2018 O'Reilly Auto Parts 500 explained

Type:	NASME
Race Name:	O'Reilly Auto Parts 500
Details Ref:	^[1] ^[2] ^[3] ^[4] ^[5] ^[6] ^[7] ^[8] ^[9] ^[10]
Year:	2018
Race No:	7
Season No:	36
Location:	Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth, Texas
Course Mi:	1.5
Course Km:	2.4
Distance Laps:	334
Distance Mi:	501
Distance Km:	801.6
Avg:	141.714mph
Pole Driver:	Kurt Busch
Pole Team:	Stewart-Haas Racing
Pole Time:	27.360
Most Driver:	Kyle Busch
Most Team:	Joe Gibbs Racing
Most Laps:	116
Car:	18
First Driver:	Kyle Busch
First Team:	Joe Gibbs Racing
Network:	FS1
Announcers:	Mike Joy, Jeff Gordon and Darrell Waltrip
Ratings:	1.7/1.7 (Overnight)^[11]
Radio:	PRN
Booth Ann:	Doug Rice, Mark Garrow and Wendy Venturini
Turn Ann:	Rob Albright (1 & 2) and Pat Patterson (3 & 4)

The 2018 O'Reilly Auto Parts 500 was a Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race held on April 8, 2018, at Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth, Texas. Contested over 334 laps on the 1.5-mile (2.4 km) intermediate quad-oval, it was the seventh race of the 2018 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series season.

Report

Background

Texas Motor Speedway is a speedway located in the northernmost portion of the U.S. city of Fort Worth, Texas – the portion located in Denton County, Texas. The track measures 1.5miles around and is banked 24 degrees in the turns, and is of the oval design, where the front straightaway juts outward slightly. The track layout is similar to Atlanta Motor Speedway and Charlotte Motor Speedway (formerly Lowe's Motor Speedway). The track is owned by Speedway Motorsports, Inc., the same company that owns Atlanta and Charlotte Motor Speedways, as well as the short-track Bristol Motor Speedway.

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
55			Chevrolet
72			Chevrolet
78			Toyota
88			Chevrolet
95			Chevrolet
Official entry list

First practice

Kurt Busch was the fastest in the first practice session with a time of 27.523 seconds and a speed of 196.2mph.^[12]

Pos		Driver	Team	Manufacturer	Time
1	41				27.523	196.200
2	4				27.559	195.943
3	14				27.632	195.426
Official first practice results

Qualifying

Kurt Busch scored the pole for the race with a time of 27.360 and a speed of 197.368mph after only one round of qualifying was completed due to lightning in the area.^[13]

Qualifying results

Pos		Driver	Team	Manufacturer
1	41			Ford	27.360
2	4			Ford	27.395
3	14			Ford	27.435
4	12			Ford	27.467
5	11			Toyota	27.515
6	78			Toyota	27.554
7	22			Ford	27.562
8	18			Toyota	27.583
9	48			Chevrolet	27.607
10	42			Chevrolet	27.688
11	2			Ford	27.689
12	10			Ford	27.693
13	6			Ford	27.715
14	19			Toyota	27.719
15	43	Darrell Wallace Jr. (R)		Chevrolet	27.726
16	88			Chevrolet	27.729
17	3			Chevrolet	27.757
18	37			Chevrolet	27.758
19	21			Ford	27.774
20	9			Chevrolet	27.789
21	20			Toyota	27.810
22	47			Chevrolet	27.842
23	13			Chevrolet	27.861
24	1			Chevrolet	27.873
25	31			Chevrolet	27.905
26	17			Ford	27.913
27	34			Ford	27.919
28	95			Chevrolet	28.030
29	38			Ford	28.082
30	32			Ford	28.184
31	15	Ross Chastain (i)		Chevrolet	28.325
32	23			Toyota	28.569
33	24	William Byron (R)		Chevrolet	28.694
34	72			Chevrolet	28.963
35	00			Chevrolet	30.276
36	51			Chevrolet	32.729
37	55			Chevrolet	0.000
Official qualifying results

