Ty Gibbs is 60/1 to win at Charlotte

Ty Gibbs / No. 54 Monster Energy Toyota Camry TRD Preview

Coca-Cola 600

 

No. 54 Monster Energy Toyota Camry TRD News and Notes

• FIRST SEASON: Ty Gibbs is competing in his first full NASCAR Cup Series season driving the No. 54 Monster Energy Toyota Camry TRD.
• 2023: Gibbs is 19^th in the NASCAR point standings and scored four consecutive top-10 finishes in March and April at Atlanta Motor Speedway, Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas, Richmond (Va.) Raceway and Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway.
• Gibbs has finished in the top-20 in eight of the 13 Cup Series events.
• CHARLOTTE: Gibbs has never started a NASCAR Cup race on the Charlotte oval, but has started two NASCAR Xfinity Series races. He won in May 2021 and finished second in May 2022. He also started on the pole and won the ARCA race in May 2021.  
• ONE OF THIRTY-SEVEN: Gibbs made his first career NASCAR Cup Series start in July 2022 at Pocono Raceway for 23XI Racing. Gibbs is the 37^th driver younger than 20-years old to make a Cup Series start. Gibbs started at the rear of the field, but completed all 160 laps and finished an impressive 16^th. He has competed in 15 Cup races with a best finish of 10^th at Michigan International Speedway.
• NEW RECORD: Gibbs is the youngest driver ever to reach 11 victories in the NASCAR Xfinity Series at age 20 years, one month and one day old. The previous record was held by Joey Logano.
• 2021: Gibbs completed in only 18 Xfinity races in 2021, but won four races and finished 13^th in the Xfinity Series final driver point standings. That earned him the Xfinity Rookie of the Year award.
• WHAT A DEBUT: In Gibbs’ Xfinity Series debut in February 2021 at the Daytona Road Course, he led 14 of the 56 laps en route to his first career Xfinity Series win. Gibbs became the youngest driver to win a Xfinity road course race at 18 years, 4 months, 16 days. The Charlotte, N.C., native also became the second-youngest winner in Xfinity Series history after Joey Logano who won in June 2008 at Kentucky Speedway in Sparta when he was 18 years and 21 days old.
• IN GOOD COMPANY: Gibbs is the sixth driver to win in his Xfinity Series debut, joining Dale Earnhardt, Joe Ruttman, Ricky Rudd, Terry Labonte and Kurt Busch. Those five drivers had already driven in the NASCAR Cup Series before racing in the Xfinity Series.
• ARCA CHAMPIONS: Gibbs became the 2021 ARCA Menard Series Champions on the strength of 10 wins, plus one win each in ARCA West and ARCA East.
• ATOP THE PIT BOX: Veteran crew chief Chris Gayle will oversee the No. 54 team’s efforts in the 2023 season. Gale, who is from Little Rock, Arkansas, has led his drivers to two NASCAR Cup Series victories and 37 Xfinity Series wins. He was also the crew chief of the 2022 NASCAR Xfinity Series championship with Gibbs. The list of drivers Gayle has visited victory lane with includes Gibbs, Kyle Busch, Denny Hamlin, Sam Hornish Jr., Erik Jones, Elliott Sadler, Christopher Bell and John Hunter Nemechek.
• JGR AT CHARLOTTE: Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR) has 146 total starts at Charlotte in Cup competition with eight wins, 57 top-five and 87 top-10 finishes. The team has led 3,818 laps.
• RACE INFO: The NASCAR Cup Series race at Charlotte is scheduled for 6 pm EDT on Sunday, May 28 and will be broadcast on FOX, SiriusXM Channel 90 and PRN.

 

Ty Gibbs, Driver of the No. 54 Monster Energy Toyota Camry TRD

“I’ve never done the 600, but am looking forward to it. It’s a historic race and it’s one of the big races on the calendar. We’ve run well at Charlotte in ARCA and Xfinity so hopefully we can keep doing well. I like Charlotte and it’s the home race. The team has done a great job and the pit crew won the competition last week at North Wilkesboro. I’m sure we’ll bring a good Monster Energy Toyota Camry TRD. I’m also ready to run the Xfinity race with the He Gets Us Toyota GR Supra. Should be a fun weekend.”

