Winner Winner Watermelon Dinner

Ross Chastain celebrates his Coca-Cola 600 win by posing with the iconic trophy and his champion's ring in Victory Lane Sunday night. (Photo: Gallo Images)

Coca-Cola 600:

Ross Chastain chased down and bested William Byron late in Sunday evening's Coca-Cola 600 to capture his first win of 2025 and his first win in a NASCAR Crown Jewel event. Chastain came from dead last (40th) on the night to take the checkered flag and lock himself into the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series playoffs. Byron had dominated the night but Chastain and the 1 team of Trackhouse Racing were bad fast all weekend when all the tires stayed up and on the car, and they kept after it for all 400 laps and overtook the 24 car with six laps to go and set sail for the checkered flag.

The race was electric from pre-race activities to post-race celebrations with the 1 team. Sure, the car still has its problems. I'd love more horsepower, softer tires, no diffuser or underbody. But we had a damn good race from start to finish. Amazon via their Prime Video service nailed the broadcast and made it seem like a real, serious, big event. Which it was! It's the freakin Coca-Cola "World" 600! It's been a big damn deal in NASCAR since its inception and needed to be treated as such. We got that with Amazon, and we got a real good race on the track. A 10/10 weekend from a fan's point of view and I hope NASCAR's point of view, too. And yes, while I'll still gripe about the car we have to, occasionally, put that aside to recognize when we have a good race and when we are (for the time being) stuck with the car we have in the Cup Series. Sunday, that was a damn good race. We had attrition, we had comers and goers, we had a dominant driver who was chased down by a driver and team who did not quit on what had been a shit weekend, and that team chased the dominant guy down and beat him. There was intense racing for and passing for the lead all day. There were hard fought battles throughout the field all day. A smidge of pit strategy sprinkled in at times to keep things interesting. It was a long race (duh, it's the World 600) but I was locked in from start to finish. And not once was I disappointed with the race. I know it's not going to be like that every week or every time on the Charlotte oval, but I am relishing in an all around great weekend of racing and a marquee event living up to the hype. Congrats to Ross Chastain and the 1 Trackhouse Racing team on their big win.

Next up we head to Music City for all three series back in action yet again at the Nashville Superspeedway. The Craftsmen Truck Series starts the weekend on Friday night on FS1 at 8:00 p.m. EST with the Rackley Roofing 200. The Xfinity Series takes to the track Saturday night on The CW at at 7:30 p.m. EST with the Tennessee Lottery 250. The NASCAR Cup Series caps off the weekend Sunday night on Prime Video at 7 p.m. EST with the Cracker Barrel 400. (All time race name). Tune in to what should be an exciting weekend of racing!

Nashville Picks:

Trucks = Daniel Hemric

Xfinity = Aric Almirola

Cup = Kyle Larson