Memorial Day Sunday featured the Formula One race in Monaco, the 107th running of IndyCar’s Indianapolis 500, and NASCAR’s crown jewel, the Coca-Cola 600. Unfortunately, Mother Nature had other plans. Weather pushed the Alsco Uniforms 300 and the Coca-Cola 600 to Monday. This resulted in a 900-mile doubleheader that left fans wanting more.
NC Education Lottery 200
To get the weekend started, Charlotte Motor Speedway hosted the NC Education Lottery 200 on Friday night. The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series event had 12 lead changes among five different drivers. Driving the No. 99 Ford F-150 for ThorSport Racing, Ben Rhodes passed Carson Hocevar late to win his first Truck Series race of the 2023 season.
Rhodes finished with a driver rating of 123.8, had the six fastest laps, and led 37 of the 134 laps. Rhodes is the DRIVER OF THE RACE as he was able to lead the final 25 laps. Additionally, this allowed Ford to earn its first Truck win at Charlotte.
The victory also was worth a $50,000 bonus for Rhodes as part of the Triple Truck Challenge race.
Unfortunately, fans would have to wait two days until they saw racing again at Charlotte due to rain.
Alsco 300
The NASCAR Xfinity Series was able to run the first stage of the Alsco Uniforms 300, but rain caused a delay to the finish until after the running of the NASCAR Cup Series race. Once the action resumed, it looked like Ty Gibbs would control the race until a radio issue occurred. This forced his No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing He Gets Us Toyota crew to change out his steering wheel under caution. He would also be forced to restart in the back of the field.
The No. 1 of Sam Mayer would spin off of Turn 2 and set up a fuel-mileage race to close out the day. It was at this point the driver No. 7 Chevrolet Camaro for JR Motorsports, Justin Allgaier, would save just enough gas for the win.
Usually, the driver of the race is not also the winner in a fuel-mileage race but that is not the case this week. Allgaier led 83 laps which was 41.5% of the race. He ended with a Driver Rating of 133.2 and 20 Fastest Laps. It was these numbers that made the Allgaier the DRIVER OF THE RACE.
Coca-Cola 600
NASCAR’s longest race always creates storylines and this race was no exception. This 600-mile event had 31 lead changes among 13 different drivers. In a race that usually has comers and goers, Ryan Blaney had his No. 12 Team Penske Body Armor Ford Mustang near the front all night. Blaney had an average running position of 2.5 and led for 163 laps (40% of the race). Additionally, he had 79 Fastest laps and a driver rating of 144.9.
These stats are the reason why Blaney was not only able to win but dominate the 64th running of the Coca-Cola 600. Blaney ended a 59-race winless drought and earned his eighth win overall. It was his dominance during the entire race that he is named DRIVER OF THE RACE.
Thanks to @CoachACoffey on Twitter for providing this information. The driver of the race is chosen by a panel of racing fans using metrics and stats provided by NASCAR after the conclusion of the race.
