The NASCAR Cup Series heads to Charlotte Motor Speedway on Sunday for the longest mileage race on the 2026 schedule — the Coca-Cola 600. The green flag drops at approximately 6:00 PM ET with 400 laps at 600 miles. Let’s set the scene before we get into our Coca-Cola 600 best bets for Sunday, May 24. The race can be viewed or streamed on Amazon Prime and HBO Max.
Before we get started, prayers and condolences to the family of Kyle Busch, who passed away from a sudden illness this week at the age of 41. The 2-time champion was an amazing driver on multiple circuits and even a team owner for a while with the eponymous Kyle Busch Motorsports (KBM) name before selling to Spire Motorsports. Whether you loved him or hated him — and certainly many fans did not like him — there is no debate he was one of the all-time greats. He will be missed.
As we head into the Memorial Day weekend, the show goes on despite the awful news from this past week. It’s the longest race of the season in the NASCAR Cup Series, as the Coca-Cola 600 gets underway. If you were wondering, Richard Childress Racing has shelved the No. 8 car, and instead, Austin Hill will attempt to fill the massive shoes of Busch behind the wheel of the No. 33 Chevrolet.
Trackhouse Racing driver Ross Chastain is the defending champion of the Coca-Cola 600. Joe Gibbs Racing’s Christopher Bell won the race in 2024, while Team Penske’s Ryan Blaney took checkers in 2023. JGR’s Denny Hamlin was the champ in 2022, while Hendrick Motorsports driver Kyle Larson won the grueling race in 2021. The late Kyle Busch rolled the Victory Lane in 2018.
Hamlin has just the 1 win at Charlotte, but he has 12 top-5 finishes, 21 top-10 runs and 468 laps led with a 12.5 Average-Finish Position (AFP) — all while posting a Driver Rating of 95.6. Right on his heels is Bell, who has a win, 2 top-5 finishes and 4 top-10 runs with 146 laps led in just 7 career NASCAR Cup Series starts at the track with a 13.1 AFP.
23XI Racing’s Tyler Reddick leads all drivers with a 10.3 AFP in 7 career starts, but he has no victories yet. He has 5 top-10 finishes, however, while leading 54 laps. In addition, he has never finished lower than 26th.
Team Penske’s Joey Logano has managed a win at Charlotte in 27 career NASCAR Cup Series starts, while posting 340 laps led, posting 6 top-5 finishes and 11 top-10 outings and going for a 13.3 AFP.
As far as drivers who have struggled at Charlotte, Carson Hocevar has 2 career NASCAR Cup Series starts, posting finishing of 21st and 34th. Michael McDowell has 26 starts under his belt, resulting in a 27.8 AFP with just 2 top-10 finishes and only 13 laps led. Bubba Wallace has a 23.1 AFP in 9 career starts with only 1 top-5 finish and 1 top-10 run.
Now that the table is set, let’s get into my best bets for the 2026 Coca-Cola 600, with odds courtesy of FanDuel Sportsbook at the time of publishing. Be sure to check out our NASCAR betting analysis every week throughout the season!
NASCAR best bet: Ross Chastain Top 10 Finish (-140)
Chastain is the defending champion, so this looks like a no-brainer pick, right? Well, the Florida watermelon farmer turned driver has 8 NASCAR Cup Series starts under his belt at Charlotte Motor Speedway, posting just the single top-5 finish and only 2 top-10 runs while leading 171 laps with a mediocre 70.7 Driver Rating and 20.5 AFP.
Chastain was attempting to race all 1,101 miles at CMS, but the NASCAR Truck Series race and North Carolina Education Lottery 200 were affected by Charlotte’s rainy conditions. Instead, Chastain took the win in the weather-shortened O’Reilly Auto Parts Series Charbroil 300 and is set to go off 27th in Sunday’s race — the longest of the weekend. Chastain seems to love this track, so let’s try to capture some of his upside with a top-10 finish.
NASCAR best bet: Christopher Bell Top 5 Finish (+110)
Bell has tremendous results on the NASCAR Cup Series circuit at Charlotte Motor Speedway. He has just 7 starts, but he already has a win in the 2024 Coca-Cola 600, while posting 146 laps led, a 13.1 AFP, 2 top-5 finishes and 4 top-10 runs.
Bell has been struggling mightily, so this takes a bit of a leap of faith. For reference, he was 21st at Watkins Glen International, while turning in a dismal 38th-place showing at Texas Motor Speedway prior to that after starting 7 and leading 22 laps. However, Bell has just had some poor luck lately, as he led exactly 100 laps in a 3-race span from April 19-May 3 at Kansas, Talladega and Texas.
Bell has lit it up in Charlotte in the past, and he was 7th in 40 laps of practice this week — posting a best speed of 184.357 MPH and a best lap time of 29.291 seconds.
NASCAR best bet: Winning Manufacturer – Toyota (+110)
With rain washing out qualification, 23XI’s Reddick will start on the pole in the No. 45 Toyota based upon the NASCAR Cup Series standings. Right beside him will be JGR’s Ty Gibbs in the Monster Energy No. 54 Toyota.
Toyota will have 3 of the first 5 cars in the starting grid, while Chevrolet will have the No. 3 (Shane Van Gisbergen) and No. 4 (McDowell) spots, and Team Penske’s Ryan Blaney will be the top Ford in the No. 6 spot.
With Reddick, Gibbs and Chase Briscoe starting in favorable positions, Toyota is poised to have tremendous success on Sunday.
NASCAR best bet: Top Ford Car – Brad Keselowski (+600)
Keselowski will go off from the 26th spot in the BuildSubmarines.com No. 6 Ford, but he is a strong play to be the top-finishing Ford.
Keselowski has won at CMS twice before, posting 7 top-5 finishes and 12 top-10 runs with 328 laps led and a 13.6 AFP in 26 career NASCAR Cup Series starts. He has started to show some progress with his RFK Racing team, including a 13th-place run at Texas on May 3, and 6th at Kansas on April 19. He was also a runner-up at Darlington back on March 22, leading 142 laps. When Kes is locked in, he can still be one of the best. With Blaney, the overwhelming favorite in this category, struggling in his career CMS, Keselowski is worth a roll of the dice.
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