Coca Cola 600 Early Preview and Bold Predictions
By: NASCAR Wagers, NASCAR Handicapping Service
The 55th running of the Coca Cola 600 will take place this Sunday when 43 drivers embark on a 600 mile venture at Charlotte Motor Speedway. The Coca Cola 600 is one of the most prestigious races in NASCAR ranking alongside both the Brickyard and Southern 500s. However this week’s 600 mile race is vastly different than last Saturday’s Sprint All-Star Race which was also held at Charlotte. While the All-Star Race consists of several short lap sprints with a ton of pit strategy in between each segment, the 600 involves endurance and consistency throughout the night in order to reach victory lane. Still, there are plenty of parameters that we learned and confirmed through last week’s race activities at Charlotte. Take a look at our Coca Cola 600 early preview as we make a few bold predictions for this Sunday’s race at Charlotte Motor Speedway:
Bold Prediction #1: The pole lap for the Coca Cola 600 will top 200mph
In qualifying for the All-Star Race, we got a glimpse of what qualifying for the Coca Cola 600 will produce this week. Drivers like Kyle Busch, Brian Vickers, and Carl Edwards all posted laps that would have shattered the Charlotte Motor Speedway track record in their 3 lap qualifying attempts which included a 4 tire pit stop. Considering the new qualifying format, time of qualifying, and the amount of time teams will have to finely tune their qualifying setups, we fully expect to see some wicked fast lap times for Thursday night’s qualifying session. Not only do we expect that the track record will be officially shattered this Thursday, but we expect drivers to flirt with sub 27 second lap times averaging over 200mph which will officially become the fastest laps in NASCAR history at a 1.5 mile speedway. Welcome to Charlotte, aka, the home of NASCAR!
Bold Prediction #2: Kurt Busch’s finishing position in the Indy 500 will be better than his finishing position in the Coca Cola 600
This Sunday Kurt Busch will attempt to become just the 4th driver in history to race both the Indianapolis 500 and the Coca Cola 600 in the same day. While it will be Busch’s first Indy Car event, he has been surprisingly solid throughout early practice sessions in his #26 Suretone Honda. Over the weekend, Busch earned a respectable 12th place starting position for the 98th running of the Indianapolis 500. Based on Kurt’s driving ability and personality, we believe he will do surprisingly well in his Indy debut. Busch has strived in situations where he has been the underdog just as he did in the #78 car for Furniture Row Racing. Whether anyone admits it or not, his primary focus this week is proving he can contend in his Indy debut. Additionally, the elder Busch has never been particularly great at Charlotte with an average finishing position of 18.93 through his 27 career starts.
Bold Prediction #3: We will see yet another new name in victory lane for the first time in 2014.
This may or may not be a bold prediction considering how you look at it. After all, Jimmie Johnson has yet to win a race in 2014 and nobody would be surprised to see the #48 team in victory lane Sunday night. Johnson has owned the keys to victory lane at Charlotte throughout his career with 10 wins at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Johnson was literally given the keys to the city in Charlotte just over a week ago. Perhaps one of those keys opens the door to victory lane once again for the #48 team. However if Johnson does not get the job done, we feel there are a few other drivers ready to score their first win of the season. Two of the leading candidates are Kasey Kahne and Matt Kenseth. Both drivers are suited well for Sunday’s 600 mile event. Not only has the #20 team been strong on the 1.5 mile tracks, Kenseth has also had several strong cars this season on long green runs which was even evident again last Saturday in the All-Star Race. Kahne meanwhile strives on the 1.5 mile tracks and none more than Charlotte. There are only a handful of drivers that can run the high groove at Charlotte to perfection and Kahne is one of those drivers. If Kahne gets hooked up on the high side, he is capable of not only winning but dominating the Coca Cola 600.