The 50th running of the Coca-Cola 600 got off to a great start on Monday afternoon under partly cloudy skies with Ryan Newman and Kyle Busch leading the field to the green. The field was able to complete roughly seventy laps before the rain returned to the Lowe’s Motor Speedway, bringing out the red flag.

The caution flew on Lap 71 for weather in the area and as the crews were completing their pit stops on Lap 72 the heavy showers came. Teams struggled to finish their stops while drivers tried desperately to control the cars as they peeled away from their stalls. The brief shower passed within a matter of minutes, but the damage had already been done.

Starting the race from the pole, Newman opted to begin the event from the outside of the front row. The driver of the No. 39 Army Chevrolet gave the troops something to cheer about as he sped into the lead from the outset. It did not take long for Kyle Busch to challenge Newman for the top-spot. Moving underneath off Turn 4, Busch took control from there.

The first caution of the day came out just seven laps into the race when rain sprinkles began to hit the race track. A number of cars in the middle and rear sections of the field hit pit road for adjustments while the leaders remained on the track.

Following the restart on Lap 11, Kevin Harvick and Sam Hornish Jr. made contact while racing side-by-side down the backstretch. Harvick’s No. 29 Shell/Pennzoil Chevrolet got the brunt of the damage and developed a rub on the right front fender. Only a handful of laps later, Harvick drifted up the track between turns one and two and made contact with the gold-colored walls. The contact brought out the second caution of the afternoon.

After starting from the third-spot, Jeff Gordon’s No. 24 DuPont Chevrolet began to quickly backslide following the restart on Lap 20. Losing spot after spot, Gordon hit the radio on Lap 24 saying, “Big trouble right here boys.”

With Kyle Busch in command of the event, NASCAR threw a competition on Lap 40 so teams could make adjustments. Busch led the field to pit road, with Jimmie Johnson beating everyone off thanks to a two-tire spot.

Johnson led the field to the green on Lap 44, but once again it did not take long for Busch to get back to the lead. Racing on two tires, Johnson backslid and struggled to keep the No. 48 underneath of him.

“We thought two tires would tighten the car up and it was a good time to do it,” Johnson said during the rain delay. “Track position is so important, so we tried it and unfortunately the car was still too loose and we had a couple of big moments.”

As Busch began to pull away from Mark Martin in second, the rains returned to the track to bring out the fourth caution of the day. Robby Gordon, Michael Waltrip and Scott Riggs stayed out while others pit and currently make up the top-3, but expect them to pit once the track drying efforts are complete. Behind them, Kyle Busch, Carl Edwards, David Reutimann, Jamie McMurray, Joey Logano, Kasey Kahne and Juan Pablo Montoya make up the rest of the top-10.

The jet dryers are currently on the track attempting to regain control of the track.

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