2018 KC Masterpiece 400 explained

Type:	NASME
Race Name:	KC Masterpiece 400
Details Ref:	^[1] ^[2] ^[3] ^[4] ^[5] ^[6] ^[7] ^[8]
Year:	2018
Race No:	12
Season No:	36
Location:	Kansas Speedway in Kansas City, Kansas
Course Mi:	1.5
Course Km:	2.4
Distance Mi:	400.5
Distance Laps:	267
Distance Km:	644.542
Avg:	128.395mph
Pole Driver:	Kevin Harvick
Pole Team:	Stewart-Haas Racing
Pole Time:	28.600
Most Driver:	Kyle Larson
Most Team:	Chip Ganassi Racing
Most Laps:	101
Car:	4
First Driver:	Kevin Harvick
First Team:	Stewart-Haas Racing
Network:	FS1
Announcers:	Mike Joy, Jeff Gordon and Darrell Waltrip
Ratings:	1.2/1.23 (Overnight)^[9]
Radio:	MRN
Booth Ann:	Joe Moore, Jeff Striegle and Rusty Wallace
Turn Ann:	Dave Moody (1 & 2) and Mike Bagley (3 & 4)

The KC Masterpiece 400 was a Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race held on May 12, 2018, at Kansas Speedway in Kansas City, Kansas. Contested over 267 laps on the 1.5 mile (2.4 km) asphalt speedway, it was the 12th race of the 2018 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series season.

Report

Background

Kansas Speedway is a 1.5miles tri-oval race track in Kansas City, Kansas. It was built in 2001 and hosts two annual NASCAR race weekends. The Verizon IndyCar Series also raced at here until 2011. The speedway is owned and operated by the International Speedway Corporation.

Entry list

Matt Kenseth, who last raced in the 2017 Ford EcoBoost 400, made his first Cup series return, in the No. 6 for Roush Fenway Racing, doing so part-time. This was also the first Cup race since the 2014 Quicken Loans Race for Heroes 500 where Trevor Bayne did not participate.

	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	B. J. McLeod (i)		Chevrolet
55			Chevrolet
66	Timmy Hill (i)		Toyota
72			Chevrolet
78			Toyota
88			Chevrolet
95			Chevrolet
Official entry list

Final Practice

Kevin Harvick was the fastest in the final practice session with a time of 29.009 seconds and a speed of 186.149mph.^[10]

Pos		Driver	Team	Manufacturer	Time
1	4				29.009	186.149
2	42				29.035	185.982
3	18				29.163	185.166
Official final practice results

Qualifying

Kevin Harvick scored the pole for the race with a time of 28.600 and a speed of 188.811mph.^[11]

Qualifying results

Pos		Driver	Team	Manufacturer
1	4			Ford	28.569	28.556	28.600
2	12			Ford	28.565	28.722	28.750
3	18			Toyota	28.760	28.760	28.792
4	10			Ford	28.666	28.790	28.811
5	2			Ford	28.841	28.909	28.916
6	11			Toyota	28.974	29.013	28.963
7	78			Toyota	29.011	28.882	29.001
8	41			Ford	28.746	28.850	29.002
9	22			Ford	28.812	28.816	29.048
10	37			Chevrolet	28.904	29.007	29.080
11	21			Ford	28.749	28.961	29.115
12	20			Toyota	28.841	28.862	29.169
13	24	William Byron (R)		Chevrolet	28.991	29.051	—
14	19			Toyota	28.962	29.090	—
15	31			Chevrolet	28.995	29.094	—
16	17			Ford	28.879	29.101	—
17	9			Chevrolet	28.980	29.173	—
18	47			Chevrolet	29.027	29.281	—
19	88			Chevrolet	28.833	29.311	—
20	38			Ford	29.132	29.321	—
21	43	Darrell Wallace Jr. (R)		Chevrolet	29.128	29.367	—
22	42			Chevrolet	28.618	0.000	—
23	48			Chevrolet	29.087	0.000	—
24	1			Chevrolet	29.131	0.000	—
25	3			Chevrolet	29.214	—	—
26	13			Chevrolet	29.558	—	—
27	72			Chevrolet	29.943	—	—
28	15	Ross Chastain (i)		Chevrolet	30.031	—	—
29	23			Toyota	30.035	—	—
30	55			Chevrolet	30.181	—	—
31	00			Chevrolet	30.216	—	—
32	51	B. J. McLeod (i)		Chevrolet	30.623	—	—
33	14			Ford	0.000	—	—
34	95			Chevrolet	0.000	—	—
35	6			Ford	0.000	—	—
36	34			Ford	0.000	—	—
37	32			Ford	0.000	—	—
38	66	Timmy Hill (i)		Toyota	0.000	—	—
Official qualifying results

