Chastain streaks to the front for the Coca-Cola 600 win

By David Rogers. CONCORD, N.C. — Charlotte native William Byron dominated most of the first three stages of the Coca-Cola 600 on May 25 — and picked up the lion’s share of the available season championship points for the night by winning the first three stages and leading 283 laps — but the longest NASCAR’s Cup Series race and its excitement had only just begun.

With veteran Denny Hamlin and relative newcomer Carson Hocevar battling Byron for the lead toward the end of the third stage, a lot folks might have thought the fourth and final stage winner would come down to one of those three. Circumstances can change quickly, though, and it was Trackhouse Racing’s Ross Chastain overcoming adversity to capture the coveted Coca-Cola 600 crown for 2025.

“Honor and Remember” was a major theme of the race, acknowledging and expressing gratitude for the ultimate sacrifice of military veterans who have lost their lives while serving in the Army, Marines, Navy, Air Force, Coast Guard or National Guard, their service making possible the freedoms we all enjoy.

There were storylines aplenty for this edition of the 600 mile marathon of a race, including:

• Chastain won the race despite having to start from the No. 40 position when he crashed in practice a day earlier and had to use a backup car that his Trackhouse Racing team was still assembling at 5:30 a.m. Sunday morning, he disclosed to reporters after the race.
• Pole-sitter Chase Briscoe started at the front, but quickly faded to the mid-pack and in Stage 3 was involved in a multi-car crash, but survived and rallied to finish No. 3, behind Byron, in the 40-car field.
• After crashing in the Indianapolis 500 earlier in the afternoon, Kyle Larson started on the front row of the Coca-Cola 600 and led 34 of the early laps. But he spun out on lap No. 43, then his day went from bad to worse when he was involved with the same Stage 3 crash with Briscoe, on lap 246. Larson’s early spin allowed Byron to take the lead and dominate the first three stages — and the 2025 Cup Series leader, Larson, could never recover.
• Hamlin and Byron exchanged the lead five times in Stage 3 and Stage 4.

Final Results

1. Ross Chastain
2. William Byron
3. Chase Briscoe
4. A J Allmendinger
5. Brad Keselowski
6. Chase Elliott
7. Michael McDowell
8. Christopher Bell
9. Ryan Preece
10. Noah Gragson
11. Ricky Stenhouse, Jr.
12. Josh Berry
13. Eric Jones
14. Shane Van Gisbergen
15. Kyle Busch
16. Denny Hamlin
17. Joey Logano
18. Todd Gilliland
19. Ty Dillon
20. Austin Dillon
21. Cole Custer
22. Christ Buescher
23. Connor Zilisch
24. Ty Gibbs
25. Cody Ware
26. Tyler Reddick
27. John Hunter Nemechek
28. Riley Herbst
29. Alex Bowman
30. Justin Haley
31. Austin Cindric
32. Derek Kraus
33. Josh Bilicki
34. Carson Hocevar
35. Bubba Wallace, Jr.
36. Daniel Suarez
37. Kyle Larson
38. Ryan Blaney
39. Zane Smith
40. Jimmie Johnson