A guide to the 2025 Coca-Cola 600: Who will win at Charlotte? Predictions, odds
Sunday’s Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway marks another rendition of the longest race in NASCAR and the biggest annual race in North Carolina.
For Christopher Bell, last year’s winner of the Coke 600, it represents something else.
”I’ve gotten annoyed at people calling it an asterisked win,” Bell told reporters in the Charlotte Motor Speedway media center, smiling as he recalled his Coke 600 rain-shortened win in 2024. He added, “I think we should be competitive. The last couple of years, this has been one of our best intermediate tracks as far as our 20 group goes. I really look forward to challenge.
“I want to be a 600-mile race winner.”
Avoiding the rain would be ideal for everyone. For NASCAR. For fans. For the drivers chasing the crown jewel. And winning the race is no small feat. Drivers swept into the media center Saturday and discussed what is required to win a race that lasts for 600 miles — from the car’s build, to the driver’s focus, and more.
One theme that kept resurfacing: The track’s “physicality.”
“It’s become a great racetrack again,” Joey Logano told reporters Saturday. “It was great and there was a moment in time where everyone was kind of ‘eh’ about it, and that’s really why the Roval started. Now, it’s kind of like, ‘I don’t know if we need the Roval.’ The oval is fantastic.
“The racing that we see on this racetrack has been great. You look at the start of the Truck race last night, I was up in the booth, and it was like, ‘These guys are racing the heck out of each other,’ and it was really fun to watch. They’re not wrecking each other. It’s not like cautions every five laps like some tracks. It was a really fun race to watch. I expect the same here today with the Xfinity cars and the Cup cars have put on a good race here the last few years as well.”
Logano considers the race “challenging” — largely because of the surface.
“It’s definitely on a landfill,” Logano said, smiling. “It’s bumpy out there. Three and four, it’s rough. It shakes the heck out of you and you do that for 600 miles you don’t feel too good afterward, so it’s definitely a physical racetrack at this point.”
To help digest all of this, here’s a one-stop shop for everything you need to know ahead of Sunday’s race.
Fast facts about NASCAR race: How to watch, purse, weather forecast
Fans can catch the race just after 6 p.m. on Amazon Prime with a valid subscription. Steve Letarte and Dale Earnhardt Jr. are on the call. Radio listeners can listen in on PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR (Channel 90).
One question you probably have: Will it rain at Charlotte Motor Speedway? Oh, the age-old query. The last two Coke 600s have been affected by rain. The 2023 race was pushed to Monday after a deluge Sunday; the 2024 race was shortened.
Sunday’s forecast looks a bit … foreboding: It’ll be a high of 72 during the day and a low of 58 at night, with at least a 51% chance of rain during race time, according to The Weather Channel.
Other quick facts:
- Track length: 1.5-mile asphalt oval
- Time: 6 p.m. ET
- Purse: $13,651,450
- Distance: 600 miles (400 laps); Stage 1 (Ends on Lap 100), Stage 2 (Ends on Lap 200), Stage 3 (Ends on Lap 300), Final Stage (Ends on Lap 400)
Top 10 driver odds to win Coca-Cola 600
This is the longest race in NASCAR. This is where the strongest teams shine, where the best drivers flex their muscle. That’s reflected in the sportsbooks, at least as of Saturday evening, after Cup qualifying.
Top 10 driver odds, per Action Network’s compiled sportsbook: Kyle Larson (+600), William Byron (+800), Ryan Blaney (+900), Christopher Bell (+900), Denny Hamlin (+950), Tyler Reddick (+1000), Chase Elliott (+2000), Joey Logano (+2000), Alex Bowman (+2200) and Ross Chastain (+2800).
Observer writers make picks for North Carolina’s crown jewel
Shane Connuck: Joey Logano. A week after a decision to stay out of pit road all but cost the Team Penske drivers the NASCAR All-Star Race, let’s go with the driver of the No. 22 to get it done at Charlotte. Logano has an average finish of roughly 12th place — quietly building a solid résumé on the oval with 11 performances in the Top 10 — and already compares with the more successful Cup Series drivers’ numbers at the 1.5-mile track in Concord. The three-time champion has yet to win a Coke 600, and he rolls off in 16th place Sunday.
Alex Zietlow: Denny Hamlin. Let’s turn back the clock to 2022, when then-Joe Gibbs Racing drivers Denny Hamlin and Kyle Busch were P1 and P2 as that year’s race of attrition came to a close. Hamlin, he said then, was consigned to his fate of running fourth prior to ending up in Victory Lane. Such things happen in NASCAR’s longest race. The reason I bring this up? I think something similar plays out again this year, with a long and physical race ending with the smartest driver prevailing even in the fourth-best(ish) equipment. Hamlin is starting in P20, and despite brushing the wall during practice, I think he gets the job done.
Other NASCAR Cup Series bets to consider
Every line below is provided by Action Network and updated through Saturday evening, after the completion of qualifying.
▪ Let’s start with our favorite driver prop: “driver matchups,” where a sportsbook presents you two drivers and allows you to bet which finishes ahead of the other. The notable matchups (with our predicted winners in bold): Kyle Busch (+100) over Alex Bowman (-115). Ryan Blaney (-114) over William Byron (-114). And Denny Hamlin (+105) over Kyle Larson (-125).
▪ One driver who might deliver pretty good value for a Top 10? Follow us here … Shane van Gisbergen. The Trackhouse Racing driver has struggled this year — but the No. 88 has built some pretty good momentum and had a good showing in practice, even if it only yielded a P30 after qualifying. SvG is +2500 to finish Top 10.
▪ Want some investment in Kyle Larson’s big day — when he plans to run in the Indy 500 followed by the Coke 600? Take +180 to get a Top 3 finish.
This story was originally published May 25, 2025 at 5:00 AM with the headline "A guide to the 2025 Coca-Cola 600: Who will win at Charlotte? Predictions, odds."
