2018 Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 explained

Type:	NASME
Race Name:	Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500
Details Ref:	^[1] ^[2] ^[3] ^[4] ^[5] ^[6] ^[7] ^[8] ^[9]
Year:	2018
Race No:	2
Season No:	36
Location:	Atlanta Motor Speedway in Hampton, Georgia
Course Mi:	1.54
Course Km:	2.48
Distance Laps:	325
Distance Mi:	500.5
Distance Km:	806
Avg:	143.068mph
Pole Driver:	Kyle Busch
Pole Team:	Joe Gibbs Racing
Pole Time:	30.024
Most Driver:	Kevin Harvick
Most Team:	Stewart-Haas Racing
Most Laps:	181
Car:	4
First Driver:	Kevin Harvick
First Team:	Stewart-Haas Racing
Network:	Fox
Announcers:	Mike Joy, Jeff Gordon and Darrell Waltrip
Ratings:	3.3/3.1 (Overnight)^[10]
Radio:	PRN
Booth Ann:	Doug Rice, Mark Garrow and Wendy Venturini
Turn Ann:	Rob Albright (1 & 2) and Pat Patterson (3 & 4)

The 2018 Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 was a Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race held on February 25, 2018, at Atlanta Motor Speedway in Hampton, Georgia. Contested over 325 laps on the 1.54-mile-long (2.48 km) asphalt quad-oval intermediate speedway, it was the second race of the 2018 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series season.

Report

Background

Atlanta Motor Speedway (formerly Atlanta International Raceway) is a track in Hampton, Georgia, 20 miles (32 km) south of Atlanta. It is a 1.54miles quad-oval track with a seating capacity of 111,000. It opened in 1960 as a 1.5miles standard oval. In 1994, 46 condominiums were built over the northeastern side of the track. In 1997, to standardize the track with Speedway Motorsports' other two 1.5miles ovals, the entire track was almost completely rebuilt. The frontstretch and backstretch were swapped, and the configuration of the track was changed from oval to quad-oval. The project made the track one of the fastest on the NASCAR circuit.

Entry list

	Driver	Team	Manufacturer
00			Chevrolet
1			Chevrolet
2			Ford
3			Chevrolet
4			Ford
6			Ford
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			Chevrolet
72			Chevrolet
78			Toyota
88			Chevrolet
95			Chevrolet
Official entry list

First practice

Ricky Stenhouse Jr. was the fastest in the first practice session with a time of 29.745 seconds and a speed of 186.384mph.^[11]

Pos		Driver	Team	Manufacturer	Time
1	17				29.745	186.384
2	42				29.820	185.915
3	43	Darrell Wallace Jr. (R)			29.833	185.834
Official first practice results

Qualifying

Kyle Busch scored the pole for the race with a time of 30.024 and a speed of 184.652mph.^[12]

Qualifying results

Pos		Driver	Team	Manufacturer
1	18			Toyota	30.140	30.178	30.024
2	31			Chevrolet	30.091	30.218	30.062
3	4			Ford	29.869	30.043	30.067
4	19			Toyota	30.075	30.084	30.093
5	2			Ford	29.737	30.152	30.154
6	17			Ford	30.132	30.212	30.176
7	41			Ford	30.126	30.155	30.215
8	42			Chevrolet	30.025	30.101	30.221
9	14			Ford	29.988	30.248	30.414
10	20			Toyota	30.299	30.292	30.621
11	10			Ford	30.251	30.224	0.000
12	11			Toyota	30.240	30.303	0.000
13	1			Chevrolet	30.025	30.324	—
14	95			Chevrolet	30.433	30.377	—
15	21			Ford	30.242	30.384	—
16	22			Ford	30.117	30.440	—
17	34			Ford	30.475	30.469	—
18	88			Chevrolet	30.146	30.523	—
19	43	Darrell Wallace Jr. (R)		Chevrolet	30.439	30.551	—
20	6			Ford	30.350	30.578	—
21	47			Chevrolet	30.433	30.588	—
22	48			Chevrolet	30.194	30.590	—
23	24	William Byron (R)		Chevrolet	30.088	30.663	—
24	37			Chevrolet	30.488	0.000	—
25	3			Chevrolet	30.503	—	—
26	12			Ford	30.537	—	—
27	9			Chevrolet	30.616	—	—
28	13			Chevrolet	30.750	—	—
29	38			Ford	30.780	—	—
30	32			Ford	30.987	—	—
31	23			Toyota	31.099	—	—
32	72			Chevrolet	31.314	—	—
33	00			Chevrolet	31.671	—	—
34	15	Ross Chastain (i)		Chevrolet	31.796	—	—
35	78			Toyota	0.000	—	—
36	51			Chevrolet	0.000	—	—
Official qualifying results