Race

Stage Results

Stage 1Laps: 80

Pos		Driver	Team	Manufacturer	Points
1	12	Ryan Blaney	Team Penske	Ford	10
2	4	Kevin Harvick	Stewart-Haas Racing	Ford	9
3	2	Brad Keselowski	Team Penske	Ford	8
4	22	Joey Logano	Team Penske	Ford	7
5	42	Kyle Larson	Chip Ganassi Racing	Chevrolet	6
6	10	Aric Almirola	Stewart-Haas Racing	Ford	5
7	11	Denny Hamlin	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	4
8	18	Kyle Busch	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	3
9	41	Kurt Busch	Stewart-Haas Racing	Ford	2
10	14	Clint Bowyer	Stewart-Haas Racing	Ford	1
Official stage one results

Stage 2Laps: 80

Pos		Driver	Team	Manufacturer	Points
1	42	Kyle Larson	Chip Ganassi Racing	Chevrolet	10
2	4	Kevin Harvick	Stewart-Haas Racing	Ford	9
3	12	Ryan Blaney	Team Penske	Ford	8
4	18	Kyle Busch	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	7
5	22	Joey Logano	Team Penske	Ford	6
6	10	Aric Almirola	Stewart-Haas Racing	Ford	5
7	41	Kurt Busch	Stewart-Haas Racing	Ford	4
8	14	Clint Bowyer	Stewart-Haas Racing	Ford	3
9	20	Erik Jones	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	2
10	78	Martin Truex Jr.	Furniture Row Racing	Toyota	1
Official stage two results

Final Stage Results

Stage 3Laps: 107

Pos	Grid		Driver	Team	Manufacturer	Laps	Points
1	1	4	Kevin Harvick	Stewart-Haas Racing	Ford	267	58
2	7	78	Martin Truex Jr.	Furniture Row Racing	Toyota	267	36
3	9	22	Joey Logano	Team Penske	Ford	267	47
4	22	42	Kyle Larson	Chip Ganassi Racing	Chevrolet	267	49
5	6	11	Denny Hamlin	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	267	36
6	11	21	Paul Menard	Wood Brothers Racing	Ford	267	31
7	12	20	Erik Jones	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	267	32
8	8	41	Kurt Busch	Stewart-Haas Racing	Ford	267	35
9	4	10	Aric Almirola	Stewart-Haas Racing	Ford	267	38
10	3	18	Kyle Busch	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	267	37
11	16	17	Ricky Stenhouse Jr.	Roush Fenway Racing	Ford	267	26
12	17	9	Chase Elliott	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	267	25
13	20	38	David Ragan	Front Row Motorsports	Ford	267	24
14	5	2	Brad Keselowski	Team Penske	Ford	267	31
15	33	14	Clint Bowyer	Stewart-Haas Racing	Ford	267	26
16	18	47	A. J. Allmendinger	JTG Daugherty Racing	Chevrolet	266	21
17	25	3	Austin Dillon	Richard Childress Racing	Chevrolet	266	20
18	19	88	Alex Bowman	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	266	19
19	23	48	Jimmie Johnson	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	265	18
20	36	34	Michael McDowell	Front Row Motorsports	Ford	265	17
21	34	95	Kasey Kahne	Leavine Family Racing	Chevrolet	264	16
22	37	32	Matt DiBenedetto	Go Fas Racing	Ford	263	15
23	21	43	Darrell Wallace Jr. (R)	Richard Petty Motorsports	Chevrolet	262	14
24	27	72	Corey LaJoie	TriStar Motorsports	Chevrolet	262	13
25	31	00	Landon Cassill	StarCom Racing	Chevrolet	260	12
26	28	15	Ross Chastain (i)	Premium Motorsports	Chevrolet	259	0
27	30	55	Reed Sorenson	Premium Motorsports	Chevrolet	259	10
28	14	19	Daniel Suárez	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	258	9
29	29	23	Gray Gaulding	BK Racing	Toyota	257	8
30	15	31	Ryan Newman	Richard Childress Racing	Chevrolet	253	7
31	24	1	Jamie McMurray	Chip Ganassi Racing	Chevrolet	253	6
32	38	66	Timmy Hill (i)	MBM Motorsports	Toyota	253	0
33	13	24	William Byron (R)	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	252	4
34	10	37	Chris Buescher	JTG Daugherty Racing	Chevrolet	252	3
35	32	51	B. J. McLeod (i)	Rick Ware Racing	Chevrolet	251	0
36	35	6	Matt Kenseth	Roush Fenway Racing	Ford	250	1
37	2	12	Ryan Blaney	Team Penske	Ford	247	19
38	26	13	Ty Dillon	Germain Racing	Chevrolet	247	1
Official race results

