The 2014 Coca-Cola 600, the 55th running of the event, was a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series stock car race held on May 25, 2014, at Charlotte Motor Speedway in Concord, North Carolina. Contested over 400 laps on the oval, it was the twelfth race of the 2014 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. Jimmie Johnson won the race, his first of the season and fourth overall Coca-Cola 600 win, while Kevin Harvick finished second and Matt Kenseth, Carl Edwards and Jamie McMurray rounded out the top five. The top rookies of the race were Austin Dillon (16th), Kyle Larson (18th) and Cole Whitt (27th).
Report Entry list The entry list for the Coca-Cola 600 was released on Monday, May 19, 2014 at 11:37 a.m. Eastern time. Forty-five drivers were entered for the race.
Driver Team Manufacturer 1 Jamie McMurray Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 11 2nd 2 Brad Keselowski (PC2) Team Penske Ford 4 5th 3 Austin Dillon (R) Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 0 — 4 Kevin Harvick Stewart–Haas Racing Chevrolet 13 1st 5 Kasey Kahne Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 10 1st 7 Michael Annett (R) Tommy Baldwin Racing Chevrolet 0 — 9 Marcos Ambrose Richard Petty Motorsports Ford 5 6th 10 Danica Patrick Stewart–Haas Racing Chevrolet 2 35th 11 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 8 2nd 13 Casey Mears Germain Racing Chevrolet 11 1st 14 Tony Stewart (PC3) Stewart–Haas Racing Chevrolet 15 3rd 15 Clint Bowyer Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota 8 7th 16 Greg Biffle Roush Fenway Racing Ford 11 2nd 17 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Roush Fenway Racing Ford 2 11th 18 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 10 3rd 20 Matt Kenseth (PC5) Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 14 1st 21 Trevor Bayne (i) Wood Brothers Racing Ford 2 16th 22 Joey Logano Team Penske Ford 5 3rd 23 Alex Bowman (R) BK Racing Toyota 0 — 24 Jeff Gordon (PC6) Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 21 1st 26 Cole Whitt (R) BK Racing Toyota 0 — 27 Paul Menard Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 7 8th 31 Ryan Newman Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 13 2nd 32 Blake Koch (i) Go FAS Racing Ford 0 — 33 Brian Scott (i) Circle Sport Chevrolet 0 — 34 David Ragan Front Row Motorsports Ford 7 2nd 36 Reed Sorenson Tommy Baldwin Racing Chevrolet 4 4th 38 David Gilliland Front Row Motorsports Ford 7 20th 40 Landon Cassill (i) Circle Sport Chevrolet 3 18th 41 Kurt Busch (PC4) Stewart–Haas Racing Chevrolet 13 1st 42 Kyle Larson (R) Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 0 — 43 Aric Almirola Richard Petty Motorsports Ford 2 16th 44 J. J. Yeley (i) Xxxtreme Motorsports Chevrolet 6 2nd 47 A. J. Allmendinger JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet 6 5th 48 Jimmie Johnson (PC1) Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 12 1st 51 Justin Allgaier (R) HScott Motorsports Chevrolet 0 — 55 Brian Vickers Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota 6 5th 66 Joe Nemechek (i) Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota 19 6th 77 Dave Blaney Randy Humphrey Racing Ford 14 14th 78 Martin Truex Jr. Furniture Row Racing Chevrolet 7 9th 83 Ryan Truex (R) BK Racing Toyota 0 — 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 16 4th 95 Michael McDowell Leavine Family Racing Ford 5 32nd 98 Josh Wise Phil Parsons Racing Chevrolet 2 26th 99 Carl Edwards Roush Fenway Racing Ford 9 3rdOfficial entry list Key Meaning (R) Rookie (i) Ineligible for points (PC#) Past champions provisional
Practice First practice results Dale Earnhardt Jr. was the fastest in first practice with a time of 27.941 and a speed of .