 

 

Gibbs 2023 NASCAR Cup Series Stats

Starts	Wins	Top 5	Top 10	Poles	Laps Led	Avg. Start	Avg. Finish
13	0	0	4	0	4	17.1	18.5

 

 

Gibbs 2022 NASCAR Cup Series Stats

Starts	Wins	Top 5	Top 10	Poles	Laps Led	Avg. Start	Avg. Finish
15	0	0	1	0	2	17.0	22.9

 

 

 

Christopher Bell is 9/1 to win 2023 Coca-Cola 600

 

Christopher Bell Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Advance No. 20 Interstate Batteries Toyota Camry TRD for Joe Gibbs Racing

Event Overview

● Event: Coca-Cola 600 (Round 14 of 36) ● Time/Date: 6 p.m. EDT on Sunday, May 28 ● Location: Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway ● Layout: 1.5-mile oval ● Laps/Miles: 400 laps/600 miles ● Stage Lengths: Stage 1: 100 laps / Stage 2: 100 laps / Stage 3: 100 laps / Final Stage: 100 laps ● TV/Radio: FOX / PRN / SiriusXM NASCAR Radio

Notes of Interest

● Outrageously Dependable: Interstate Batteries – one of the most tenured team sponsors in NASCAR history – began its 32nd season as the founding sponsor of Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR) with an expanded presence that features the brand’s iconic green livery across all four of JGR’s NASCAR Cup Series entries. So far this season, Interstate has adorned the No. 20 of Bell at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, served as co-primary sponsor for Ty Gibbs in the season-opening Daytona 500 at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway, and on Denny Hamlin’s No. 11 Toyota at Circuit of Americas (COTA) in Austin, Texas in March. Interstate returned to Gibbs’ No. 54 Toyota at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway in April and will adorn his car four more times this season – June 25 at Nashville (Tenn.) Superspeedway, July 2 at the inaugural Chicago Street Race, Sept. 24 at Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth, and Oct. 8 on the Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway Roval. Bell returned to the Interstate Batteries machine last weekend, where he finished 12th in the NASCAR All-Star Race at North Wilkesboro (N.C.) Speedway. After the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte, Bell will return to Interstate Batteries colors at Texas in September and Martinsville (Va.) Speedway in October.   ● The Fund and Interstate Batteries: Interstate Batteries has partnered with Semper Fi & America’s Fund (The Fund) to help with funding adaptive vehicles for wounded service veterans which allow them to drive again, as well as assisting with vehicle maintenance and repairs. The Fund supports all branches of the military. Currently, the VA allots a one-time $24,000 grant to veterans who need adapted vehicles. The cost for adapting vehicles can run from $20,000 to $80,000 and they may get 10 to 12 years out of one vehicle before they are back to square one. This is the first time Interstate Batteries has run a military-themed/supported paint scheme and, in addition to the scheme, Interstate has made a monetary donation and is raising awareness in the hopes of driving donations to this very worthy cause Donations can be made at TheFund.org/Interstate. In addition to Interstate’s donation, The Fund appears on the hood of the No. 20 JGR Toyota Camry TRD for the Coca-Cola 600, and Interstate Batteries will be hosting guests from The Fund, including a handful of veterans who have benefitted from The Fund and its important work.   ● Along with the previously announced partnership with The Fund, Interstate Batteries launched a crowdfunding campaign and hopes to help drive awareness for the ongoing needs of military families. Augmenting those efforts is the plan to feature the aforementioned military-themed paint scheme during the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte. For more information about Semper Fi & America’s Fund and the transportation program, visit TheFund.org.   ● Bell has one top-five finish and two top-10s in four career NASCAR Cup Series starts at Charlotte, with the best finish coming in last year’s Coca-Cola 600 on the 1.5-mile oval. Bell’s average Charlotte oval finish is 14.8.   ● As part of #NASCARSalutes and the 600 Miles of Remembrance initiative during the Coca Cola 600, the No. 20 Interstate Batteries Camry will be honoring CW5 Ret. U.S. Army, William F. Sonny Hinchman, who died on July 17, 2009, near Baghdad, Iraq, in a MD-530 helicopter crash while working in support of the U.S. State Department. CW5 Hinchman was born Nov. 11, 1966, in Linton, Indiana, to Walter Jerry and Nina R. (Bosell) Hinchman. He had six brothers and sisters and graduated from Worthington-Jefferson High School in 1984 and joined the U.S. Army as a Warrant Officer Candidate. Upon completion of flight school at Fort Rucker, Alabama, Hinchman began a 25-year career as an Army aviator. Over the course of his career, Hinchman had multiple tours to Iraq and other locations throughout the globe while serving in numerous aviation combat units, including Task Force 160, the Army’s Special Operations Aviation Regiment.   ● Roval Master: While Bell is looking for his first Coca-Cola 600 win in his fifth start on the Charlotte oval this weekend, he has already conquered the Charlotte Roval, having earned the victory in last October’s Bank of America ROVAL 400k on the 2.28-mile, 17-turn road course within the Charlotte Motor Speedway grounds.   Interstate Batteries Stands the Test of Time: Former JGR and Interstate Batteries driver Bobby Labonte created some special memories for sponsor and team during the 1995 edition of NASCAR’s longest race, the Coca-Cola 600. In his first season with JGR, Labonte led 85 of the 400 laps enroute to his first-ever NASCAR Cup Series victory. Labonte went on to win 21 total races and the 2000 Cup Series championship in what became a NASCAR Hall of Fame career. Each of Labonte’s 21 wins came with Interstate Batteries adorning his car for JGR.   ● Bell heads to NASCAR’s longest race second in the driver standings with 402 points, 37 out of the lead.

