2018 GEICO 500 explained

Type:	NASME
Race Name:	GEICO 500
Details Ref:	^[1] ^[2] ^[3] ^[4] ^[5] ^[6] ^[7] ^[8] ^[9]
Year:	2018
Race No:	10
Season No:	36
Location:	Talladega Superspeedway in Lincoln, Alabama
Course Mi:	2.66
Course Km:	4.28
Distance Laps:	188
Distance Mi:	500.08
Distance Km:	804.64
Avg:	152.489mph
Pole Driver:	Kevin Harvick
Pole Team:	Stewart-Haas Racing
Pole Time:	49.247
Most Driver:	Joey Logano
Most Team:	Team Penske
Most Laps:	70
Car:	22
First Driver:	Joey Logano
First Team:	Team Penske
Network:	Fox
Announcers:	Mike Joy, Jeff Gordon and Darrell Waltrip
Ratings:	2.9/2.8 (Overnight)^[10]
Radio:	MRN
Booth Ann:	Joe Moore, Jeff Striegle and Rusty Wallace
Turn Ann:	Dave Moody (1 & 2), Mike Bagley (Backstretch) and Kyle Rickey (3 & 4)

The 2018 GEICO 500 was a Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race held on April 29, 2018, at Talladega Superspeedway in Lincoln, Alabama. Contested over 188 laps on the 2.66 mile (4.28 km) superspeedway, it was the 10th race of the 2018 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series season.

Report

Background

Talladega Superspeedway, formerly known as Alabama International Motor Speedway, is a motorsports complex located north of Talladega, Alabama. It is located on the former Anniston Air Force Base in the small city of Lincoln. A tri-oval, the track was constructed in 1969 by the International Speedway Corporation, a business controlled by the France family. Talladega is most known for its steep banking. The track currently hosts NASCAR's Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series, Xfinity Series and Camping World Truck Series. Talladega is the longest NASCAR oval with a length of 2.66-mile-long (4.28 km) tri-oval like the Daytona International Speedway, which is a 2.5-mile-long (4.0 km).

Entry list

	Driver	Team	Manufacturer
00	Joey Gase (i)		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	Timmy Hill (i)		Chevrolet
55			Chevrolet
62			Chevrolet
72			Chevrolet
78			Toyota
88			Chevrolet
92	Timothy Peters (i)		Ford
95			Chevrolet
96			Toyota
Official entry list

Practice

First practice

Ty Dillon was the fastest in the first practice session with a time of 47.182 seconds and a speed of 202.959mph.^[11]

Pos		Driver	Team	Manufacturer	Time
1	13				47.182	202.959
2	19				47.247	202.680
3	18				47.247	202.680
Official first practice results

Final practice

Jamie McMurray was the fastest in the final practice session with a time of 46.947 seconds and a speed of 203.975mph.^[12] The practice was marred by a three-car crash on the back-straightaway that resulted in McMurray barrel rolling several times into the inside catchfence while Ty Dillon and Ryan Newman were also involved. “When I realized I was going to flip, I actually shut my eyes because I don't really want to see what's getting ready to happen,” McMurray said. “And then it just kept, it seemed like forever. I opened my eyes a couple times and I couldn't, I'm like I don't know if I'm going up or down or where it's going to hit next. So I was just thankful when it finally ... a couple of times I thought it was going to stop and it just kind of kept going.” McMurray's accident led to NASCAR reducing the restrictor plates from 7/8th to 55/64th of an inch.^[13]

Pos		Driver	Team	Manufacturer	Time
1	1				46.947	203.975
2	13				47.031	203.610
3	19				47.154	203.079
Official final practice results

Qualifying

Kevin Harvick scored the pole for the race with a time of 49.247 and a speed of 194.448mph.^[14]

Qualifying results

Pos		Driver	Team	Manufacturer
1	4			Ford	49.291	49.247
2	41			Ford	49.381	49.340
3	78			Toyota	49.692	49.482
4	11			Toyota	49.829	49.633
5	9			Chevrolet	49.722	49.680
6	20			Toyota	49.715	49.686
7	17			Ford	49.951	49.900
8	14			Ford	49.969	49.947
9	22			Ford	49.872	49.968
10	2			Ford	49.941	50.046
11	88			Chevrolet	49.973	50.071
12	38			Ford	49.991	50.113
13	21			Ford	50.009	—
14	19			Toyota	50.011	—
15	43	Darrell Wallace Jr. (R)		Chevrolet	50.054	—
16	48			Chevrolet	50.068	—
17	24	William Byron (R)		Chevrolet	50.087	—
18	31			Chevrolet	50.107	—
19	18			Toyota	50.109	—
20	34			Ford	50.138	—
21	6			Ford	50.140	—
22	42			Chevrolet	50.151	—
23	12			Ford	50.269	—
24	3			Chevrolet	50.363	—
25	37			Chevrolet	50.454	—
26	95			Chevrolet	50.462	—
27	1			Chevrolet	50.474	—
28	47			Chevrolet	50.476	—
29	13			Chevrolet	50.762	—
30	62			Chevrolet	50.766	—
31	96			Toyota	51.145	—
32	92	Timothy Peters (i)		Ford	51.190	—
33	32			Ford	51.319	—
34	00	Joey Gase (i)		Chevrolet	51.484	—
35	15	Ross Chastain (i)		Chevrolet	51.564	—
36	72			Chevrolet	51.710	—
37	23			Toyota	52.102	—
38	55			Chevrolet	52.372	—
39	51	Timmy Hill (i)		Chevrolet	52.647	—
40	10			Ford	54.604	—
Official qualifying results

