CONCORD, N.C. — With NASCAR’s 75th season in full swing, drivers and fans will soon turn their attention to Memorial Day Weekend and the historic 64th running of the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
Chase Briscoe, Ty Gibbs and Kyle Larson visited the 1.5-mile oval on Tuesday for a Goodyear Tire test.
“It’s super important in today’s landscape of NASCAR with no testing and not very much practice,” Briscoe said. “Anytime you can get in a car and have data on your car, it’s a huge benefit. For us, it’s been a little bit of a struggle to start the season. We’ve been kind of scratching our head on a couple of things, so it’s nice to come out here today and kind of go through some things and get back to where we were… This place is one of the hardest places to tire test because it’s always changing.
“In May, the temperatures are going to be way different – the track is going to age even more by then – but getting laps is always a big deal… We were really good at the 600 last year. It was one I feel like we kind of let slip away. I feel like this was one of our stronger races last year, so it would be kind of nice to have that again… We definitely want to get a Coca-Cola 600. It’s one of the crown jewels, so you want to win that race. I know last year, that’s the one race that still kind of eats me up. Hopefully we can get some redemption this year.”
Aboard the No. 54 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota, Ty Gibbs will embark on his first Coke 600 this May.
“We had a solid test today. It’s a Goodyear Tire test, so making sure we’re running the right tires, making sure the race is going to be good and entertaining. I feel like we’re making some good gains today – I did. We learned a lot. Especially with me not having that much experience in the Cup car, it’s nice to get some free laps like this… It’s better than going in the simulator all day… It’s a really cool race, really special. Hopefully I’ll be able to win it.”
Larson, the 2021 Coke 600 winner, took to the track on Tuesday aboard the No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet.
In 2024, Larson is set to take on the historic ‘Double,’ running the Indianapolis 500 and the Coke 600 in the same day.
“I’m not exactly sure what was different. We had some right side changes and some left side. I think tomorrow, maybe a combination of both,” Larson said. “I couldn’t tell much difference with any of them – maybe one of them I could see that the ride sides were a little bit softer, but after a couple of laps it all felt the same to me. It’s one of the top three races. I’ve been fortunate enough to win it once, and was really close last year.
“It was a great race with Briscoe and I, and then the late restart there got crazy as they always do. I would love to win it again — super prestigious race.”