Final practice

Ryan Newman was the fastest in the final practice session with a time of 29.989 seconds and a speed of 184.868mph.^[13]

Pos		Driver	Team	Manufacturer	Time
1	31				29.989	184.868
2	78				30.033	184.597
3	21				30.038	184.566
Official final practice results

Race

Morning rain delayed the start of the race by 2.5 hours, The race was originally to start at 2:00 p.m. but the race was pushed to 1:00 p.m. because of rain, Track drying allowed the start of the race to begin at 3:30 pm EST. Because of track lights they were able to complete the race in its entirety.^[14]

Stage 1

Start

Once racing began, Kyle Busch led the field to the green flag, but Ryan Newman took the lead on lap 1 and led 17 laps, but then Kyle Busch took the lead from Newman on lap 18 and led 2 laps, but then Kevin Harvick took the lead on lap 21 and led 11 laps, but then the first caution of the race flew on lap 32 for a scheduled competition caution for rain, so Kyle Busch retook the lead once the caution came out and led one lap and Kevin Harvick took the lead of the race on lap 33.

Racing resumed on lap 35.

Kevin Harvick led 64 laps en route to his stage one victory, finishing 6.5 seconds in front of second place Clint Bowyer. Also in the top five was Brad Keselowski, Martin Truex Jr., and Aric Almirola. The second caution of the race came out on lap 87 for conclusion of the first stage, and Martin Truex Jr. took the lead on lap 89 and led one lap, but then Brad Keselowski took the lead from Truex on lap 90.

Stage 2

Back to green on lap 93. Kurt Busch took the lead on lap 101 and led 25 laps and Kevin Harvick took the lead on lap 126 and led two laps, and Kyle Busch took the lead on lap 127.

Caution flew for the third time on lap 160 for a single car spin in turn 2. Jimmie Johnson got through the second turn and spun out. He was lapped by leader Kevin Harvick.

Racing restarted on lap 164.

Brad Keselowski outran Kurt Busch to win the second stage. Following were Kyle Busch, Joey Logano and Kevin Harvick.

Caution #4 flew on lap 172 for conclusion of the second stage.

Final stage

Back to green on lap 178.

Brad Keselowski took the lead with 101 laps to go and rain threatened to end the race with about 100 laps to go, as three drivers including Kevin Harvick, Brad Keselowski and Kurt Busch wrestled to take the lead. Crew chiefs were concerned about watching the weather.

The final stage developed in strategies as the teams of Denny Hamlin and Joey Logano ran in green flag pit stops than other leaders, attempting to use one less stop as the other cars.

With 27 laps to go, the fifth caution of the race came out when Trevor Bayne blew an engine in Turn 2, creating a plume of smoke behind him. Darrell Wallace Jr. slammed in the back of Ricky Stenhouse Jr. which caused damage to Wallace Jr.'s car.

Racing restarted with 20 laps to go, and Kevin Harvick led 173 of 325 laps and drove on to score his second career Atlanta victory since 2001.^[15]

Post race

"To be able to pay tribute to Dale Earnhardt was cool, been waiting a long time to do that" Harvick said.

Stage Results

Stage 1Laps: 85

Pos		Driver	Team	Manufacturer	Points
1	4	Kevin Harvick	Stewart-Haas Racing	Ford	10
2	14	Clint Bowyer	Stewart-Haas Racing	Ford	9
3	2	Brad Keselowski	Team Penske	Ford	8
4	78	Martin Truex Jr.	Furniture Row Racing	Toyota	7
5	10	Aric Almirola	Stewart-Haas Racing	Ford	6
6	18	Kyle Busch	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	5
7	42	Kyle Larson	Chip Ganassi Racing	Chevrolet	4
8	41	Kurt Busch	Stewart-Haas Racing	Ford	3
9	11	Denny Hamlin	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	2
10	22	Joey Logano	Team Penske	Ford	1
Official stage one results

