The 2018 Auto Club 400 was a Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race that was held on March 18, 2018, at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, California. Contested over 200 laps on the D-shaped oval, it was the fifth race of the 2018 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series season.
Report
Background
Auto Club Speedway (previously California Speedway) was a , low-banked, D-shaped oval superspeedway in Fontana, California which hosted NASCAR racing annually from 1997 to 2023. It was also used for open wheel racing events. The racetrack was located near the former locations of Ontario Motor Speedway and Riverside International Raceway. The track was owned and operated by International Speedway Corporation and was the only track owned by ISC to have its naming rights sold. The speedway was served by the nearby Interstate 10 and Interstate 15 freeways as well as a Metrolink station located behind the backstretch.
Entry list Driver Team Manufacturer 00 Jeffrey Earnhardt StarCom Racing Chevrolet 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 6 Trevor Bayne Roush Fenway Racing Ford 9 Chase Elliott Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 10 Aric Almirola Stewart–Haas Racing Ford 11 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 12 Ryan Blaney Team Penske Ford 13 Ty Dillon 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 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 20 Erik Jones Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 21 Paul Menard Wood Brothers Racing Ford 22 Joey Logano Team Penske Ford 23 Gray Gaulding BK Racing Toyota 24 William Byron (R) Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 31 Ryan Newman Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 32 Matt DiBenedetto Go Fas Racing Ford 34 Michael McDowell 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 Bubba Wallace (R) Richard Petty Motorsports Chevrolet 47 A. J. Allmendinger JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet 48 Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 51 Timmy Hill (i) Rick Ware Racing Toyota 55 Reed Sorenson Premium Motorsports Chevrolet 72 Cole Whitt TriStar Motorsports Chevrolet 78 Martin Truex Jr. Furniture Row Racing Toyota 88 Alex Bowman Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 95 Kasey Kahne Leavine Family Racing ChevroletOfficial entry list
First practice Kevin Harvick was the fastest in the first practice session with a time of 38.082 seconds and a speed of .
Pos Driver Team Manufacturer Time 1 4 Kevin Harvick Stewart–Haas Racing Ford 38.082 189.066 2 14 Clint Bowyer Stewart–Haas Racing Ford 38.255 188.211 3 10 Aric Almirola Stewart–Haas Racing Ford 38.311 187.936Official first practice results
Qualifying Martin Truex Jr. scored the pole for the race with a time of 38.592 and a speed of .
Qualifying results Pos Driver Team Manufacturer 178 Martin Truex Jr. Furniture Row Racing Toyota 38.390 38.686 38.592 218 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 38.847 38.411 38.619 342 Kyle Larson Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 38.193 38.491 38.683 420 Erik Jones Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 38.555 38.683 38.700 53 Austin Dillon Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 38.690 38.749 38.770 622 Joey Logano Team Penske Ford 38.622 38.614 38.798 741 Kurt Busch Stewart–Haas RacingFord 38.706 38.533 38.880 812 Ryan Blaney Team Penske Ford 38.602 38.582 38.903 931 Ryan Newman Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 38.616 38.820 38.951 104 Kevin Harvick Stewart–Haas RacingFord 38.147 38.355 39.038 112 Brad Keselowski Team Penske Ford 38.583 38.892 39.054 1237 Chris Buescher JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet 38.895 38.677 39.058 136 Trevor Bayne Roush Fenway Racing Ford 39.034 38.973 — 1421 Paul Menard Wood Brothers Racing Ford 38.429 39.004 — 151 Jamie McMurray Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 39.093 39.106 — 1617 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Roush