2018 Consumers Energy 400 Explained

Type:	NASME
Race Name:	Consumers Energy 400
Details Ref:	^[1] ^[2] ^[3] ^[4] ^[5] ^[6] ^[7] ^[8] ^[9] ^[10]
Year:	2018
Race No:	23
Season No:	36
Location:	Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn, Michigan
Course Mi:	2
Course Km:	3.2
Distance Laps:	200
Distance Mi:	400
Distance Km:	640
Avg:	140.474mph
Pole Driver:	Denny Hamlin
Pole Team:	Joe Gibbs Racing
Pole Time:	35.504
Most Driver:	Kevin Harvick
Most Team:	Stewart-Haas Racing
Most Laps:	108
Car:	4
First Driver:	Kevin Harvick
First Team:	Stewart-Haas Racing
Network:	NBCSN
Announcers:	Rick Allen, Jeff Burton, Steve Letarte and Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Ratings:	1.62 (Overnight)^[11]
Radio:	MRN
Booth Ann:	Joe Moore, Jeff Striegle and Rusty Wallace
Turn Ann:	Dave Moody (1 & 2) and Kurt Becker (3 & 4)

The 2018 Consumers Energy 400 is a Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race held on August 12, 2018 at Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn, Michigan. Contested over 200 laps on the 2miles D-shaped oval, it is the 23rd race of the 2018 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series season.

Report

Background

Michigan International Speedway (MIS) is a 2adj=onNaNadj=on moderate-banked D-shaped speedway located off U.S. Highway 12 on more than 1400acres approximately 4miles south of the village of Brooklyn, in the scenic Irish Hills area of southeastern Michigan. The track is used primarily for NASCAR events. It is sometimes known as a "sister track" to Texas World Speedway, and was used as the basis of Auto Club Speedway. The track is owned by International Speedway Corporation (ISC). Michigan International Speedway is recognized as one of motorsports' premier facilities because of its wide racing surface and high banking (by open-wheel standards; the 18-degree banking is modest by stock car standards). Michigan is the fastest track in NASCAR due to its wide, sweeping corners and long straightaways; typical qualifying speeds are in excess of 200mph and corner entry speeds are anywhere from 215to after the 2012 repaving of the track.

Entry list

	Driver	Team	Manufacturer
00			Chevrolet
1			Chevrolet
2			Ford
3			Chevrolet
4			Ford
6			Ford
7	Garrett Smithley (i)
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			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	B. J. McLeod (i)		Ford
66	Timmy Hill (i)		Chevrolet
72			Chevrolet
78			Toyota
88			Chevrolet
95			Chevrolet
96			Toyota
99			Chevrolet
Official entry list

First practice

Denny Hamlin was the fastest in the first practice session with a time of 35.603 seconds and a speed of 202.23mph.^[12]

Pos		Driver	Team	Manufacturer	Time
1	11				35.603	202.230
2	41				35.661	201.901
3	19				35.670	201.850
Official first practice results

Qualifying

Denny Hamlin scored the pole for the race with a time of 35.504 and a speed of 202.794mph.^[13]

Qualifying results

Pos		Driver	Team	Manufacturer
1	11			Toyota	35.716	35.604	35.504
2	18			Toyota	36.107	35.682	35.515
3	4			Ford	36.218	35.662	35.626
4	20			Toyota	35.945	35.750	35.678
5	3			Chevrolet	36.198	35.812	35.688
6	31			Chevrolet	36.055	35.784	35.704
7	78			Toyota	36.025	35.707	35.746
8	12			Ford	35.932	35.836	35.766
9	22			Ford	35.830	35.762	35.780
10	88			Chevrolet	35.827	35.715	35.788
11	10			Ford	35.829	35.798	35.906
12	41			Ford	35.784	35.698	35.994
13	17			Ford	36.145	35.849	—
14	21			Ford	35.871	35.854	—
15	1			Chevrolet	36.206	35.897	—
16	14			Ford	35.844	35.952	—
17	42			Chevrolet	36.159	35.987	—
18	2			Ford	35.908	36.074	—
19	48			Chevrolet	36.324	36.091	—
20	24	William Byron (R)		Chevrolet	36.361	36.139	—
21	9			Chevrolet	36.142	36.167	—
22	43	Darrell Wallace Jr. (R)		Chevrolet	36.444	36.415	—
23	37			Chevrolet	36.268	36.438	—
24	38			Ford	36.457	36.467	—
25	47			Chevrolet	36.483	—	—
26	6			Ford	36.493	—	—
27	13			Chevrolet	36.493	—	—
28	95			Chevrolet	36.495	—	—
29	34			Ford	36.639	—	—
30	32			Ford	36.663	—	—
31	00			Chevrolet	36.816	—	—
32	72			Chevrolet	37.203	—	—
33	51	B. J. McLeod (i)		Ford	37.550	—	—
34	99			Chevrolet	37.806	—	—
35	15			Chevrolet	37.962	—	—
36	7	Garrett Smithley (i)		Chevrolet	38.228	—	—
37	66	Timmy Hill (i)		Chevrolet	38.783	—	—
38	96			Toyota	39.119	—	—
39	23			Toyota	39.492	—	—
40	19			Toyota	0.000	—	—
Official qualifying results

• Reed Sorenson practiced and qualified the No. 15 for Ross Chastain who was in Ohio for the Xfinity Series race.

