NASCAR at Charlotte results: Brad Keselowski wins crazy Coca-Cola 600

Austin Anderson

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NASCAR at Charlotte results: Brad Keselowski wins crazy Coca-Cola 600 image

After six hours on Sunday that included a rain delay and overtime, Brad Keselowski won the Coca-Cola 600 for the first time in his career. It was the longest race, by miles, in NASCAR history.

The race seemed all but over with two laps to go. Chase Elliott held a three-second lead on Keselowski, minutes away from tasting sweet revenge in the form of success. Then Elliot’s teammate, William Byron, spun out to send the race into a caution and overtime.

Elliott took a pit stop, got four new tires, and fell to 11th. The Coca-Cola 600 turned into a two-driver race between Jimmie Johnson and Keselowski in a two-lap overtime.

Elliott finished third in his second straight disappointing finish. It's hard to be any closer than Elliott was to back-to-back victories without actually winning one. On Wednesday, he was in second-place at Darlington with just a few laps to go. He had fresher tires, and seemed like a good bet to win, until Kyle Busch misjudged a gap and changed a possible victory into a 38th place finish. 

Keselowski said on the post-race interview on Fox that he's been where Elliott was and lost in a similar fashion. Not this time. After he crossed the finish line in first, Keselowski grabbed an American flag — a perfect match with his red, white and blue Ford — and burned out in the first few minutes of Memorial Day.

Sporting News tracked the live race updates and lap-by-lap highlights from the Coca-Cola 600. Follow along below for complete results from Charlotte.

MORE: Watch the Coca-Cola 600 live with fuboTV (7-day free trial)

NASCAR at Charlotte live updates, highlights from Coca-Cola 600

Pos. Driver
1 Brad Keselowski
2 Jimmie Johnson
3 Chase Elliott
4 Ryan Blaney
5 Kyle Busch
6 Kevin Harvick
7 Martin Truex Jr.
8 Kurt Busch
9 Tyler Reddick
10 Christopher Bell
11 Chris Buescher
12 Erik Jones
13 Cole Custer
14 Joey Logano
15 Austin Dillon
16  Aric Almirola
17 John Hunter Nemechek
18 Matt DiBenedetto
19 Michael McDowell
20 Alex Bowman
21  William Byron
22 Ross Chastain
23 Ryan Preece
24 Corey LaJoie
25 Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
26 Ty Dillon
27 Matt Kenseth
28 Ryan Newman
29 Daniel Suarez
30 Denny Hamlin
31 Brennan Poole
32 Gray Gaulding
33 B.J. McLeod
34 Garrett Smithley
35 Timmy Hill
36 Quin Houff
37 Joey Gase
38 J.J. Yeley
39 Bubba Wallace
40 Clint Bowyer

12:12 a.m. —  Brad Keselowski wins the Coca-Cola 600 in overtime. 

12:05 a.m. —  Chase Elliott, who was leading Keselowski by over three seconds with two laps to go, is getting four new tires on pit road before overtime. Keselowski to the lead. 

12:04 a.m. —  Caution! William Byron spins out. After 600 miles and a rain delay, we are heading to overtime. 

12:01 a.m. —  Five laps to go, Chase Elliott in control.

11:47 p.m. —  Chase Elliott takes the lead with 35 to go, looking for redemption after the way things unfolded on Wednesday night in Darlington.

11:44 p.m. —  40 laps to go. Keselowski in first, followed by Elliott, Johnson, Truex Jr and Bowman.

11:41 p.m. —  Back to green, Jimmie Johnson grabs the lead out of the gate, but Keselowski quickly takes it. 

11:34 p.m. —  Caution with 52 laps to go. No. 51 car spins out. 

11:24 p.m. —  70 to go: 1. Truex Jr. 2. Johnson 3. Bowman 4. Keselowski 5. Byron

11:14 p.m. —  Things got dicey.

11:02 p.m. —  Joey Logano wins Stage 3. 

10:57 p.m. —  Five laps left in Stage 3. Logano, Bowman, Blaney, Johnson and Truex Jr. in the top-five. Bowman barely snuck past a car to avoid a crash. 

10:49 p.m. —  Logano, Harvick and Elliott are the only ones who stayed out with 20 to go in Stage 3. Truex Jr. is the first car off pit road. 

