Drivers will face their annual endurance test at Sunday night’s Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Here are six storylines to watch heading into NASCAR's longest race:
1. Is Joey Logano the new king of Charlotte?
For years, Charlotte was known as Jimmie Johnson’s house. But Johnson has just one win in the last six seasons at Charlotte, while Logano won last fall’s Chase race at the track and then claimed Saturday night’s All-Star Race. In addition, Logano now has the best average Charlotte finish of any active driver (9.6).
2. Kyle Busch chasing elusive win.
Charlotte is one of Kyle Busch’s best tracks. He has 10 career top-five finishes in Cup, eight Xfinity Series wins and six Camping World Truck Series wins. Yet he’s never won a Cup race there, and it’s one of just two remaining tracks on the circuit where that’s the case (Pocono Raceway is the other). Perhaps his recent win at similarly sized Kansas Speedway is a sign he’s ready to cross Charlotte off the list.
3. Parity on the intermediate tracks.
Each manufacturer has at least one win on the 1.5-mile tracks so far this season. Johnson won for Chevrolet at Atlanta Motor Speedway, Brad Keselowski won for Ford at Las Vegas Motor Speedway and Busch claimed Toyota victories at Texas Motor Speedway and Kansas Speedway (Logano’s exhibition race win for Ford counts in some eyes, too). So it’s been split fairly evenly, and that means there’s no strong favorite heading into Sunday night’s race.
4. Last chance for Smoke.
Tony Stewart has raced in 17 Coca-Cola 600s but has never won it — and his chances to score a victory in the 600 during his final season aren’t looking very good. Excluding All-Star Races, Stewart’s last top-five finish at Charlotte was in 2003, when he won the fall race there. And in four races this season since returning from injury, Stewart has just one top-10 finish (at Talladega Superspeedway). He'd have to find a lot of speed in a short amount of time to contend.
5. Better racing ahead?
Charlotte has struggled to provide good racing in recent years, but the All-Star Race provided signs the new lower downforce rules package can put on a better show. The aerodynamic changes to the cars have meant the racing is more in the drivers' hands than in previous years, which could provide an extra challenge for the longest race of the year if it's a hot night.
6. Patriotism on display.
For the second year in a row, cars will have the names of fallen military service members written across the top of the windshields where names of drivers usually go. It’s all part of NASCAR’s annual military salute, which will once again feature patriotic paint schemes and an extensive tribute to the armed forces in the track’s pre-race show.
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