Coca Cola 600 Notes

It's the longest race of the year at what most Nascar teams consider to be their home track.  The race starts during the late afternoon and ends under the stars.  The Coca Cola 600 is a test of endurance for the cars, the drivers, and the pit crews.  Maybe even the fans.

Coming off his win in the All Star race, no driver is probably as pumped up for the 600 event as team owner and driver Tony Stewart.  Getting the very first win ever for the new organisation known as Stewart-Haas Racing, Stewart validated what a lot of people have been saying since the beginning of the season:  It's not 'if' SHR will win, it's just a matter of when.

Lowes Motor Speedway, which is the official name of the track which hosts both the All Star race and the Coca Cola 600, has been 'owned' in recent years by two factions.  One of those is the Hendrick Motorsports car driven by Jimmie Johnson, and the other group is the Fords driven by the Roush Motorsports guys.  It's easy to make predictions based on those two factors, but the truth is, we don't know what we're going to see on Saturday night in Concord, North Carolina.

I see strong runs by drivers such as David Reutimann, Brian Vickers, and even Kasey Kahne being possible at Charlotte.  And of course, you can never count out strong runs by the Gibb Racing boys either, especially Kyle Busch.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. has never won a points race at Charlotte in the Cup series, though he did win what was then called the Winston in 2000.  Dale Earnhardt Jr. desperately needs a good run, if not a win this week, and what place better to do so than at the home town track?

Saturday's race could be a ho-hum affair, with the 48, or the 99, or the 18 leading most of the laps and winning, or it produce a brand new winner in victory lane.  If the racing is anything like we saw during the All Star race, I predict it's going to be a good race, no matter who wins.