Stage 2Laps: 85

Pos		Driver	Team	Manufacturer	Points
1	2	Brad Keselowski	Team Penske	Ford	10
2	41	Kurt Busch	Stewart-Haas Racing	Ford	9
3	18	Kyle Busch	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	8
4	22	Joey Logano	Team Penske	Ford	7
5	4	Kevin Harvick	Stewart-Haas Racing	Ford	6
6	11	Denny Hamlin	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	5
7	42	Kyle Larson	Chip Ganassi Racing	Chevrolet	4
8	10	Aric Almirola	Stewart-Haas Racing	Ford	3
9	14	Clint Bowyer	Stewart-Haas Racing	Ford	2
10	19	Daniel Suárez	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	1
Official stage two results

Final Stage Results

Stage 3Laps: 155

Pos	Grid		Driver	Team	Manufacturer	Laps	Points
1	3	4	Kevin Harvick	Stewart-Haas Racing	Ford	325	56
2	5	2	Brad Keselowski	Team Penske	Ford	325	53
3	9	14	Clint Bowyer	Stewart-Haas Racing	Ford	325	45
4	12	11	Denny Hamlin	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	325	40
5	35	78	Martin Truex Jr.	Furniture Row Racing	Toyota	325	39
6	16	22	Joey Logano	Team Penske	Ford	325	39
7	1	18	Kyle Busch	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	325	43
8	7	41	Kurt Busch	Stewart-Haas Racing	Ford	325	41
9	8	42	Kyle Larson	Chip Ganassi Racing	Chevrolet	325	36
10	27	9	Chase Elliott	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	325	27
11	10	20	Erik Jones	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	325	26
12	26	12	Ryan Blaney	Team Penske	Ford	325	25
13	11	10	Aric Almirola	Stewart-Haas Racing	Ford	325	33
14	25	3	Austin Dillon	Richard Childress Racing	Chevrolet	324	23
15	4	19	Daniel Suárez	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	324	23
16	6	17	Ricky Stenhouse Jr.	Roush Fenway Racing	Ford	324	21
17	15	21	Paul Menard	Wood Brothers Racing	Ford	324	20
18	23	24	William Byron (R)	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	323	19
19	13	1	Jamie McMurray	Chip Ganassi Racing	Chevrolet	323	18
20	18	88	Alex Bowman	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	322	17
21	14	95	Kasey Kahne	Leavine Family Racing	Chevrolet	322	16
22	2	31	Ryan Newman	Richard Childress Racing	Chevrolet	322	15
23	29	38	David Ragan	Front Row Motorsports	Ford	321	14
24	17	34	Michael McDowell	Front Row Motorsports	Ford	321	13
25	24	37	Chris Buescher	JTG Daugherty Racing	Chevrolet	321	12
26	28	13	Ty Dillon	Germain Racing	Chevrolet	321	11
27	22	48	Jimmie Johnson	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	321	10
28	32	72	Cole Whitt	TriStar Motorsports	Chevrolet	320	9
29	21	47	A. J. Allmendinger	JTG Daugherty Racing	Chevrolet	320	8
30	34	15	Ross Chastain (i)	Premium Motorsports	Chevrolet	319	0
31	30	32	Matt DiBenedetto	Go Fas Racing	Ford	319	6
32	19	43	Darrell Wallace Jr. (R)	Richard Petty Motorsports	Chevrolet	319	5
33	36	51	Harrison Rhodes	Rick Ware Racing	Chevrolet	310	4
34	33	00	Jeffrey Earnhardt	StarCom Racing	Chevrolet	305	3
35	20	6	Trevor Bayne	Roush Fenway Racing	Ford	292	2
36	31	23	Gray Gaulding	BK Racing	Toyota	99	1
Official race results

Race statistics

• 24 lead changes among 8 drivers
• 5 cautions for 28 laps
• Time of race: 3 hours, 29 minutes and 54 seconds
• Average speed: 143.071mph
• Margin of victory: 2.690 seconds

Media

Television

The Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 was carried by Fox in the United States. Mike Joy, five-time Atlanta winner Jeff Gordon and three-time Atlanta winner Darrell Waltrip worked the race from the booth. Pit road was manned by Jamie Little, Vince Welch and Matt Yocum.

