Brad Keselowski drives during the NASCAR Cup Series race at Charlotte Motor Speedway on May 26, 2019. Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images
Around the turn of the century, Ford drivers—and, specifically, Roush Fenway Racing drivers—owned the Coca-Cola 600.
Jeff Burton won the marquee NASCAR Cup Series event in 1999. Matt Kenseth followed in 2000. Burton won again in 2001, and NASCAR Hall of Famer Mark Martin added the capper to a four-race winning streak in the 600 in 2002.
Since then, however, no Ford driver has visited Victory Lane in NASCAR’s longest race. It’s not that the Fords have been shut out at Charlotte. Matt Kenseth (2011), Brad Keselowski (2013) and Joey Logano (2015) all won the fall 500-miler before Charlotte Motor Speedway introduced its infield road course for the Playoff race in 2018.
But victory in the Coca-Cola 600 has been mystifyingly elusive.
“I don’t know the reasons why,” Logano said during a Zoom video conference with reporters on Friday morning. “I can think of quite a few 600s, at least the 22 (Team Penske Ford), which is what I can control, has been very close to winning. I think I’ve got a few seconds and thirds there (second last year, third in 2011) and have yet to break through.
“As a Coca-Cola driver, I know how big of a deal it is to win that thing and feel the pressure to do it. I want to get it done. I’ve been, like I said, close. There are different things every time, and it takes the whole package to make it happen. The driver has got to be on his game. The pit crew’s got to be on it. The car’s got to be good and things (have) got to fall your way. So I guess, in recent years, it hasn’t for the Ford guys, but I wouldn’t bet money against us this week.”
One of the foremost obstacles in Logano’s way is defending race winner Martin Truex, Jr., who has three victories in the last six oval races at Charlotte. That trio of races includes Truex’s masterful performance from 2016, when the driver of the No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota (then driving the No. 78 for Furniture Row Racing) led a record 588 of 600 miles to secure his first win in the Crown Jewel race.
Though Truex lost crew chief Cole Pearn to retirement after the 2019 season, he’s no less confident with his new pit boss, Aussie James Small.
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“Absolutely, no question,” Truex said in a Thursday video conference. “I think James has come in and done a wonderful job. I feel like we really picked up where we left off last year, aside from some issues here and there. I feel really good about our group – we’re strong. James has done a really nice job.
“Maybe our cars are not quite as good compared to the competition as they were in the past two years, but again, I feel like we’re right there, and James is doing an awesome job. We’ve been consistently scoring more points than our teammates, except for at the end of the race, so we’re trying to figure that out. Feel like he’s done all the right things, and we continue to get better each week.”
NASCAR Cup Series
The Race: Coca-Cola 600
The Place: Charlotte Motor Speedway – Concord, NC
The Date: Wednesday, May 20
The Time: 6 p.m. ET
TV: FS1, 5:30 p.m. ET
Radio: PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio
Distance: 600 miles (400 laps); Stage 1 (Ends on Lap 100), Stage 2 (Ends on Lap 200), Stage 3 (End on Lap 300) Final Stage (Ends on Lap 400)
Most Recent Winner: Martin Truex, Jr.
What To Watch For: There have been 120 NASCAR Cup Series points races at Charlotte Motor Speedway, two races per year from when the track opened in 1960 until 2017. Starting in 2018, Charlotte Motor Speedway hosted just one race on the oval configuration. … A total of 46 different NASCAR Cup Series drivers have won the Busch Pole Award at Charlotte Motor Speedway, nine of the 46 are active this weekend. … NASCAR Hall of Famer David Pearson leads the NASCAR Cup Series in poles at Charlotte Motor Speedway with 14 poles (1961, 1972, 1973, 1974 sweep, 1975 sweep, 1976 sweep, 1977 sweep, 1978 sweep, 1982). Ryan Newman leads all active drivers in poles at Charlotte Motor Speedway with nine (2001, 2003 sweep, 2004, 2005, 2007 sweep, 2009 and 2010). … Fireball Roberts won the inaugural Busch Pole Award at Charlotte Motor Speedway (World 600) in 1960 with a speed of 133.904 mph. … The youngest series Charlotte pole winner is William Byron (May 26, 2019 – 21 years, 4 months, 27 days) and the oldest series Charlotte pole winner is Bobby Allison (October 11, 1987 – 49 years, 10 months, 8 days). … A total of 51 different NASCAR Cup Series drivers have won at Charlotte Motor Speedway; 10 of the 51 are active this weekend. Jimmie Johnson leads the series in wins at Charlotte Motor Speedway with eight victories – 2003 summer, 2004 sweep, 2005 sweep, 2009 Playoffs, 2014 summer, 2016 Playoffs. … The youngest series Charlotte winner is Jeff Gordon (May 29, 1994 – 22 years, 9 months, 25 days) and the oldest series Charlotte winner is Cale Yarborough (October 6, 1985 – 46 years, 6 months, 9 days). … 10 drivers have posted their first career NASCAR Cup Series win at Charlotte: David Pearson (5/28/1961), Buddy Baker (10/15/1967), Charlie Glotzbach (10/20/1968), Jeff Gordon (5/29/1994), Bobby Labonte (5/28/1995), Matt Kenseth (5/28/2000), Jamie McMurray (10/13/2002), Casey Mears (5/27/2007), David Reutimann (5/25/2009) and Austin Dillon (5/28/2017). … 17 of the 120 (14.2%) NASCAR Cup Series races at Charlotte have been won from the Busch Pole; the most recent was Kyle Busch in the 2018 (Coca-Cola 600). The deepest in the field that a race winner has started at Charlotte is 37th, by Jimmie Johnson in the Coca-Cola 600 of 2003. … A total of 177 different drivers have led at least one lap in the NASCAR Cup Series at Charlotte. NASCAR Hall of Famer Bobby Allison leads the series in laps led at Charlotte Motor Speedway with 2,339 laps led in 43 starts. Jimmie Johnson leads all active drivers in the series in laps led at Charlotte with 1,930 laps led 35 starts. Martin Truex Jr. holds the record for the most laps led in in a single NASCAR Cup Series race at Charlotte Motor Speedway after he led 392 of the scheduled 400 laps (98%) in the 2016 Coca-Cola 600 – he started from the pole.
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