Practice (post-qualifying)

Second practice

Daniel Suárez was the fastest in the second practice session with a time of 27.136 seconds and a speed of 198.998mph.^[14]

Pos		Driver	Team	Manufacturer	Time
1	19				27.136	198.998
2	11				27.163	198.800
3	24				27.171	198.741
Official second practice results

Final practice

Jimmie Johnson was the fastest in the final practice session with a time of 27.253 seconds and a speed of 198.143mph.^[15]

Pos		Driver	Team	Manufacturer	Time
1	48				27.253	198.143
2	4				27.275	197.984
3	19				27.303	197.780
Official final practice results

Race

First stage

Kurt Busch led the field to green at 2:10 p.m., and the first caution flew on lap 4 when Austin Dillon, Daniel Suárez, Paul Menard and Alex Bowman were involved in an accident in turn four.

The race restarted on lap 7, The second caution of the race flew on lap 82 when Martin Truex Jr. spun out, Truex was running second to Harvick when his right front tire blew entering Turn 4.

Second stage

The race restarted on lap 91 and stayed green for the start of stage 2, Kyle Larson was making up for a bad start after having to start the race at the back of the field after failing pre-race inspection. That all changed on Lap 128 with Larson running second. He blew a right front tire and crashed hard into the Turn 2 wall, bringing out the third caution of the race.

The race restarted on lap 135, Kyle Busch passed his brother Kurt Busch to win his second stage of the season. Kurt Busch finished second followed by Joey Logano, Jones, Clint Bowyer, Chase Elliott, Keselowski, Stenhouse, Hamlin and Almirola, The fourth caution flew again for the conclusion of the second stage

Final stage

The race restarted on lap 178 and the fifth caution flew for a seven-car wreck, The final stage got off to a rough start as Hamlin and Aric Almirola made contact which sent Hamlin spinning back and collecting both Keselowski and Johnson.

The seven-car incident, which also collected Austin Dillon, brought out a red flag that stopped the race for more than 11 minutes with Jones leading the race.

Racing resumed on lap 184.

The seventh caution flew when Trevor Bayne and Kasey Kahne were involved in an accident in turn four.

The race restarted on lap 258, Busch and Harvick went side by side with Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Darrell Wallace Jr. behind them, and the eighth caution flew when Ryan Newman hit the wall in turn 1.

The race restarted on lap 305.

Kyle Busch edging Kevin Harvick for his first victory of the season.

Harvick, gunning for his fourth victory of 2018, finished three-tenths of a second behind. Busch, who won the second stage, led for 116 laps, while Harvick, who dominated the first stage, led 87.

Post-race

Driver comments

“(Harvick) was probably just a tick faster overall, but I just had to make sure I did everything I could to hit all my marks and everything, and did the right things to block his air and everything, but this Camry was really awesome today," Busch said in victory lane.

"This has been a trying couple of months, you know? After Daytona, we’ve just been on a roll of finishing real good and been really pumped and excited about that and the momentum we were able to carry, but frustrated at the same time trying to get to victory lane," added Busch, who finished second in three of the first six races of 2018.

Stage Results

Stage 1Laps: 85

Pos		Driver	Team	Manufacturer	Points
1	4	Kevin Harvick	Stewart-Hass Racing	Ford	10
2	18	Kyle Busch	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	9
3	41	Kurt Busch	Stewart-Hass Racing	Ford	8
4	22	Joey Logano	Team Penske	Ford	7
5	42	Kyle Larson	Chip Ganassi Racing	Chevrolet	6
6	14	Clint Bowyer	Stewart-Hass Racing	Ford	5
7	1	Jamie McMurray	Chip Ganassi Racing	Chevrolet	4
8	2	Brad Keselowski	Team Penske	Ford	3
9	9	Chase Elliott	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	2
10	20	Erik Jones	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	1
Official stage one results

