Ryan Blaney becomes 38th different Coke 600 winner
With his victory in Monday’s Coca-Cola 600, Ryan Blaney became the 38th different winner of the NASCAR crown-jewel race.
Blaney, who picked up his eighth career win in the NASCAR Cup Series, is the seventh different winner of the race in the last seven years.
“I’m used to disappointment, especially after the last year and a half, and it’s nice to be able to pull one off and have the speed that deserves to win and actually win,” Blaney said. “A handful of times last year, I thought we had plenty of speed to win, and just something happened. That definitely gets tiresome.”
History
The first Coke 600 was held in 1960 at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Joe Lee Johnson, who raced in the Cup series from 1957 to 1962, won the inaugural event.
The first five events saw five different winners. Fred Lorenzon was the first driver in 1965 to win the race on more than one occasion.
Buddy Baker was the first driver to win the race in consecutive seasons (1972 and 1973).
Jimmie Johnson was the first and only driver to win three consecutive Coke 600s (2003-2005).
Darrell Waltrip holds the most Coke 600 wins with five.
Of the 39 Coke 600 winners, only 15 have won it more than once.
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Dominic Aragon View All
Dominic Aragon is currently the editor-in-chief for The Racing Experts.
From Grants, New Mexico, USA, Aragon started watching NASCAR in 2004 and has been covering the sport since 2009. Aragon is a 2012 graduate of Grants High School and a May 2016 graduate of the University of New Mexico with a B.A. in Mass Communications & Journalism. Aragon has worked in local and national media, as a musician, and an educator. He is co-author of the 2024 book "All of It: Daytona 500 Champion Tells the Rest of the Story" with racer Geoff Bodine.
Aragon, his wife Feliz, and son Christopher currently reside in Grants, New Mexico, USA.
You can reach Dominic at daragon@theracingexperts.net.