Christopher Bell , Driver of the No. 20 Interstate Batteries Toyota Camry TRD

What are your expectations for the Coca-Cola 600 this weekend?   “My expectations for Charlotte are to compete for stage wins and race wins. It’s a very long and unique race because there are four stages, so there’s an opportunity to score more points, more so than a normal weekend. It’s definitely a race if you are fast and competitive, which we should be – you set yourself up to have a great points day with our Interstate Batteries Camry.”   With the race being so long, do you have to manage the Coca-Cola 600 any differently than other races?   “Not really. It is a long race in terms of miles, but the race is 400 laps and we run 400 laps at multiple tracks. We don’t treat it any differently. It’s just another race as far as that goes and we expect to go out there and run up front and be competitive. Really excited to have Interstate Batteries back on board this weekend. We have a really cool-looking, military-themed camouflage car, which is a result of their partnership with Semper Fi and America’s Fund. They do a lot of great work for finding adaptive vehicles for wounded veterans. It’s a lot of important work and I’m hoping we can make them proud at the end of the night on Sunday.”   Each year, NASCAR puts the focus on honoring fallen soldiers and their families during Memorial Day weekend at Charlotte. What does it mean to you to be a part of that as a driver?   “Memorial Day weekend is always a huge weekend for honoring our country’s military, past and present. The Coca-Cola 600 has become an iconic event that I think a lot of people tune in to. It would be great to have a great showing during one of our biggest races of the year, on a huge weekend for our country. I know there will be a lot of military families on hand at the race and I’m honored to not only have Semper Fi & America’s Fund ride along on our Interstate Batteries Camry, but also to have Chief Warrant Officer 5 Hinchman, whose name will be riding along with us on the windshield of our car, as well. It’s a special weekend for our country and I’m glad to be a part of all they do to honor the military families this weekend.”

Denny Hamlin wins wild Coca-Cola 600 from the pole

CONCORD, N.C. – Sunday night’s Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway started with Denny Hamlin out front and ended with Denny Hamlin out front.

What happened in-between defied belief. And a driver who claims to thrive in chaos proved to be a man of his word.

 

Hamlin won the longest race in NASCAR history—619.5 miles—in two overtimes, beating Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Kyle Busch to the finish line by .014 seconds.

 

With the victory—the second this season and the 48th of his career—Hamlin now holds trophies in all three of NASCAR’s Crown Jewel races: the Daytona 500, Coca-Cola 600 and Southern 500. Kevin Harvick is the only other active driver with all three titles.

 

Hamlin’s victory spoiled what could have been one of the most astonishing comebacks in racing history. Kyle Larson started from the rear in a repaired car, suffered three pit road penalties, a spin off Turn 4 and a fire in his pit stall but—miraculously—was leading the race on the next-to-last lap of regulation when Chase Briscoe spun underneath him while battling for the lead and caused the 17th caution of the night.

 

A wreck on the first attempt at overtime collected Larson’s No. 5 Chevrolet and scrambled the running order, leaving Hamlin in the lead on four fresh tires.