Race

Stage Results

Stage 1Laps: 55

Pos		Driver	Team	Manufacturer	Points
1	2	Brad Keselowski	Team Penske	Ford	10
2	22	Joey Logano	Team Penske	Ford	9
3	78	Martin Truex Jr.	Furniture Row Racing	Toyota	8
4	18	Kyle Busch	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	7
5	21	Paul Menard	Wood Brothers Racing	Ford	6
6	11	Denny Hamlin	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	5
7	12	Ryan Blaney	Team Penske	Ford	4
8	17	Ricky Stenhouse Jr.	Roush Fenway Racing	Ford	3
9	4	Kevin Harvick	Stewart-Haas Racing	Ford	2
10	48	Jimmie Johnson	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	1
Official stage one results

Stage 2Laps: 55

Pos		Driver	Team	Manufacturer	Points
1	21	Paul Menard	Wood Brothers Racing	Ford	10
2	22	Joey Logano	Team Penske	Ford	9
3	12	Ryan Blaney	Team Penske	Ford	8
4	4	Kevin Harvick	Stewart-Haas Racing	Ford	7
5	17	Ricky Stenhouse Jr.	Roush Fenway Racing	Ford	6
6	38	David Ragan	Front Row Motorsports	Ford	5
7	48	Jimmie Johnson	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	4
8	41	Kurt Busch	Stewart-Haas Racing	Ford	3
9	24	William Byron (R)	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	2
10	18	Kyle Busch	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	1
Official stage two results

Final Stage Results

Stage 3Laps: 78

Pos	Grid		Driver	Team	Manufacturer	Laps	Points
1	9	22	Joey Logano	Team Penske	Ford	188	58
2	2	41	Kurt Busch	Stewart-Haas Racing	Ford	188	38
3	5	9	Chase Elliott	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	188	34
4	1	4	Kevin Harvick	Stewart-Haas Racing	Ford	188	42
5	7	17	Ricky Stenhouse Jr.	Roush Fenway Racing	Ford	188	41
6	12	38	David Ragan	Front Row Motorsports	Ford	188	36
7	40	10	Aric Almirola	Stewart-Haas Racing	Ford	188	30
8	11	88	Alex Bowman	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	188	29
9	18	31	Ryan Newman	Richard Childress Racing	Chevrolet	188	28
10	14	19	Daniel Suárez	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	188	27
11	25	37	Chris Buescher	JTG Daugherty Racing	Chevrolet	188	26
12	16	48	Jimmie Johnson	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	188	30
13	19	18	Kyle Busch	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	188	32
14	4	11	Denny Hamlin	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	188	28
15	29	13	Ty Dillon	Germain Racing	Chevrolet	188	22
16	15	43	Darrell Wallace Jr. (R)	Richard Petty Motorsports	Chevrolet	188	21
17	26	95	Kasey Kahne	Leavine Family Racing	Chevrolet	188	20
18	23	12	Ryan Blaney	Team Penske	Ford	188	31
19	33	32	Matt DiBenedetto	Go Fas Racing	Ford	188	18
20	31	96	D. J. Kennington	Gaunt Brothers Racing	Toyota	188	17
21	36	72	Cole Whitt	TriStar Motorsports	Chevrolet	188	16
22	30	62	Brendan Gaughan	Beard Motorsports	Chevrolet	188	15
23	32	92	Timothy Peters (i)	RBR Enterprises	Ford	187	0
24	37	23	Gray Gaulding	BK Racing	Toyota	187	13
25	35	15	Ross Chastain (i)	Premium Motorsports	Chevrolet	186	0
26	3	78	Martin Truex Jr.	Furniture Row Racing	Toyota	184	19
27	34	00	Joey Gase (i)	StarCom Racing	Chevrolet	178	0
28	27	1	Jamie McMurray	Chip Ganassi Racing	Chevrolet	174	9
29	17	24	William Byron (R)	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	165	10
30	13	21	Paul Menard	Wood Brothers Racing	Ford	165	23
31	8	14	Clint Bowyer	Stewart-Haas Racing	Ford	165	6
32	20	34	Michael McDowell	Front Row Motorsports	Ford	165	5
33	10	2	Brad Keselowski	Team Penske	Ford	165	14
34	28	47	A. J. Allmendinger	JTG Daugherty Racing	Chevrolet	165	3
35	24	3	Austin Dillon	Richard Childress Racing	Chevrolet	165	2
36	39	51	Timmy Hill (i)	Rick Ware Racing	Chevrolet	151	0
37	38	55	Reed Sorenson	Premium Motorsports	Chevrolet	79	1
38	21	6	Trevor Bayne	Roush Fenway Racing	Ford	71	1
39	6	20	Erik Jones	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	71	1
40	22	42	Kyle Larson	Chip Ganassi Racing	Chevrolet	71	1
Official race results