Stage 2Laps: 85

Pos		Driver	Team	Manufacturer	Points
1	18	Kyle Busch	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	10
2	41	Kurt Busch	Stewart-Hass Racing	Ford	9
3	22	Joey Logano	Team Penske	Ford	8
4	20	Erik Jones	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	7
5	14	Clint Bowyer	Stewart-Hass Racing	Ford	6
6	9	Chase Elliott	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	5
7	2	Brad Keselowski	Team Penske	Ford	4
8	17	Ricky Stenhouse Jr.	Roush Fenway Racing	Ford	3
9	11	Denny Hamlin	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	2
10	10	Aric Almirola	Stewart-Haas Racing	Ford	1
Official stage two results

Final Stage Results

Stage 3Laps: 164

Pos	Grid		Driver	Team	Manufacturer	Laps	Points
1	8	18	Kyle Busch	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	334	59
2	2	4	Kevin Harvick	Stewart-Haas Racing	Ford	334	45
3	24	1	Jamie McMurray	Chip Ganassi Racing	Chevrolet	334	38
4	21	20	Erik Jones	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	334	41
5	4	12	Ryan Blaney	Team Penske	Ford	334	32
6	7	22	Joey Logano	Team Penske	Ford	334	46
7	1	41	Kurt Busch	Stewart-Haas Racing	Ford	334	47
8	15	43	Darrell Wallace Jr. (R)	Richard Petty Motorsports	Chevrolet	334	29
9	3	14	Clint Bowyer	Stewart-Haas Racing	Ford	334	39
10	33	24	William Byron (R)	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	334	27
11	20	9	Chase Elliott	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	333	33
12	13	6	Trevor Bayne	Roush Fenway Racing	Ford	333	25
13	23	13	Ty Dillon	Germain Racing	Chevrolet	332	24
14	27	34	Michael McDowell	Front Row Motorsports	Ford	332	23
15	18	37	Chris Buescher	JTG Daugherty Racing	Chevrolet	331	22
16	30	32	Matt DiBenedetto	Go Fas Racing	Ford	329	21
17	28	95	Kasey Kahne	Leavine Family Racing	Chevrolet	328	20
18	31	15	Ross Chastain (i)	Premium Motorsports	Chevrolet	325	0
19	34	72	Cole Whitt	TriStar Motorsports	Chevrolet	324	18
20	32	23	Gray Gaulding	BK Racing	Toyota	322	17
21	35	00	Landon Cassill	StarCom Racing	Chevrolet	321	16
22	36	51	Harrison Rhodes	Rick Ware Racing	Chevrolet	319	15
23	29	38	David Ragan	Front Row Motorsports	Ford	317	14
24	22	47	A. J. Allmendinger	JTG Daugherty Racing	Chevrolet	316	13
25	26	17	Ricky Stenhouse Jr.	Roush Fenway Racing	Ford	315	15
26	17	3	Austin Dillon	Richard Childress Racing	Chevrolet	304	11
27	25	31	Ryan Newman	Richard Childress Racing	Chevrolet	303	10
28	16	88	Alex Bowman	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	294	9
29	14	19	Daniel Suárez	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	290	8
30	19	21	Paul Menard	Wood Brothers Racing	Ford	215	7
31	37	55	Reed Sorenson	Premium Motorsports	Chevrolet	209	6
32	12	10	Aric Almirola	Stewart-Hass Racing	Ford	178	6
33	11	2	Brad Keselowski	Team Penske	Ford	178	11
34	5	11	Denny Hamlin	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	177	5
35	9	48	Jimmie Johnson	Hendricks Motorsports	Chevrolet	175	2
36	10	42	Kyle Larson	Chip Ganassi Racing	Chevrolet	126	7
37	6	78	Martin Truex Jr.	Furniture Row Racing	Toyota	80	1
Official race results

Race statistics

• Lead changes: 8 among different drivers
• Cautions/Laps: 8 for 48
• Red flags: 1 for 11 minutes and 5 seconds
• Time of race: 3 hours, 32 minutes and 7 seconds
• Average speed: 141.714mph

Media

Television

Fox Sports covered their 18th race at the Texas Motor Speedway. Mike Joy, 2009 race winner Jeff Gordon and Darrell Waltrip had the call in the booth for the race. Jamie Little, Vince Welch and Matt Yocum handled the pit road duties for the television side.

