The 2017 Apache Warrior 400 presented by Lucas Oil was a Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race held on October 1, 2017, at Dover International Speedway in Dover, Delaware. Contested over 400 laps on the concrete speedway, it was the 29th race of the 2017 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series season, the third race of the Playoffs, and the final race of the Round of 16.
Entry list Driver Team Manufacturer 1 Jamie McMurray Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 2 Brad Keselowski Team Penske Ford 3 Austin Dillon Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 4 Kevin Harvick Stewart–Haas Racing Ford 5 Kasey Kahne Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 6 Trevor Bayne Roush Fenway Racing Ford 10 Danica Patrick Stewart–Haas Racing Ford 11 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 13 Ty Dillon (R) Germain Racing Chevrolet 14 Clint Bowyer Stewart–Haas Racing Ford 15 Ross Chastain (i) Premium Motorsports Chevrolet 17 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Roush Fenway Racing Ford 18 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 19 Daniel Suárez (R) Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 20 Matt Kenseth Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 21 Ryan Blaney Wood Brothers Racing Ford 22 Joey Logano Team Penske Ford 23 Corey LaJoie (R) BK Racing Toyota 24 Chase Elliott Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 27 Paul Menard Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 31 Ryan Newman Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 32 Matt DiBenedetto Go Fas Racing Ford 33 Jeffrey Earnhardt Circle Sport – The Motorsports Group Chevrolet 34 Landon Cassill Front Row Motorsports Ford 37 Chris Buescher JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet 38 David Ragan Front Row Motorsports Ford 41 Kurt Busch Stewart–Haas Racing Ford 42 Kyle Larson Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 43 Aric Almirola Richard Petty Motorsports Ford 47 A. J. Allmendinger JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet 48 Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 51 B. J. McLeod (i) Rick Ware Racing Chevrolet 55 Reed Sorenson Premium Motorsports Toyota 66 Timmy Hill (i) MBM Motorsports Chevrolet 72 Cole Whitt TriStar Motorsports Chevrolet 77 Erik Jones (R) Furniture Row Racing Toyota 78 Martin Truex Jr. Furniture Row Racing Toyota 83 Brett Moffitt (i) BK Racing Toyota 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 95 Michael McDowell Leavine Family Racing ChevroletOfficial entry list
Practice
First practice Matt Kenseth was the fastest in the first practice session with a time of 22.147 seconds and a speed of .
Pos Driver Team Manufacturer Time 1 20 Matt Kenseth Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 22.147 162.550 2 42 Kyle Larson Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 22.219 162.023 3 48 Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 22.219 162.023Official first practice results
Second practice Kevin Harvick was the fastest in the second practice session with a time of 22.998 seconds and a speed of .
Pos Driver Team Manufacturer Time 1 4 Kevin Harvick Stewart–Haas Racing Ford 22.998 156.535 2 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 23.016 156.413 3 41 Kurt Busch Stewart–Haas Racing Ford 23.025 156.352Official second practice results
Final practice Chase Elliott was the fastest in the final practice session with a time of 22.877 seconds and a speed of .
Pos Driver Team Manufacturer Time 1 24 Chase Elliott Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 22.877 157.363 2 48 Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 22.944 156.904 3 4 Kevin Harvick Stewart–Haas Racing Ford 22.945 156.897Official final practice results
Qualifying
Martin Truex Jr. scored the pole for the race with a time of 22.407 and a speed of .
Qualifying results Pos Driver Team Manufacturer 178 Martin Truex Jr. Furniture Row Racing Toyota 22.776 22.589 22.407 218 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 22.552 22.388 22.445 342 Kyle Larson Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 22.571 22.475 22.502 420 Matt Kenseth Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 22.660 22.628 22.504 519 Daniel Suárez (R) Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 22.739 22.546 22.515 611 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 22.603 22.611 22.534 788 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 22.853 22.467 22.544 831 Ryan Newman Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 22.763 22.565 22.577 94 Kevin Harvick Stewart–Haas RacingFord 22.661 22.624 22.612 1077 Erik Jones (R) Furniture Row Racing Toyota 22.670 22.665 22.622 1121 Ryan Blaney Wood Brothers Racing Ford 22.581 22.581 22.638 1224 Chase Elliott Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 22.635 22.667 22.680 1341 Kurt Busch Stewart–Haas RacingFord 22.596 22.689 — 1443 Aric Almirola Richard Petty Motorsports Ford 22.737 22.689 — 1517 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Roush Fenway Racing Ford 22.760 22.705 — 162 Brad Keselowski Team Penske Ford 22.727 22.713 — 1748 Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 22.723 22.726 — 1822 Joey Logano Team Penske Ford 22.819 22.737 — 1914 Clint Bowyer Stewart–Haas RacingFord 22.673 22.754 — 206 Trevor Bayne Roush Fenway Racing Ford 22.802 22.811 — 215 Kasey Kahne Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 22.806 22.819 — 2237 Chris Buescher JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet 22.794 22.826 — 233 Austin Dillon Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 22.844 22.842 — 2410 