Race statistics

• Lead changes: 16 among different drivers
• Cautions/Laps: 6 for 29
• Red flags: 0
• Time of race: 3 hours, 16 minutes and 46 seconds
• Average speed: 152.489mph

Media

Television

Fox Sports covered their 18th race at the Talladega Superspeedway. Mike Joy, six-time Talladega winner – and all-time restrictor plate race wins record holder – Jeff Gordon and four-time Talladega winner Darrell Waltrip called the race in the booth for the race. Jamie Little, Vince Welch and Matt Yocum handled the action on pit road for the television side.

Radio

MRN had the radio call for the race which was also simulcast on Sirius XM NASCAR Radio. Joe Moore, Jeff Striegle and Rusty Wallace called the race in the booth when the field raced through the tri-oval. Dave Moody called the race from the Sunoco spotters stand outside turn 2 when the field raced through turns 1 and 2. Mike Bagley called the race from a platform inside the backstretch when the field raced down the backstretch. Kyle Rickey called the race from the Sunoco spotters stand outside turn 4 when the field raced through turns 3 and 4. Alex Hayden, Winston Kelley, Kim Coon, and Steve Post worked pit road for the radio side.

Standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings

	Pos	Driver	Points
	1	Kyle Busch	447
	2	Joey Logano	417 (–30)
1	3	Kevin Harvick	366 (–81)
1	4	Clint Bowyer	335 (–112)
4	5	Kurt Busch	320 (–127)
1	6	Brad Keselowski	317 (–130)
1	7	Denny Hamlin	314 (–133)
	8	Ryan Blaney	313 (–134)
2	9	Martin Truex Jr.	303 (–144)
	10	Kyle Larson	280 (–167)
	11	Aric Almirola	278 (–169)
1	12	Alex Bowman	238 (–209)
1	13	Erik Jones	234 (–213)
1	14	Jimmie Johnson	230 (–217)
4	15	Ricky Stenhouse Jr.	217 (–230)
1	16	Ryan Newman	214 (–233)
Official driver's standings

Manufacturers' Championship standings

	Pos	Manufacturer	Points
1	1	Ford	359
1	2	Toyota	359 (–0)
	3	Chevrolet	331 (–28)
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. March 20, 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: Talladega Superspeedway. NASCAR.com. NASCAR Media Group, LLC.. March 20, 2018. January 3, 2013.
3. Web site: Entry List. MRN.com. Motor Racing Network. April 24, 2018. April 24, 2018.
4. Web site: First Practice Results. MRN.com. Motor Racing Network. April 27, 2018. April 27, 2018.
5. Web site: Final Practice Results. MRN.com. Motor Racing Network. April 27, 2018. April 27, 2018.
6. Web site: Qualifying Results. MRN.com. Motor Racing Network. April 28, 2018. April 28, 2018.
7. Web site: GEICO 500 Results. MRN.com. Motor Racing Network. April 29, 2018. April 29, 2018.
8. Web site: Points standings. Jayski.com. Jayski's Silly Season Site. April 30, 2018. April 30, 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20180613214509/http://www.jayski.com/stats/2018/pdfs/10tss2018racereport.pdf. June 13, 2018. dead.
9. Web site: Manufacturer standings. Jayski.com. Jayski's Silly Season Site. April 30, 2018. April 30, 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20180613214509/http://www.jayski.com/stats/2018/pdfs/10tss2018racereport.pdf. June 13, 2018. dead.
10. Web site: Talladega TV ratings. Jayski's NASCAR Silly Season Site. ESPN. 7 May 2018.
11. Web site: Utter. Jim. Ty Dillon leads the first Talladega Cup practice at 203mph. Motorsport.com. Motorsport Network. April 27, 2018. Lincoln, Alabama. April 27, 2018.
12. Web site: Utter. Jim. McMurray fastest, goes airborne in final practice at Talladega. Motorsport.com. Motorsport Network. April 27, 2018. Lincoln, Alabama. April 27, 2018.
13. Web site: McMurray wrecks hard in final Talladega practice. Official Site Of NASCAR. April 27, 2018.
14. News: Zenor. John. Harvick, eyeing 4th win of year, to start on Talladega pole. April 28, 2018. Associated Press. Associated Press. AP Sports. April 28, 2018. Lincoln, Alabama. https://web.archive.org/web/20180429093136/https://racing.ap.org/article/harvick-eyeing-4th-win-year-start-talladega-pole. April 29, 2018. dead.