The NASCAR Cup Series will have a home game this weekend when they race at Charlotte Motor Speedway. This is not only one of the crown jewel races on the schedule, the 600-mile; marathon race could be considered the most important race during the regular season. The Coca-Cola 600 is the only race with four Stages instead of three. That means there are more points up for grabs for the NASCAR teams and our Fantasy NASCAR lineups. Get a comfy place on the couch because it is going to be a long evening and night in the Queen City. The Coca-Cola 600 can be seen Sunday at 6 p.m. ET on Prime Video.
PRACTICE SPEEDS FOR CHARLOTTE
NASCAR had their normal schedule this weekend at Charlotte Motor Speedway. The teams were separated into two groups and they had 25-minutes to shake down their cars for the Coca-Cole 600. Most of the teams were able to make some long runs in practice.
So, how do the practice speeds at Charlotte translate into race speed for the Coca-Cola 600? The race last year was shortened because of rain, so the results were skewed. The practice for the Coca-Cola 600 was rained out in 2023, so we need to go back to 2022 to compare practice speeds with race speeds. Ross Chastain posted the third-fastest speed in practice and then he went out and led 153 laps in the race. Denny Hamlin posted the seventh-fastest speed in practice and he won the race. Kyle Busch posted the sixth-fastest speed in practice and he finished second. It looks like the practice speed did translate into race speed for the Coca-Cola 600.
Here are the speeds from Saturday’s practice session at Charlotte Motor Speedway…
STRATEGY FOR CHARLOTTE
The Coca-Cola 600 is not only the most important race on the Fantasy NASCAR schedule; it is one of the more tricky races to set a lineup for. There will be four Stages in the race Sunday. That means there are more fantasy points available in the Coca-Cola 600 than there are in any race on the schedule. The teams typically make 13-15 pit stops in the Coca-Cola 600. The additional trips to pit road means there are more opportunity for mistakes and penalties. We need to use our top drivers since there are so many points available Sunday and just hope our drivers do not speed on pit road and their pit crews avoids mistakes.
Here are the picks for the Coca-Cola 600…
KYLE LARSON (4): Can Larson race 500 mile in Indianapolis and then make the trip to Charlotte and win the Coca-Cola 600? It would not surprise me. The No. 5 car has speed as it always does. Larson will have an excellent chance to win the race Sunday night if his team can avoid problems in the pits. I at least need to have Larson in my lineup for this race.
WILLIAM BYRON (4): This is a home race for Byron. The Charlotte native said after the All-Star Race, “We have had the race at Charlotte circled for a long time. I think we can go out and win the 600 next week.” Byron is always at his best on the intermediate tracks in the spring. He finished 2nd in the Coca-Cola 600 in 2023 and 3rd last year. Byron is my pick to win Sunday night.
ALEX BOWMAN (6): Bowman has been really good on the 1.5-mile tracks in his career and Hendrick Motorsports is really good at the track in their backyard (Charlotte Motor Speedway). Bowman finished 7th at Las Vegas, 2nd at Homestead and 5th at Kansas. He also has a 10th-place average finishing position in the Gen-7 car at Charlotte Motor Speedway. The No. 48 car has the speed to finish in the top-10, with the upside to finish in the top-five Sunday.
CHASE BRISCOE (10): Briscoe hasn’t really caught fire yet with his new team, but they are starting to run better. Briscoe finished 4th on the 1.5-mile track at Homestead-Miami Speedway and Briscoe finished 4th again two weeks ago at Kansas Speedway. Briscoe car won the pole for the race Sunday. Track position is everything with the Gen-7 car and Briscoe has it to start the Coca-Cola 600. I will take a chance with Briscoe at Charlotte.
CHRIS BUESCHER (8): This pick is more of a gut feeling than anything else. I know the favorites have been winning the Coca-Cola 600 in the Gen-7 car, but we also seen a lot of those mid-tier drivers win this race too. Buescher finished 6th at Homestead and 8th at Kansas. He also finished 8th in two of his last four races on the intermediate track at Charlotte. I am not sure Buescher will win, but he should have a good chance to finish in the top-10 Sunday.
* I really wanted to use TYLER REDDICK but he hit the wall in qualifying. I have a feeling the team will repair the car and Reddick will start in the back. Also, I only have three allocations with Reddick. If you have four or more allocations left with Reddick and he keeps his starting position, use him over Chris Buescher.
(GARAGE PICK) CHRISTOPHER BELL (5): Bell started off the season on fire by winning three of the first four races. He cooled down in the spring, but Bell is starting to heat up again. The No. 20 car finished 9th at Texas, 2nd at Kansas and Bell just won the All-Star Race. He also won the Coca-Cola 600 last year. Bell will have a good chance to go back to Victory Lane Sunday.
Good luck and be sure to follow me on X (Twitter) @MrFantasyNASCAR. I will send out a Tweet during the race to let you know if I plan to swap out one of my drivers for my Garage pick.