CONCORD, N.C. — The last six Coca-Cola 600 bronze piston trophies have gone home with six different drivers.
Joe Gibbs Racing’s Denny Hamlin was the most recent recipient of the Bruton Smith Trophy, as he sped straight from pole to victory lane after racing 619.5 miles around the 1.5-mile track at Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway last year.
It was the longest-running race in NASCAR history, as it was pushed into an overtime finish.
Kyle Larson (2021), Brad Keselowski (2020), Martin Truex Jr. (2019), Kyle Busch (2018) and Austin Dillon (2017) have also won the race in the last six runnings. Truex previously won the race in 2016.
Known as NASCAR’s lengthiest race — with its 400 laps equating to 600 miles — the Cup Series crown jewel will be a grueling endurance contest for the 37-car field.
Along with the last five winners, there is only one other full-time competitor who has topped the field at the Coca-Cola 600 — and that’s Kevin Harvick. The No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing driver has visited victory lane twice at the 600-mile race, prevailing in 2011 and ’13.
As this year marks Harvick’s farewell tour in the Cup Series, Sunday night will be his last opportunity to become a three-time winner of the race that will be run for the 64th time.
Leading the contingent of current part-time drivers, Jimmie Johnson has won the Coca-Cola 600 four times (2003, ’04, ’05, ’14). He will return to the cockpit of the No. 84 Chevrolet at Charlotte Motor Speedway, as it is one of the tracks included in his part-time Cup Series schedule with Legacy Motor Club — the team he co-owns with Richard Petty and Maury Gallagher.
Three-time Cup Series champion Darrell Waltrip, now retired, won five Coke 600s, more than any other driver.
While there’s no doubt that the multi-time victors will have an upper hand during Sunday’s 400-lap race, there’s also a short list of first-time Cup Series winners who have broken through at the Coca-Cola 600.Â
The most recent to do so was Dillon in 2017, but the first to achieve the feat was David Pearson in 1961. Others include Gordon (1994), Bobby Labonte (1995), Matt Kenseth (2000), Casey Mears (2007) and David Reutimann (2009).
Current full-time drivers who have yet to win a Cup Series race include Ty Dillon, Harrison Burton, Todd Gilliland and Corey LaJoie, as well as rookie drivers Noah Gragson and Ty Gibbs.