2025 Coca-Cola 600 results: Ross Chastain goes from worst to first, wins with late pass on William Byron

By: CBS Sports Posted On: May 26, 2025 View: 25

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CONCORD, N.C. -- After starting NASCAR's longest race from shotgun on the field, Ross Chastain ended his 600-mile journey in Victory Lane when he passed William Byron with six laps to go to win the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Chastain's win is the first of 2025, the sixth of his career, and his first in one of NASCAR's crown jewel races.

After cutting a left rear tire and crashing in practice on Saturday, Chastain was forced to miss qualifying and had to start Sunday's race from 40th starting spot. Using the length of the race to his advantage and working his way through the field, Chastain was able to find the front by the final run, passing Denny Hamlin for second before closing in on Byron, who had the dominant car and led 283 laps throughout the evening. Hamlin then dropped out of the race for the win, as he was forced to come to pit road low on fuel with 12 laps to go.

Then, Hamlin would create Chastain's chance: As Byron came up to lap Hamlin, Chastain was able to mount a run and cut to the inside entering Turn 1, sliding up in front of Byron and pinching his run to the outside off to complete the pass.

NASCAR 2025 race schedule, results: Complete list of Cup Series race dates, winners, tracks, locations

Steven Taranto

In winning the Coca-Cola 600 from 40th starting spot, Chastain also became the first driver to win a Cup race from an official starting spot of last since Hall of Famer Bobby Allison did so at Richmond in 1969. By extension, Chastain also becomes the first driver in NASCAR's modern era (1972-present) to win from the final starting spot.

"When I left the shop last night, I went over, sat in this car for the first time -- It was about 10 o'clock when I left. They worked until 2:30, they were back at 5:30 this morning. Most of them drive 30, 45 minutes home, a little shower I think, I don't even know if they slept to get this thing ready. And that's the dedication it takes from Trackhouse," Chastain told Prime Video. "There were people there that had their Saturdays off yesterday, and they came in ... To drive on that final run in the World 600 and pass two cars that had been way better all night -- (crew chief) Phil Surgen wanted me to pit two laps earlier, I went two laps longer just out of a little bit of confusion. And man, that paid off at the end.

"These Goodyear Eagles held on longer because they were a little bit fresher. And holy cow, we just won the World 600!"

Byron was forced to settle for second, followed by Chase Briscoe and two drivers A.J. Allmendinger, and Brad Keselowski, who earned their first top-five finishes of the season. Chase Elliott, Michael McDowell, Christopher Bell, Ryan Preece and Noah Gragson rounded out the top 10.

Kyle Larson's Indy-Charlotte Double ends with crashes in both Indianapolis 500, Coca-Cola 600

Steven Taranto

After racing in the Indianapolis 500 earlier in the day, Kyle Larson was able to make it to Charlotte for the Coke 600, making him the fifth driver in history to race in both the Indy 500 and Coke 600 on the same day. Larson led 34 laps early, but that would prove to be the high point of a day that ended on two different lows.

After Larson after he hit the wall and spun coming off Turn 4 midway through the first stage, he and his Hendrick Motorsports team had to address a knocked-out toe link, prompting them to make multiple trips down pit road to make repairs and fully evaluate the suspension. Just as Larson appeared to be getting back in the race past the halfway point, he would be collected in a multi-car crash on the frontstretch on Lap 245, ending his night and ending his Indy-Charlotte Double well short of the goal of racing all 1,100 possible miles. Larson also crashed out at Indianapolis, having been eliminated from the Indy 500 in a multi-car crash on Lap 92.

Chastain is the eighth different driver to win a Cup race this season, meaning that half of the available spots on NASCAR's playoff grid have now been filled at the halfway point of the regular season. The second half of the regular season will begin next week at Nashville Superspeedway, where Chastain is a past winner.