Open Race Thread: NASCAR Sprint Cup Coca-Cola 600 | Charlotte Motor Speedway

If you’re around to read this then that means you’ve survived the F1 race in Monaco and the Indy 500. Ready for another 600 miles? I am.

This is the one racing weekend I look forward to every year. It is also the one that my wife doesn’t look forward to, nothing gets done around the house on the Coca Cola 600 race day - I think that is why she decided to work today.

As I sit here writing this I have the Indy 500 pre-race show and I can’t help but notice that even NASCAR has worked its way into ABC’s broadcast. They just did a five minute segment on the new Go Daddy Indy driver James Hinchcliffe (aka Hinch) and couldn’t help but talk about Danica Patrick - they even included her in a promo showing her leaning against her NASCAR Go Daddy ride poking fun at Hinch. I am left wondering if this was really a paid advertisement by Go Daddy disguised as a broadcast vignette?

Who is going to win the 600 today? Hmm ... good question. I could tell you who I’d like to see win the race today more easily than picking the winner, but if I must choose I’d have to go with the 48 car of Jimmie Johnson followed closely by Tony Stewart (yes, I do believe he will be there at the end) and Carl Edwards.

Before we move onto the starting line-up let us not forget why we are able to sit back and enjoy such a great racing long weekend each year. If it were not for those brave men and women who paid the ultimate sacrifice in protecting the right of democracy we wouldn’t have the freedoms we do. My family thanks them and their families.

Starting line-up is after the jump, see you on the other side.