2012 Coca-Cola 600
Race details[1][2][3] | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Race 12 of 36 in the 2012 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series | |||||
Date | May 27, 2012 | ||||
Location | Charlotte Motor Speedway in Concord, North Carolina | ||||
Course |
Permanent racing facility 1.5 mi (2.4 km) | ||||
Distance | 400 laps, 600 mi (965.606 km) | ||||
Weather | Sunshine with a high temperature around 88 °F (31 °C); wind out of the SSE at 2 mph (3.2 km/h). | ||||
Average speed | 155.687 miles per hour (250.554 km/h) | ||||
Pole position | |||||
Driver | Richard Petty Motorsports | ||||
Time | 27.988 | ||||
Most laps led | |||||
Driver | Greg Biffle |
Roush Fenway Racing | |||
Laps | 204 | ||||
Winner | |||||
No. 5 | Kasey Kahne |
Network | Fox | ||
Announcers | Mike Joy, Darrell Waltrip and Larry McReynolds |
The 2012 Coca-Cola 600, the 53rd annual
Report
Background
Before the race,
The Coca-Cola 600 was conceived by race car driver
Practice and qualifying
Three practice sessions were held before the race; the first on May 24, 2012, which lasted 120 minutes. The second and third took place on Saturday, May 26, 2012. The first Saturday practice lasted 55 minutes, while the second was 60 minutes.[14] Marcos Ambrose was quickest with a time of 28.539 seconds in the first session, five-thousandths of a second faster than Landon Cassill.[15] A. J. Allmendinger was third quickest, followed by Biffle, Clint Bowyer, and Aric Almirola. Joey Logano was seventh, still within two-tenths of a second of Ambrose's time.[15]
Forty-seven cars were entered for qualifying on May 24, 2012, but only forty-three could qualify for the race because of NASCAR's
Once the qualifying session was completed, Almirola stated "It's a huge honor just to see it in victory lane (for the pole celebration). I'm driving probably the most iconic car in history of the sport. It's just qualifying, but that's a start."
In the second practice session, Hamlin was fastest with a time of 28.995 seconds, less than two-hundredths of a second quicker than second-placed Menard.[21] Edwards took third place, ahead of Truex Jr., Johnson and Brad Keselowski.[21] Bowyer, Harvick and Ryan Newman completed the ten quickest drivers in the session.[21] In the third and final practice, Keselowski was quickest with a time of 29.397 seconds.[22] Edwards followed in second, ahead of Martin and Johnson.[22] Logano was fifth quickest, with a time of 29.521 seconds.[22] Stewart, Kenseth, Allmendinger, Kurt Busch, and Jeff Burton rounded out the first ten positions.[22] Hamlin, who was quickest in the second session, could only manage 20th.[22]
Race
The race, the twelfth in the season, began at 6:00 p.m.
Following the traditional three pace laps, Phoenix Racing's
The race continued under green, and drivers stopped for another round of pit stops between laps 87 and 97. Once again, Biffle was one of the last cars to pit, and came out with the lead, extending it to 4 seconds. On lap 111, the first caution of the race came out when debris was sighted on the backstretch. The leaders pitted, and Ambrose and Jamie McMurray took two right side tires on their stops to claim the top two spots. However, McMurray was forced back into the pits after the restart for a loose wheel. On lap 125, Kyle Busch grabbed the lead from Biffle, who took it back two laps later after Busch dipped the tires below the white line. Debris was spotted in turn 1, forcing the second caution of the race. All the leaders pitted except for Jeff Gordon. On the restart on lap 139, Busch, Johnson, and Biffle easily dispatched Gordon to take the top three spots.[23] Kasey Kahne scores a victory in his 300th career start.
