Ross Chastain Charges from Last to First For Crown Jewel Win in Coca-Cola 600

From worst to first.

Ross Chastain won the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway Saturday night in dramatic fashion, leading just the final six laps of the NASCAR Cup Series season's longest race.

Race Results: NASCAR Cup Series Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte

Chastain's victory capped off a weekend full of twists and turns, starting with practice on Saturday. Chastain crashed the No. 1 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet, missing qualifying and sending the team to a backup car.

That didn't deter the Florida driver and his team, putting themselves in position late in the race. Chastain passed Denny Hamlin for second, then chase down Byron for the lead.

A fueling issue on what was expected to be his final pit stop brought Hamlin back to pit road in the closing laps. As Chastain closed on Byron, both drivers negotiated lapped traffic including Hamlin and Joey Logano. On lap 395, Chastain dove to the inside of Byron entering turn one and claimed the lead, completing the comeback for the biggest win of his career.

The drive through the field in a backup car may have seemed impossible, but Chastain never lost faith entering Sunday's race.

"I went over, sat in this car for the first time, it was about 10 o'clock when I left," said Chastain after the win. "They worked until 2:30, they were back at 5:30 this morning. Most of them drive 30, 45 minutes home. A little shower, I think, I don't even know if they slept, back there at 5:30 to get this thing ready. That's the dedication that it takes at Trackhouse."

The Coca-Cola 600 is always a special event on the NASCAR calendar, but also an opportunity to remember those who served. Chastain honored U.S. Army Specialist Kevin M. McCrea in Sunday's race, and was grateful to have his family on hand to celebrate.

"He was riding with me, Mr. McCrea," Chastain said. "His family's here, Allie, his mom, sister, brother, that's what this weekend's all about. To think about and remember the ones that sacrificed so much for us.

"The McCrea family told me to be a sponge. That was something that their dad told them a lot. I've got to tell you, I didn't feel much like a sponge tonight, I was rattling around out there. To drive on that final run in the World 600 and pass two cars that had been way better all night.

While Chastain's fresher tires proved crucial in the final laps, he acknowledged the strategy move was not by design.

"[Crew chief] Phil Surgen wanted me to pit two laps earlier. I went two laps longer just out of a little bit of confusion, but man, that paid off. These Goodyear Eagles held on longer because they were just a little bit fresher.

"Holy cow, we just won the World 600."

While Chastain celebrated his marquee win, Byron was left wondering what might have been. The Charlotte native led 283 of the race's 400 laps, but came up one spot short in the final running order.

"I was just defending," said Byron. "I mean, he was catching me and I was trying to just defend. I was getting a little bit tight. The scenario there with the cars we were around, it was tough. He got around me. He was able to get to the bottom and clear me off of two.

"Disappointing, just to lead that many laps. Such a great effort by our whole team. Yeah, I guess I could have anticipated that last round just a little better. I ran in dirty air for a long time and heated my tires up. Then we lost a chunk of time when the 45 [of Tyler Reddick] about crashed in front of us.

"We'll just keep going and keep trying to put races together like that."

Meanwhile, Hamlin finished 16th after leading 53 laps and battling with Byron throughout the final stage due to the refueling issue.

"You can't change the results," said Hamlin. "You've got to live with it. They're the pros. I'm not a pit guy. I tried to do everything I could for the National Debt Toyota team. We had a great car. It was fun battling up front. It was a heck of a battle up there. I would have liked to have seen it through, but, unfortunately, just didn't get enough gas in it and had to come back in."

Chase Briscoe finished third, with A.J. Allmendinger and Brad Keselowski rounding out the top five.

Kyle Larson's bid at The Double had already run into disappointment after an incident 92 laps into the Indianapolis 500. Larson spun from the lead during the Coca-Cola 600 on lap 43, then was later involved in a multi-car incident on lap 246 and finished 37th.

The NASCAR Cup Series returns to action next Sunday, June 1 at Nashville Superspeedway. The Cracker Barrel 400 takes the green flag at 7 p.m. ET, with coverage from Prime Video, the Performance Racing Network and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

-Photo credit: Jared C. Tilton, Getty Images