Ross Chastain goes from worst to 1st to win NASCAR's Coca-Cola 600

CONCORD, N.C. (AP) — Ross Chastain stood on top of his No. 1 Chevrolet in his white fire suit and held a watermelon above his head as the crowd at the Charlotte Motor Speedway roared with delight in anticipation.

Then, with sense of ferocity, Chastain slammed it to the track, smashing it to pieces.

Chastain began smashing watermelon as a way to uniquely honor his family’s legacy as eighth-generation watermelon farmers. The tradition began after his first NASCAR Cup Series race and has continued after every win as his own unique way to celebrate his strong ties to watermelon farming.

But this win was extra special, his first at crown jewel event.

“This thing is fresh from Florida,” Chastain said with a laugh. “It just came up from our family farm. Man, for the Florida watermelon industry, that’s your watermelons you’re getting right now, so y’all better go buy a dang watermelon to celebrate. I want to see videos of smashed watermelons flood the socials. I want to see it. Florida watermelons are in season."

Chastain passed two-time Daytona 500 winner William Byron with six laps left and won the Coca-Cola 600 on Sunday night at Charlotte Motor Speedway, capping a remarkable comeback and becoming the first driver to win the event after starting at the back of the field.

NASCAR said he’s the first driver to win from an official starting position of last since Bobby Allison at the Richmond Fairgrounds in 1969.

William Byron won the first three stages and led 283 laps, but surrendered the lead to Chastain, who started in 40th place and led just eight laps in his first NASCAR Cup Series victory of the year.

It was a huge boost to Trackhouse Racing, and a bitter disappointment for Byron, the Charlotte native who had signed a four-year contract extension Friday with Hendrick Motorsports. Byron has finished in the top three in the last three Coca-Cola 600s without winning.

Chastain said his crew stayed up all night to build him another car after a crash in practice on Saturday.

“To drive on that final run in the 600 and pass two cars that had been better than me all night, wow,” said Chastain, who celebrated by standing on his car and slamming a watermelon down on the track as has become his tradition following a victory. “Holy cow! We just won the 600.”

Chastain said the plan was the fix the original car after the wreck, but NASCAR intervened. It might have been a good thing they did.

“We thought we were going to have to fix the primary and NASCAR said, no, there is something bent (so) go build another one,” Chastain said. “That’s how we did that.”

Chastain's crew chief, Phil Surgen, said it was “deflating” when a tire went down and Chastain crashed during practice because their original car had been running so well, finishing fastest among the field in 10-, 15- and 20-lap averages

But he said more than 30 employees came into the nearby race shop to work on the car, with nearly a dozen staying until 2:30 a.m. to get it ready to race. The car they used was slated to be a backup car at the Nashville race, but didn't have an engine and needed several other additions.

“This group of guys I have got is relentless and no doubt everybody was going to give it their best," Surgen said. “Guys were at concerts and ballgames and dropped what they were doing to come in and help.”

Trackhouse Racing owner Justin Marks called it a “master class” effort by the team.

Byron left the track disappointed over his inability to maintain the lead.

“He was catching me and I was trying to defend and I was getting a little tight,” Byron said. “He got a run on me and was able to get to the bottom of the track off of two. It’s disappointing to lead that many laps."

Byron became the first driver to sweep the first three stages at NASCAR's longest race, but found himself in a battle with Denny Hamlin the final 100 laps. They exchanged lead a few times before both drivers pitted with 52 laps for one final fill up on gas.

But Hamlin didn't get enough fuel in his car and would have to pit again, falling out of contention. He would finish 16th.

Chastain, running in a backup car, ran down Byron for his sixth Cup Series win and first crown jewel victory.

Pole-sitter Chase Briscoe finished third.

Kyle Larson's day ended the way it started at the Indianapolis 500 — with a wreck.

Larson arrived at Charlotte Motor Speedway via helicopter more than an hour ahead of the start of the race after crashing out at the Indianapolis 500 in his failed second attempt to complete "The Double.”

In North Carolina, he started on the front row and ran out to the early lead before hitting the wall in Turn 3 on Lap 38.

A few laps later his car got loose, sending him spinning across the front straightaway and bringing out the race's first caution flag. But Larson was able to regain control and prevent further damage to his No. 5 Chevrolet before heading to the pits for adjustments that forced him to the back of the field.

