Carl Edwards pitted while the leaders stayed out with 62 laps to go, hoping to make it to the end of the race without refueling.
Edwards, who has never won at Charlotte, led the final 25 laps as the field made their final pit stop of the night and raced to the checkered in front of Greg Biffle by over four seconds.
MORE: Edwards' late gamble pays off | Gordon's Indy-Charlotte double
Dale Earnhardt Jr. continued his winless Sprint Cup points streak at Charlotte, finishing in third, while pole-winner Matt Kenseth finished fourth.
Hoping to end a 67-race winless drought, Martin Truex Jr. led a race-high 131 laps but was unable to overcome the drivers that pitted with 62 laps to go as he finished in fifth for his 11th top 10 of the season.
Full results for the Coca-Cola 600
1. (3) Carl Edwards, Toyota, 400, $363390. (start position in parenthesis)
2. (4) Greg Biffle, Ford, 400, $277263.
3. (15) Dale Earnhardt Jr., Chevrolet, 400, $217255.
4. (1) Matt Kenseth, Toyota, 400, $252716.
5. (10) Martin Truex Jr., Chevrolet, 400, $182350.
6. (19) Ryan Newman, Chevrolet, 400, $166570.
7. (6) Brad Keselowski, Ford, 400, $172911.
8. (5) Denny Hamlin, Toyota, 400, $143720.
9. (8) Kevin Harvick, Chevrolet, 400, $174045.
10. (14) Kurt Busch, Chevrolet, 400, $140045.
11. (17) Kyle Busch, Toyota, 400, $157301.
12. (33) Kasey Kahne, Chevrolet, 400, $128685.
13. (2) Joey Logano, Ford, 400, $161793.
14. (23) Paul Menard, Chevrolet, 400, $120735.
15. (18) Jeff Gordon, Chevrolet, 400, $156371.
16. (11) Austin Dillon, Chevrolet, 400, $147271.
17. (21) Aric Almirola, Ford, 399, $146046.
18. (28) Chase Elliott(i), Chevrolet, 399, $103910.
19. (22) Jamie McMurray, Chevrolet, 399, $136826.
20. (24) Clint Bowyer, Toyota, 399, $140368.
21. (12) Tony Stewart, Chevrolet, 399, $132399.
22. (20) Danica Patrick, Chevrolet, 398, $111760.
23. (34) Casey Mears, Chevrolet, 398, $128993.
24. (26) Sam Hornish Jr., Ford, 398, $128305.
25. (9) Kyle Larson, Chevrolet, 398, $129468.
26. (31) Alex Bowman, Chevrolet, 397, $116518.
27. (27) Trevor Bayne, Ford, 397, $141210.
28. (37) Cole Whitt, Ford, 396, $113343.
29. (30) AJ Allmendinger, Chevrolet, 395, $125618.
30. (25) Michael McDowell, Ford, 394, $97335.
31. (40) Brett Moffitt #, Ford, 393, $97185.
32. (36) Michael Annett, Chevrolet, 393, $95560.
33. (39) David Gilliland, Ford, 392, $115957.
34. (42) Matt DiBenedetto #, Toyota, 392, $95285.
35. (38) Josh Wise, Ford, 392, $98135.
36. (43) Alex Kennedy #, Chevrolet, 389, $97535.
37. (29) Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Ford, 382, $102761.
38. (41) JJ Yeley(i), Toyota, Engine, 377, $89413.
39. (32) Landon Cassill(i), Chevrolet, 375, $85350.
40. (13) Jimmie Johnson, Chevrolet, 370, $129286.
41. (7) David Ragan, Toyota, Engine, 353, $105164.
42. (16) Ryan Blaney(i), Ford, Engine, 281, $73350.
43. (35) Justin Allgaier, Chevrolet, Accident, 135, $77850.
Average Speed of Race Winner: 147.803 mph.
Time of Race: 4 hours, 3 minutes, 34 seconds.
Margin of Victory: 4.785 Seconds.
Caution Flags: 8 for 39 laps.
Lead Changes: 22 among 9 drivers.
Lap Leaders: M. Kenseth 0; C. Edwards 1-2; M. Kenseth 3-27; D. Gilliland 28; M. Kenseth 29; J. Logano 30-43; D. Hamlin 44-63; K. Harvick 64-78; Kurt Busch 79; B. Keselowski 80; K. Harvick 81-90; M. Truex Jr. 91; B. Keselowski 92-93; J. Logano 94-96; Kurt Busch 97-189; C. Edwards 190-191; M. Truex Jr. 192-236; Kurt Busch 237-260; M. Truex Jr. 261-329; D. Hamlin 330-362; M. Truex Jr. 363-378; K. Harvick 379; C. Edwards 380-400.
Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Lead, Laps Led): M. Truex Jr. 4 times for 131 laps; Kurt Busch 3 times for 118 laps; D. Hamlin 2 times for 53 laps; M. Kenseth 2 times for 26 laps; K. Harvick 3 times for 26 laps; C. Edwards 3 times for 25 laps; J. Logano 2 times for 17 laps; B. Keselowski 2 times for 3 laps; D. Gilliland 1 time for 1 lap.
Top 16 in Points: K. Harvick - 473; M. Truex Jr. - 432; J. Logano - 407; D. Earnhardt Jr. - 401; J. Johnson - 393; B. Keselowski - 381; M. Kenseth - 372; J. Mcmurray - 353; J. Gordon - 346; K. Kahne - 345; R. Newman - 343; A. Almirola - 339; P. Menard - 336; Kurt Busch - 327; D. Hamlin - 321; C. Edwards - 312.