Practice (post-qualifying)

Second practice

Erik Jones was the fastest in the second practice session with a time of 35.973 seconds and a speed of 200.15mph.^[14]

Pos		Driver	Team	Manufacturer	Time
1	20				35.973	200.150
2	24	William Byron (R)			36.058	199.678
3	2				36.116	199.358
Official second practice results

Final practice

Joey Logano was the fastest in the final practice session with a time of 36.441 seconds and a speed of 197.58mph.^[15]

Pos		Driver	Team	Manufacturer	Time
1	22				36.441	197.580
2	18				36.452	197.520
3	88				36.489	197.320
Official final practice results

Race

Stage Results

Stage 1Laps: 60

Pos		Driver	Team	Manufacturer	Points
1	4	Kevin Harvick	Stewart-Haas Racing	Ford	10
2	18	Kyle Busch	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	9
3	12	Ryan Blaney	Team Penske	Ford	8
4	41	Kurt Busch	Stewart-Haas Racing	Ford	7
5	78	Martin Truex Jr.	Furniture Row Racing	Toyota	6
6	11	Denny Hamlin	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	5
7	10	Aric Almirola	Stewart-Haas Racing	Ford	4
8	31	Ryan Newman	Richard Childress Racing	Chevrolet	3
9	2	Brad Keselowski	Team Penske	Ford	2
10	88	Alex Bowman	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	1
Official stage one results

Stage 2Laps: 60

Pos		Driver	Team	Manufacturer	Points
1	4	Kevin Harvick	Stewart-Haas Racing	Ford	10
2	18	Kyle Busch	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	9
3	12	Ryan Blaney	Team Penske	Ford	8
4	41	Kurt Busch	Stewart-Haas Racing	Ford	7
5	3	Austin Dillon	Richard Childress Racing	Chevrolet	6
6	22	Joey Logano	Team Penske	Ford	5
7	14	Clint Bowyer	Stewart-Haas Racing	Ford	4
8	10	Aric Almirola	Stewart-Haas Racing	Ford	3
9	2	Brad Keselowski	Team Penske	Ford	2
10	42	Kyle Larson	Chip Ganassi Racing	Chevrolet	1
Official stage two results

Final Stage Results

Stage 3Laps: 80

Pos	Grid		Driver	Team	Manufacturer	Laps	Points
1	3	4	Kevin Harvick	Stewart-Haas Racing	Ford	200	60
2	18	2	Brad Keselowski	Team Penske	Ford	200	39
3	2	18	Kyle Busch	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	200	52
4	5	3	Austin Dillon	Richard Childress Racing	Chevrolet	200	39
5	8	12	Ryan Blaney	Team Penske	Ford	200	48
6	12	41	Kurt Busch	Stewart-Haas Racing	Ford	200	45
7	11	10	Aric Almirola	Stewart-Haas Racing	Ford	200	37
8	1	11	Denny Hamlin	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	200	34
9	21	9	Chase Elliott	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	200	28
10	9	22	Joey Logano	Team Penske	Ford	200	32
11	40	19	Daniel Suárez	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	200	26
12	16	14	Clint Bowyer	Stewart-Haas Racing	Ford	200	29
13	4	20	Erik Jones	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	200	24
14	7	78	Martin Truex Jr.	Furniture Row Racing	Toyota	200	29
15	6	31	Ryan Newman	Richard Childress Racing	Chevrolet	200	25
16	14	21	Paul Menard	Wood Brothers Racing	Ford	200	21
17	17	42	Kyle Larson	Chip Ganassi Racing	Chevrolet	200	21
18	13	17	Ricky Stenhouse Jr.	Roush Fenway Racing	Ford	200	19
19	10	88	Alex Bowman	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	200	19
20	23	37	Chris Buescher	JTG Daugherty Racing	Chevrolet	200	17
21	15	1	Jamie McMurray	Chip Ganassi Racing	Chevrolet	200	16
22	25	47	A. J. Allmendinger	JTG Daugherty Racing	Chevrolet	199	15
23	22	43	Darrell Wallace Jr. (R)	Richard Petty Motorsports	Chevrolet	199	14
24	30	32	Matt DiBenedetto	Go Fas Racing	Ford	199	13
25	29	34	Michael McDowell	Front Row Motorsports	Ford	199	12
26	28	95	Kasey Kahne	Leavine Family Racing	Chevrolet	199	11
27	24	38	David Ragan	Front Row Motorsports	Ford	199	10
28	19	48	Jimmie Johnson	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	198	9
29	31	00	Landon Cassill	StarCom Racing	Chevrolet	197	8
30	39	23	Blake Jones	BK Racing	Toyota	194	7
31	33	51	B. J. McLeod (i)	Rick Ware Racing	Ford	194	0
32	36	7	Garrett Smithley (i)	Premium Motorsports	Chevrolet	193	0
33	34	99	Gray Gaulding	StarCom Racing	Chevrolet	191	4
34	26	6	Trevor Bayne	Roush Fenway Racing	Ford	189	3
35	35	15	Ross Chastain (i)	Premium Motorsports	Chevrolet	187	0
36	20	24	William Byron (R)	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	187	1
37	37	66	Timmy Hill (i)	MBM Motorsports	Chevrolet	138	0
38	27	13	Ty Dillon	Germain Racing	Chevrolet	131	1
39	38	96	Jeffrey Earnhardt	Gaunt Brothers Racing	Toyota	102	1
40	32	72	Corey LaJoie	TriStar Motorsports	Chevrolet	37	1
Official race results