Fenway Racing Ford 39.514 39.169 — 1713 Ty Dillon Germain Racing Chevrolet 39.091 39.198 — 1832 Matt DiBenedetto Go Fas Racing Ford 39.088 39.259 — 1943 Bubba Wallace (R) Richard Petty Motorsports Chevrolet 38.965 39.377 — 2023 Gray Gaulding BK Racing Toyota 40.549 41.105 — 2138 David Ragan Front Row Motorsports Ford 39.158 0.000 — 2234 Michael McDowell Front Row Motorsports Ford 39.215 0.000 — 2300 Jeffrey Earnhardt StarCom Racing Chevrolet 40.899 0.000 — 2455 Reed Sorenson Premium Motorsports Chevrolet 53.838 0.000 — 2511 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 0.000 — — 2614 Clint Bowyer Stewart–Haas RacingFord 0.000 — — 2710 Aric Almirola Stewart–Haas RacingFord 0.000 — — 2888 Alex Bowman Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 0.000 — — 2924 William Byron (R) Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 0.000 — — 3019 Daniel Suárez Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 0.000 — — 319 Chase Elliott Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 0.000 — — 3247 A. J. Allmendinger JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet 0.000 — — 3348 Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 0.000 — — 3495 Kasey Kahne Leavine Family Racing Chevrolet 0.000 — — 3551 Timmy Hill (i) Rick Ware Racing Toyota 0.000 — — 3615 Ross Chastain (i) Premium Motorsports Chevrolet 0.000 — — 3772 Cole Whitt TriStar Motorsports Chevrolet 0.000 — —Official qualifying results
Practice (post-qualifying)
Second practice Kevin Harvick was the fastest in the second practice session with a time of 38.694 seconds and a speed of .
Pos Driver Team Manufacturer Time 1 4 Kevin Harvick Stewart–Haas Racing Ford 38.694 186.075 2 41 Kurt Busch Stewart–Haas Racing Ford 39.039 184.431 3 9 Chase Elliott Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 39.126 184.021Official second practice results
Final practice Kyle Busch was the fastest in the final practice session with a time of 38.779 seconds and a speed of .
Pos Driver Team Manufacturer Time 1 18 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 38.779 185.668 2 78 Martin Truex Jr. Furniture Row Racing Toyota 38.852 185.319 3 48 Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 39.019 184.525Official final practice results
Race results
Stage Results
Stage 1 Laps: 60
Pos Driver Team Manufacturer Points1 78 Martin Truex Jr. Furniture Row Racing Toyota 102 18 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 93 22 Joey Logano Team Penske Ford 84 2 Brad Keselowski Team Penske Ford 75 48 Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 66 42 Kyle Larson Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 57 41 Kurt Busch Stewart–Haas Racing Ford 48 20 Erik Jones Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 39 14 Clint Bowyer Stewart–Haas Racing Ford 210 11 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 1Official stage one results
Stage 2 Laps: 60
Pos Driver Team Manufacturer Points1 78 Martin Truex Jr. Furniture Row Racing Toyota 102 2 Brad Keselowski Team Penske Ford 93 18 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 84 11 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 75 20 Erik Jones Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 66 22 Joey Logano Team Penske Ford 57 48 Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 48 42 Kyle Larson Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 39 14 Clint Bowyer Stewart–Haas Racing Ford 210 24 William Byron (R) Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 1Official stage two results
Final Stage Results
Stage 3 Laps: 80
