2018 O'Reilly Auto Parts 500

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2018 O'Reilly Auto Parts 500
Race details[1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10]
Race 7 of 36 in the 2018 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series
TexasMotorSpeedway.svg
Date April 8, 2018 (2018-04-08)
Location Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth, Texas
Course Permanent racing facility
1.5 mi (2.4 km)
Distance 334 laps, 501 mi (801.6 km)
Average speed 141.714 miles per hour (228.067 km/h)
Pole position
Driver Stewart-Haas Racing
Time 27.360
Most laps led
Driver Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing
Laps 116
Winner
No. 18 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing
Television in the United States
Network FS1
Announcers Mike Joy, Jeff Gordon and Darrell Waltrip
Nielsen Ratings 1.7/1.7 (Overnight)[11]
Radio in the United States
Radio PRN
Booth Announcers Doug Rice, Mark Garrow and Wendy Venturini
Turn Announcers Rob Albright (1 & 2) and Pat Patterson (3 & 4)

The 2018 O'Reilly Auto Parts 500 was a Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race held on April 8, 2018, at Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth, Texas. Contested over 334 laps on the 1.5-mile (2.4 km) intermediate quad-oval, it was the seventh race of the 2018 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series season.

Report[]

Background[]

Texas Motor Speedway, the track where the race was held.

Texas Motor Speedway is a speedway located in the northernmost portion of the U.S. city of Fort Worth, Texas – the portion located in Denton County, Texas. The track measures 1.5 miles (2.4 km) around and is banked 24 degrees in the turns, and is of the oval design, where the front straightaway juts outward slightly. The track layout is similar to Atlanta Motor Speedway and Charlotte Motor Speedway (formerly Lowe's Motor Speedway). The track is owned by Speedway Motorsports, Inc., the same company that owns Atlanta and Charlotte Motor Speedways, as well as the short-track Bristol Motor Speedway.

Entry list[]

No. Driver Team Manufacturer
00 Landon Cassill StarCom Racing Chevrolet
1 Jamie McMurray Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet
2 Brad Keselowski Team Penske Ford
3 Austin Dillon Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet
4 Kevin Harvick Stewart-Haas Racing Ford
6 Trevor Bayne Roush Fenway Racing Ford
9 Chase Elliott Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
10 Aric Almirola Stewart-Haas Racing Ford
11 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
12 Ryan Blaney Team Penske Ford
13 Ty Dillon Germain Racing Chevrolet
14 Clint Bowyer Stewart-Haas Racing Ford
15 Ross Chastain (i) Premium Motorsports Chevrolet
17 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Roush Fenway Racing Ford
18 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
19 Daniel Suárez Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
20 Erik Jones Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
21 Paul Menard Wood Brothers Racing Ford
22 Joey Logano Team Penske Ford
23 Gray Gaulding BK Racing Toyota
24 William Byron (R) Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
31 Ryan Newman Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet
32 Matt DiBenedetto Go Fas Racing Ford
34 Michael McDowell Front Row Motorsports Ford
37 Chris Buescher JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet
38 David Ragan Front Row Motorsports Ford
41 Kurt Busch Stewart-Haas Racing Ford
42 Kyle Larson Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet
43 Darrell Wallace Jr. (R) Richard Petty Motorsports Chevrolet
47 A. J. Allmendinger JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet
48 Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
51 Harrison Rhodes Rick Ware Racing Chevrolet
55 Reed Sorenson Premium Motorsports Chevrolet
72 Cole Whitt TriStar Motorsports Chevrolet
78 Martin Truex Jr. Furniture Row Racing Toyota
88 Alex Bowman Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
95 Kasey Kahne Leavine Family Racing Chevrolet
Official entry list

First practice[]

Kurt Busch was the fastest in the first practice session with a time of 27.523 seconds and a speed of 196.200 mph (315.753 km/h).[12]

Pos No. Driver Team Manufacturer Time Speed
1 41 Kurt Busch Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 27.523 196.200
2 4 Kevin Harvick Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 27.559 195.943
3 14 Clint Bowyer Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 27.632 195.426
Official first practice results

Qualifying[]

Kurt Busch scored the pole position.