 

“The first half (of the race) was a struggle for all of us,” said Larson, who finished ninth. “I was especially frustrated with myself. To rebound from that and have a shot to win there late was something to be proud of. Our team fought really hard. Happy with that.

 

“Briscoe was really good, that long run there. Wish we would have just been a little bit better so he never would have got to me, ultimately spin.”

 

After the second overtime restart, Hamlin and Busch battled side-by-side until Hamlin pulled ahead on Lap 412 of 413, 13 laps beyond the scheduled distance. Busch rallied but couldn’t get back to Hamlin’s bumper.

 

“It's so special,” Hamlin said. “It's the last big one that's not on my résumé. It meant so much.

 

“Man, we weren't very good all day. Just got ourselves in the right place at the right time. What a battle there!”

 

Hamlin, however, was far from the likely winner as the race unfolded. Daniel Suarez arguably had the fastest car. His Trackhouse Racing teammate, Ross Chastain, led 153 laps—more than any other driver. 

 

In the closing stages of regulation, it appeared for all the world that Larson and Briscoe would decide the outcome between them, until Briscoe spun as he was attempting to pass the reigning NASCAR Cup Series champion to the inside.

 

But in the first attempt at overtime, Austin Dillon’s bold move on four fresh tires to Larson’s two went awry off Turn 4, damaging seven cars and setting up Hamlin’s win in the second overtime. 

 

That was merely the concluding chapter in a five-hour thriller.

 

On a night that already had seen a surfeit of breathtaking action, Suarez’s Chevrolet turned sideways on Lap 346 after contact with Briscoe’s Ford an ignited a four-car wreck that ended with Chris Buescher’s Ford barrel-rolling five times through the frontstretch infield and landing on its roof.

 

Buescher climbed from his car uninjured, but a strong run for the Roush Fenway Keselowski driver ended abruptly. So did a remarkable run from Suarez, who had led four times for 38 laps, only to lose spots on every pit stop, with the cars of Joey Logano and Denny Hamlin blocking his egress from pit road.

 

“I’m going to be a bit sore tomorrow,” Buescher said after an obligatory trip to the infield care center. “I haven’t been upside-down in a really long time.  The team did a really nice job.  We had great speed and had a chance at this thing, it just didn’t work out.”

 

The opening laps of the event were an omen of things to come.

 

How intense was the racing? Here’s a microcosm: The first lap ended in a dead heat, with Kurt Busch nosing ahead of Hamlin by less than one thousandth of a second. Racing side-by-side with Hamlin, Busch extended his lead to .004 seconds on Lap 2—roughly six inches.

 

A determined Hamlin regained the top spot on Lap 3, but only by .011 seconds. The opening action set the tone for the entire race, which produced 31 lead changes between 13 different drivers.

 

But what happened at the front of the field was multiplied exponentially by aggressive, close-quarters racing throughout the pack.

 

On Lap 192—eight laps short of the halfway point—the close-quarters competition ended badly. In the second turn after a restart following the 10th caution, Ryan Blaney’s No. 12 Ford hooked the apron with the left-front tire and spun sideways.

 

That misstep triggered a 13-car wreck that eliminated the contending cars of Blaney, Kurt Busch and William Byron. 

 

“I was tucked up tight behind the 8 (Tyler Reddick), and he was kind of lower than I thought on the frontstretch and kind of ran through the turf, and then got to (Turn) 1 and jerked right,” Blaney said after the wreck. 

 

“I think he was up behind the 99 (Suarez) and thinking he was going hit the apron, and I didn’t have time to kind of get right, and I just kind of hit the apron and got me loose. I hate that other cars got tore up.” 

 

That wreck wouldn’t be the last. By the end of the race, 17 pf the 37 cars that started the event already sat in the garage in various states of disrepair.

 

Kevin Harvick soldiered to a third-place finish, followed by Briscoe and Christopher Bell. Tyler Reddick, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Michael McDowell, Larson and Alex Bowman completed the top 10.

 

NASCAR Cup Series Race - 63rd Annual COCA-COLA 600

Charlotte Motor Speedway

Concord, North Carolina

Sunday, May 29, 2022

 

               1. (1)  Denny Hamlin, Toyota, 413.

               2. (4)  Kyle Busch, Toyota, 413.

               3. (18)  Kevin Harvick, Ford, 413.

