Race: Coca-Cola 600
Date: Sunday May 25th, 2025
Track: Charlotte Motor Speedway
Time: 6pm ET
Channel: Prime
What Did We Learn From Last Weekend?
Christopher Bell came away as your winner in the NASCAR All-Star Race, winning over Joey Logano by 0.829 seconds. The field was ultimately 23 total drivers, with Carson Hocevar racing his way into the All-Star after winning the Open. For Bell, this was an epic win and the first All-Star win of his career. He battled Joey Logano in the last 28 laps, passing him on lap 241 out of 250 to finally grab the lead and run away with the victory. For Logano, it was a hard loss after leading 139 total laps. He knew he had the fastest car, but it came down to those tires during the promoter’s caution. Bell chose to grab two tires and managed to get to Logano quickly. It took him a while to pass, but once Bell got ahead, there was nothing Logano could do.
It was definitely something Logano was noticeably upset about. The promoter’s caution was new to the format this year, but Logano can’t say it wasn’t fair. Everyone had an equal shot at making a pit stop, and he just chose not to. For Bell, it proved successful, ultimately leading to the victory. Logano is convinced that had the caution not existed, he would’ve maintained his lead to take the win. Unfortunately, that’s not how the cards fell. Logano struggled to get back to peak performance on the short runs, allowing Bell to quickly close the gap. This is, when all is said and done, what NASCAR is trying to do. There’s not much left in autonomy for tweaking the cars, so at least they have the option of a different strategy.
Where Are We Headed This Weekend?
This weekend’s big race is the prelude to summer, as the drivers and teams head to Charlotte for the esteemed Coca-Cola 600. Charlotte is a tried and true intermediate track, boasting a 1.5-mile asphalt quad-oval. There are 24 degrees of banking in the turns and 5 degrees through the straights. Track position is absolutely king here. Logano will need to remember that fresh tires equal track position, especially when your car isn’t the best on the short runs.
Odds and Value Picks
In the last 3 races at this track, Tyler Reddick has proven to be the top dog. He’s got an average finish of 5th, despite no wins. Consistency is the name of the game for him. This is also one of Kyle Busch’s better tracks in recent history, so it will be interesting to see if he can make any strides here. Historically, Reddick sits atop the leaderboard in all career starts with an average of 7.7 over 6 total races followed by Josh Berry and Denny Hamlin. Our veteran drivers tend to be the ones at the front of the pack, but we’re seeing some guys like Berry creep into the picture. Here’s a look at your potential winners heading into Sunday’s race:
Winner: Christopher Bell (+800)
Bell has an average 10th place finish in his last 3 races with a win to boot. He’s led a total of 138 laps in those 3 races. Coming off a win at the All-Star is only going to boost the momentum for Bell and his entire team heading into Charlotte. Look for them to be the ones to beat.
Mid-Range Pick: Kyle Busch (+2500)
Okay, yes. I put Kyle Busch in the B list because he has been terrible for a while now. He’s just not where he needs to be in consistency whatsoever. BUT this might be a place for him to turn it all around. He has an average finish of 7.7 in his last 3 starts and is 6th for all time average finishes for career starts at 13.8 with a win. Busch might be able to turn something around this weekend.
Dark Horse: Josh Berry (+2500)
Berry has only one race under his belt for the Coke 600, but he came home with a very respectable 10th place run. On similar tracks, or at least other intermediates, he’s run well this year. He earned a victory at Las Vegas, and that should definitely tell us that he will have some success here at Charlotte as well.
Top 16 After Last Week’s Race:
- Kyle Larson
- William Byron
- Christopher Bell
- Chase Elliott
- Ryan Blaney
- Tyler Reddick
- Denny Hamlin
- Alex Bowman
- Joey Logano
- Bubba Wallace
- Ross Chastain
- Chase Briscoe
- Austin Cindric
- Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
- Ryan Preece
- Josh Berry
Stay tuned for a great weekend of racing as the Coca-Cola 600 gets underway!