Pos Driver Team Manufacturer Time 1 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 27.941 193.264 2 4 Kevin Harvick Stewart–Haas Racing Chevrolet 28.101 192.164 3 48 Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 28.123 192.014Official first practice results
Qualifying Jimmie Johnson won the pole with a time of 27.705 and a speed of . “We’ve watched other cars get faster through qualifying sessions,’’ Johnson said. “That’s something the (Hendrick Motorsports) cars really haven’t had a lot. We did that tonight. We’re hitting on some things that should help us run faster longer.’’ Matt Kenseth and Kevin Harvick didn't get a lap in before time expired in the final round and started eleventh and twelfth as a result. “We had a big miscommunication tonight and didn’t get @KevinHarvick off of pit road in time to run a lap in the final qualifying session,’’ Childers tweeted. “Apologies to all of the sponsors and fans. We will make sure it doesn’t happen again.’’ While three of the Hendrick cars made it to the final round of qualifying, Jeff Gordon didn't make it out of the first round. “It just disappoints us,’’ Gordon said of his qualifying performance. “We know our car is much better than this. These are about as challenging conditions as you can have when you have a really hot day like this and the sun goes down and it’s a total guessing game. We guessed wrong. We just missed the setup. The car has plenty of speed in it, so I’m not concerned about the race.’’ The two drivers who failed to qualify were Dave Blaney and J. J. Yeley.
Qualifying results Pos Driver Team Manufacturer 1 48 Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 28.171 27.899 27.705 2 2 Brad Keselowski Team Penske Ford 28.294 27.969 27.754 3 5 Kasey Kahne Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 28.165 27.958 27.890 4 10 Danica Patrick Stewart–Haas Racing Chevrolet 28.118 27.750 27.931 5 15 Clint Bowyer Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota 28.260 27.973 27.944 6 11 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 28.171 27.823 27.962 7 18 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 28.127 27.762 27.966 8 22 Joey Logano Team Penske Ford 28.172 28.020 28.056 9 9 Marcos Ambrose Richard Petty Motorsports Ford 28.133 28.005 28.173 10 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 28.183 28.014 28.232 11 4 Kevin Harvick Stewart–Haas Racing Chevrolet 27.845 27.841 0.000 12 20 Matt Kenseth Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 28.222 27.994 0.000 13 43 Aric Almirola Richard Petty Motorsports Ford 28.176 28.024 — 14 21 Trevor Bayne Wood Brothers Racing Ford 28.187 28.054 — 15 78 Martin Truex Jr. Furniture Row Racing Chevrolet 28.063 28.061 — 16 55 Brian Vickers Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota 28.047 28.121 — 17 51 Justin Allgaier (R) HScott Motorsports Chevrolet 28.056 28.133 — 18 14 Tony Stewart Stewart–Haas Racing Chevrolet 28.092 28.136 — 19 33 Brian Scott (R) Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 28.156 28.142 — 20 47 A. J. Allmendinger JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet 28.164 28.150 — 21 27 Paul Menard Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 28.292 28.168 — 22 99 Carl Edwards Roush Fenway Racing Ford 28.247 28.424 — 23 17 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Roush Fenway Racing Ford 28.185 28.540 — 24 16 Greg Biffle Roush Fenway Racing Ford 28.245 29.293 — 25 42 Kyle Larson (R) Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 28.296 — — 26 1 Jamie McMurray Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 28.383 — — 27 24 Jeff Gordon Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 28.470 — — 28 41 Kurt Busch Stewart–Haas Racing Chevrolet 28.488 — — 29 23 Alex Bowman (R) BK Racing Toyota 28.494 — — 30 95 Michael McDowell Leavine Family Racing Ford 28.549 — — 31 26 Cole Whitt (R) BK Racing Toyota 28.554 — — 32 3 Austin Dillon (R) Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 28.562 — — 33 38 David Gilliland Front Row Motorsports Ford 28.612 — — 34 13 Casey Mears Germain Racing Chevrolet 28.642 — — 35 34 David Ragan Front Row Motorsports Ford 28.654 — — 36 83 Ryan Truex (R) BK Racing Toyota 28.659 — — 37 98 Josh Wise Phil Parsons Racing Chevrolet 28.684 — — 38 66 Joe Nemechek Identity Ventures Racing Toyota 28.729 — — 39 7 Michael Annett (R) Tommy Baldwin Racing Chevrolet 28.753 — — 40 40 Landon Cassill Circle Sport Chevrolet 28.791 — — 41 36 Reed Sorenson Tommy Baldwin Racing Chevrolet 28.845 — — 42 31 Ryan Newman Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 28.894 — — 43 32 Blake Koch Go FAS Racing Ford 29.043 — —Did not qualify 44 44 J. J. Yeley Team XTREME Racing Chevrolet 28.714 — — 45 77 Dave Blaney Randy Humphrey Racing Ford 28.855 — —Qualifying Results
Practice (post-qualifying) Second practice Carl Edwards was the fastest in second practice with a time of 28.008 and a speed of .
