Big gamble from Daniel Suárez pays off with NASCAR Coca-Cola 600 win in Charlotte
Daniel Suárez made a move that would’ve made his mentor proud.
And it won the race for him.
The driver of the No. 7 car won the rain-shortened Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway on Sunday, and he did so thanks to the kind of shrewd move that would’ve made the late Kyle Busch — and one of Suarez’s confidants throughout his career — smile.
The move: With about 50 laps to go, Suarez was running 13th when he and the rest of the NASCAR Cup field faced a decision on a late-race caution. Suarez opted to take two tires, leapfrogging everyone on the restart and starting the next restart in P1.
Then, less than two laps later, the rain came. Caution.
The rain relented for a moment. And Suarez held on to a tough restart.
Then the rain started again.
One last time, the field restarted. Suarez held on again.
Then it poured. Suarez never relinquished his lead, winning on Lap 373 of what was supposed to be a 400-lap race.
This marks the Front Row Motorsports driver’s first win of the 2026 season — his first Cup win since February 2024. It also marks the first time in NASCAR history when all three national series races were shortened by inclement weather; the Truck Series and the O’Reilly Series race were both postponed by the deluge of rain this weekend.
When the race became official, with Suarez on pit road, the driver burst into tears. He discarded his helmet, took his Busch-stylized No. 8 hat — and pointed it up to the sky.
Truck race conclusion — finally
The NASCAR Truck Series race, which officials had been trying to complete since Friday, ran on Sunday morning starting at 10 a.m. Layne Riggs won — and in celebration, he bowed with the checkered flag in his hand and pointed up to the sky, a beautiful tribute to the late legend Kyle Busch, who death earlier this week shook the sport and the nation. (Ross Chastain, who won the O’Reilly race Saturday night, also bowed to the crowd after doing so. It will be a major upset if the Coke 600 winner doesn’t bow.)
Also of note: Corey Day, who replaced Busch in the No. 7 truck, got into a scary crash in which the back section of his truck briefly went airborne, but he appeared to be OK after the race.
Attempt at ‘The Double’ fails
A chance at something really cool fell short Sunday. Katherine Legge — who was attempting to complete “The Double,” aka running all 1,100 miles in the Indy 500 and the Coke 600 — crashed out of the Indy 500 in the 18th lap of the race.
Rough turn of events; very similar to what Kyle Larson had to endure last year, when he attempted the same feat. She was fine, however, and should be able to make it to Charlotte to start the Coke 600. She started 37th Sunday and finished 31st, 12 laps down.
This story was originally published May 24, 2026 at 3:00 PM with the headline "Big gamble from Daniel Suárez pays off with NASCAR Coca-Cola 600 win in Charlotte."