Radio

The race was broadcast on radio by the Performance Racing Network and simulcast on Sirius XM NASCAR Radio.

Standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings

	Pos	Driver	Points
	1	Kyle Busch	316
2	2	Joey Logano	278 (–38)
	3	Ryan Blaney	265 (–51)
3	4	Kevin Harvick	257 (–59)
3	5	Martin Truex Jr.	250 (–66)
2	6	Clint Bowyer	249 (–67)
2	7	Brad Keselowski	237 (–79)
2	8	Kurt Busch	224 (–92)
3	9	Denny Hamlin	222 (–94)
1	10	Kyle Larson	202 (–114)
1	11	Erik Jones	193 (–123)
1	12	Aric Almirola	177 (–139)
	13	Austin Dillon	159 (–157)
	14	Alex Bowman	154 (–162)
3	15	Chase Elliott	148 (–168)
1	16	Paul Menard	146 (–170)
Official driver's standings

Manufacturers' Championship standings

	Pos	Manufacturer	Points
	1	Ford	253
	2	Toyota	252 (–1)
	3	Chevrolet	227 (–26)
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 1, 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: Texas Motor Speedway. NASCAR.com. NASCAR Media Group, LLC.. March 1, 2018. January 3, 2013. October 30, 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20151030043513/http://www.nascar.com/en_us/nascar-tracks/texas-motor-speedway.html. dead.
3. Web site: Entry List. MRN.com. Motor Racing Network. April 2, 2018. April 2, 2018.
4. Web site: First Practice Results. MRN.com. Motor Racing Network. April 6, 2018. April 6, 2018.
5. Web site: Qualifying Results. MRN.com. Motor Racing Network. April 6, 2018. April 6, 2018.
6. Web site: Second Practice Results. MRN.com. Motor Racing Network. April 7, 2018. April 7, 2018.
7. Web site: Final Practice Results. MRN.com. Motor Racing Network. April 7, 2018. April 7, 2018.
8. Web site: O'Reilly Auto Parts 500 Results. MRN.com. Motor Racing Network. April 8, 2018. April 8, 2018.
9. Web site: Points standings. Jayski.com. Jayski's Silly Season Site. April 9, 2018. April 9, 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20180410134934/http://www.jayski.com/stats/2018/pdfs/07tms2018racereport.pdf. April 10, 2018. dead.
10. Web site: Manufacturer standings. Jayski.com. Jayski's Silly Season Site. April 9, 2018. April 9, 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20180410134934/http://www.jayski.com/stats/2018/pdfs/07tms2018racereport.pdf. April 10, 2018. dead.
11. Web site: Texas TV Ratings. Jayski's Silly Season Site. ESPN. 7 May 2018.
12. Web site: Utter. Jim. Kurt Busch and Stewart-Haas Racing lead Friday's Cup practice. Motorsport.com. Motorsport Network. April 6, 2018. Fort Worth, Texas. April 6, 2018.
13. News: Hawkins. Stephen. Stewart-Haas starting top 3 in Texas after short qualifying. April 6, 2018. Associated Press. Associated Press. AP Sports. April 6, 2018. Fort Worth, Texas. https://web.archive.org/web/20180407053705/https://racing.ap.org/article/stewart-haas-starting-top-3-texas-after-short-qualifying. April 7, 2018. dead.
14. Web site: Utter. Jim. Daniel Suarez fastest in Saturday's first practice session. Motorsport.com. Motorsport Network. April 7, 2018. Fort Worth, Texas. April 7, 2018.
15. Web site: Utter. Jim. Jimmie Johnson fastest in final Cup practice at Texas. Motorsport.com. Motorsport Network. April 7, 2018. Fort Worth, Texas. April 7, 2018.