2011 NASCAR Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway Results (5-29-11) –

Early on in the Coca-Cola 600 Greg Biffle was having trouble with his cooling box. It is a vital part of the car because it helps to cool the driver down. The temperature in Charlotte while the sun was out was in the mid 90s, and a thermometer in the cockpit of Tony Stewart’s car was shown reading upwards of 140 degrees at one point. Biffle was screaming over his radio because of the problem and for the lack of his crew chief telling him what the plan was. He had an up and down day from that point forward. It culminated with him leading 50 laps late in the race.

Then on the 14th caution flag of the race, with 4 laps to go he had to come into the pits because he was nearly out of gas. This forfeited the lead of the race to Kasey Kahne followed by Dale Earnhardt Jr.. On the restart however, Kahne also ran out of gas and could not get going. This caused a bit of a crash, NASCAR however did not throw a caution flag. This gave Dale Earnhardt Jr. the lead as he got off to a great start. Junior was now in the lead with Kevin Harvick a decent distance behind him.

As Junior approach turn four of the final lap his 88 ran out of gas. This allowed Kevin Harvick to shoot right by him and take the checkered flag for the win. For the second time today in huge races watched my millions the car that was leading the race in turn four of the final lap failed to win the race. It was in turn four where Indy rookie J.R. Hildebrand stayed too much on the gas and crashed into the wall allowing Dan Wheldon to go by and capture his second Indy 500. Now Junior runs out of gas with the finish line well in sight, allowing Kevin Harvick to capture the win in NASCAR’s longest race.

It was Harvick’s third win of the season and he now sits in second place in the Sprint Cup Chase Standings, 36 points behind leader Carl Edwards. He is followed by Jimmie Johnson at 37 back, and Junior at 43 back.

Junior coasted across the finish line to finish in seventh place.

What a day of racing! As a Junior fan I am saddened, but as a fan of NASCAR, WOW, what a finish!