Charlotte Motor Speedway and the 2026 Coca-Cola 600              

From a NASCAR Fan’s View

Even as the Cup teams take to the Charlotte Motor Speedway Sunday evening, there will be a dark cloud hanging over this race. On Saturday, it seemed that even the heavens were weeping with all of NASCAR. With the sudden death of Kyle Bush settling in over the fans and competitors, there is a sorrow and a heaviness for his family, team, and fans; both supporters and detractors are feeling the loss. That’s just the way NASCAR is. Even in times like these, it is one big family that feels the pain of loss, particularly the loss of one of its well-known stars. It may be true that not everyone loved or disliked Kyle, but all of them respected his ability and prowess at driving race cars. Honestly, from this fan’s view, what more can be said that hasn’t been said by so many since his passing? He will be greatly missed.

Though there will be sadness when this Coca-Cola 600 starts, the race that is the longest race by one hundred miles will go on. As many have already expressed, Kyle would want it that way. I believe that, even through that sadness, as the race progresses, some of it will fade, even if only for a little while.

This Memorial Day race celebrates and remembers those who gave the ultimate sacrifice for our country. NASCAR always remembers.

Since qualifying was canceled due to inclement weather and practice was combined and shortened, the lineup will be based on the metric from the last regular race. From my view, that makes the lineup for this race a little different from what might have been expected if qualifying had taken place. Some that may have qualified nearer to the front are in the back and vice versa.

So, according to the metric, Tyler Reddick starts on the pole once again, and his teammate, Ty Gibbs, will start on the front row with him. Whether or not that will be a plus for the Toyotas once again remains to be seen. It is possible they could both drop like rocks when the race starts, but I don’t think that will happen. I suppose it is possible they could drop back, but considering how the Toyotas have been running this season, dropping back may be a temporary thing.

The rest of the top ten is filled with a mixture of Chevys, Fords, and Toyotas. Some have shown strength, and some have not. We could also see several of those starters drop like rocks, and they may or may not recover. With such a mixed bag of starters for the opening of this race. We may not know exactly how things are going to play out until the first one hundred laps or so are in the books.

Last year’s winner, Ross Chastain, starts twenty-seventh, which means a lot of work ahead for him. William Byron starts thirty-first, not exactly what he might have accomplished had there been qualifying. The fastest in the combined practice session was Ricky Stenhouse Jr. He starts thirty-second, and even though he has shown good speed, he might have a difficult time working his way to the front, too.

Denny Hamlin will start eleventh, and following him are some very good cars that could pull off the win tonight. In fact, the way things will line up according to the metric, there are a number fast cars interspersed throughout the entire rest of the field.

Anyway we look at it, this is a long race. If things go as usual, at least from this fan’s view, not a lot will be known about the possible winner until the last one hundred or so laps. Does that mean there won’t be much going on until that point in the race? No, not at all. What it means from my view is that things will likely just be more aggressive and intense when the last one hundred laps are reached. After that point, things will just become more so as the laps wind down to the final checkered flag.