Kurt Busch scored the pole for the race with a time of 27.360 and a speed of 197.368 mph (317.633 km/h) after only one round of qualifying was completed due to lightning in the area.[13]

Qualifying results[]

Pos No. Driver Team Manufacturer R1
1 41 Kurt Busch Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 27.360
2 4 Kevin Harvick Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 27.395
3 14 Clint Bowyer Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 27.435
4 12 Ryan Blaney Team Penske Ford 27.467
5 11 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 27.515
6 78 Martin Truex Jr. Furniture Row Racing Toyota 27.554
7 22 Joey Logano Team Penske Ford 27.562
8 18 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 27.583
9 48 Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 27.607
10 42 Kyle Larson Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 27.688
11 2 Brad Keselowski Team Penske Ford 27.689
12 10 Aric Almirola Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 27.693
13 6 Trevor Bayne Roush Fenway Racing Ford 27.715
14 19 Daniel Suárez Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 27.719
15 43 Darrell Wallace Jr. (R) Richard Petty Motorsports Chevrolet 27.726
16 88 Alex Bowman Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 27.729
17 3 Austin Dillon Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 27.757
18 37 Chris Buescher JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet 27.758
19 21 Paul Menard Wood Brothers Racing Ford 27.774
20 9 Chase Elliott Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 27.789
21 20 Erik Jones Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 27.810
22 47 A. J. Allmendinger JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet 27.842
23 13 Ty Dillon Germain Racing Chevrolet 27.861
24 1 Jamie McMurray Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 27.873
25 31 Ryan Newman Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 27.905
26 17 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Roush Fenway Racing Ford 27.913
27 34 Michael McDowell Front Row Motorsports Ford 27.919
28 95 Kasey Kahne Leavine Family Racing Chevrolet 28.030
29 38 David Ragan Front Row Motorsports Ford 28.082
30 32 Matt DiBenedetto Go Fas Racing Ford 28.184
31 15 Ross Chastain (i) Premium Motorsports Chevrolet 28.325
32 23 Gray Gaulding BK Racing Toyota 28.569
33 24 William Byron (R) Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 28.694
34 72 Cole Whitt TriStar Motorsports Chevrolet 28.963
35 00 Landon Cassill StarCom Racing Chevrolet 30.276
36 51 Harrison Rhodes Rick Ware Racing Chevrolet 32.729
37 55 Reed Sorenson Premium Motorsports Chevrolet 0.000
Official qualifying results

Practice (post-qualifying)[]

Second practice[]

Daniel Suárez was the fastest in the second practice session with a time of 27.136 seconds and a speed of 198.998 mph (320.256 km/h).[14]

Pos No. Driver Team Manufacturer Time Speed
1 19 Daniel Suárez Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 27.136 198.998
2 11 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 27.163 198.800
3 24 William Byron Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 27.171 198.741
Official second practice results

Final practice[]

Jimmie Johnson was the fastest in the final practice session with a time of 27.253 seconds and a speed of 198.143 mph (318.880 km/h).[15]

Pos No. Driver Team Manufacturer Time Speed
1 48 Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 27.253 198.143
2 4 Kevin Harvick Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 27.275 197.984
3 19 Daniel Suárez Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 27.303 197.780
Official final practice results

Race[]

First stage[]

Kurt Busch led the field to green at 2:10 p.m., and the first caution flew on lap 4 when Austin Dillon, Daniel Suárez, Paul Menard and Alex Bowman were involved in an accident in turn four.

The race restarted on lap 7, The second caution of the race flew on lap 82 when Martin Truex, Jr. spun out, Truex was running second to Harvick when his right front tire blew entering Turn 4.

Second stage[]

The race restarted on lap 91 and stayed green for the start of stage 2, Kyle Larson was making up for a bad start after having to start the race at the back of the field after failing pre-race inspection. That all changed on Lap 128 with Larson running second. He blew a right front tire and crashed hard into the Turn 2 wall, bringing out the third caution of the race.

The race restarted on lap 135, Kyle Busch passed his brother Kurt Busch to win his second stage of the season. Kurt Busch finished second followed by Joey Logano, Jones, Clint Bowyer, Chase Elliott, Keselowski, Stenhouse, Hamlin and Almirola, The fourth caution flew again for the conclusion of the second stage

Final stage[]

Kyle Busch won the race.

The race restarted on lap 178 and the fifth caution flew for a seven-car wreck, The final stage got off to a rough start as Hamlin and Aric Almirola made contact which sent Hamlin spinning back and collecting both Keselowski and Johnson.

The seven-car incident, which also collected Austin Dillon, brought out a red flag that stopped the race for more than 11 minutes with Jones leading the race.

Racing resumed on lap 184.