Race statistics

• Lead changes: 7 among different drivers
• Cautions/Laps: 6 for 31
• Red flags: 1 for 13 minutes and 13 seconds
• Time of race: 2 hours, 53 minutes and 38 seconds
• Average speed: 128.395mph

Media

Television

Fox Sports covered their eighth race at the Kansas Speedway. Mike Joy, three-time Kansas winner Jeff Gordon and Darrell Waltrip called 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 simulcasted on Sirius XM NASCAR Radio. Alex Hayden, Jeff Striegle and Rusty Wallace called the race in the booth when the field raced through the tri-oval. Dave Moody covered the race from the Sunoco spotters stand outside turn 2 when the field is racing through turns 1 and 2. Mike Bagley called the race from a platform outside turn 4. Pete Pistone, 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	503
	2	Joey Logano	491 (–12)
	3	Kevin Harvick	484 (–19)
1	4	Brad Keselowski	396 (–107)
1	5	Kurt Busch	393 (–110)
2	6	Clint Bowyer	386 (–117)
1	7	Denny Hamlin	380 (–123)
1	8	Martin Truex Jr.	376 (–127)
2	9	Ryan Blaney	365 (–138)
	10	Kyle Larson	356 (–147)
	11	Aric Almirola	342 (–161)
	12	Jimmie Johnson	286 (–217)
	13	Erik Jones	285 (–218)
	14	Alex Bowman	271 (–232)
	15	Chase Elliott	266 (–237)
	16	Ricky Stenhouse Jr.	265 (–238)
Official driver's standings

Manufacturers' Championship standings

	Pos	Manufacturer	Points
	1	Ford	439
	2	Toyota	427 (–12)
	3	Chevrolet	392 (–47)
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. April 19, 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: Kansas Speedway. NASCAR.com. NASCAR Media Group, LLC.. April 19, 2018. January 3, 2013. April 28, 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20170428025309/http://www.nascar.com/en_us/nascar-tracks/kansas-speedway.html. dead.
3. Web site: Entry List. MRN.com. Motor Racing Network. May 7, 2018. May 7, 2018.
4. Web site: Final Practice Results. MRN.com. Motor Racing Network. May 11, 2018. May 11, 2018.
5. Web site: Qualifying Results. MRN.com. Motor Racing Network. May 11, 2018. May 11, 2018.
6. Web site: KC Masterpiece 400 Results. MRN.com. Motor Racing Network. May 12, 2018. May 12, 2018.
7. Web site: Points standings. Jayski.com. Jayski's Silly Season Site. May 14, 2018. May 14, 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20180516103155/http://www.jayski.com/stats/2018/pdfs/12kan2018racereport.pdf. May 16, 2018. dead.
8. Web site: Manufacturer standings. Jayski.com. Jayski's Silly Season Site. May 14, 2018. May 14, 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20180516103155/http://www.jayski.com/stats/2018/pdfs/12kan2018racereport.pdf. May 16, 2018. dead.
9. Web site: Kansas final TV ratings. Jayski's Silly Season Site. ESPN. 23 May 2018. 14 May 2018.
10. Web site: Utter. Jim. Kevin Harvick fastest in Kansas Cup practice delayed by weepers. Motorsport.com. Motorsport Network. May 11, 2018. Kansas City, Kansas. May 11, 2018.
11. News: Skretta. Dave. Harvick keeps hot streak going with pole at Kansas. May 11, 2018. Associated Press. Associated Press. AP Sports. May 11, 2018. Kansas City, Kansas. https://web.archive.org/web/20180512112614/https://racing.ap.org/article/harvick-keeps-hot-streak-going-pole-kansas. May 12, 2018. dead.