2018 Can-Am 500 Explained

Type:	NASME
Race Name:	Can-Am 500
Details Ref:	^[1] ^[2] ^[3] ^[4] ^[5] ^[6] ^[7] ^[8] ^[9] ^[10]
Year:	2018
Race No:	35
Season No:	36
Location:	ISM Raceway in Avondale, Arizona
Course Mi:	1
Course Km:	1.6
Distance Laps:	312
Distance Mi:	312
Distance Km:	499.2
Avg:	98.354mph
Pole Driver:	Kevin Harvick
Pole Team:	Stewart-Haas Racing
Pole Time:	25.836
Most Driver:	Kyle Busch
Most Team:	Joe Gibbs Racing
Most Laps:	117
Car:	18
First Driver:	Kyle Busch
First Team:	Joe Gibbs Racing
Network:	NBC
Announcers:	Rick Allen, Jeff Burton, Steve Letarte and Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Ratings:	2.0/2.1 (Overnight)^[11]
Radio:	MRN
Booth Ann:	Joe Moore, Jeff Striegle and Rusty Wallace
Turn Ann:	Kyle Rickey (1 & 2) and Buddy Long (3 & 4)

The 2018 Can-Am 500 was a Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race that was held on November 11, 2018, at ISM Raceway in Avondale, Arizona. Contested over 312 laps on the one mile (1.6 km) oval, it was the 35th race of the 2018 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series season, ninth race of the Playoffs, and final race of the Round of 8.

Report

Background

ISM Raceway – also known as PIR – is a one-mile, low-banked tri-oval race track located in Avondale, Arizona. It is named after the nearby metropolitan area of Phoenix. The motorsport track opened in 1964 and currently hosts two NASCAR race weekends annually. PIR has also hosted the IndyCar Series, CART, USAC and the Rolex Sports Car Series. The raceway is currently owned and operated by International Speedway Corporation.

The raceway was originally constructed with a 2.5miles road course that ran both inside and outside of the main tri-oval. In 1991 the track was reconfigured with the current 1.51miles interior layout. PIR has an estimated grandstand seating capacity of around 67,000. Lights were installed around the track in 2004 following the addition of a second annual NASCAR race weekend.

ISM Raceway is home to two annual NASCAR race weekends, one of 13 facilities on the NASCAR schedule to host more than one race weekend a year. The track is both the first and last stop in the western United States, as well as the fourth and penultimate track on the schedule.

Entry list

	Driver	Team	Manufacturer
00	Landon Cassill (i)		Chevrolet
1			Chevrolet
2			Ford
3			Chevrolet
4			Ford
6			Ford
7	D. J. Kennington (i)		Chevrolet
9			Chevrolet
10			Ford
11			Toyota
12			Ford
13			Chevrolet
14			Ford
15	Ross Chastain (i)		Chevrolet
17			Ford
18			Toyota
19			Toyota
20			Toyota
21			Ford
22			Ford
23	J. J. Yeley (i)		Toyota
24	William Byron (R)		Chevrolet
31			Chevrolet
32			Ford
34			Ford
37			Chevrolet
38			Ford
41			Ford
42			Chevrolet
43	Darrell Wallace Jr. (R)		Chevrolet
47			Chevrolet
48			Chevrolet
51			Chevrolet
66	Timmy Hill (i)		Toyota
72			Chevrolet
78			Toyota
88			Chevrolet
95			Chevrolet
97			Toyota
Official entry list

First practice

Erik Jones was the fastest in the first practice session with a time of 26.113 seconds and a speed of 137.862mph.^[12]

Pos		Driver	Team	Manufacturer	Time
1	20				26.113	137.862
2	18				26.120	137.825
3	9				26.122	137.815
Official first practice results

Qualifying

Kevin Harvick scored the pole for the race with a time of 25.836 and a speed of 139.34mph.^[13]

