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Brad Keselowski wins the Coca-Cola 600, Jimmie Johnson disqualified after race

A caution with two laps to go cost Chase Elliott the race, and his decision to pit before the restart was certainly controversial.

Kyle Larson, driver of the #42 Advent Health Chevrolet, takes the checkered flag to win the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series All-Star Race at Charlotte Motor Speedway on May 18, 2019 in Charlotte, North Carolina. Photo by Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images

UPDATE: Jimmie Johnson was disqualified after failing a post-race inspection. Johnson had finished second but is dropped to last place. Chase Elliott moves up to second place, and everybody else moves up a spot.

Cup Series director Jay Fabian said that the No. 48 car’s rear alignment failed in the Optical Scanning Station (OSS) portion of technical inspection after Sunday’s race. Johnson and the team were relegated to a last-place finish in the 40-car field.

UPDATE: 12:19 a.m.: The final race order from the Coca-Cola 600.

Coca-Cola 600 Final Order

Finish Driver Car # Team
Finish Driver Car # Team
1 Brad Keselowski 2 Team Penske Ford
2 Jimmie Johnson 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
3 Chase Elliott 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
4 Ryan Blaney 12 Team Penske Ford
5 Kyle Busch 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
6 Kevin Harvick 5 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford
7 Martin Truex Jr. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
8 Kurt Busch 1 Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet
9 Tyler Reddick 8 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet
10 Christopher Bell 95 Leavine Family Racing Toyota
11 Chris Buescher 17 Roush Fenway Racing Ford
12 Erik Jones 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
13 Cole Custer 41 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford
14 Joey Logano 22 Team Penske Ford
15 Austin Dillon 3 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet
16 Aric Almirola 10 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford
17 John Hunter Nemechek 38 Front Row Motorsports Ford
18 Matt DiBenedetto 21 Wood Brothers Racing Ford
19 Michael McDowell 34 Front Row Motorsports Ford
20 Alex Bowman 88 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
21 William Byron 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
22 Ross Chastain 77 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet
23 Ryan Preece 37 JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet
24 Corey LaJoie 32 GO FAS Racing Ford
25 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. 47 JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet
26 Ty Dillon 13 Germain Racing Chevrolet
27 Matt Kenseth 42 Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet
28 Ryan Newman 6 Roush Fenway Racing Ford
29 Daniel Suarez 96 Gaunt Brothers Racing Toyota
30 Denny Hamlin 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
31 Brennan Poole 15 Premium Motorsports Chevrolet
32 Grey Gaulding 27 Rick Ware Racing Chevrolet
33 B.J. McLeod 78 B.J. McLeod Motorsports Chevrolet
34 Garrett Smithley 53 Rick Ware Racing Ford
35 Timmy Hill 66 Motorsports Business Management Toyota
36 Quin Houff 00 StarCom Racing Chevrolet
37 Joey Gase 51 Petty Ware Racing Ford
38 J.J. Yeley 7 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet
39 Bubba Wallace 43 Richard Petty Motorsports Chevrolet
40 Clint Bowyer 14 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford

UPDATE: 12:10 a.m.: And Keselowski wins it! Why did Chase Elliott pit?? With clear air being such a huge part of winning, it seems crazy he gave up that track position. Jimmie Johnson finishes second, and Elliott ends up third.

UPDATE: 12:04 a.m.: And with just two laps to go William Byron, the teammate of Chase Elliott who is leading the race, loses a tire so we’re heading to overtime. Elliott will be in front, with Brad Keselowski, Jimmie Johnson, Martin Truex Jr., and Alex Bowman right behind him.

And Elliott pits! That’s a bit of a shocker. Keselowski will be in the lead here.

UPDATE: 11:32 p.m.: Joey Gase hits the wall on the back stretch, and that brings everyone to the pits with 51 to go. And Jimmie Johnson comes out first with four tires, while Brad Keselowski is right behind him.

UPDATE: 11:00 p.m.: Sliced Bread is delicious for making your Memorial Day sandwich on the grill, and that’s appropriate because Joey Logan just won Stage 3. The #20 will take to the lead for the last 150 laps at the Coca-Cola 600. The rest of the Top 10:

1) Joey Logano
2) Alex Bowman
3) Ryan Blaney
4) Jimmie Johnson
5) Martin Truex Jr.
6) Kyle Busch
7) Erik Jones
8) Brad Keselowski
9) Austin Dillon
10) William Byron

UPDATE: 10:44 p.m.: It’s been a pretty clean race, but on Lap 275 Matt Kenseth hits the wall, and we have our first caution in forever. Truex Jr. comes out of the pits with the lead, and he’ll need to hang on to pick up a Stage 3 win with under 25 to go.

UPDATE: 9:53 p.m.: Alex Bowman picks up his second straight stage, crossing the line three seconds ahead of Martin Truex Jr. The rest of the second stage.

1) Alex Bowman
2) Martin Truex Jr.
3) Kyle Busch
4) William Byron
5) Chase Elliott
6) Erik Jones
7) Joey Logano
8) Austin Dillon
9) Ryan Blaney
10) Jimmie Johnson

UPDATE: 9:20 p.m.: Bubba Wallace has headed to the garage for repairs.

UPDATE 8:50 p.m.: Clint Boyer’s car went into the wall hard and caught fire to set off a caution. He was able to get out safely. He was running 11th at the time, but will drop far back with his race officially over. The first stage finished after that with a finishing order of

1. Bowman
2. Truex
3. Elliott
4. Reddick
5. Logano
6. KyBusch
7. ADillon
8. Johnson
9. Byron
10. KuBusch

UPDATE 8:45 p.m.: Ty Dillon had to go to pit row with a loose wheel after the restart and moved to two laps down, at 37th place when he got going again.

UPDATE 8:05 p.m.: Drivers were called back to their cars to restart at 8:07 p.m. NASCAR expects the track to be dry and ready to race by 8:25 p.m., per Kelly Crandall.

UPDATE 7:10 p.m.: Just after 7 p.m., the rain picked up and the organizers threw the red flag to stop the drivers. They were told to get out of their cars, which suggests a potentially lengthy rain delay in Charlotte. Kurt Busch is the leader at the 50th lap, followed by Martin Truex, Jr., Chase Elliott, Tyler Reddick, and Joe Logano.

UPDATE 6:20 p.m.: Denny Hamlin was sidelined right out of the gate after hitting a piece of weight that came out of another care on turn 1. He was sidelined getting things fixed up and is at least five laps back.

The NASCAR Cup Sieres holds one of its most important races of the year today as the Coca-Cola 600 drops the green flag at Charlotte Motor Speedway. 40 cars will compete to win the longest race on the schedule, with Kevin Harvick the leader in the points standings at 258 entering today’s action.

This is the first of two races at the modern home of NASCAR, as they’ll run again Wednesday night at the same track in the Alsco Uniforms 500. Today’s race order was determined by traditional qualifying runs, while Wednesday’s race will be determined by the finishing order in today’s race. For Wednesday, the top 20 finishers today will be inverted, while the remaining 20 spots will be in order of finish tonight.

Kurt Busch won the pole, and will start on the front row with Jimmie Johnson. Chase Elliott and Matt Kenseth will start in the second row. Joey Gase and Aric Almirola will be in the back row. Almirola claimed the pole a year ago, but was the only driver not to finish the qualifying run today after he spun out with what he believes was a flat tire.

We’ll be updating with notable wrecks and the like tonight, and then have the full finishing order when the checkered flag drops.