Results
Qualifying
No. | Driver | Team | Manufacturer | Time (s) | Speed (mph) | Speed (km/h) | Grid |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
43 | Aric Almirola | Richard Petty Motorsports | Ford | 27.988 | 192.940 | 310.507 | 1 |
9 | Marcos Ambrose | Richard Petty Motorsports | Ford | 28.184 | 191.598 | 308.347 | 2 |
48 | Jimmie Johnson | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 28.217 | 191.374 | 307.987 | 3 |
16 | Greg Biffle | Roush Fenway Racing |
Ford | 28.234 | 191.259 | 307.802 | 4 |
15 | Clint Bowyer | Michael Waltrip Racing | Toyota | 28.243 | 191.198 | 307.703 | 5 |
55 | Mark Martin | Michael Waltrip Racing | Toyota | 28.247 | 191.171 | 307.660 | 6 |
5 | Kasey Kahne | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 28.253 | 191.130 | 307.594 | 7 |
11 | Denny Hamlin | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 28.289 | 190.887 | 307.203 | 8 |
27 | Paul Menard | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 28.332 | 190.597 | 306.736 | 9 |
78 | Regan Smith | Furniture Row Racing | Chevrolet | 28.353 | 190.456 | 306.509 | 10 |
22 | A. J. Allmendinger | Penske Racing |
Dodge | 28.372 | 190.329 | 306.305 | 11 |
88 | Dale Earnhardt Jr. | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 28.376 | 190.302 | 306.261 | 12 |
21 | Trevor Bayne | Wood Brothers Racing | Ford | 28.381 | 190.268 | 306.207 | 13 |
29 | Kevin Harvick | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 28.391 | 190.201 | 306.099 | 14 |
56 | Martin Truex Jr. | Michael Waltrip Racing | Toyota | 28.392 | 190.194 | 306.088 | 15 |
39 | Ryan Newman | Stewart-Haas Racing |
Chevrolet | 28.413 | 190.054 | 305.862 | 16 |
18 | Kyle Busch | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 28.416 | 190.034 | 305.830 | 17 |
83 | Landon Cassill | BK Racing | Toyota | 28.423 | 189.987 | 305.754 | 18 |
20 | Joey Logano | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 28.465 | 189.707 | 305.304 | 19 |
17 | Matt Kenseth | Roush Fenway Racing |
Ford | 28.480 | 189.607 | 305.143 | 20 |
14 | Tony Stewart | Stewart-Haas Racing |
Chevrolet | 28.485 | 189.574 | 305.090 | 21 |
31 | Jeff Burton | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 28.493 | 189.520 | 305.003 | 22 |
24 | Jeff Gordon | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 28.560 | 189.076 | 304.288 | 23 |
2 | Brad Keselowski | Penske Racing |
Dodge | 28.591 | 188.871 | 303.958 | 24 |
13 | Casey Mears | Germain Racing | Ford | 28.668 | 188.363 | 303.141 | 25 |
47 | Bobby Labonte | JTG Daugherty Racing | Toyota | 28.671 | 188.344 | 303.110 | 26 |
74 | Cole Whitt | Turn One Racing | Chevrolet | 28.674 | 188.324 | 303.078 | 27 |
99 | Carl Edwards | Roush Fenway Racing |
Ford | 28.692 | 188.206 | 302.888 | 28 |
42 | Juan Pablo Montoya | Earnhardt Ganassi Racing |
Chevrolet | 28.735 | 187.924 | 302.434 | 29 |
34 | David Ragan | Front Row Motorsports | Ford | 28.776 | 187.656 | 302.003 | 30 |
1 | Jamie McMurray | Earnhardt Ganassi Racing |
Chevrolet | 28.796 | 187.526 | 301.794 | 31 |
98 | Michael McDowell | Phil Parsons Racing | Ford | 28.802 | 187.487 | 301.731 | 32 |
26 | Josh Wise | Front Row Motorsports | Ford | 28.837 | 187.259 | 301.364 | 33 |
33 | Stephen Leicht | Circle Sport Racing | Chevrolet | 28.851 | 187.169 | 301.219 | 34 |
30 | David Stremme | Inception Motorsports |
Toyota | 29.010 | 186.143 | 299.568 | 35 |
36 | Dave Blaney | Tommy Baldwin Racing | Chevrolet | 29.015 | 186.111 | 299.517 | 36 |
93 | Travis Kvapil | BK Racing | Toyota | 29.019 | 186.085 | 299.475 | 37 |
95 | Scott Speed | Leavine Family Racing | Ford | 29.036 | 185.976 | 299.299 | 38 |
38 | David Gilliland | Front Row Motorsports | Ford | 29.062 | 185.810 | 299.032 | 39 |
10 | Danica Patrick | Tommy Baldwin Racing | Chevrolet | 29.161 | 185.179 | 298.017 | 40 |
32 | T. J. Bell | FAS Lane Racing |
Ford | 29.366 | 183.886 | 295.936 | 41 |
51 | Kurt Busch | Phoenix Racing | Chevrolet | No Time1 | 42 | ||
87 | Joe Nemechek | NEMCO Motorsports | Toyota | 29.066 | 185.784 | 298.990 | 43 |
Failed to Qualify | |||||||
19 | Mike Bliss | Humphrey Smith Racing | Toyota | 29.103 | 185.548 | 298.611 | |
73 | David Reutimann | BK Racing | Toyota | 29.136 | 185.338 | 298.273 | |
49 | J. J. Yeley | Robinson-Blakeney Racing |
Toyota | 29.391 | 183.730 | 295.685 | |
23 | Scott Riggs | R3 Motorsports | Chevrolet | 29.407 | 183.630 | 295.524 | |
Race results
Standings after the race
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References
- ^ a b "2012 NASCAR Sprint Cup Schedule". ESPN. Retrieved May 21, 2012.
