Formerly known as the World 600, the Coca-Cola 600 is a six hundred mile stock car race held annually at the Lowe's Motor Speedway in Charlotte, North Carolina on Memorial Day weekend. Originally, the event began as an attempt by NASCAR to rival the Indianapolis 500 in fan interest on the holiday weekend. The Coca-Cola 600 has obtained that goal by gaining larger TV ratings throughout several years and is now considered one of the top ten annual NASCAR races.

In earlier years, fans complained of the sweltering North Carolina heat and humidity when the Coca-Cola 600 was held earlier in the day. In order to create cooler temperatures for spectators, the race was moved to 5:30 p.m. in an attempt to have the race finished by 10 p.m., just in time for the local news. Drivers can now participate in both the 600 and Indianapolis 500 by flying from Indianapolis to Charlotte as soon as the Indy 500 is over. There has been some disagreement on whether anyone, for health and safety reasons, should be allowed to race 1,100 miles in one day. So far, no regulation has passed preventing it.

Last year, Kasey Kahne, a twenty-six year old driver representing Dodge, won the popular Coca-Cola 600 race. Kasey took the lead of the track with only twenty-nine laps to go and pulled out such a huge lead, that fellow racer, Jimmie Johnson never had the chance to catch up to him. Johnson, who had won the event in the previous three consecutive years, came in 2 nd place, just a few seconds behind Kahne. Recipient of the NASCAR Nextel's Cup "Rookie of the Year" award, Kahne had an impressive five second-place finishes and thirteen top-five finishes during the first year of his racing career.

Today, the Coca-Cola 600 has become the longest NASCAR Nextel Cup Series race, since it is the longest regularly-scheduled automobile race conducted on an oval track anywhere in the world. This year's event will prove to be an intense event as Kasey Kahne and Jimmie Johnson heat up the track for the number one spot once more.