MONSTER ENERGY NASCAR CUP SERIES
Coca-Cola 600
Charlotte Motor Speedway – Concord, North Carolina
Sunday, May 28, 2017
Race Winner: Austin Dillon
Age: 27
Team: No. 3 – DOW Salutes Veterans Chevrolet
Owner: Richard Childress Racing
Crew Chief: Justin Alexander
IN THE WORDS OF THE WINNER – “It feels awesome to all the supporters that have been behind us, the 3 car. It feels amazing. To those that don't, I feel sorry for them because I hope it just keeps going. I hope this feels good to them, though. It's pretty cool to see the 3, like my grandfather (owner Richard Childress) said, on top of the pylon tonight.”
-- Austin Dillon
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· Austin Dillon won the 58th annual Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Coca-Cola 600 Sunday night at Charlotte Motor Speedway. It is Dillon’s first win in 133 career MENCS races. In the process, he became the eighth driver to punch his ticket into the 2017 MENCS playoffs, which commences in Chicago on September 17 and culminates with the Ford EcoBoost 400 Championship race at Homestead-Miami Speedway on November 19.
· It is Dillon’s second top-10 finish of 2017 and his second top-10 in seven career MENCS races at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
· Dillon is the ninth different winner in 12 MENCS races this year.
· A total of 10 drivers have posted their first career MENCS win at Charlotte: David Pearson (5/28/1961), Buddy Baker (10/15/1967), Charlie Glotzbach (10/20/1968), Jeff Gordon (5/29/1994), Bobby Labonte (5/28/1995), Matt Kenseth(5/28/2000), Jamie McMurray (10/13/2002), Casey Mears (5/27/2007), David Reutimann (5/25/2009) and Austin Dillon (05/28/2017).
· Kyle Busch (second) posted his sixth top-10 finish in 12 races this year, five of which have been in the top-5.
· Martin Truex Jr. (third) compiled his eighth top-10 finish in 12 races this year, four of which have been in the top-5.
· Erik Jones (7th) was the highest finishing rookie Sunday.
· For 2017, NASCAR has introduced a new stage format in all three national series where each race is segmented into three stages. In addition to the points awarded at the end of a race (Final Stage), points are also awarded to the top-10 finishers of the first two stages (Stage 1 & Stage 2).
· The Coca-Cola 600 was expanded to a four-stage race. Kyle Busch won Stage 1 of Sunday’s race, while Martin Truex Jr. captured Stage 2 and Denny Hamlin took Stage 3.
· Martin Truex Jr. (491) leads the 2017 point standings by five points over Kyle Larson (486). They are followed by Brad Keselowski (409).
· Eight drivers currently have qualified for the 16-driver field of the 2017 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs. The list consists of Kurt Busch, Brad Keselowski, Martin Truex Jr., Ryan Newman, Kyle Larson, Jimmie Johnson, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Austin Dillon, each of whom has won at least one race this season. The Playoffs culminate with the Ford EcoBoost 400 championship finale on November 19 at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
· Austin Dillon has started three times in the Ford EcoBoost 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway and has a best finish of 12th in 2016.
NASCAR XFINITY SERIES
· Ryan Blaney won the 36th annual Hisense 4K TV 300 NASCAR XFINITY Series race at Charlotte Motor Speedway on Saturday night. It is Blaney’s fifth victory in 56 career XFINITY Series races. He also captured Stage 2 of the race.
· It is his first win and third top-10 finish in five XFINITY Series races at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
· Ryan Blaney (05/27/2017) and his father, Dave Blaney (10/13/2006), become the first father-son combination to win a NASCAR XFINITY Series race at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
· A total of six father and son duos have won in the NASCAR XFINITY Series overall – Dave Blaney and Ryan Blaney, Dale Earnhardt and Dale Earnhardt Jr., Bill Elliott and Chase Elliott, Bobby Hamilton and Bobby Hamilton Jr., Terry Labonte and Justin Labonte, David Pearson and Larry Pearson.
· Kevin Harvick (second) accounted for his 18th top-10 showing in 28 career XFINITY races at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Harvick also won Stage 1 of the race.
· Austin Dillon (third) posted his sixth top-10 finish in nine career XFINITY Series races at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
· Cole Custer (seventh) was the highest finishing rookie.
· With one win apiece this year, Justin Allgaier and Ryan Reed have clinched spots in the 12-driver playoff field in the 2017 NASCAR XFINITY Series Playoffs. The Playoffs culminate with the Ford EcoBoost 300 XFINITY Series championship race at Homestead-Miami Speedway on Saturday, November 18.
· Elliott Sadler (332) leads the XFINITY Series points standings by six points over Justin Allgaier (326). They are followed by rookies William Byron (275) and Daniel Hemric (253), while Darrell Wallace Jr. (249) rounds out the top-5.
NASCAR CAMPING WORLD TRUCK SERIES
· The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series was off this weekend. They will resume action on Friday, June 2 with the Bar Harbor 200 Presented by Sea Watch International at Dover International Speedway.