Qualifying results

Pos		Driver	Team	Manufacturer
1	4			Ford	26.158	25.998	25.836
2	9			Chevrolet	26.257	25.823	25.871
3	17			Ford	26.176	26.017	25.898
4	12			Ford	26.317	26.011	25.924
5	88			Chevrolet	26.335	25.979	25.948
6	18			Toyota	26.176	25.889	25.954
7	20			Toyota	26.201	25.981	26.022
8	42			Chevrolet	26.226	25.887	26.038
9	22			Ford	26.183	26.020	26.039
10	11			Toyota	26.253	25.926	26.040
11	21			Ford	26.228	25.958	26.108
12	2			Ford	26.199	26.019	26.150
13	78			Toyota	26.290	26.023	—
14	41			Ford	26.174	26.053	—
15	3			Chevrolet	26.099	26.074	—
16	14			Ford	26.244	26.110	—
17	6			Ford	26.028	26.131	—
18	10			Ford	26.282	26.140	—
19	24	William Byron (R)		Chevrolet	26.195	26.162	—
20	48			Chevrolet	26.234	26.174	—
21	1			Chevrolet	26.232	26.176	—
22	31			Chevrolet	26.255	26.212	—
23	34			Ford	26.231	26.313	—
24	47			Chevrolet	26.321	26.368	—
25	37			Chevrolet	26.342	—	—
26	19			Toyota	26.368	—	—
27	32			Ford	26.487	—	—
28	13			Chevrolet	26.516	—	—
29	95			Chevrolet	26.539	—	—
30	43	Darrell Wallace Jr. (R)		Chevrolet	26.560	—	—
31	38			Ford	26.614	—	—
32	00	Landon Cassill (i)		Chevrolet	26.834	—	—
33	15	Ross Chastain (i)		Chevrolet	26.970	—	—
34	72			Chevrolet	27.001	—	—
35	23	J. J. Yeley (i)		Toyota	27.010	—	—
36	97			Toyota	27.231	—	—
37	66	Timmy Hill (i)		Toyota	27.457	—	—
38	7	D. J. Kennington (i)		Chevrolet	27.666	—	—
39	51			Chevrolet	0.000	—	—
Official qualifying results

Practice (post-qualifying)

Second practice

Kevin Harvick was the fastest in the second practice session with a time of 26.724 seconds and a speed of 134.71mph.^[14]

Pos		Driver	Team	Manufacturer	Time
1	4				26.724	134.710
2	42				26.730	134.680
3	2				26.770	134.479
Official second practice results

Final practice

Kevin Harvick was the fastest in the final practice session with a time of 26.642 seconds and a speed of 135.125mph.^[15]

Pos		Driver	Team	Manufacturer	Time
1	4				26.642	135.125
2	2				26.769	134.484
3	18				26.804	134.308
Official final practice results

Race

Stage Results

Stage 1Laps: 75

Pos		Driver	Team	Manufacturer	Points
1	9	Chase Elliott	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	10
2	12	Ryan Blaney	Team Penske	Ford	9
3	11	Denny Hamlin	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	8
4	41	Kurt Busch	Stewart-Haas Racing	Ford	7
5	2	Brad Keselowski	Team Penske	Ford	6
6	42	Kyle Larson	Chip Ganassi Racing	Chevrolet	5
7	18	Kyle Busch	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	4
8	20	Erik Jones	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	3
9	88	Alex Bowman	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	2
10	3	Austin Dillon	Richard Childress Racing	Chevrolet	1
Official stage one results

Stage 2Laps: 75

Pos		Driver	Team	Manufacturer	Points
1	18	Kyle Busch	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	10
2	2	Brad Keselowski	Team Penske	Ford	9
3	78	Martin Truex Jr.	Furniture Row Racing	Toyota	8
4	4	Kevin Harvick	Stewart-Haas Racing	Ford	7
5	42	Kyle Larson	Chip Ganassi Racing	Chevrolet	6
6	3	Austin Dillon	Richard Childress Racing	Chevrolet	5
7	9	Chase Elliott	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	4
8	12	Ryan Blaney	Team Penske	Ford	3
9	24	William Byron (R)	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	2
10	10	Aric Almirola	Stewart-Haas Racing	Ford	1
Official stage two results

