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2010 Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway

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2010 Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway

2010 Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway

Logo Courtesy of NASCAR

2010 Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway:

The 2010 Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway is the longest race on the NASCAR Sprint Cup calendar. The extra 100 miles really take their toll on man and machines as this race tends to see late race cautions for mechanical failures and human errors. Who will have the stamina to outlast the competition and win one of NASCAR's biggest spectacles?

Tickets:

Speedway ticket office (800) 455-FANS or (704) 455-3200

The Track:

Charlotte Motor Speedway is a mile and a half tri-oval with 24 degrees of banking in the turns. The track is fast and even though there is a preferred groove there is still enough room for a faster car to get by.

Charlotte Motor Speedway is the home track for NASCAR. The majority of the teams are based within 30 miles of the speedway and everybody brings their best stuff to Charlotte because everybody wants the bragging rights of winning their home race.

Race Distance:

400 Laps = 600 Miles

The Big Picture:

There were no points on the line during last week's All-Star Race.

Two weeks ago in Dover Kevin Harvick maintained his point lead but Kyle Busch moved up to second place with his Dover win. Jimmie Johnson got a late race speeding penalty and lost even more ground in the points. Johnson fell all the way to fourth in the standings.

The top twelve:

  1. Kevin Harvick
  2. Kyle Busch -69
  3. Matt Kenseth -126
  4. Jimmie Johnson -131
  5. Denny Hamlin -150
  6. Jeff Gordon -163
  7. Greg Biffle -187
  8. Jeff Burton -199
  9. Kurt Busch -237
  10. Carl Edwards -281
  11. Mark Martin -293
  12. Martin Truex Jr. -33

Storylines:

The Sunday before Memorial Day is one of the greatest days in American motorsports. The Indianapolis 500 and the Coca-Cola 600 roll off back to back. This is a full day of the best oval track racing in the world.

Charlotte Motor Speedway owner Bruton Smith had an interesting proposal for drivers. He'd like to put up a $20 million bonus for any driver who can win both races on the same day. The current start times make it nearly impossible to win both. However, a minor start time tweak could put a bonus like this in play for next year.

Media Coverage:

TV: FOX Sunday, May 30th, 5:00PM Eastern.

Radio: PRN and SIRIUS Satellite

Actual Race: 6:00PM Eastern

Recent Events:

2009 Polesitter: Ryan Newman

2009 Winner: David Reutimann

Last Year:

Weather dominated the 2009 Coca-Cola 600. It was a very long weekend for teams, drivers and fans as the rain kept interrupting the event.

First, rain pushed the start of the event from Sunday evening back to Noon on Monday. Then the race was red flagged three times for rain including the final stoppage just past halfway.

David Reutimann's team made a great call to leave him out under caution. That caution turned into the final red flag and Reutimann scored his first Sprint Cup Series win without leaded a single green flag lap.

Predictions:

Last week's Sprint All-Star Race serves as a great indicator as to who might be fast this weekend in the 600. Although neither Kyle Busch or Jimmie Johnson ended up with the million dollar paycheck last week they were the two best cars for most of the night.

Jimmie Johnson was fastest over a long run but it was Kyle Busch who was set up for the short sprints. These two drivers are my picks for this Sunday.

Johnson will dominate most of the race but if we get into a series of cautions at the end look for Kyle Busch to take a shot at the checkered flag.

2010 Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway

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