Ross Chastain Wins NASCAR Coca-Cola 600 From Last Place

Ross Chastain did what Josef Newgarden couldn’t on Sunday.

The Trackhouse Racing driver won the NASCAR Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway after starting on the last row.

A wreck in practice on Saturday kept him from qualifying and his team worked through the night to get his car ready to start from the final 40th position in the lineup.

Newgarden started the Indy 500 32nd out of 33 entries and was running as high as sixth place with the pace to win before a fuel pressure issue ended his day on lap 135 of the 200-lap race.

William Byron dominated most of the night in Charlotte by sweeping the first three stages and was battling with Denny Hamlin late in the third, but a botched pitstop in the middle of the stage left Hamlin without enough fuel to make it to the finish without another stop, leaving Chastain to challenge Byron for the win.

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Chastain got to Byron’s bumper with 10 laps to go and he was able to make the pass for the lead four laps later. Byron stayed with and was threatening to take the spot back on the last lap, but got loose and tapped the wall, which allowed Chastain to get away and run to the checkered flag. Chastain celebrated in his signature way by smashing a watermelon from the top of his car.

The win was Chastain’s first of the season and secured him a spot in the NASCAR playoffs.

His teammate Daniel Suarez wasn’t as lucky. He was involved in an accident with Ryan Blaney on lap 246 and ran into Kyle Larson’s car, ending his race. Larson started the day attempting to finish both the Indy 500 and the Coca-Cola 600 on the same day, but wrecked out of both races.