Radio

The race was broadcast on radio by the Performance Racing Network and simulcast on Sirius XM NASCAR Radio. Doug Rice, Mark Garrow and Wendy Venturini called the race from the booth when the field raced down the front stretch. Rob Albright called the race from atop a billboard outside of turn 2 when the field raced through turns 1 and 2. Pat Patterson called the race from a billboard outside of turn 3 when the field raced through turns 3 and 4. On pit road, PRN was manned by Brad Gillie, Brett McMillan, Jim Noble and Doug Turnbull.

Standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings

	Pos	Driver	Points
3	1	Joey Logano	89
1	2	Ryan Blaney	83 (–6)
4	3	Denny Hamlin	77 (–12)
15	4	Kevin Harvick	75 (–14)
10	5	Clint Bowyer	74 (–15)
4	6	Austin Dillon	70 (–19)
5	7	Martin Truex Jr.	69 (–20)
8	8	Kurt Busch	68 (–21)
6	9	Paul Menard	66 (–23)
2	10	Aric Almirola	66 (–23)
10	11	Kyle Busch	61 (–28)
20	12	Brad Keselowski	58 (–31)
7	13	Kyle Larson	54 (–35)
9	14	Darrell Wallace Jr.	52 (–37)
9	15	Michael McDowell	52 (–37)
5	16	Ryan Newman	49 (–40)
Official driver's standings

Manufacturers' Championship standings

	Pos	Manufacturer	Points
2	1	Ford	73
1	2	Chevrolet	68 (–5)
1	3	Toyota	67 (–6)
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. January 29, 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: Atlanta Motor Speedway. NASCAR.com. NASCAR Media Group, LLC.. January 29, 2018. January 3, 2013. February 19, 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20160219053741/http://www.nascar.com/en_us/nascar-tracks/atlanta-motor-speedway.html. dead.
3. Web site: Entry List. MRN.com. Motor Racing Network. February 19, 2018. February 19, 2018.
4. Web site: First Practice Results. MRN.com. Motor Racing Network. February 23, 2018. February 23, 2018.
5. Web site: Qualifying Results. MRN.com. Motor Racing Network. February 23, 2018. February 23, 2018.
6. Web site: Final Practice Results. MRN.com. Motor Racing Network. February 24, 2018. February 24, 2018.
7. Web site: Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 Results. MRN.com. Motor Racing Network. February 25, 2018. February 25, 2018.
8. Web site: Points standings. Jayski.com. Jayski's Silly Season Site. February 26, 2018. February 26, 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20180228041252/http://www.jayski.com/stats/2018/pdfs/02ams2018racereport.pdf. February 28, 2018. dead.
9. Web site: Manufacturer standings. Jayski.com. Jayski's Silly Season Site. February 26, 2018. February 26, 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20180228041252/http://www.jayski.com/stats/2018/pdfs/02ams2018racereport.pdf. February 28, 2018. dead.
10. Web site: Atlanta final TV ratings. Jayski's Silly Season Site. ESPN. 7 May 2018.
11. Web site: Spencer. Lee. Stenhouse tops first Atlanta Cup practice over Larson and Wallace. Motorsport.com. Motorsport Network. February 23, 2018. Hampton, Georgia. February 23, 2018.
12. News: Odum. Charles. Kyle Busch nips Newman to win pole at Atlanta Motor Speedway. February 23, 2018. Associated Press. Associated Press. AP Sports. February 23, 2018. Hampton, Georgia. https://web.archive.org/web/20180224053049/https://racing.ap.org/article/kyle-busch-nips-newman-win-pole-atlanta-motor-speedway. February 24, 2018. dead.
13. Web site: Spencer. Lee. Ryan Newman leads final practice at Atlanta. Motorsport.com. Motorsport Network. February 24, 2018. Hampton, Georgia. February 24, 2018.
14. News: Rain delays Atlanta NASCAR race. Bianchi. Jordan. February 25, 2018. SBNation.com. February 25, 2018.
15. News: Kevin Harvick gets redemption, wins NASCAR Cup race at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Hembree. Mike. February 25, 2018. USA TODAY. February 25, 2018. en.