Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
Autosport
Autosport
Sport

NASCAR Cup Charlotte: Bell wins rain-shortened Coke 600, Larson unable to start

During a caution for a spin by Corey LaJoie, Bell was the first off pitroad and took command when the race resumed on lap 236 of the scheduled 400 laps at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

In clear air, Bell was able to extend his lead over Brad Keselowski as Byron made a three-wide move on the frontstretch – crossing into the infield grass – to move into third.

Light rain forced NASCAR to throw a caution on lap 246 and three laps later lightning in the area forced the race to a halt. With the race able to be made official since it was more than half completed, NASCAR declared Bell the winner at 11:30pm local time.

"I knew there was going to be a chance [the race resumed]," Bell said. "I was literally on the couch like half-asleep and I'm already mentally prepared to go back racing. Then I see the [Fox broadcasters] come back [on TV] and I'm like, 'Wait a minute, what's going on?'

"My phone goes off and they say they called it. What a twist of emotions, man. I have never been through an emotional swing like that in my life."

Christopher Bell, Joe Gibbs Racing, Rheem Toyota Camry (Photo by: Matthew T. Thacker / NKP / Motorsport Images)

NASCAR and Charlotte officials said track drying would have meant a restart after 1am local time and that would have been too late to complete the remainder of the race.

It’s the second win of the 2024 season for Bell, who also won earlier this year at Phoenix.

Keselowski was credited with the second-place finish ahead of Byron in third, as Tyler Reddick and Denny Hamlin rounded out the top five.

The early halt to Sunday night’s race also prevented Kyle Larson from turning a single lap in his #5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet.

Earlier in the day, Larson competed in his first Indianapolis 500, but that race was delayed by four hours around due to rain. Xfinity Series regular Justin Allgaier started in Larson’s place.

Larson remained in Indy and finished 18th before departing almost immediately for Charlotte. He arrived at the track during the caution for rain and was prepared to get into his car if the red flag was lifted.

NASCAR Cup - Coca-Cola 600 race results

   
1
 - 
4
   
   
1
 - 
2
   
Cla Driver # Manufacturer Laps Time Interval Pits Points Retirement
1 United States C. Bell Joe Gibbs Racing 20 Toyota 249

3:00'43.255

  11 67  
2 United States B. Keselowski RFK Racing 6 Ford 249

+1.366

3:00'44.621

1.366 12 53  
3 United States W. Byron Hendrick Motorsports 24 Chevrolet 249

+1.923

3:00'45.178

0.557 11 61  
4 United States T. Reddick 23XI Racing 45 Toyota 249

+2.699

3:00'45.954

0.776 12 41  
5 United States D. Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing 11 Toyota 249

+3.540

3:00'46.795

0.841 10 45  
6
T. Gibbs Joe Gibbs Racing
54 Toyota 249

+4.163

3:00'47.418

0.623 10 45  
7 United States C. Elliott Hendrick Motorsports 9 Chevrolet 249

+4.574

3:00'47.829

0.411 10 38  
8 United States R. Chastain TrackHouse Racing 1 Chevrolet 249

+5.040

3:00'48.295

0.466 11 34  
9 United States A. Bowman Hendrick Motorsports 48 Chevrolet 249

+5.711

3:00'48.966

0.671 11 43  
10 J. Berry Stewart-Haas Racing 4 Ford 249

+6.476

3:00'49.731

0.765 11 33  
11 United States B. Wallace 23XI Racing 23 Toyota 249

+7.034

3:00'50.289

0.558 11 39  
12 United States M. Truex Jr. Joe Gibbs Racing 19 Toyota 249

+7.752

3:00'51.007

0.718 11 31  
13 United States J. Allgaier Hendrick Motorsports 5 Chevrolet 249

+8.249

3:00'51.504

0.497 11    
14 United States J. Logano Team Penske 22 Ford 249

+9.321

3:00'52.576

1.072 12 23  
15 United States K. Busch Richard Childress Racing 8 Chevrolet 249

+10.064

3:00'53.319

0.743 12 22  
16 United States M. McDowell Front Row Motorsports 34 Ford 249

+11.015

3:00'54.270

0.951 11 22  
17 United States T. Gilliland Front Row Motorsports 38 Ford 249

+11.465

3:00'54.720

0.450 11 20  
18 United States D. Hemric Kaulig Racing 31 Chevrolet 249

+11.997

3:00'55.252

0.532 11 19  
19 United States E. Jones Legacy Motor Club 43 Toyota 249

+12.770

3:00'56.025

0.773 12 18  
20 United States A. Cindric Team Penske 2 Ford 249

+13.448

3:00'56.703

0.678 11 17  
21
C. Hocevar Spire Motorsports
77 Chevrolet 249

+13.939

3:00'57.194

0.491 11 16  
22 United States J. Haley Rick Ware Racing 51 Ford 249

+14.407

3:00'57.662

0.468 14 15  
23 United States C. Buescher RFK Racing 17 Ford 249

+14.964

3:00'58.219

0.557 11 14  
24 Mexico D. Suarez TrackHouse Racing 99 Chevrolet 249

+15.414

3:00'58.669

0.450 12 13  
25 United States C. Briscoe Stewart-Haas Racing 14 Ford 249

+16.824

3:01'00.079

1.410 11 12  
26 United States R. Preece Stewart-Haas Racing 41 Ford 249

+17.499

3:01'00.754

0.675 12 11  
27 United States A. Dillon Richard Childress Racing 3 Chevrolet 249

+17.949

3:01'01.204

0.450 13 10  
28 New Zealand S. van Gisbergen Kaulig Racing 16 Chevrolet 249

+18.760

3:01'02.015

0.811 10    
29 United States J. Johnson Legacy Motor Club 84 Toyota 249

+19.861

3:01'03.116

1.101 12 8  
30 United States J. Nemechek Legacy Motor Club 42 Toyota 249

+20.327

3:01'03.582

0.466 11 7  
31 United States R. Stenhouse Jr. JTG Daugherty Racing 47 Chevrolet 249

+21.325

3:01'04.580

0.998 12 6  
32 United States H. Burton Wood Brothers Racing 21 Ford 249

+22.012

3:01'05.267

0.687 13 5  
33
Z. Smith Spire Motorsports
71 Chevrolet 249

+22.595

3:01'05.850

0.583 11 4  
34 United States K. Grala Rick Ware Racing 15 Ford 249

+24.192

3:01'07.447

1.597 11 3  
35 United States C. Lajoie Spire Motorsports 7 Chevrolet 249

+26.878

3:01'10.133

2.686 11 2  
36 United States T. Dillon Team AmeriVet 50 Chevrolet 247

+2 Laps

3:01'08.160

2 Laps 13    
37 United States B. McLeod Power Source 66 Ford 241

+8 Laps

3:01'09.191

6 Laps 13    
38 United States N. Gragson Stewart-Haas Racing 10 Ford 170

+79 Laps

1:52'18.585

71 Laps 7 1 Accident
39 United States R. Blaney Team Penske 12 Ford 143

+106 Laps

1:31'52.146

27 Laps 7 5 Accident
40 United States J. Yeley NY Racing Team 44 Chevrolet 114

+135 Laps

1:16'53.751

29 Laps 5   Steering
Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.