10:45 p.m. —  Caution for Matt Kenseth

10:25 p.m. —  Ryan Newman had to head in for a battery change. It puts him in 29th and four laps down.

10:15 p.m. —  Martin Truex Jr. takes the lead. He shoots past Bowman halfway through Stage 3. 

9:56 p.m. —  Halfway through the 600-mile race. Cars are exiting to pit road off of turn four, about to observe a moment of silence for Memorial Day. 

9:54 p.m. —  Bowman takes Stage 2. Truex Jr. in second, Kyle Busch in third, William Byron in fourth and Chase Elliott in fifth. 

9:36 p.m. —  Alex Bowman back in the lead after the cycle of pit stops. 

9:33 p.m. —  Jimmie Johnson is the new leader. Bowman heads to pit road. 

9:18 p.m. —  Bubba Wallace to the garage. He lost his brakes.

9:08 p.m. —  Clint Bowyer, who crashed earlier, is going to go somewhere he can take his face mask off and drink a cold beer, he said on the Fox broadcast. 

9:04 p.m. —  Back under green as Stage 2 kicks off. 

8:53 p.m. —  Stage 1 will end under caution. Alex Bowman gets the win. Truex Jr., Elliott, Reddick, Lagano, Kyle Busch, Austin Dillon, Johnson, Byron and Kurt Busch round out the top-10. 

8:51 p.m. —  Caution out for Clint Bowyer with three laps before Stage 1. Bowyer went hard into the wall, lots of smoke and sparks from his No. 14. He's out of the car and walking. 

8:44 p.m. —  Christopher Bell just barely avoided spinning out. Ryan Blaney clipped him in the rear bumper in an attempt to move up to 13th. Somehow Bell maintained control and the race avoided caution. 

8:37 p.m. —  The "Crank It Up" is still really cool. 

8:30 p.m. —  Alex Bowman, Chase Elliott, Martin Truex Jr, Tyler Reddick and Kurt Busch make up the top-five off the restart. 

8:28 p.m. —  And with some relatively dry tracks, the flag is green on Lap 57. 43 to go in Stage 1.

8:20 p.m. —  We're back under yellow. Nearly everyone heading for pit road before the race hits green. 

8:16 p.m. —  Engines are starting.

8:12 p.m. —  Drivers are getting back in their cars. 

8 p.m. —  We have a restart time:

7:45 p.m. — Some rain is back over the track.

7:37 p.m. —  Radar update:

7:35 p.m. —  Rain seems to have stopped in Charlotte. 

7:25 p.m. —  In the event that the race cannot be finished tonight:

7:14 p.m. —  Potential good news: 

7:10 p.m. —  The radar: 

7:03 p.m. —  Caution for rain. Red Flag is now out. Kurt Busch has led all 50 laps so far today. 

6:53 p.m. —  Back underway on lap 28. Busch, Truex Jr., Elliott, Reddick, Logano in the top-five. 

6:44 p.m. —  Caution on lap 20. Kurt Busch has led all 20 laps so far. 

6:42 p.m. —  Hamlin enters the race eight laps down.

6:35 p.m. —  Denny Hamlin, the winner on Wednesday, is on pit road early. 

6:32 p.m. —  We're underway in Charlotte. 

What time does the NASCAR race start today?

  • Date : Sunday, May 24
  • Start time : 6 p.m. ET (6:28 p.m. ET green flag)
  • TV channel : Fox
  • Live stream : Fox Sports Go |  fuboTV (7-day free trial)

A 6 p.m. ET start time has become the customary protocol for the Coca-Cola 600, NASCAR's longest race. It's the only event in the sport that features four stages rather than three, and each Coca-Cola 600 stage will be 100 laps.

The Coca-Cola 600 begins in the heat of the daylight, but it gradually turns into a night race over the span of roughly 4 1/2 hours. That leads to cooling track temperatures and puts the onus on adjustments as teams attempt to navigate the race.

Fox's coverage of pre-race ceremonies from Charlotte Motor Speedway — which are special on Memorial Day weekend — will begin at 6 p.m. ET, and the Coca-Cola 600 is scheduled to take the green flag 28 minutes later.

Austin Anderson