Pos Grid Driver Team Manufacturer Laps Points1 1 78 Martin Truex Jr. Furniture Row Racing Toyota 200 602 3 42 Kyle Larson Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 200 433 2 18 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 200 514 11 2 Brad Keselowski Team Penske Ford 200 495 6 22 Joey Logano Team Penske Ford 200 456 25 11 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 200 397 4 20 Erik Jones Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 200 398 8 12 Ryan Blaney Team Penske Ford 200 299 33 48 Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 200 3810 5 3 Austin Dillon Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 200 2711 26 14 Clint Bowyer Stewart–Haas Racing Ford 199 3012 27 10 Aric Almirola Stewart–Haas Racing Ford 199 2513 28 88 Alex Bowman Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 199 2414 7 41 Kurt Busch Stewart–Haas Racing Ford 199 2715 29 24 William Byron (R) Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 199 2316 31 9 Chase Elliott Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 199 2117 15 1 Jamie McMurray Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 199 2018 16 17 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Roush Fenway Racing Ford 199 1919 14 21 Paul Menard Wood Brothers Racing Ford 199 1820 19 43 Bubba Wallace (R) Richard Petty Motorsports Chevrolet 199 1721 9 31 Ryan Newman Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 199 1622 32 47 A. J. Allmendinger JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet 199 1523 30 19 Daniel Suárez Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 199 1424 34 95 Kasey Kahne Leavine Family Racing Chevrolet 199 1325 21 38 David Ragan Front Row Motorsports Ford 199 1226 22 34 Michael McDowell Front Row Motorsports Ford 199 1127 17 13 Ty Dillon Germain Racing Chevrolet 198 1028 37 72 Cole Whitt TriStar Motorsports Chevrolet 198 929 36 15 Ross Chastain (i) Premium Motorsports Chevrolet 198 030 12 37 Chris Buescher JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet 197 731 18 32 Matt DiBenedetto Go Fas Racing Ford 196 632 20 23 Gray Gaulding BK Racing Toyota 194 533 35 51 Timmy Hill (i) Rick Ware Racing Toyota 193 034 24 55 Reed Sorenson Premium Motorsports Chevrolet 193 335 10 4 Kevin Harvick Stewart–Haas Racing Ford 191 236 23 00 Jeffrey Earnhardt StarCom Racing Chevrolet 189 137 13 6 Trevor Bayne Roush Fenway Racing Ford 108 1Official race results
Race statistics Lead changes: 7 among different drivers Cautions/Laps: 5 for 21 Red flags: 0 Time of race: 2 hours, 42 minutes and 41 seconds Average speed:
Media
Television The race was the 18th race Fox Sports covered at the Auto Club Speedway. Mike Joy, three-time Auto Club winner Jeff Gordon and Darrell Waltrip had call in the booth for the race. Jamie Little, Vince Welch and Matt Yocum handled the pit road duties for the television side.
Fox Booth announcersPit reporters Lap-by-lap: Mike JoyColor-commentator: Jeff GordonColor commentator: Darrell Waltrip Jamie LittleVince WelchMatt Yocum
Radio MRN had the radio call for the race which was also simulcasted on Sirius XM NASCAR Radio. Joe Moore, Jeff Striegle and 2001 race winner Rusty Wallace called the race from the booth when the field was racing down the front stretch. Dan Hubbard called race from a billboard outside turn 2 when the field was racing through turns 1 and 2. Kurt Becker called the race from a billboard outside turn 3 when the field was racing through turns 3 and 4. Alex Hayden, Winston Kelley and Steve Post worked pit road for MRN.
MRNBooth announcersTurn announcersPit reporters Lead announcer: Joe MooreAnnouncer: Jeff StriegleAnnouncer: Rusty Wallace Turns 1 & 2: Dan HubbardTurns 3 & 4: Kurt Becker Alex HaydenWinston KelleySteve Post
Standings after the race
Drivers' Championship standings Pos Driver Points 2 1 Martin Truex Jr. 216 2 Kyle Busch 207 (–9) 1 3 Joey Logano 197 (–19) 3 4 Brad Keselowski 183 (–33) 5 Ryan Blaney 181 (–35) 6 Denny Hamlin 176 (–40) 1 7 Kyle Larson 174 (–42) 7 8 Kevin Harvick 170 (–46) 9 Clint Bowyer 155 (–61) 10 Aric Almirola 148 (–68) 11 Kurt Busch 144 (–72) 12 Austin Dillon 141 (–75) 2 13 Erik Jones 132 (–84) 1 14 Ryan Newman 117 (–99) 1 15 Paul Menard 115 (–101) 1 16 Alex Bowman 115 (–101)Official driver's standings
Manufacturers' Championship standings Pos Manufacturer Points 1 Ford 178 2 Toyota 177 (–1) 3 Chevrolet 163 (–15)Official manufacturers' standings
Note: Only the first 16 positions are included for the driver standings.
References