4 drivers to watch at the Coca-Cola 600

It's a crown jewel weekend for NASCAR as the Cup Series takes on the longest race of the season, the Coca-Cola 600.

Last year's edition was the longest race in NASCAR history. Thanks to an overtime finish, the final distance was a whopping 619.5 miles with a run time clocking in at over 5 hours and 13 minutes.

Coming out on top in a race like the Coke 600 is far from easy. Just look at the eight drivers entering Sunday's event that have won it before.

That list features future Hall of Famers, series champions, and some of the most experienced drivers in the field.

Thanks to stage racing, the possibility of stealing a Coke 600 victory on a fuel strategy has mostly been eliminated. It's up to the drivers to survive all 400 laps to be in contention at the finish.

Here are four drivers that could do exactly that on Sunday at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

Denny Hamlin

The defending winner of the Coke 600, all signs suggest Denny Hamlin will be in the hunt to add another crown-jewel win to his resume.

Hamlin was victorious at Kansas, the last time the Cup Series went to a 1.5-mile track. Putting aside his controversial last-lap pass for the win on Kyle Larson, Hamlin was clearly the quicker of the two during the closing stages of the race.

The No. 11 Joe Gibbs Toyota has been fast, but it's Hamlin's consistency that makes him such a prime contender Sunday. He's the only driver in the Cup Series that has finished on the lead lap in all 13 races this season.

Hamlin led only 15 laps in his winning effort at the 2022 Coca-Cola 600. Six drivers led more laps than him during the race. But nobody spent more time in the top 15 than Hamlin - an impressive 96.4% of the race. He kept it clean and capitalized at the end.

Last year's race had a staggering 18 cautions - the most in a Coca-Cola 600 since 2005. Capturing the checkered flag on Sunday will be as much about simply being present at the finish as it will be about pure speed.

No driver has combined the two elements as well in 2023 as Hamlin, which puts him among the favorites.

Ross Chastain

Ross Chastain has earned his reputation as an aggressive driver. He's been involved in a lot of on-track incidents over the past year-and-a-half, and he's often been the root cause.

Despite this, Chastain is almost always in the mix at the end of the race. He's completed the fourth-most laps in the Cup Series this season after being eighth in the statistic last year.

Chastain was the dominant statistical driver of the 2022 Coke 600. He led the most laps (153) and had the highest average running position (4.4). He was in third place prior to the penultimate caution before he crashed out when looking to complete a three-wide pass for the lead on the ensuing restart.

Surprisingly, Trackhouse is still looking for its first win at a traditional 1.5-mile oval. Capturing a crown jewel and the longest race of the season would be quite a way to check that box, and Chastain has a legitimate chance to do so this weekend.

Kyle Larson

When isn't Kyle Larson competitive?

Larson's showed tons of speed over the past month. He was half a lap away from winning at Kansas, he looked destined for victory lane at Darlington until a dust-up with Chastain, and he obliterated the field at North Wilkesboro in the All-Star Race.

Not only does Larson already have a Coke 600 win on his resume, he nearly went back-to-back. The No. 5 Hendrick Chevrolet was leading last year when Chase Briscoe spun from second place with two laps remaining.

All the momentum is in Larson's favor. He's been bad fast for multiple weeks across numerous track types. He dominated the 400-lap race in 2021 and nearly won it again in 2022. At this point, it's a shock when Larson isn't in the mix for the win.

Bubba Wallace

Bubba Wallace is quietly becoming a week-in, week-out contender.

The No. 23 Toyota has finished top five in three consecutive races. Wallace ran fourth at Kansas, fifth at Darlington after qualifying second, and was the runner-up to Larson in the All-Star Race at North Wilkesboro.

That's three completely different tracks where Wallace consistently ran at the front - no small feat for a driver who only had two top-10 finishes in 2023 prior to this streak.

Wallace has raced his way into a playoff spot on points, but with a slew of road-course races before the postseason, he needs a win to feel his position in the standings is truly secure.

23XI has had speed on the 1.5-mile tracks again, as Wallace has finished top five in both races on the track type this season. He was quick at the 2022 Coca-Cola 600, too, running third in the early going.

Considering 23XI's recent run of form and its history of speed on intermediate tracks, Wallace will very likely have a fast car Sunday. He's only finished on the lead lap once in the Coke 600 and never in the top 10. Should he avoid getting caught up in someone else's mistake, Sunday will be a litmus test for Wallace and the 23XI crew.

(Statistics source: FRCS, Racing Reference)