               4. (15)  Chase Briscoe, Ford, 413.

               5. (3)  Christopher Bell, Toyota, 413.

               6. (8)  Tyler Reddick, Chevrolet, 413.

               7. (29)  Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Chevrolet, 413.

               8. (10)  Michael McDowell, Ford, 413.

               9. (36)  Kyle Larson, Chevrolet, 413.

               10. (9)  Alex Bowman, Chevrolet, 413.

               11. (17)  Harrison Burton #, Ford, 413.

               12. (14)  Martin Truex Jr., Toyota, 413.

               13. (28)  Ty Dillon, Chevrolet, 413.

               14. (25)  Erik Jones, Chevrolet, 413.

               15. (22)  Ross Chastain, Chevrolet, 413.

               16. (30)  Todd Gilliland #, Ford, 413.

               17. (24)  Aric Almirola, Ford, 412.

               18. (33)  Cody Ware, Ford, 412.

               19. (31)  BJ McLeod, Ford, 407.

               20. (23)  Joey Logano, Ford, Accident, 405.

               21. (21)  Cole Custer, Ford, Accident, 405.

               22. (16)  Austin Dillon, Chevrolet, Accident, 405.

               23. (34)  Kaz Grala(i), Chevrolet, 400.

               24. (27)  Noah Gragson(i), Chevrolet, Throttle, 386.

               25. (12)  Daniel Suarez, Chevrolet, Accident, 346.

               26. (19)  Chris Buescher, Ford, Accident, 346.

               27. (20)  Justin Haley, Chevrolet, Engine, 343.

               28. (7)  Bubba Wallace, Toyota, DVP, 200.

               29. (11)  Ryan Blaney, Ford, Accident, 195.

               30. (35)  Brad Keselowski, Ford, Accident, 193.

               31. (2)  Kurt Busch, Toyota, Accident, 191.

               32. (5)  William Byron, Chevrolet, Accident, 191.

               33. (13)  Chase Elliott, Chevrolet, DVP, 188.

               34. (6)  Austin Cindric #, Ford, Accident, 145.

               35. (37)  Corey LaJoie, Chevrolet, Accident, 60.

               36. (32)  Josh Bilicki(i), Chevrolet, Accident, 31.

               37. (26)  Ryan Preece(i), Ford, DVP, 16.

 

Average Speed of Race Winner:  118.703 mph.

Time of Race:  5 Hrs, 13 Mins, 8 Secs. Margin of Victory:  0.119 Seconds.

Caution Flags:  18 for 90 laps.

Lead Changes:  31 among 13 drivers.

Lap Leaders:   D. Hamlin 0;K. Busch 1-2;D. Hamlin 3-9;K. Busch 10-39;B. Wallace 40;K. Busch 41-45;D. Suarez 46-62;C. Elliott 63-66;W. Byron 67;C. Elliott 68-110;R. Chastain 111-128;C. Elliott 129-148;R. Blaney 149-150;K. Larson 151;C. Elliott 152-170;R. Chastain 171-196;D. Suarez 197-204;J. Logano 205-213;D. Suarez 214-220;R. Chastain 221-251;D. Suarez 252-255;R. Chastain 256-259;C. Briscoe 260;R. Chastain 261-303;T. Reddick 304-322;R. Chastain 323-353;K. Larson 354-395;C. Briscoe 396;K. Larson 397-404;D. Hamlin 405-411;K. Busch 412;D. Hamlin 413.

Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Lead, Laps Led):  Ross Chastain 6 times for 153 laps; Chase Elliott 4 times for 86 laps; Kyle Larson 3 times for 51 laps; Daniel Suarez 4 times for 36 laps; Kyle Busch 3 times for 36 laps; Tyler Reddick 1 time for 19 laps; Denny Hamlin 3 times for 15 laps; Joey Logano 1 time for 9 laps; Ryan Blaney 1 time for 2 laps; Chase Briscoe 2 times for 2 laps; Kurt Busch 1 time for 2 laps; Bubba Wallace 1 time for 1 lap; William Byron 1 time for 1 lap.

Stage #1 Top Ten: 9,8,20,1,23,12,47,19,48,11

Stage #2 Top Ten: 99,1,43,14,47,22,4,8,19,20

Stage #3 Top Ten: 1,14,5,8,99,22,41,17,3,11