Ryan Blaney Scores an Emotional Coke 600 Victory

Blaney wins an exciting Monday Coke 600 over William Byron to win his first Crown Jewel.

Ryan Blaney, driver of the #12 BodyArmor Cherry Lime Ford, celebrates after winning the NASCAR Cup Series Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway on May 29, 2023 in Concord, North Carolina. (Photo by Logan Riely/Getty Images) Via Media.NASCAR

Sunday's Coca-Cola 600 was rained out well before it's 6pm start time to be rescheduled for 3pm Monday afternoon. The green flag dropped over William Byron and Kevin Harvick on the front row. Stage 1 belonged to Byron who scored his 7th Stage win of the season. Stage 2 went to Chris Buescher for his first stage win on 2023. Stage 3 went to eventual race winner Ryan Blaney for his first Stage win of the season as well.

​Ryan Blaney led a race high 163 laps to win his first crown jewel event. This is also the most laps he has ever led in a race. After parking the 12 on the finish line during his post race interview, Blaney said he could cry and was clearly vary emotional. He said that after such a long winless streak you question if you can win again.

​ The win for team owner Roger Penske is his 3rd Coca-Cola 600 victory and the first time Team Penske has won the Indy 500 and Coke 600 in the same year.

Race Highlights 

• Bubba Wallace scored his 3rd straight Top-5 finish (4 including the All-Star) 
• Defending Truck champion Zane Smith scored his first Cup Series Top-10
• Ryan Blaney broke a 59-race winless streak
• Finishing 7th, Ricky Stenhouse Jr matches his career high of 7 Top-15 finishes
• There was 1 Red flag for rain. 
• Top-5 Lap leaders; Blaney: 163, Byron: 91, Bell: 48, Reddick: 28, Hamlin: 20
• Stage Winners; 1: Byron, 2: Buescher, 3: Blaney

Top-10 Finishers

1. Ryan Blaney
2. William Byron
3. Martin Truex Jr
4. Bubba Wallace
5. Tyler Reddick
6. Kyle Busch
7. Ricky Stenhouse Jr
8. Chris Buescher
9. Austin Dillon
10. Zane Smith (R) 

By: Tom Luttermoser