What happened?
Denny Hamlin held off Kyle Busch in a second overtime attempt to win the longest distance race in NASCAR Cup Series history in the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway on Sunday, May 30. Kevin Harvick, Chase Briscoe and Christopher Bell rounded out the top five.
It’s Hamlin’s first career Coca-Cola 600 victory and second win of 2022.
How did it happen?
With 10 laps to go, Hamlin wasn’t even in the top five, nor in anybody’s conversation for the win for that matter.
Instead, it was the dirt racing veteran duo of Kyle Larson and Chase Briscoe dueling for the lead in the closing laps of the eventual 413-lap endurance race.
Larson, who had undergone just about every setback one can possibly throw at a driver without taking him out of the race up to that point, was leading over the Stewart-Haas Racing driver. He ran his tried-and-true high line, and it was working splendidly against the hard-charging Briscoe in his defense of the race lead.
Briscoe was running out of time and knew he had very limited opportunities left to try to overtake the reigning series champion. So, with two laps to go, much like he had the dirt race at Bristol Motor Speedway earlier in the year, Briscoe made one last attempt at the lead.
Also like Bristol, he wrecked himself in the result.
Around goes Chase Briscoe!
NASCAR OVERTIME. https://t.co/qap7gXvK8w pic.twitter.com/NzW9MA66Cd
— FOX: NASCAR (@NASCARONFOX) May 30, 2022
The ensuing caution forced Larson and the rest of the field to pit road for fresh tires to replace their 50-lap old ones. Larson restarted in the lead next to Ross Chastain, who led the most laps of the night with 153. Larson cleared Chastain and seemed to be sailing away for his second consecutive 600-mile victory.
Then Austin Dillon, who literally advanced his position from sixth to second within 100 feet on the backstretch with a run, flew to the inside of the defending Larson. The No. 3 got loose on Larson’s inside, forcing the two…
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