(Redirected from
Coca Cola 600)
The Coca-Cola 600 (formerly World 600) is a six hundred mile stock car race held annually at Lowe's Motor Speedway (formerly Charlotte Motor Speedway) in Charlotte, North Carolina on Memorial Day weekend. It is the longest NASCAR Nextel Cup (formerly Winston Cup) race and in fact is the longest regularly-scheduled motor race conducted over an oval circuit anywhere in the world.
The event was begun as an attempt by NASCAR to stage a Memorial Day weekend event that would rival the open-wheel Indianapolis 500 in fan interest. In recent years the event has begun in the early evening, with the nighttime portion of the race lit with a system that uses parabolic reflectors so that dangerous glare that would otherwise be in the drivers' eyes is minimized. The move of the race to the early evening has made it possible for drivers to participate in both events by flying from Indianapolis to Charlotte as soon as the Indianapolis race is over. Experts disagree over whether, for health and safety reasons, anyone should be allowed to race 1100 miles in one day, but so far nothing has been done to prevent it, until 2005 when the Indianapolis 500 is moved up to gain higher ratings. Since 2002, the Coca Cola 600 has had higher ratings than the Indianapolis 500.
See also: List of current NASCAR races
Past Winners
Coca-Cola 600
World 600