The seventh caution flew when Trevor Bayne and Kasey Kahne were involved in an accident in turn four.

The race restarted on lap 258, Busch and Harvick wenth side by side with Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. and Darrell Wallace, Jr. behind them, and the eighth caution flew when Ryan Newman hit the wall in turn 1.

The race restarted on lap 305.

Kyle Busch edging Kevin Harvick for his first victory of the season.

Harvick, gunning for his fourth victory of 2018, finished three-tenths of a second behind. Busch, who won the second stage, led for 116 laps, while Harvick, who dominated the first stage, led 87.

Post-race[]

Driver comments[]

“(Harvick) was probably just a tick faster overall, but I just had to make sure I did everything I could to hit all my marks and everything, and did the right things to block his air and everything, but this Camry was really awesome today," Busch said in victory lane.

"This has been a trying couple of months, you know? After Daytona, we’ve just been on a roll of finishing real good and been really pumped and excited about that and the momentum we were able to carry, but frustrated at the same time trying to get to victory lane," added Busch, who finished second in three of the first six races of 2018.

Stage Results[]

Stage 1 Laps: 85

Pos No Driver Team Manufacturer Points
1 4 Kevin Harvick Stewart-Hass Racing Ford 10
2 18 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 9
3 41 Kurt Busch Stewart-Hass Racing Ford 8
4 22 Joey Logano Team Penske Ford 7
5 42 Kyle Larson Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 6
6 14 Clint Bowyer Stewart-Hass Racing Ford 5
7 1 Jamie McMurray Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 4
8 2 Brad Keselowski Team Penske Ford 3
9 9 Chase Elliott Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 2
10 20 Erik Jones Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 1
Official stage one results

Stage 2 Laps: 85

Pos No Driver Team Manufacturer Points
1 18 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 10
2 41 Kurt Busch Stewart-Hass Racing Ford 9
3 22 Joey Logano Team Penske Ford 8
4 20 Erik Jones Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 7
5 14 Clint Bowyer Stewart-Hass Racing Ford 6
6 9 Chase Elliott Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 5
7 2 Brad Keselowski Team Penske Ford 4
8 17 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Roush Fenway Racing Ford 3
9 11 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 2
10 10 Aric Almirola Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 1
Official stage two results

Final Stage Results[]

Stage 3 Laps: 164

Pos Grid No Driver Team Manufacturer Laps Points
1 8 18 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 334 59
2 2 4 Kevin Harvick Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 334 45
3 24 1 Jamie McMurray Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 334 38
4 21 20 Erik Jones Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 334 41
5 4 12 Ryan Blaney Team Penske Ford 334 32
6 7 22 Joey Logano Team Penske Ford 334 46
7 1 41 Kurt Busch Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 334 47
8 15 43 Darrell Wallace Jr. (R) Richard Petty Motorsports Chevrolet 334 29
9 3 14 Clint Bowyer Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 334 39
10 33 24 William Byron (R) Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 334 27
11 20 9 Chase Elliott Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 333 33
12 13 6 Trevor Bayne Roush Fenway Racing Ford 333 25
13 23 13 Ty Dillon Germain Racing Chevrolet 332 24
14 27 34 Michael McDowell Front Row Motorsports Ford 332 23
15 18 37 Chris Buescher JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet 331 22
16 30 32 Matt DiBenedetto Go Fas Racing Ford 329 21
17 28 95 Kasey Kahne Leavine Family Racing Chevrolet 328 20
18 31 15 Ross Chastain (i) Premium Motorsports Chevrolet 325 0
19 34 72 Cole Whitt TriStar Motorsports Chevrolet 324 18
20 32 23 Gray Gaulding BK Racing Toyota 322 17
21 35 00 Landon Cassill StarCom Racing Chevrolet 321 16
22 36 51 Harrison Rhodes Rick Ware Racing Chevrolet 319 15
23 29 38 David Ragan Front Row Motorsports Ford 317 14
24 22 47 A. J. Allmendinger JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet 316 13
25 26 17 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Roush Fenway Racing Ford 315 15
26 17 3 Austin Dillon Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 304 11
27 25 31 Ryan Newman Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 303 10
28 16 88 Alex Bowman Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 294 9
29 14 19 Daniel Suárez Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 290 8
30 19 21 Paul Menard Wood Brothers Racing Ford 215 7
31 37 55 Reed Sorenson Premium Motorsports Chevrolet 209 6
32 12 10 Aric Almirola Stewart-Hass Racing Ford 178 6
33 11 2 Brad Keselowski Team Penske Ford 178 11
34 5 11 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 177 5
35 9 48 Jimmie Johnson Hendricks Motorsports Chevrolet 175 2
36 10 42 Kyle Larson Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 126 7
37 6 78 Martin Truex Jr. Furniture Row Racing Toyota 80 1
Official race results

