to the inside in Turn 1. Byron scraped the outside wall as they exited Turn 2, giving Chastain the upper hand.

The win is the sixth of Chastain’s Cup Series career and the first at a “Crown Jewel” event; Crown Jewels are races considered the most prestigious on the NASCAR calendar, a title officially shared with the Daytona 500, Brickyard 400, and Southern 500.

Chastain is also the first Cup driver to start last and win since Richard Petty at the 1971 Richmond 500, though Petty had willingly started last after he was barred from setting a qualifying time due to an engine infraction.

“We cannot drive slow cars fast,” Chastain stated. “You rent a car at any airport in the world, and if it’s slow and you mash the gas and it doesn’t go as fast as another car, you’re slower. Whether that’s in the corner grip or straightaway, we just had to keep working on our car tonight.

“The final thing I said before screaming that we won was ‘You nailed the balance.’ Phil Surgen and the group nailed the balance for the final green flag pit out. I don’t think that I’m any better than I have been.

“We came here and you saw it yesterday with the averages, the average lap times through the practice. We were right there with William for fast time in Group 2. We just marched our way through the field tonight.”

Kyle Larson’s second Double Duty a disaster

Rain ruined Kyle Larson’s attempt at doing both the Indianapolis 500 and Coca-Cola 600 on the same day in 2024, meaning he only did the former while Justin Allgaier was in his #5 car for the entirety of the latter until it got rained out. Naturally, he was keen on finally getting it right in 2025.

While the weather complied in 2025, he somehow fared even worse than last year. The buildup to Larson’s second IndyCar Series start was unsurprisingly filled with high expectations and fanfare, but he struggled throughout the Month of May with two crashes in practice. This culminated in a disastrous ending on race day.

Moments after a restart on Lap 92, Larson was running 22nd when he got loose and entering in Turn 1. His car slid up the track and clipped Kyffin Simpson while Sting Ray Robb also took some damage, knocking them out of the race. Larson would be classified 24th.

With his race prematurely over, he rushed to a helicopter that took him to Charlotte Motor Speedway for the Cup race. This time, he was able to take the green flag (thereby ensuring he wouldn’t need a waiver to make the playoffs like in 2024).

Larson started the Coke 600 in second alongside his team-mate Byron, and the two traded the lead early on before Larson settled into the top spot. Unfortunately, disaster struck again when he spun on Lap 43, bringing out the first caution.

His 600 would come to an end on Lap 243 when he was collected in a crash with Ryan Blaney, Chase Briscoe, Justin Haley, and Daniel Suárez.

Of the 1,100 miles that the Indy 500 and Coke 600 offered, Larson would only complete 599.

NASCAR 2025 Coca-Cola 600 – Results