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Coca-Cola 600
The Coca-Cola 600, originally the World 600, is an annual 600-mile (970 km) NASCAR Cup Series points race held at the Charlotte Motor Speedway in Concord, North Carolina, on a Sunday during Memorial Day weekend. The first race, held in 1960, was also the first one held at Charlotte Motor Speedway. It is the longest race on NASCAR's schedule. It is unique for having track conditions that change throughout the race due to the race having a day to night transition, (if the race occurs on schedule with no delays or postponements). The race starts around 6:20 p.m. when the track is bathed in sunlight for about the first third of the race. Roughly the second third happens at dusk, and about the final third of the race occurs at night under the lights.
The race is run later on the same day as the Indianapolis 500 of the IndyCar Series, with multiple drivers having performed or attempted Double Duty, competing in both races. No driver has ever won both races, either on the same day or across their career.
The NASCAR event is usually held on the last weekend of May and is known as one of the largest weekends in auto racing, as the NASCAR race occurs on the same Sunday after the Monaco Grand Prix (Formula One) and the Indianapolis 500 (IndyCar Series).
Ross Chastain is the defending champion of the Coca-Cola 600.
In the spring of 1959, Curtis Turner returned to Charlotte, North Carolina, after viewing Bill France Sr.'s Daytona International Speedway and had an idea of building a race track in the surrounding area. Turner thought he could borrow enough money to build a $750,000 track with 45,000 permanent seats on his property in Cabarrus County, North Carolina. Afterward, he learned that a group led by Bruton Smith had a similar idea to build a track near Pineville.
Smith and Turner formed an alliance to build the track, and they signed a contract with NASCAR to run a 600-mile event on Memorial Day. Once the construction crew broke ground, they found a layer of granite under the topsoil, making the construction costs raise. The area for the first turn alone used $70,000 worth of dynamite, ballooning Turner's $750,000 construction plan to nearly two million dollars. In the spring of 1960, Turner begged for a six-week postponement of the race after a snowstorm delayed the concrete pouring.
With two weeks remaining until the inaugural race, the paving subcontractor threatened to quit the job due to lack of payment. To keep him there, Turner and one of his friends threatened the subcontractor with a shotgun and a revolver to ensure the track's backstretch would be completed. The first event at the newly completed Charlotte Motor Speedway was held on June 19, 1960.
The event began as an attempt by NASCAR to stage a Memorial Day weekend event to compete with the open-wheel Indianapolis 500. It was not until 1974, however, that both races competed head-to-head on the same day, due to Indianapolis' policy of not racing on Sundays prior to that. Before 1974, the two races were held on different days of the week, and on a few occasions, some drivers drove in both. They continued even after the Coca-Cola 600 was moved to the same day, albeit to a lesser degree. The first World 600 was held on June 16 due to construction delays of the completion of Charlotte Motor Speedway. The 2009 race, postponed by rain from its original May 24 date, was the first race to occur on Memorial Day itself.
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Coca-Cola 600
The Coca-Cola 600, originally the World 600, is an annual 600-mile (970 km) NASCAR Cup Series points race held at the Charlotte Motor Speedway in Concord, North Carolina, on a Sunday during Memorial Day weekend. The first race, held in 1960, was also the first one held at Charlotte Motor Speedway. It is the longest race on NASCAR's schedule. It is unique for having track conditions that change throughout the race due to the race having a day to night transition, (if the race occurs on schedule with no delays or postponements). The race starts around 6:20 p.m. when the track is bathed in sunlight for about the first third of the race. Roughly the second third happens at dusk, and about the final third of the race occurs at night under the lights.
The race is run later on the same day as the Indianapolis 500 of the IndyCar Series, with multiple drivers having performed or attempted Double Duty, competing in both races. No driver has ever won both races, either on the same day or across their career.
The NASCAR event is usually held on the last weekend of May and is known as one of the largest weekends in auto racing, as the NASCAR race occurs on the same Sunday after the Monaco Grand Prix (Formula One) and the Indianapolis 500 (IndyCar Series).
Ross Chastain is the defending champion of the Coca-Cola 600.
In the spring of 1959, Curtis Turner returned to Charlotte, North Carolina, after viewing Bill France Sr.'s Daytona International Speedway and had an idea of building a race track in the surrounding area. Turner thought he could borrow enough money to build a $750,000 track with 45,000 permanent seats on his property in Cabarrus County, North Carolina. Afterward, he learned that a group led by Bruton Smith had a similar idea to build a track near Pineville.
Smith and Turner formed an alliance to build the track, and they signed a contract with NASCAR to run a 600-mile event on Memorial Day. Once the construction crew broke ground, they found a layer of granite under the topsoil, making the construction costs raise. The area for the first turn alone used $70,000 worth of dynamite, ballooning Turner's $750,000 construction plan to nearly two million dollars. In the spring of 1960, Turner begged for a six-week postponement of the race after a snowstorm delayed the concrete pouring.
With two weeks remaining until the inaugural race, the paving subcontractor threatened to quit the job due to lack of payment. To keep him there, Turner and one of his friends threatened the subcontractor with a shotgun and a revolver to ensure the track's backstretch would be completed. The first event at the newly completed Charlotte Motor Speedway was held on June 19, 1960.
The event began as an attempt by NASCAR to stage a Memorial Day weekend event to compete with the open-wheel Indianapolis 500. It was not until 1974, however, that both races competed head-to-head on the same day, due to Indianapolis' policy of not racing on Sundays prior to that. Before 1974, the two races were held on different days of the week, and on a few occasions, some drivers drove in both. They continued even after the Coca-Cola 600 was moved to the same day, albeit to a lesser degree. The first World 600 was held on June 16 due to construction delays of the completion of Charlotte Motor Speedway. The 2009 race, postponed by rain from its original May 24 date, was the first race to occur on Memorial Day itself.