Race statistics

• Lead changes: 9 among different drivers
• Cautions/Laps: 8 for 37
• Red flags: 0
• Time of race: 2 hours, 50 minutes and 51 seconds
• Average speed: 140.474mph

Media

Television

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

Radio

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

Standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings

	Pos	Driver	Points
	1	Kyle Busch	986
	2	Kevin Harvick	924 (–62)
	3	Martin Truex Jr.	842 (–144)
	4	Kurt Busch	750 (–236)
	5	Clint Bowyer	732 (–254)
	6	Joey Logano	723 (–263)
	7	Brad Keselowski	709 (–277)
2	8	Ryan Blaney	687 (–299)
	9	Denny Hamlin	684 (–302)
2	10	Kyle Larson	681 (–305)
	11	Chase Elliott	647 (–339)
	12	Aric Almirola	639 (–347)
	13	Erik Jones	596 (–390)
	14	Jimmie Johnson	572 (–414)
	15	Alex Bowman	542 (–444)
	16	Ricky Stenhouse Jr.	480 (–506)
Official driver's standings

Manufacturers' Championship standings

	Pos	Manufacturer	Points
	1	Toyota	844
	2	Ford	815 (–29)
	3	Chevrolet	748 (–96)
Official manufacturers' standings

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

. – Driver has clinched a position in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series playoffs.

Notes and References

1. Web site: 2018 schedule. Jayski.com. Jayski's Silly Season Site. July 2, 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: Michigan International Speedway. NASCAR.com. NASCAR Media Group, LLC.. July 2, 2018. January 3, 2013. April 7, 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20170407042342/http://www.nascar.com/en_us/nascar-tracks/michigan-international-speedway.html. dead.
3. Web site: Entry List. MRN.com. Motor Racing Network. August 7, 2018. August 7, 2018.
4. Web site: First Practice Results. MRN.com. Motor Racing Network. August 10, 2018. August 10, 2018.
5. Web site: Starting Lineup. MRN.com. Motor Racing Network. August 10, 2018. August 10, 2018.
6. Web site: Second Practice Results. MRN.com. Motor Racing Network. August 11, 2018. August 11, 2018.
7. Web site: Final Practice Results. MRN.com. Motor Racing Network. August 11, 2018. August 11, 2018.
8. Web site: Consumers Energy 400 Results. MRN.com. Motor Racing Network. August 12, 2018. August 12, 2018.
9. Web site: Points standings. Jayski.com. Jayski's Silly Season Site. August 13, 2018. August 13, 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20180827204403/http://www.jayski.com/stats/2018/pdfs/23mis2018racereport.pdf. August 27, 2018. dead.
10. Web site: Manufacturer standings. Jayski.com. Jayski's Silly Season Site. August 13, 2018. August 13, 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20180827204403/http://www.jayski.com/stats/2018/pdfs/23mis2018racereport.pdf. August 27, 2018. dead.
11. Web site: Michigan TV ratings . . . 4 October 2018.
12. Web site: Utter. Jim. Denny Hamlin tops Michigan Cup practice at over 202 mph. Motorsport.com. Motorsport Network. August 10, 2018. Brooklyn, Michigan. August 10, 2018.
13. News: Denny Hamlin and Kyle Busch go 1-2 for Gibbs at Michigan. August 10, 2018. Associated Press. Associated Press. AP Sports. August 10, 2018. Brooklyn, Michigan. https://web.archive.org/web/20180811032120/https://racing.ap.org/article/denny-hamlin-and-kyle-busch-go-1-2-gibbs-michigan. August 11, 2018. dead.
14. Web site: Utter. Jim. Erik Jones fastest in Saturday's abbreviated first Cup practice. Motorsport.com. Motorsport Network. August 11, 2018. Brooklyn, Michigan. August 11, 2018.
15. Web site: Utter. Jim. Joey Logano tops Kyle Busch in final Cup practice at Michigan. Motorsport.com. Motorsport Network. August 11, 2018. Brooklyn, Michigan. August 11, 2018.