But Larson got caught up in a wreck involving Ryan Blaney, Chase Briscoe and Daniel Suarez, sending him behind the wall. He finished 37th.

Jimmie Johnson's bid for a record-tying fifth Coca-Cola 600 victory ended early in the second stage when he hit the wall in Turn 4, causing severe damage to his No. 84 Toyota and knocking him out of the race. The seven-time Cup Series champion finished last.

“I made a rookie mistake,” Johnson said, who was making his 700th career Cup Series start. “The traffic situations are different with this car and I reacted in a way I shouldn't have.”

Keeping with tradition, drivers pulled their cars down pit road to a complete stop for a moment of silence as part of the Memorial Day weekend tribute to “honor and remember” those service members who've lost their lives.

AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing

Ross Chastain celebrates in Victory Lane after winning a NASCAR Cup Series auto race at Charlotte Motor Speedway, Sunday, May 25, 2025, in Concord, N.C. (AP Photo/Matt Kelley)

Ross Chastain does a burnout after winning a NASCAR Cup Series auto race at Charlotte Motor Speedway, Sunday, May 25, 2025, in Concord, N.C. (AP Photo/Matt Kelley)

Ross Chastain celebrates in Victory Lane after winning a NASCAR Cup Series auto race at Charlotte Motor Speedway, Sunday, May 25, 2025, in Concord, N.C. (AP Photo/Matt Kelley)

Ross Chastain celebrates in Victory Lane after winning a NASCAR Cup Series auto race at Charlotte Motor Speedway, Sunday, May 25, 2025, in Concord, N.C. (AP Photo/Matt Kelley)

Ross Chastain celebrates in Victory Lane after winning a NASCAR Cup Series auto race at Charlotte Motor Speedway, Sunday, May 25, 2025, in Concord, N.C. (AP Photo/Matt Kelley)

Ross Chastain, front, climbs out of his car in Victory Lane after winning a NASCAR Cup Series auto race at Charlotte Motor Speedway, Sunday, May 25, 2025, in Concord, N.C. (AP Photo/Matt Kelley)

Bubba Wallace steers through Turn 4 during a NASCAR Cup Series auto race at Charlotte Motor Speedway, Sunday, May 25, 2025, in Concord, N.C. (AP Photo/Matt Kelley)

Fans look on as drivers compete through Turn 4 during a NASCAR Cup Series auto race at Charlotte Motor Speedway, Sunday, May 25, 2025, in Concord, N.C. (AP Photo/Matt Kelley)

Ryan Blaney (12) is towed after being involved in a wreck during a NASCAR Cup Series auto race at Charlotte Motor Speedway, Sunday, May 25, 2025, in Concord, N.C. (AP Photo/Matt Kelley)

Drivers compete down the front stretch during a NASCAR Cup Series auto race at Charlotte Motor Speedway, Sunday, May 25, 2025, in Concord, N.C. (AP Photo/Matt Kelley)

Shane van Gisbergen (88) passes Ty Gibbs in Turn 4 during a NASCAR Cup Series auto race at Charlotte Motor Speedway, Sunday, May 25, 2025, in Concord, N.C. (AP Photo/Matt Kelley)

WASHINGTON (AP) — A day after the audacious U.S. military operation in Venezuela, President Donald Trump on Sunday renewed his calls for an American takeover of the Danish territory of Greenland for the sake of U.S. security interests, while his top diplomat declared the communist government in Cuba is “in a lot of trouble.”

The comments from Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio after the ouster of Venezuela's Nicolás Maduro underscore that the U.S. administration is serious about taking a more expansive role in the Western Hemisphere.

With thinly veiled threats, Trump is rattling hemispheric friends and foes alike, spurring a pointed question around the globe: Who's next?

“It’s so strategic right now. Greenland is covered with Russian and Chinese ships all over the place," Trump told reporters as he flew back to Washington from his home in Florida. "We need Greenland from the standpoint of national security, and Denmark is not going to be able to do it.”

Asked during an interview with The Atlantic earlier on Sunday what the U.S.-military action in Venezuela could portend for Greenland, Trump replied: “They are going to have to view it themselves. I really don’t know.”

Trump, in his administration's National Security Strategy published last month, laid out restoring “American preeminence in the Western Hemisphere” as a central guidepost for his second go-around in the White House.

