The Coca-Cola 600. Wow. We are already here. This is what I call the turning point in the season. When drivers who started slow begin to pick up speed. And show how good they really are. And this so happens to be the longest race of the season. 600 long miles of driving. It usually takes about four hours to complete this race. Man, that is a long time.

Many names are good at Charlotte, but the undeniable king of this track is Jimmie Johnson. With seven wins here, he is the all-time winningest driver at Charlotte. However, all three of his teammates have had their share of speed here. Kasey Kahne has won the 600 multiple times. Jeff Gordon claimed his first series win in this race. And Dale Earnhardt Jr. has been close to a win here before. So all in all the Hendrick quartet is without a doubt the best team out there. However, in this past weekend’s All-Star Race none of these drivers were much of a threat. Could they have lost their edge?

If they have than it should be clear sailing for Kevin Harvick and Kurt Busch. These two teammates have been the dominate drivers all year, and this past weekend they were the best on track. If they can just avoid mistakes and little problems one of them will most likely win. Their teammates Danica Patrick and Tony Stewart have both had some speed here in recent races, so watch for the two of them to possibly claim a top-ten finish.

One driver who deserves more attention than he gets is Jamie McMurray. McMurray has had amazing speed over the past several weeks, and if he can get all the pieces of his team functioning properly he could claim a win. And the same goes for teammate Kyle Larson. Larson has had speed, but little mistakes have proved costly.

Last weekend the Joe Gibbs Racing teams drove with speed they haven’t had for over a year. All four teams performed well, and Denny Hamlin won the race. And on top of that Kyle Busch was making his first start since breaking his leg. And he finished sixth. That’s pretty impressive. Should one of these four be in the right place at the right time they could claim the win.

Last and quite possibly least of the possibly successful teams is Roush-Fenway Racing. They have had some success at Charlotte, but they are very inconsistent. However, after the awful past year or so, little rays of light have been seen for this team. They desperately need a win, for the moral of the team as much as the Chase outlook. None of them are even in the Chase as of now. Ouch. As Greg Biffle said, it almost seems like this team is dying a slow death.

Kevin Harvick seems to be the driver to beat, but circumstances never seem to fall his way. Should Harvick falter, any of the named drivers could take advantage of his misfortune. Like Jimmie Johnson did last year. However, in the Fall race last year Harvick managed to win, so he may have everything figured out. Only time shall tell.