2010 Coca-Cola 600

Race details[1][2][3]
Race 13 of 36 in the2010 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series
The 2010 Coca-Cola 600 program cover, with artwork bySam Bass. The painting is called "Let Freedom Race!"
Date	May 30, 2010 (2010-05-30)
Official name	Coca-Cola 600
Location	Charlotte Motor Speedway Concord, North Carolina
Course	Permanent racing facility
Course length	1.5 miles (2.4 km)
Distance	400 laps, 600 mi (970 km)
Weather	Partly cloudy with a high around 84°; wind out of the ESE at 3 mph; 10% chance of precipitation.
Average speed	144.966 miles per hour (233.300 km/h)
Pole position
Driver	Ryan Newman	Stewart Haas Racing
Time	28.793
Most laps led
Driver	Kurt Busch	Penske Racing
Laps	252
Winner
No. 2	Kurt Busch	Penske Racing
Television in the United States
Network	Fox
Announcers	Mike Joy,Darrell Waltrip, andLarry McReynolds

The2010 Coca-Cola 600, the 51st running of theevent, was aNASCARSprint Cup Series race held on May 30, 2010 atCharlotte Motor Speedway inConcord, North Carolina as the 13th race of the2010 Sprint Cup season^[2][4] It also was the longest race of the 2010 season, having consisted over 400 laps and 600 miles (970 km).

Kurt Busch, driving the No. 2 car forPenske Racing, won the race^[5] whileJamie McMurray forEarnhardt Ganassi Racing (whose team won theIndianapolis 500) finished second. The race had 17 different leaders, 34 lead changes, and eight cautions.^[6]

Charlotte Motor Speedway is one of tenintermediate tracks to holdNASCAR races; the others areAtlanta Motor Speedway,Kansas Speedway,Chicagoland Speedway,Darlington Raceway,Homestead-Miami Speedway,New Hampshire Motor Speedway,Kentucky Speedway,Las Vegas Motor Speedway, andTexas Motor Speedway.^[7] The standard track at Lowe's Motor Speedway is a four-turn, 1.5-mile (2.4 km)-long,quad-oval track. The track's turns arebanked at twenty-four degrees; both the front stretch (the location of the finish line) and the back stretch (opposite the front) have a five-degree banking.^[8]

The Coca-Cola 600 was conceived by race car driverCurtis Turner who built the Charlotte Motor Speedway.^[9] It was first held in 1960 in an attempt by NASCAR to stage aMemorial Day weekend race to compete with the open-wheelIndianapolis 500; the two races were held together on the same day starting from 1974.^[10] The race is the longest in terms of distance on the NASCAR calendar and is considered by several drivers to be one of the sport's most important races alongside theDaytona 500, theBrickyard 400 and theSouthern 500.^[11] The long distance makes it the most physically demanding event in NASCAR, and teams adapt to changing track conditions because the race occurs between late afternoon and evening.^[12] It was known as the World 600 until 1984 whenThe Coca-Cola Company purchased the naming rights to the race and renamed it the Coca-Cola World 600 in 1985. It has been called the Coca-Cola 600 every year since 1986 except for 2002 when the name changed to Coca-Cola Racing Family 600.^[13]

Three practice sessions and qualifying were held before the Sunday evening race; one practice and qualifying on Thursday and two on Saturday.^[14] In the first practice,Juan Pablo Montoya was quickest, ahead ofRyan Newman in second,Jimmie Johnson in third,Elliott Sadler in fourth, andKasey Kahne in fifth.^[15] In the second practice, Kasey Kahne was fastest whileKurt Busch,David Reutimann, Jimmie Johnson, andJeff Burton followed.^[16] During final practice, the quickest five wereMartin Truex Jr.,Denny Hamlin, Kasey Kahne,Greg Biffle, and Jimmie Johnson.^[17]

In qualifying, Ryan Newman won thepole position,^[1] whileKurt Busch,Martin Truex Jr., Kasey Kahne, and Jimmie Johnson completed the top-five positions. During qualifying,Brad Keselowski and David Ragan both spun, but Keselowski collided with thewall. Four drivers did not make the race; they wereReed Sorenson,Max Papis,David Stremme, andMike Bliss.^[18]

