Carl Edwards wins at Charlotte: #19-Carl Edwards won the Coca-Cola 600 Sprint Cup Series race at Charlotte Motor Speedway for his 1st win of the season, 1st win at Charlotte and 24th career win. Edwards last win was 31 races ago at Sonoma Raceway in June 2014.
#16-Biffle finished 2nd followed by #88-Earnhardt Jr., #20-Kenseth, #78-Truex Jr., #31-Newman, #2-Keselowski, #11-Hamlin, #4-Harvick and #41-Busch.
Harvick maintains the drivers points lead with 473, 41 points over #78-Truex Jr.
Pole winner #20-Kenseth led 27 laps, fell down 1 lap with an unscheduled pit stop for a loose wheel, got the lucky dog pass and finished 4th.
#18-Kyle Busch, in his first points race of the season after being injured at Daytona, finished 11th and ran all 400 laps.
#48-Johnson spun twice, recovering the 1st time, but not the 2nd time, hitting the inside SAFER wall. After repairs, Johnson came back on the track and finished 40th, down 30 laps. Only four drivers failed to finish the race.
There were 22 lead changes among 9 drivers. There were 8 cautions for 39 yellow flag laps.
The average speed was 147.803mph.
See unofficial race results, awards, money won, laps led, cautions and more on the Unofficial Race Results page (pdf) and check out the Penalty Report (pdf) and Lap Summary Report (pdf).
See OFFICIAL race results & points standings on the Official Race & Points Report (pdf).(5-24-2015)
Race Fast Facts - Charlotte:
#19-Carl Edwards won the 56th Annual COCA-COLA 600, his 24th victory in 385 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races.
This is his first victory and second top-10 finish in 2015. Edwards breaks a 31-race winless drought with the victory.
This is his first victory and 14th top-10 finish in 21 races at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Edwards' previous best Charlotte finish was third, three times.
#16-Greg Biffle (second) posted his ninth top-10 finish in 25 races at Charlotte Motor Speedway. It is his second top-10 finish in 2015.
#88-Dale Earnhardt Jr. (third) posted his 12th top-10 finish in 31 races at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
#4-Kevin Harvick leads the point standings by 41 points over #78-Martin Truex Jr.
(NASCAR Integrated Sports Marketing)(5-24-2015)
Man Airlifted to Hospital after Speedway Accident: A man was airlifted to the hospital after he was hit by a car at Charlotte Motor Speedway. An eyewitness said the man was sitting on the back of a tow bar between a camper and another vehicle being towed. The camper turned, he fell off, and was run over by the towed vehicle. No word on the condition of the man who was hit.(Fox Charlotte)(5-25-2015)
Hamlin dehydrated, taken to infield care center, is OK: Late in the race, #11-Denny Hamlin reported feeling ill in his car (finished 8th) at Charlotte and complained of a severe headache. He was taken to the infield care center after the race, and team owner Joe Gibbs said his driver was dehydrated, was given an IV and was feeling better after the treatment.(NASCAR Wire Service)
AND comments from Hamlin:
Q) How are you feeling after visiting the infield care center after the race?
Hamlin: "A lot better now. I knew when my knee was sore afterwards that it was probably fluids. My off-day was 36 holes of golf and a full tennis match. Probably over did it a little bit this weekend. I think the dehydration led to a migraine and just felt nauseous the last 100 laps or so. Thank goodness, that didn't cost us the win. Just the bad end of that strategy and what not, but still proud of our FedEx Office team for really giving me a car that could contend for a win. This is a good sign and congrats to Carl (Edwards), this is an awesome two weeks really for our organization."
Q) Was it difficult to finish the race feeling like you did?
"It's tough, I was borderline throwing up trying to race for the lead. You just try to power through it and of course when you run well, you always feel a little bit better, but when the race is over and everything comes to a stop you realize how bad you feel. A lot better now with fluids and everything. It was directly related to hydration."
Q) Was it challenging to come back from the loose wheel?
Hamlin: "That part of it stunk a little bit, but the 78 (Martin Truex Jr.) came back and passed us anyway. When he came back out, he had fresher air than what I did. I came out kind of middle of the pack and just couldn't run the lap times I needed to. Those guys ended up on the bad end of the strategy anyway."(Toyota Racing)(5-25-2015)