ROSS CHASTAIN WINS THE 2025 COCA-COLA 600 AT CHARLOTTE MOTOR SPEEDWAY – TEAM CHEVY PHOTO
· Ross Chastain earned his first win of the 2025 season on one of
the sport’s biggest stages – the 66th running of the Coca-Cola 600.
The victory – Chastain’s sixth all-time in 236 NASCAR Cup Series
starts– marked his first crown jewel triumph in the division.
· The victory marks Chevrolet’s 47th all-time NASCAR Cup Series
win at Charlotte Motor Speedway, with now 26 of those wins coming in the
Coca-Cola 600 – both of which are series-leading records. Chastain
keeps Chevrolet undefeated in crown jewel wins in 2025, with William
Byron and the No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet team opening the
season with back-to-back Daytona 500 victories.
· Chastain delivered Chevrolet its fifth NASCAR Cup Series win of
the 2025 season, with the 32-year-old Alva, Florida, native becoming the
third different driver from the Bowtie brigade to win his way into a
spot in the series’ 16-driver playoff field.
· The hometown hero, William Byron, came just short of his first
Coca-Cola 600 victory – ultimately taking the checkered flag in the
runner-up position. The 27-year-old Charlotte, North Carolina, native
was a force all night long – driving his No. 24 Axalta Chevrolet to
three stage wins and a race-high 283 laps led. Byron enters the
second-half of the series’ regular-season back at the top of the
points standings, with the No. 24 Chevrolet team heading to Nashville
Superspeedway with a 29-point advantage over his Hendrick Motorsports
teammate, Kyle Larson.
Post-Race Driver Quotes:
Ross Chastain, No. 1 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet
Finished: 1st
Is this a ‘pinch me moment’ when you think about what happened on
Saturday with the car? You started 40th and you ended up in first…
“They built a whole new car. They were there when I left the broadcast
yesterday, and I drove straight to the shop and sat in this car. It was
just a chassis and a body, no wrap. Three-quarters of the suspension was
on it. They were on the Hawkeye, and they were just trying to piece it
together because the other one was destroyed. So, it took us the entire
race — 590-something miles, to get to the lead.
Holy cow, we just won the Coca-Cola 600. For our No. 1 Jockey Chevy
team, for Busch Light, Acceptance Insurance, Wendy’s, the Moose;
it’s so cool to do it on Memorial Day. This race is so big. The
Coca-Cola 600. To think about what this weekend means, I drive for a
veteran owner in the Truck Series, Al Niece, and he tells me stories. He
tells me some, but he doesn’t tell me all. We were in Texas sitting
around the campfire and he talks about how proud he is of this country
and how he served. I know how proud so many of our service men and woman
are, and the ones that didn’t get to come home and paid the ultimate
sacrifice, we raced for them this weekend and it’s because of them
that we get to race. We get to race the Coca-Cola 600 and we just won
it!”
William Byron, No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
Finished: 2nd
Right at the end, though, with eight laps to go, what was going through
your mind as you tried to form an attack and go after that No. 1 car
there?
“Well, I was just defending. He (Ross Chastain) was catching me, and I
was trying to just defend. I was getting a little bit tight. Then the
scenario there with the cars we were around, it was tough. So, yeah, he
got a run on me and was able to get to the bottom and clear me off of
turn two.
Disappointing just to lead that many laps, but such a great effort by
the No. 24 Axalta Chevrolet team. I guess I just could have anticipated
that last run a little better. I ran in dirty air for a long time and
heated my tires up. Then we lost a chunk of time, and the No. 45 (Tyler
Reddick) about crashed in front of us. We’ll just keep going and keep
trying to put races together like that.”
AJ Allmendinger, No. 16 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet
Finished: 4th
How much did you really have to fight for it because you almost made it
look easy.
“The No. 16 LeafFilter Gutter Protection Chevrolet was good all night.
We ran inside the top five, top six through most of the race. We needed
a little bit more to get to the next level, but I’m super proud of
everyone at Kaulig Racing. We had a tough three weeks there, but it’s
great to come back and show up with a lot of speed. I told Sgt. Nicole
Gee that’s on the side of our race car, I told her family I was going
to do everything I could to try to get them in victory lane. It was
close! It meant a lot to be able to meet her family. We know what this
day is truly about, so I’m proud I could give her a great ride. Almost
got all of us to victory lane.”
Chase Elliott, No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
Finished: 6th
“We had a really good No. 9 NAPA Chevrolet. Pit road was amazing. We
gained spots on pit road all day, but I would give them right back on
the next restart. I just needed to be better.”
Are you confident going into Nashville Superspeedway next weekend?
“I am. We were making really good pace right there in the end. I just
gave up too much on the restarts.”
Ty Dillon, No. 10 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet
Michael McDowell, No. 71 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet
Finished: 7th
“It was a great night for the No. 71 Veterans 1001 Chevrolet team. I
was bummed out about my mistake there early on with missing the pit box.
We had a lot of speed in our Chevrolet, so really thankful for everyone
at Spire Motorsports. I hate it for Carson Hocevar. He was up there
racing for the win. Not sure what happened there, but it was unfortunate
for them. I was thankful to get back up to the front after a long night.
It was just a big mistake on my part.
I’m thankful… thankful to get a top 10 and miss some of the wrecks
there. I’m really proud of the speed we had. We’ll try to build some
momentum here and head to Nashville Superspeedway.”
UP NEXT: THE 2025 NASCAR CUP SERIES SEASON CONTINUES AT NASHVILLE
SUPERSPEEDWAY WITH THE CRACKER BARREL 400 ON SUNDAY, JUNE 1, AT 7 P.M.
ET. LIVE COVERAGE OF BOTH EVENTS CAN BE FOUND ON AMAZON PRIME VIDEO, PRN
AND SIRIUSXM NASCAR RADIO CHANNEL 90.