At 5:00 p.m. EDT,Fox started broadcasting;^[19] the race would be the last they would broadcast until the2011 Daytona 500.^[4] At the start of the race, the weather was predicted to be mostly cloudy. At 5:55 p.m. EDT, pre-race ceremonies began; first, Dr. James Dobson, founder ofFocus on the Family, delivered theinvocation. Afterward, the track hosted a moment of silence. Then, thenational anthem, was performed by theU.S. National Guard choir. To start engines, John Faulkenbury, President of theUSO, N.C. joined by the Dickens (USMC), Foley (U.S. Army) and Barnes (U.S. Air Force) gave the command "Gentlemen, Start Your Engines!"^[19]

At 6:20 p.m., thegreen flag waved asRyan Newman led the field down to the start/finish line. On lap 3,Jimmie Johnson said that he believed there was oil on the track. Outside polesitterKurt Busch passed Newman a short time later and pulled away from Newman with a 2.30-second advantage by lap 24. On lap 29, Busch started putting cars a lap down. Green flagpit stops began on lap 50 whenKasey Kahne made a pit stop. On lap 52, Busch gave the lead toJoey Logano when he made his pit stop. Two laps later, Busch reclaimed the lead. The first caution of the race came out on lap 61Juan Pablo Montoya spun and hit the insidewall.Denny Hamlin stayed off pit road, while most drivers made pit stops.^[19]

The race started on lap 66, with Hamlin in the lead. A lap later, Kurt Busch retook the lead from Hamlin. The second caution came out on lap 91Marcos Ambrose collided with the wall. Most leaders would pitt under this caution. The race started on lap 95 with Jimmie Johnson in the lead. A lap later, Kurt Busch passed him for the lead, but couldn't keep it. So Johnson retook the lead and remained there until lap 130, whenKyle Busch took it. Three laps later, the race passed its 200-mile mark. On lap 144, another round of green flag pit stops began. The different leaders during pit stops were Ku. Busch and Jamie McMurray, but Ky. Busch reclaimed the lead on lap 150. The third caution came out on lap 166 when Johnson got loose, collided with the outside wall, came down the track, and shoved Hamlin in the grass. Most lead lap cars made pit stops but during the yellow-flag pit stops, Ky. Busch collided withBrad Keselowski while exiting pit road.^[19]

On the restart, Kurt Bush led them to the green flag. Afterwards, he led until lap 213, when the fourth caution came out for debris. The restart happened on lap 217, withClint Bowyer the new leader. One lap later, Kurt Busch reclaimed the lead. Kurt Busch led until green flag pit stops which began on lap 264. On lap 267,David Reutimann passed Kurt Busch for the lead. Two laps later, Reutimann made a pit stop, giving the lead toMatt Kenseth. On lap 272, the fifth caution came out. The cause of the caution was that Jimmie Johnson got loose, spun around, collided with the outside wall, then he went down the track and hit the inside wall; his car sustained heavy damage. On lap 277, Matt Kenseth brought the field to the restart. One lap later, Kurt Busch, from a fast start, passed Kenseth.^[19]

Kurt Busch led the race until lap 299 when Jamie McMurray passed him. One lap later,Robby Gordon collided with the wall, and brought out a caution. During pit stops, Brad Keselowski stayed out to lead a lap, then he gave the lead to Kurt Busch when he made a pit stop. Two laps after the 306 restart, the seventh caution came out becauseGreg Biffle collided with the wall. On lap 313, Kurt Busch brought the field for the restart. After chasing down Kurt Busch, Jamie McMurray finally reclaimed the lead. On lap 350, green flag pit stops began; one lap later Jamie McMurray and Kurt Busch made pit stops, giving the lead back to David Reutimann. On lap 353, Reutimann made a pit stop and gave the lead toTony Stewart, then he made a pit stop to give the lead toDavid Ragan andDale Earnhardt Jr. Earnhardt Jr. stayed out until lap 366, when he made a pit stop. Jamie McMurray was the leader afterwards. On lap 376, the eighth caution came out because Marcos Ambrose lost control and collided with the wall. During pit stops,Jeff Gordon andMark Martin stayed out, to start first and second on the restart on lap 381. One lap later, Kurt Busch surged by the field to become the leader. Kurt Busch remained the leader to win his second race in the2010 season.^[19]

• 2010 in sports in North Carolina
• 2010 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series
• NASCAR races at Charlotte Motor Speedway

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