- ^ a b Brown, Brian (May 23, 2012). "The Coca-Cola 600". Rotoworld.com. Archived from the original on May 25, 2012. Retrieved May 24, 2012.
- ^ a b "2012 Official Race Results : Coca-Cola 600". NASCAR. Retrieved May 29, 2012.
- ^ "NASCAR Race Tracks". NASCAR. Archived from the original on January 1, 2013. Retrieved May 8, 2012.
- ^ a b c "NASCAR Tracks—The Charlotte Motor Speedway". Charlotte Motor Speedway. Archived from the original on April 28, 2011. Retrieved May 8, 2012.
- ^ a b c "2012 Official Driver Standings: Bojangles' Southern 500". NASCAR. Archived from the original on June 23, 2012. Retrieved May 21, 2012.
- ^ a b "Manufactures' Championship Classification". Jayski.com. Archived from the original on November 30, 2012. Retrieved May 8, 2012.
- ^ "2011 Coca-Cola 600". racing-reference.com. Retrieved May 21, 2012.
- ^ Aumann, Mark (May 24, 2012). "Turner's dream brings creation of Charlotte track". NASCAR. Turner Sports Interactive, Inc. Archived from the original on October 17, 2012. Retrieved May 26, 2012.
- ^ Hart, Jay (May 23, 2009). "Story lines: Lowe's". Yahoo! Sports. Yahoo!. Archived from the original on February 12, 2016. Retrieved February 12, 2016.
- ^ NASCAR Wire Service (May 22, 2014). "NASCAR: Coca-Cola 600 has a history with major appeal". Cecil Whig. Adams Publishing Group. Retrieved February 12, 2016.
- ^ "Patience, endurance keys for 600". Walker County Messenger. Vol. 116, no. 42. May 27, 2005. p. 11. Retrieved April 7, 2016.
- ^ "Coca-Cola 600". TicketsMate. Excite. Archived from the original on September 6, 2015. Retrieved February 12, 2016.
- ^ "Jayski's® NASCAR Silly Season Site – Sprint Cup Race Info / Rundown Page". Jayski.com. Archived from the original on May 25, 2012. Retrieved May 24, 2012.
- ^ a b "Practice One Timing and Scoring". NASCAR. Retrieved May 24, 2012.
- ^ "Qualifying Entry List". NASCAR. Retrieved May 24, 2012.
- ^ a b c d e f "Race Official Lineup". NASCAR. Retrieved May 24, 2012.
- ^ Busch loses handle in quals. Charlotte, North Carolina: NASCAR. May 24, 2012.
- ^ Hembree, Mike (May 24, 2012). "CUP: Almirola Wins Charlotte Pole". Speed TV. Retrieved May 24, 2012.
- ^ Ryan, Nate (May 24, 2012). "Richard Petty's Fords rule Charlotte in Coke 600 qualifying". Concord, North Carolina. USA Today. Retrieved May 24, 2012.
- ^ a b c "Practice One Timing and Scoring". NASCAR. Retrieved May 26, 2012.
- ^ a b c d e "Practice 3 Timing and Scoring". NASCAR. Retrieved May 26, 2012.
- ^ a b c d "Race Summary". NASCAR. Retrieved May 27, 2012.
- ^ "2012 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series at Charlotte Grid". ESPN. Retrieved May 26, 2012.
- ^ "NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Qualifying Results: Coca Cola 600". Jayski's® NASCAR Silly Season Site. May 24, 2012. Archived from the original on May 28, 2012. Retrieved May 26, 2012.
- ^ "2012 Coca-Cola 600 Qualifying". Motor Racing Network. Archived from the original on January 29, 2013. Retrieved May 26, 2012.
- ^ "2012 Official Driver Standings: Coca-Cola 600". NASCAR. Retrieved June 4, 2012.