{"id":621,"date":"2026-05-25T10:06:17","date_gmt":"2026-05-25T10:06:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/charlotterelocationguide.com\/?p=621"},"modified":"2026-05-25T10:06:17","modified_gmt":"2026-05-25T10:06:17","slug":"nascar-teammates-battled-each-other-instead-of-leader-squander-coke-600-win","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/charlotterelocationguide.com\/?p=621","title":{"rendered":"NASCAR teammates \u2018battled each other\u2019 instead of leader, squander Coke 600 win"},"content":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s true that Daniel Su\u00e1rez seized his own fate<\/a> with a gutsy pit-lane decision and deserved to win the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway.<\/p>\n

Read more NC high school regional, state final sites, times announced for spring sports<\/a><\/p>\n

What\u2019s also true?<\/p>\n

Denny Hamlin and Christopher Bell did him a favor or two.<\/p>\n

At least, that\u2019s what the two Joe Gibbs Racing teammates told reporters after the race Sunday \u2014 a race that was truncated by weather and left the two of them wondering \u201cwhat could\u2019ve been.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThose last few restarts, we could really get some speed going,\u201d Hamlin said. \u201cIt was just a matter of who could clear between me and the 20 (Bell). And we couldn\u2019t clear each other. And we were just buying the 7 (Su\u00e1rez) extra time. Just<\/i> enough time. Because every time. … Every time I was getting next to the 7, caution came out.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hamlin shed a wry smile.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was really unfortunate,\u201d he said. \u201cIt rained. Nothing you can do about it.\u201d<\/p>\n

To take you into those decisive laps:<\/p>\n

With a little more than 50 laps to go, NASCAR called a caution. Lightning hold. That\u2019s a 30-minute delay, right? Not Sunday, with NASCAR\u2019s on-site meteorologist reporting that the lightning storm was far enough from the racetrack and moving away. So with the lightning hold lifted, the field filed down pit lane. Su\u00e1rez was running 13th, but his crew chief Ryan Sparks opted to take two tires instead of four. That launched him to P1.<\/p>\n

From there, two restarts would come. The first featured Hamlin and Bell bumping doors. The second featured Su\u00e1rez racing his butt off<\/a>, pushing Bell up the racetrack, holding off Hamlin on the inside.<\/p>\n

After the second restart, a massive deluge arrived. And NASCAR called it from there.<\/p>\n

Cup team owner Joe Gibbs trudged to P2 and P3 and convened an animated meeting between Hamlin and Bell.<\/p>\n

Read more Marine Corps warns public to stay away from Browns Island ahead of holiday weekend<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cI knew that it was going to come down to keeping him pinned on the restart, not letting him clear me for the lead. And he cleared me,\u201d Bell said.<\/p>\n

From there, in the short run, it would be hard to clear with Su\u00e1rez \u201cblocking like hell.\u201d If the rain held off, the two Toyotas had the equipment (and the tire advantage) to handle Su\u00e1rez. But that\u2019s not how it went.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m bummed that the restarts played out the way that they did,\u201d Bell said. \u201cIt just seemed like we couldn\u2019t get going. The outside row, the 7 and the 5 (Kyle Larson) got going a lot better than me and Denny did.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hamlin more or less corroborated that story.<\/p>\n

\u201cEvery time he got a run on the 7, the 7 was kind of running him up trying to defend, and that allowed me to get big runs on the 20,\u201d Hamlin said. \u201cWhich was also bad for us.<\/p>\n

\u201cInstead of battling the 7, we were battling each other.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hamlin will still take a P3 finish, no doubt. He\u2019s still second in points behind Tyler Reddick, who in 13 starts has five wins. Bell certainly will take the P2 finish, too. The driver for the No. 20 car is now eighth in the points standings \u2014 a refreshing day after only notching four Top 10s in the previous 12 points races.<\/p>\n

Still, it wasn\u2019t their day. The day belonged to Su\u00e1rez, the longtime friend and mentee of Kyle Busch<\/a>, the all-time great NASCAR driver who died tragically and suddenly earlier this week<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Read more Kyle Busch\u2019s Wife Samantha Breaks Down in Tears Ahead of Moment of Silence<\/a><\/p>\n

In fact, if you ask him, it hasn\u2019t been Bell\u2019s year.<\/i><\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s 2026, man,\u201d Bell said. \u201cNothing\u2019s gone right for us so far.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

NASCAR teammates Christopher Bell and Denny Hamlin can\u2019t work together to defeat Daniel Suarez at Coca-Cola 600. How they squandered late chance at Charlotte.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":620,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-621","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-read-todays-edition"],"yoast_head":"\nNASCAR teammates \u2018battled each other\u2019 instead of leader, squander Coke 600 win - \u0421harlotte Relocation Guide<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/charlotterelocationguide.com\/?p=621\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"NASCAR teammates \u2018battled each other\u2019 instead of leader, squander Coke 600 win - \u0421harlotte Relocation Guide\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"NASCAR teammates Christopher Bell and Denny Hamlin can\u2019t work together to defeat Daniel Suarez at Coca-Cola 600. 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