Danica Patrick Stewart–Haas RacingFord 22.808 22.923 — 2527 Paul Menard Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 22.875 — — 261 Jamie McMurray Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 22.923 — — 2747 A. J. Allmendinger JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet 22.939 — — 2838 David Ragan Front Row Motorsports Ford 23.006 — — 2913 Ty Dillon (R) Germain Racing Chevrolet 23.038 — — 3095 Michael McDowell Leavine Family Racing Chevrolet 23.100 — — 3134 Landon Cassill Front Row Motorsports Ford 23.311 — — 3215 Ross Chastain (i) Premium Motorsports Chevrolet 23.506 — — 3372 Cole Whitt TriStar Motorsports Chevrolet 23.519 — — 3483 Brett Moffitt (i) BK Racing Toyota 23.544 — — 3566 Timmy Hill (i) MBM Motorsports Chevrolet 23.710 — — 3651 B. J. McLeod (i) Rick Ware Racing Chevrolet 24.107 — — 3723 Corey LaJoie (R) BK Racing Toyota 24.174 — — 3833 Jeffrey Earnhardt Circle Sport – The Motorsports Group Chevrolet 24.192 — — 3955 Reed Sorenson Premium Motorsports Toyota 191.747 — — 4032 Matt DiBenedetto Go Fas Racing Ford 0.000 — —Official qualifying results
Race First stage Martin Truex Jr. led the field to the green flag and led the early part of the race. On lap 25, Kyle Larson took the lead from Truex. Larson would lead the race until Truex regained the lead on lap 60. On lap 82, a round of green-flag pit stops began. On lap 86, the first caution of the race came out during green-flag pit stops when Jeffrey Earnhardt spun coming into pit road and hit the barrels at the entrance to pit road. At the time of the caution, Kyle Busch was leading as he and a few other drivers had yet to pit including Brad Keselowski, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Danica Patrick, and David Ragan. The race would be red-flagged for 15 minutes to replace the barrels at the entrance to pit road. The leaders pitted on lap 88 and Keselowski won the battle off pit road. The race returned to green flag on lap 93 and Keselowski would hold onto the lead to win Stage 1, which concluded on lap 120.
Second stage After the first stage ended, the second caution of the race came out. The leaders pitted, and Kyle Busch left pit road first. Matt Kenseth was penalized for speeding on pit road. The race returned to green on lap 128 and Kyle Busch would continue to lead. On lap 151, Larson took the lead from Kyle Busch. On lap 167, the third caution of the race came out when Reed Sorenson blew an engine. Under this caution, the leaders pitted and Truex won the battle off pit road. The green flag came back out on lap 174 and Truex initially held the lead until getting passed by Larson in turn 2. On lap 219, Kevin Harvick made an unscheduled green-flag pit stop for a vibration. Larson held onto the lead and won Stage 2, which ended on lap 240.
Final stage
Following the conclusion of the second stage, the fourth caution of the race came out. The leaders came to pit road under the caution and Larson maintained the lead. However, Larson could not maintain speed after having to shut off his engine and restart it, which dropped him back to fifth for the restart and gave Chase Elliott the lead. The green flag came back out on lap 249 and Elliott held onto the lead. Elliott's lead would continue to grow as the race remained green. On lap 319, a round of green-flag pit stops began. Race leader Elliott pitted on lap 325, giving the lead to Kyle Busch, he pitted 5 laps later and gave the lead to Jimmie Johnson. Under this round of pit stops, Kurt Busch had a commitment line violation. Johnson pitted from the lead on lap 334 and gave the lead to Keselowski. He, Austin Dillon. and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. pitted on lap 340 to complete the cycle of green-flag pit stops and give the lead back to Elliott. Elliott continued to hold onto the lead. On lap 373, Denny Hamlin hit the wall and slowed down on the track. He was able to make it to pit road with a broken axle with the race remaining green. In the closing laps, Kyle Busch started catching Elliott as Elliott was getting caught in lapped traffic. Coming to the white flag on lap 399, Kyle Busch took the lead from Elliott. Kyle Busch held onto the lead to win the race. Following the race, Ryan Newman, Austin Dillon, Kurt Busch, and Kasey Kahne were eliminated from the playoffs.
Race results
Stage results
Stage 1 Laps: 120
Pos Driver Team Manufacturer Points1 2 Brad Keselowski Team Penske Ford 102 18 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 93 78 Martin Truex Jr. Furniture Row Racing Toyota 84 17 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Roush Fenway Racing Ford 75 10 Danica Patrick Stewart–Haas Racing Ford 66 42 Kyle Larson Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 57 24 Chase Elliott Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 48 4 Kevin Harvick Stewart–Haas Racing Ford 39 38 David Ragan Front Row Motorsports Ford 210 11 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 1Official stage one results
Stage 2 Laps: 120
Pos Driver Team Manufacturer Points1 42 Kyle Larson Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 102 78 Martin Truex Jr. Furniture Row Racing Toyota 93 24 Chase Elliott Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 84 18 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 75 48 Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 66 11 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 57 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 48 2 Brad Keselowski Team Penske Ford 39 1 Jamie McMurray Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 210 14 Clint Bowyer Stewart–Haas Racing Ford 1Official stage two results
Final stage results
Stage 3 Laps: 160