Final Stage Results

Stage 3Laps: 162

Pos	Grid		Driver	Team	Manufacturer	Laps	Points
1	6	18	Kyle Busch	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	312	54
2	12	2	Brad Keselowski	Team Penske	Ford	312	50
3	8	42	Kyle Larson	Chip Ganassi Racing	Chevrolet	312	45
4	18	10	Aric Almirola	Stewart-Haas Racing	Ford	312	34
5	1	4	Kevin Harvick	Stewart-Haas Racing	Ford	312	39
6	21	1	Jamie McMurray	Chip Ganassi Racing	Chevrolet	312	31
7	17	6	Matt Kenseth	Roush Fenway Racing	Ford	312	30
8	15	3	Austin Dillon	Richard Childress Racing	Chevrolet	312	35
9	19	24	William Byron (R)	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	312	30
10	30	43	Darrell Wallace Jr. (R)	Richard Petty Motorsports	Chevrolet	312	27
11	22	31	Ryan Newman	Richard Childress Racing	Chevrolet	312	26
12	24	47	A. J. Allmendinger	JTG Daugherty Racing	Chevrolet	312	25
13	10	11	Denny Hamlin	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	312	32
14	13	78	Martin Truex Jr.	Furniture Row Racing	Toyota	312	31
15	20	48	Jimmie Johnson	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	312	22
16	23	34	Michael McDowell	Front Row Motorsports	Ford	311	21
17	7	20	Erik Jones	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	310	23
18	25	37	Chris Buescher	JTG Daugherty Racing	Chevrolet	310	19
19	28	13	Ty Dillon	Germain Racing	Chevrolet	310	18
20	31	38	David Ragan	Front Row Motorsports	Ford	310	17
21	27	32	Matt DiBenedetto	Go Fas Racing	Ford	310	16
22	29	95	Regan Smith	Leavine Family Racing	Chevrolet	310	15
23	2	9	Chase Elliott	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	309	28
24	33	15	Ross Chastain (i)	Premium Motorsports	Chevrolet	309	0
25	34	72	Cole Whitt	TriStar Motorsports	Chevrolet	309	12
26	32	00	Landon Cassill (i)	StarCom Racing	Chevrolet	308	0
27	38	7	D. J. Kennington (i)	Premium Motorsports	Chevrolet	306	0
28	39	51	Cody Ware	Rick Ware Racing	Chevrolet	306	9
29	11	21	Paul Menard	Wood Brothers Racing	Ford	303	8
30	5	88	Alex Bowman	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	285	9
31	36	97	Tanner Berryhill	Obaika Racing	Toyota	283	6
32	14	41	Kurt Busch	Stewart-Haas Racing	Ford	272	12
33	3	17	Ricky Stenhouse Jr.	Roush Fenway Racing	Ford	262	4
34	4	12	Ryan Blaney	Team Penske	Ford	237	15
35	16	14	Clint Bowyer	Stewart-Haas Racing	Ford	133	2
36	26	19	Daniel Suárez	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	96	1
37	9	22	Joey Logano	Team Penske	Ford	95	1
38	35	23	J. J. Yeley (i)	BK Racing	Toyota	88	0
39	37	66	Timmy Hill (i)	MBM Motorsports	Toyota	40	0
Official race results

Race statistics

• Lead changes: 8 among different drivers
• Cautions/Laps: 10 for 61
• Red flags: 1 for 16 minutes and 24 seconds
• Time of race: 3 hours, 10 minutes and 20 seconds
• Average speed: 98.354mph

Media

Television

NBC Sports covered the race on the television side. Rick Allen, two–time Phoenix winner Jeff Burton, Steve Letarte and three-time Phoenix winner Dale Earnhardt Jr. had the call in the booth for the race. Dave Burns, Parker Kligerman, Marty Snider and Kelli Stavast reported from pit lane during the race.