Pos Driver Team Manufacturer Time 1 99 Carl Edwards Roush Fenway Racing Ford 28.008 192.802 2 47 A. J. Allmendinger JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet 28.069 192.383 3 78 Martin Truex Jr. Furniture Row Racing Chevrolet 28.084 192.280Official second practice results
Final practice Kyle Busch was the fastest in final practice with a time of 28.626 and a speed of in the final practice session. However, he had to start at the back of the field, after crashing during the session, which necessitated a change to a backup car. Joe Gibbs Racing were able to get Busch's backup onto the track for the final 20 minutes of final practice. In his first run Busch radioed that the backup was "not even close to the other one," but by the end the driver was turning competitive laps that would keep him in contention. "We got the backup on the race track, and he ran some decent laps. They were competitive," Jimmy Makar said. "I think it's a good race car, so I think we should be in OK shape there. There were a couple of really fast cars in practice today that you'll have to contend with. But we'll have something he can race with, for sure."
Points leader Jeff Gordon sat out the final practice session due to back spasms. In fact, he only ran 11 laps in the second session before getting out of the car. "It doesn't do me any good to be out there in the car right now especially when the car is as good as it is," Gordon told Fox Sports 1. "It's really about getting prepared for 600 miles. I have no doubts that I can be in this car and be competitive if I take it easy over the next 24 hours." Gordon had a similar problem before the 2009 Coca-Cola 600, where he underwent a facet block procedure a few days before the event. Gordon suffered back spasms Thursday during qualifying. With no track activity Friday, Gordon rested his back but was still in pain Saturday. "I know he'll do everything he can to get in there and go," crew chief Alan Gustafson said about Gordon driving in the race. Nationwide Series championship leader Regan Smith was on standby if Gordon was not able to run the entire race. "We've tested a lot with Regan and have a really good baseline," Gustafson said, noting Smith drove Gordon's car at the NASCAR test at Charlotte in December. "We're real confident knowing what he'll need as far as the car drives."
Pos Driver Team Manufacturer Time 1 18 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 28.626 188.640 2 22 Joey Logano Team Penske Ford 28.683 188.265 3 10 Danica Patrick Stewart–Haas Racing Chevrolet 28.747 187.846Official final practice results
Race
The Coca-Cola 600 was scheduled to start at 6:18 p.m. but started five minutes late with Jimmie Johnson leading the field to the green flag.
Johnson surrendered the lead on lap 48 to make his first stop of the race. Brad Keselowski assumed the lead.
Keselowski ducked onto pit road on lap 49 and the lead cycled back to Johnson. During the cycle, Marcos Ambrose had to serve a pass-through penalty after an uncontrolled tire left his pit box.
Kevin Harvick took the lead on lap 76.
Harvick hit pit road on lap 96 and handed the lead back to Jimmie Johnson.
Johnson stopped the next lap and the lead cycled back to Kevin.
After going caution-free for the first 108 laps, debris in turn 3 brought out the first caution of the race. Kevin Harvick swapped the lead with Jimmie Johnson, with the former being pitted behind the start/finish line, but exited pit road with the lead.
The race restarted on lap 114.
Debris on the backstretch brought out the second caution of the race on lap 148. As it was the previous caution, Harvick swapped the lead with Johnson. Only this time, Jimmie exited with the lead.
The race restarted on lap 154.
The third caution of the race flew on lap 164 when David Gilliland cut down his right-front tire and slammed the wall in turn 1. Brad Keselowski opted not to pit when the leaders did and moved back to the lead.
The race restarted on lap 170.
Kevin Harvick took back the lead on lap 192.