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The NASCAR Cup Series’ ultimate test of endurance finishes off one of the best days in motorsports.
The Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway tests a driver’s endurance over 600 miles and it forces them to compete in different elements. The race begins with the sun up in North Carolina and it concludes under the lights.
Kyle Larson won the Coca-Cola 600 on his way to the Cup Series title in 2021. He became the fifth different driver in five years to capture the checkered flag after the 600-mile race.
Only two current drivers have multiple wins on Memorial Day weekend at Charlotte. Kevin Harvick won in 2011 and 2013, while Martin Truex Jr. took first in 2016 and 2019.
Larson will try to add his name to that duo as well as the list of multiple winners that includes Jimmie Johnson, Darrell Waltrip, Jeff Gordon and Dale Earnhardt.
Larson and his Hendrick Motorsports teammates should be viewed as the favored drivers at Charlotte. The four teammates all finished inside the top five 12 months ago.
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Odds via DraftKings Sportsbook.
Kyle Busch (+550; bet $100 to win $550)
Kyle Larson (+550)
Chase Elliott (+600)
Martin Truex Jr. (+1000)
William Byron (+1200)
Ryan Blaney (+1200)
Denny Hamlin (+1200)
Tyler Reddick (+1400)
Ross Chastain (+1400)
Alex Bowman (+1400)
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Hendrick Motorsports has had a ton of success at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
Jimmie Johnson won the Coca-Cola 600 on four occasions, Jeff Gordon had three wins in the 600-mile race and Kyle Larson took first in 2021.
Hendrick has 12 overall victories at the Coca-Cola 600, which is six more than the next closest team on the leaderboard.
Larson led a dominant performance from the team in 2021. Chase Elliott took second, William Byron placed fourth and Alex Bowman landed in fifth.
The Hendrick teams are more than capable of producing yet another run of top-five performances on Sunday.
Elliott and Bowman are first and second in top 10 finishes on the Cup Series circuit this season with nine and eight, respectively.
Larson is second to Ross Chastain for the most top five placings with six and all four members of the team have victories.
A lot can go right or wrong over a 600-mile race in which conditions will change drastically because of the shift from day to night, but Hendrick’s crews have plenty of experience dealing with that, and it helps that they have the best cars on the grid.
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Kyle Busch is the top driver that could take down the Hendrick dominance from last season.
The No. 18 car driver finished third in between Elliott and Byron in 2021 as the lone non-Hendrick driver in the top five.
Busch finished third in 2019 and fourth in 2020. He also won the Coca-Cola 600 in 2018.
The Joe Gibbs Racing driver has the best set of results across the last four distance races at Charlotte and he should be considered the best non-Hendrick driver in the field.
You could even make a case that Busch is a better driver to back for the win than Larson because of how consistent he has been over 600 miles at Charlotte.
Busch will be driving with less pressure on Sunday because he already owns a win on the Cup Series circuit that locked up his playoff position.
That could allow Busch to be a bit more aggressive than usual during the final few laps if he needs to make a pass for the lead.
Busch is a co-favorite with Larson for a very good reason and he could join the likes of Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon as multi-time winners of the Coca-Cola 600 as well if he keeps up his current run of form at the track.
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