Defending Coca-Cola 600 Winner Ross Chastain Visits Arlington National Cemetery, Lays Wreath at Tomb of the Unknown Soldier

Continuing its annual tradition for the defending Coca-Cola 600 race winner, Charlotte Motor Speedway hosted Trackhouse Racing driver Ross Chastain, team owner Justin Marks and a group of Coca-Cola partners and supporters to kick off Military Appreciation Month with a visit to Arlington National Cemetery on Wednesday. Arlington National Cemetery is the final resting place for more than 400,000 servicemen and women and their families from every major United States conflict since the Revolutionary War.

As a prelude to the historic 67th running of the Coca-Cola 600 on Memorial Day weekend, Chastain joined Charlotte Motor Speedway President and General Manager Greg Walter in laying a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.

“Coming up here I was very selfish (thinking) ‘we won the race; we get to come do this. After experiencing this, I realized this is not about me,” Chastain said following his visit. “This is about so many that paid the ultimate sacrifice. They paid the ultimate sacrifice and they lost who they were for us. We don’t know who is in there. It’s a much bigger picture on what that race (the Coca-Cola 600) is and what I didn’t grasp before. I know we’re very patriotic in what we do on the weekend, but seeing this brings a whole different meaning now."

In addition to the wreath-laying, the group visited the gravesite of astronauts killed in the U.S. Challenger explosion, met members of the 3d U.S. Infantry Regiment, known as The Old Guard, and witnessed a changing-of-the-guard ceremony. At the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, members of The Old Guard stand watch 24 hours a day, a tradition that began in 1948. Following the visit to Arlington National Cemetery, several dignitaries visited the White House for lunch and a tour, while others visited the U.S. Capitol.

“When you come to a place like this, you really get perspective,” Marks said of his time at Arlington National Cemetery. “It’s humbling… This is the reason why we get to do what we do. This is why we get to have NASCAR and a Coca-Cola 600, race car drivers and race teams. Sometimes in the sport you get so focused on the details, so bogged down in that last tenth of a second or your whole life can revolve around some small thing that has to do with a race car. Then you come to Washington, DC – to Arlington – and you look around and go ‘this is how and why we get to be able to pursue our passions to make race cars go fast.’ It’s just a great moment of perspective.”

Each Memorial Day weekend, Charlotte Motor Speedway honors all of the men and women who paid the ultimate sacrifice during a moving Coca-Cola 600 pre-race show that includes representation from all six branches of the military. In addition to aerial and ground demonstrations, the pre-race salute features hundreds of members of the U.S. Armed Forces and Gold Star Families.

“Memorial Day is kind of viewed by Americans as the threshold to summer. It’s kind of that beginning stage where summer’s here and we get to have fun. For those who’ve served in the military – and what we’ve come to realize at Charlotte Motor Speedway – it’s a very somber day to remember a fallen comrade, a fallen friend or family member. Memorial Day represents something different. We try to honor that with the Coca-Cola 600.”

In recent years, the speedway’s salute has expanded to include Mission 600, a campaign pairing NASCAR drivers with regional military bases designed to educate the NASCAR community about the day-to-day lives of the men and women who serve in the U.S. Armed Forces. Already in 2026, on behalf of the Coca-Cola Racing Family of drivers, Chase Elliott visited Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort to train alongside members of the 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing’s Marine Aircraft Group (MAG) 31, Marine Fighter Attack Training Squadron (VMFAT) 501 and Marine Fighter Attack Squadron (VMFA) 533.  Additional Mission 600 visits in the coming weeks leading up to the May 24 Coca-Cola 600 are scheduled to include Coca-Cola Racing Family driver Austin Dillon traveling to Fort Bragg and Daniel Suarez visiting Seymour Johnson Air Force Base.

TICKETS:

Tickets are still available for the May 22-24 Coca-Cola 600 weekend. Children ages 12 and under are just $10 all weekend. Fans can purchase tickets online at www.charlottemotorspeedway.com or by calling the ticket office at 1-800-455-FANS (3267). Tickets include admission to concerts by tribute band Hairball (Friday) and 38 Special (Saturday). Sunday’s pre-race infield concert by Brad Paisley is free with purchase of a Coca-Cola 600 race ticket.