Race statistics[]

  • Lead changes: 8 among different drivers
  • Cautions/Laps: 8 for 48
  • Red flags: 1 for 11 minutes and 5 seconds
  • Time of race: 3 hours, 32 minutes and 7 seconds
  • Average speed: 141.714 miles per hour (228.067 km/h)

Media[]

Television[]

Fox Sports covered their 18th race at the Texas Motor Speedway. Mike Joy, 2009 race winner Jeff Gordon and Darrell Waltrip had the call in the booth for the race. Jamie Little, Vince Welch and Matt Yocum handled the pit road duties for the television side.

FS1
Booth announcers Pit reporters
Lap-by-lap: Mike Joy
Color-commentator: Jeff Gordon
Color commentator: Darrell Waltrip
Jamie Little
Vince Welch
Matt Yocum

Radio[]

The race was broadcast on radio by the Performance Racing Network and simulcast on Sirius XM NASCAR Radio.

PRN
Booth announcers Turn announcers Pit reporters
Lead announcer: Doug Rice
Announcer: Mark Garrow
Announcer: Wendy Venturini
Turns 1 & 2: Rob Albright
Turns 3 & 4: Pat Patterson
Brad Gillie
Brett McMillan
Jim Noble
Steve Richards

Standings after the race[]

References[]

  1. ^ "2018 schedule". Jayski.com. Jayski's Silly Season Site. May 5, 2017. Archived from the original on December 24, 2017. Retrieved March 1, 2018.
  2. ^ "Texas Motor Speedway". NASCAR.com. NASCAR Media Group, LLC. January 3, 2013. Archived from the original on October 30, 2015. Retrieved March 1, 2018.
  3. ^ "Entry List". MRN.com. Motor Racing Network. April 2, 2018. Retrieved April 2, 2018.
  4. ^ "First Practice Results". MRN.com. Motor Racing Network. April 6, 2018. Retrieved April 6, 2018.
  5. ^ "Qualifying Results". MRN.com. Motor Racing Network. April 6, 2018. Retrieved April 6, 2018.
  6. ^ "Second Practice Results". MRN.com. Motor Racing Network. April 7, 2018. Retrieved April 7, 2018.
  7. ^ "Final Practice Results". MRN.com. Motor Racing Network. April 7, 2018. Retrieved April 7, 2018.
  8. ^ "O'Reilly Auto Parts 500 Results". MRN.com. Motor Racing Network. April 8, 2018. Retrieved April 8, 2018.
  9. ^ "Points standings" (PDF). Jayski.com. Jayski's Silly Season Site. April 9, 2018. Archived from the original (PDF) on April 10, 2018. Retrieved April 9, 2018.
  10. ^ "Manufacturer standings" (PDF). Jayski.com. Jayski's Silly Season Site. April 9, 2018. Archived from the original (PDF) on April 10, 2018. Retrieved April 9, 2018.
  11. ^ "Texas TV Ratings". Jayski's Silly Season Site. ESPN. Retrieved 7 May 2018.
  12. ^ Utter, Jim (April 6, 2018). "Kurt Busch and Stewart-Haas Racing lead Friday's Cup practice". Motorsport.com. Fort Worth, Texas: Motorsport Network. Retrieved April 6, 2018.
  13. ^ Hawkins, Stephen (April 6, 2018). "Stewart-Haas starting top 3 in Texas after short qualifying". Associated Press. Fort Worth, Texas: AP Sports. Associated Press. Archived from the original on April 7, 2018. Retrieved April 6, 2018.
  14. ^ Utter, Jim (April 7, 2018). "Daniel Suarez fastest in Saturday's first practice session". Motorsport.com. Fort Worth, Texas: Motorsport Network. Retrieved April 7, 2018.
  15. ^ Utter, Jim (April 7, 2018). "Jimmie Johnson fastest in final Cup practice at Texas". Motorsport.com. Fort Worth, Texas: Motorsport Network. Retrieved April 7, 2018.


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2018 STP 500
Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series
2018 season
Next race:
2018 Food City 500
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