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NASCAR Coca-Cola 600: What to Expect from the First Major Race After The Lockdown

Published 05/24/2020, 9:52 AM EDT

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Tonight, Coca-Cola 600 returns as the first major NASCAR event after the pandemic. This will the longest race of the year and will feature qualifying for the first time after the lockdown.

After a gap of months, Forty cars will start the qualifying race to fight for the pole in the longest NASCAR race. The qualifying will start at 2:00 PM EST. After the final lineup is out, the main race will start at 6:30 PM EST.

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Coca-Cola 600 is the longest race on NASCAR’s calender at 600 miles or 970 km. It is one of a kind for having track conditions that change all through the race.

It begins at around 6:20 PM and the track is washed in daylight for the first one-third of the race. The next one-third occurs in the evening, and the final one-third under the floodlights.

The race is run later on a similar day as the Indianapolis 500 of IndyCar, with a few drivers having performed Double Duty, contending in the two races.

Martin Truex Jr. is the defending champion of the Coca-Cola 600. Last year, Martin Truex Jr. led 116 laps to win the race with Joe Gibbs Racing for the second time in four years. He won the acclaimed race in 2016 and finished second in 2018 and third in 2017.

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Coca-Cola 600 is the only Memorial Day racing event to make through

For auto racing fans, the day before Memorial Day is annually celebrated as the greatest day in motorsports with racing events in Formula One, IndyCar, and NASCAR.

The day would normally begin in the French Riviera with the F1 Monaco Grand Prix. After that racing moves to Indianapolis for the Indy 500 also called the “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing,”. And it concludes in Charlotte, North Carolina for NASCAR’s longest race of the year.

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However, this year due to the pandemic the Coca-Cola 600 will stand alone on Sunday. After the Monaco GP’s cancelation and Indy’s postponement.

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Written by:

Mrinal Kuniyal

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Mrinal Kuniyal has been a contributor to EssentiallSports since early 2020 and has focused on Formula 1, NASCAR, and IndyCar. He's a management graduate and his areas of interest include motorsports, marketing, and music.
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