NASCAR Results Today: Wrecks and cautions dominate first stage at Charlotte after Kyle Busch tribute

A generic image of a NASCAR race at Charlotte Motor Speedway — Photo: © IMAGO

NASCAR Cup Series at Charlotte

NASCAR Results Today: Wrecks and cautions dominate first stage at Charlotte after Kyle Busch tribute

Full NASCAR Cup Series stage and race results from Watkins Glen, including points

Chris Deeley

Monday 25 May 2026 00:51

A crazy scramble for stage points ended the first section of Sunday's Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte, Kyle Larson taking the green and white checkered flag ahead of Chase Briscoe, Tyler Reddick, and Denny Hamlin.

Those four were separated by barely half a second at the flag, after a short run to the finish following the race's third(!) Stage 1 caution.

Zane Smith was the story of the first stage, taking two tires under caution with some 40 laps to run in Stage 1 and extending out into the lead, leading more laps than he has in total since the start of the 2024 season – but he was denied stage points when Chase Elliott wrecked by himself to bring out that final caution.

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Earlier, Austin Cindric wrecked hard into the outside wall halfway through the first stage, tapping William Byron on his way back down the track before being collected at high speed by the No. 88 of Connor Zilisch. Byron got out of the incident without too much damage, but the hard contact ended Cindric and Zilisch's days.

The race start followed a series of touching and emotional tributes to Kyle Busch after his tragic passing this week, with the field running the pace laps in a missing man formation in the NASCAR great's honor.

Who won the NASCAR Cup Series race at Charlotte today?

Here are the early stage results from the Coca-Cola 600 from Charlotte on Sunday.

Stage One Results

**NASCAR Cup Series at Charlotte Stage Results**
Pos	Driver (Car No.)	Team (OEM)	Points
1	Kyle Larson (5)	Hendrick Motorsports (Chevrolet)	10
2	Chase Briscoe (19)	Joe Gibbs Racing (Toyota)	9
3	Tyler Reddick (45)	23XI Racing (Toyota)	8
4	Denny Hamlin (11)	Joe Gibbs Racing (Toyota)	7
5	Erik Jones (43)	Legacy Motor Club (Toyota)	6
6	Ryan Blaney (12)	Team Penske (Ford)	5
7	Ty Gibbs (54)	Joe Gibbs Racing (Toyota)	4
8	Ryan Preece (60)	RFK Racing (Ford)	3
9	Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (47)	HYAK Motorsports (Chevrolet)	2
10	Shane Van Gisbergen (97)	Trackhouse Racing (Chevrolet)	1
11	Joey Logano (22)	Team Penske (Ford)	0
12	Daniel Suarez (7)	Spire Motorsports (Chevrolet)	0
13	Austin Dillon (3)	R. Childress Racing (Chevrolet)	0
14	Brad Keselowski (6)	RFK Racing (Ford)	0
15	Chris Buescher (17)	RFK Racing (Ford)	0
16	William Byron (24)	Hendrick Motorsports (Chevrolet)	0
17	Josh Berry (21)	Wood Brothers Racing (Ford)	0
18	AJ Allmendinger (16)	Kaulig Racing (Chevrolet)	0
19	Riley Herbst (35)	23XI Racing (Toyota)	0
20	Austin Hill (33)	R. Childress Racing (Chevrolet)	0
21	Corey Heim (67)	23XI Racing (Toyota)	0
22	Zane Smith (38)	Front Row Motorsports (Ford)	0
23	Todd Gilliland (34)	Front Row Motorsports (Ford)	0
24	Noah Gragson (4)	Front Row Motorsports (Ford)	0
25	Alex Bowman (48)	Hendrick Motorsports (Chevrolet)	0
26	Ty Dillon (10)	Kaulig Racing (Chevrolet)	0
27	Cole Custer (41)	Haas Factory Team (Chevrolet)	0
28	Michael McDowell (71)	Spire Motorsports (Chevrolet)	0
29	John Hunter Nemechek (42)	Legacy Motor Club (Toyota)	0
30	Cody Ware (51)	Rick Ware Racing (Ford)	0
31	Christopher Bell (20)	Joe Gibbs Racing (Toyota)	0
32	Bubba Wallace (23)	23XI Racing (Toyota)	0
33	Ross Chastain (1)	Trackhouse Racing (Chevrolet)	0
34	Carson Hocevar (77)	Spire Motorsports (Chevrolet)	0
35	Katherine Legge (78)	Live Fast Motorsports (Chevrolet)	0
36	Timmy Hill (66)	Garage 66 (Ford)	0
37	Chase Elliott (9)	Hendrick Motorsports (Chevrolet)	0
38	Austin Cindric (2)	Team Penske (Ford)	0
39	Connor Zilisch (88)	Trackhouse Racing (Chevrolet)	0