The Coca-Cola 600 was one of the best races on the Charlotte oval in recent memory. Should a return to the 500-mile fall Charlotte race be considered in the future?
Last weekend’s Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway, the grand finale of the Memorial Day tripleheader, didn’t come without heavy attrition. The race was full of calamity to the tune of 18 cautions, and Joey Logano scored a top 20 finish from the garage. The race was extended to 413 laps for the longest NASCAR Cup Series race on record, and when Denny Hamlin took the checkered flag, the race ran for a total of five hours, 13 minutes and eight seconds.
But when the drivers kept their cars clean, the racing was fantastic. There was a battle for the lead throughout most of the race, and drivers had the ability to pass each other and run different lines across the racetrack. The race was well received by fans, and with the exception of the All-Star Race at Texas Motor Speedway, the Next Gen car has put on a show at the 1.5-mile tracks this season.
NASCAR won’t return to the Charlotte oval until 2023, as Charlotte’s second date has been run on the infield road course since 2018. But with the success that the Next Gen car has had on the 1.5-milers, a return to the 500-mile fall Charlotte race of yesteryear now looks like a potential option for the series going forward.
The fall race was taken off the oval in 2018 because of a dwindling lack of interest in 500-mile race as well as the presence of the Gen 6 car that, on average, produced a lackluster racing product. But the Coca-Cola 600 had a sellout crowd, and racing on the oval looks exciting once again.
After years of NASCAR needing to trim the number of 1.5-mile tracks on the schedule, adding a few more would now be beneficial. And with the removals of Chicagoland Speedway and Kentucky Speedway from the Cup Series schedule and the reconfiguration of Atlanta Motor Speedway, an October race on the Charlotte oval looks like one of the most…
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