HUNTERSVILLE, N.C. — The Coca-Cola 600 is the longest race on the NASCAR Cup Series schedule, with the four-hour-and-then-some marathon at Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway providing added points and poignancy on Sunday of Memorial Day weekend.
It is the lone race broken into four stages, each set at 100 laps, allowing drivers an extra stage to gain valuable bonus points. It is also steeped in tradition, specifically by honoring U.S. military service members who made the ultimate sacrifice.
For Christopher Bell, driver of the No. 20 Interstate Batteries/Semper Fi & America’s Fund Toyota Camry XSE for Joe Gibbs Racing, it is a platform he embraces as both a competitor and a person.
“The Coca-Cola 600 has one of the coolest atmospheres we experience all year,” Bell said. “It feels like a really big event. During pre-race, we remember and honor those who served and didn’t come home, and on our cars we carry the name of a fallen service member. It feels like we’re doing a lot more than just driving racecars. We’re honoring those who have protected our country.”
There are two names on the windshield header of Bell’s white-and-gray arctic-camo Interstate Batteries Toyota: U.S. Army Chief Warrant Officer 2 Nicholas P. DiMona II and his son, U.S. Army Specialist Nicholas P. DiMona III.
The elder DiMona enlisted in the Army in June 1990, and after fulfilling his original service obligation, he re-enlisted in November 1997 and became a helicopter pilot. The Barrington, New Jersey, native deployed to Iraq in January 2003 and flew more than 47 combat hours, earning the Air Medal for his services and bravery. Upon returning from Iraq, DiMona earned the title of Pilot in Command at Fort Stewart, Georgia. Then, on June 22, 2004, DiMona was lost in an aircraft training accident. He was 32.
Nicholas P. DiMona III was five years old when his father passed away. The imagery and heirlooms of his dad’s decorated service career served as inspiration. The younger DiMona left Medford Lakes, New Jersey, to join the Army in July 2017. He completed his initial training at Fort Benning, Georgia, and was then stationed as an infantryman and paratrooper at Fort Greely, Alaska, in April 2018. Sadly, a training accident on March 30, 2019, took the life of the 20-year-old DiMona.
Melissa DiMona, wife of Nicholas P. DiMona II and mother of Nicholas P. DiMona III, will be at Charlotte for the Coca-Cola 600 as a guest of Interstate Batteries.
“I’m just so honored for them because Nick and Nicholas are heroes,” Melissa DiMona said. “Anybody who puts on a uniform and has served or is serving is a hero in my eyes. They never know if they’re going to get a call to arms and leave everything they love, and they don’t know if they’re going to come back. And I just feel that this is a special way to honor them, and I’m so appreciative.”
As part of the overall tribute to honor and remember fallen service members during the Coca-Cola 600, there is a mid-race moment of silence. The entire field comes down pit road and stops. Drivers shut off their engines. After roughly two hours of roaring V8 engines carrying drivers around the 1.5-mile oval at 180-plus mph, the silence brings the gravity of service members’ sacrifice to bear.
“It just hits hard because it’s so unique and different,” said Bell about the mid-race tribute. “Everybody participates, and everybody feels the weight of that moment of silence.”
The silence is inevitably broken when drivers re-fire their racecars and return to the track for the race’s final half.
“It’s definitely noticeable how long the race is,” Bell said. “Stage 1 feels pretty normal. You even feel kind of refreshed after, like you’re ready to go. But after that Stage 2 break, you realize that you’re just halfway into the race.”
Bell won the 2024 Coca-Cola 600, but the victory came with an asterisk. Rain cut the race 151 laps short of its scheduled distance.
“I certainly view the 2024 race as a win, but I would love to win a true 600-mile race,” said Bell, who will compete in his seventh Coca-Cola 600 on Sunday.
“It’s strange. The race feels longer when you’re out front or you don’t have adversity. The races that you have adversity, it makes it go by faster because you’re constantly up against different tasks, whether that’s getting a penalty or having an issue on pit road and having to go to the back of the field. In those instances, you’re thankful for the longer race.”
The 31-year-old racer from Norman, Oklahoma, is most thankful for the opportunity to compete.
“There’s a ton of pride that comes with racing in the Coca-Cola 600,” Bell said. “It’s important from a competitive standpoint, but it’s not just another race. It’s a crown jewel, where we honor and remember those who gave their lives for the freedom we enjoy.”