Radio

MRN had the radio call for the race, which was simulcast on Sirius XM NASCAR Radio.

Standings after the race

	Pos	Driver	Points
2	1	Joey Logano	5,000
1	2	Kyle Busch	5,000 (–0)
1	3	Martin Truex Jr.	5,000 (–0)
	4	Kevin Harvick	5,000 (–0)
1	5	Chase Elliott	2,320 (–2,680)
1	6	Kurt Busch	2,318 (–2,682)
	7	Aric Almirola	2,316 (–2,684)
2	8	Brad Keselowski	2,309 (–2,691)
	9	Ryan Blaney	2,278 (–2,722)
2	10	Kyle Larson	2,256 (–2,744)
	11	Denny Hamlin	2,252 (–2,748)
4	12	Clint Bowyer	2,242 (–2,758)
3	13	Austin Dillon	2,219 (–2,781)
	14	Jimmie Johnson	2,217 (–2,783)
2	15	Erik Jones	2,207 (–2,793)
1	16	Alex Bowman	2,196 (–2,804)
Official driver's standings

Manufacturers' Championship standings

	Pos	Manufacturer	Points
	1	Ford	1,270
	2	Toyota	1,251 (–19)
	3	Chevrolet	1,157 (–113)
Official manufacturers' standings

• Note: Only the first 16 positions are included for the driver standings.

Notes and References

1. Web site: 2018 schedule. Jayski.com. Jayski's Silly Season Site. October 5, 2018. May 5, 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20171224004109/http://www.jayski.com/news/pages/story/_/page/2018-NASCAR-Cup-Schedule. December 24, 2017. dead.
2. Web site: Phoenix International Raceway. NASCAR.com. NASCAR Media Group, LLC.. October 5, 2018. January 3, 2013. March 10, 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20170310031052/http://www.nascar.com/en_us/nascar-tracks/phoenix-international-raceway.html. dead.
3. Web site: Entry List. MRN.com. Motor Racing Network. November 6, 2018. November 6, 2018.
4. Web site: First Practice Results. MRN.com. Motor Racing Network. November 9, 2018. November 9, 2018.
5. Web site: Starting Lineup. MRN.com. Motor Racing Network. November 9, 2018. November 9, 2018.
6. Web site: Second Practice Results. MRN.com. Motor Racing Network. November 10, 2018. November 10, 2018.
7. Web site: Final Practice Results. MRN.com. Motor Racing Network. November 10, 2018. November 10, 2018.
8. Web site: Can-Am 500 Results. MRN.com. Motor Racing Network. November 11, 2018. November 11, 2018.
9. Web site: Points standings. Jayski.com. Jayski's Silly Season Site. November 12, 2018. November 12, 2018.
10. Web site: Manufacturer standings. Jayski.com. Jayski's Silly Season Site. November 12, 2018. November 12, 2018.
11. Web site: Phoenix final TV ratings . . . 20 November 2018.
12. Web site: Utter. Jim. Erik Jones tops Kyle Busch in Friday's Cup practice at Phoenix. Motorsport.com. Motorsport Network. November 9, 2018. Avondale, Arizona. November 9, 2018.
13. News: Fryer. Jenna. Harvick shakes off cheating scandal to win pole at Phoenix. November 9, 2018. Associated Press. Associated Press. AP Sports. November 9, 2018. Avondale, Arizona. https://web.archive.org/web/20181110080505/https://racing.ap.org/article/harvick-shakes-cheating-scandal-win-pole-phoenix. November 10, 2018. dead.
14. Web site: Utter. Jim. Kevin Harvick fastest in Saturday's first practice at Phoenix. Motorsport.com. Motorsport Network. November 10, 2018. Avondale, Arizona. November 10, 2018.
15. Web site: Utter. Jim. Kevin Harvick tops final Cup practice at Phoenix, Menard wrecks. Motorsport.com. Motorsport Network. November 10, 2018. Avondale, Arizona. November 10, 2018.