Trump has also pointed to the 19th century Monroe Doctrine, which rejects European colonialism, as well as the Roosevelt Corollary — a justification invoked by the U.S. in supporting Panama’s secession from Colombia, which helped secure the Panama Canal Zone for the U.S. — as he's made his case for an assertive approach to American neighbors and beyond.

Trump has even quipped that some now refer to the fifth U.S. president's foundational document as the “Don-roe Doctrine.”

Saturday's dead-of-night operation by U.S. forces in Caracas and Trump’s comments on Sunday heightened concerns in Denmark, which has jurisdiction over the vast mineral-rich island of Greenland.

Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen in a statement that Trump has "no right to annex" the territory. She also reminded Trump that Denmark already provides the United States, a fellow member of NATO, broad access to Greenland through existing security agreements.

“I would therefore strongly urge the U.S. to stop threatening a historically close ally and another country and people who have made it very clear that they are not for sale,” Frederiksen said.

Denmark on Sunday also signed onto a European Union statement underscoring that “the right of the Venezuelan people to determine their future must be respected” as Trump has vowed to “run” Venezuela and pressed the acting president, Delcy Rodriguez, to get in line.

Trump on Sunday mocked Denmark’s efforts at boosting Greenland’s national security posture, saying the Danes have added “one more dog sled” to the Arctic territory’s arsenal.

Greenlanders and Danes were further rankled by a social media post following the raid by a former Trump administration official turned podcaster, Katie Miller. The post shows an illustrated map of Greenland in the colors of the Stars and Stripes accompanied by the caption: “SOON."

“And yes, we expect full respect for the territorial integrity of the Kingdom of Denmark,” Amb. Jesper Møller Sørensen, Denmark's chief envoy to Washington, said in a post responding to Miller, who is married to Trump's influential deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller.

During his presidential transition and in the early months of his return to the White House, Trump repeatedly called for U.S. jurisdiction over Greenland, and has pointedly not ruled out military force to take control of the mineral-rich, strategically located Arctic island that belongs to an ally.

The issue had largely drifted out of the headlines in recent months. Then Trump put the spotlight back on Greenland less than two weeks ago when he said he would appoint Republican Gov. Jeff Landry as his special envoy to Greenland.

The Louisiana governor said in his volunteer position he would help Trump “make Greenland a part of the U.S.”

Meanwhile, concern simmered in Cuba, one of Venezuela’s most important allies and trading partners, as Rubio issued a new stern warning to the Cuban government. U.S.-Cuba relations have been hostile since the 1959 Cuban revolution.

Rubio, in an appearance on NBC's “Meet the Press,” said Cuban officials were with Maduro in Venezuela ahead of his capture.

“It was Cubans that guarded Maduro,” Rubio said. “He was not guarded by Venezuelan bodyguards. He had Cuban bodyguards.” The secretary of state added that Cuban bodyguards were also in charge of “internal intelligence” in Maduro’s government, including “who spies on who inside, to make sure there are no traitors.”

Trump said that “a lot” of Cuban guards tasked with protecting Maduro were killed in the operation. The Cuban government said in a statement read on state television on Sunday evening that 32 officers were killed in the U.S. military operation.

Trump also said that the Cuban economy, battered by years of a U.S. embargo, is in tatters and will slide further now with the ouster of Maduro, who provided the Caribbean island subsidized oil.

“It's going down,” Trump said of Cuba. “It's going down for the count.”

Cuban authorities called a rally in support of Venezuela’s government and railed against the U.S. military operation, writing in a statement: “All the nations of the region must remain alert, because the threat hangs over all of us.”

Rubio, a former Florida senator and son of Cuban immigrants, has long maintained Cuba is a dictatorship repressing its people.

“This is the Western Hemisphere. This is where we live — and we’re not going to allow the Western Hemisphere to be a base of operation for adversaries, competitors, and rivals of the United States," Rubio said.

Cubans like 55-year-old biochemical laboratory worker Bárbara Rodríguez were following developments in Venezuela. She said she worried about what she described as an “aggression against a sovereign state.”

“It can happen in any country, it can happen right here. We have always been in the crosshairs,” Rodríguez said.

AP writers Andrea Rodriguez in Havana, Cuba, and Darlene Superville traveling aboard Air Force One contributed reporting.

In this photo released by the White House, President Donald Trump monitors U.S. military operations in Venezuela, with Secretary of State Marco Rubio at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Fla., Saturday, Jan. 3, 2026. (Molly Riley/The White House via AP)