The 2018 AAA 400 Drive for Autism was a Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race held on May 6, 2018, at Dover International Speedway in Dover, Delaware. Contested over 400 laps on the 1-mile (1.6 km) concrete speedway, it was the 11th race of the 2018 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series season.
Report
Background
Dover International Speedway is an oval race track in Dover, Delaware, United States that has held at least two NASCAR races since it opened in 1969. In addition to NASCAR, the track also hosted USAC and the Verizon IndyCar Series. The track features one layout, a concrete oval, with 24° banking in the turns and 9° banking on the straights. The speedway is owned and operated by Dover Motorsports.
The track, nicknamed "The Monster Mile", was built in 1969 by Melvin Joseph of Melvin L. Joseph Construction Company, Inc., with an asphalt surface, but was replaced with concrete in 1995. Six years later in 2001, the track's capacity moved to 135,000 seats, making the track have the largest capacity of sports venue in the mid-Atlantic. In 2002, the name changed to Dover International Speedway from Dover Downs International Speedway after Dover Downs Gaming and Entertainment split, making Dover Motorsports. From 2007 to 2009, the speedway worked on an improvement project called "The Monster Makeover", which expanded facilities at the track and beautified the track. After the 2014 season, the track's capacity was reduced to 95,500 seats.
Entry list Driver Team Manufacturer 00 Landon Cassill 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 Cody Ware (i) Rick Ware Racing Chevrolet 55 Reed Sorenson Premium Motorsports Chevrolet 72 Corey LaJoie TriStar Motorsports Chevrolet 78 Martin Truex Jr. Furniture Row Racing Toyota 88 Alex Bowman Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 95 Kasey Kahne Leavine Family Racing Chevrolet 99 Derrike Cope StarCom Racing ChevroletOfficial entry list
First practice Paul Menard was the fastest in the first practice session with a time of 22.524 seconds and a speed of .
Pos Driver Team Manufacturer Time 1 21 Paul Menard Wood Brothers Racing Ford 22.524 159.830 2 48 Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 22.579 159.440 3 4 Kevin Harvick Stewart–Haas Racing Ford 22.583 159.412Official first practice results
Qualifying
Kyle Larson scored the pole for the race with a time of 22.770 and a speed of .
Qualifying results Pos Driver Team Manufacturer 142 Kyle Larson Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 23.096 22.867 22.770 24 Kevin Harvick Stewart–Haas RacingFord 23.047 22.937 22.858 378 Martin Truex Jr. Furniture Row Racing Toyota 22.977 22.948 22.867 418 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 22.913 22.980 22.897 517 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Roush Fenway Racing Ford 23.077 22.924 22.929 69 Chase Elliott Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 23.047 22.891 22.969 719 Daniel Suárez Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 23.088 22.920 22.997 82 Brad Keselowski Team Penske Ford 22.947 23.071 23.011 941 Kurt Busch Stewart–Haas RacingFord 23.118 23.042 23.035 1011 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 22.998 23.060 23.078 1120 Erik Jones Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 23.088 23.083 23.092 1214 Clint Bowyer Stewart–Haas RacingFord 23.112 23.049 23.121 1310 Aric Almirola Stewart–Haas RacingFord 23.170 23.096 — 1412 Ryan Blaney Team Penske Ford 23.020 23.115 — 1588 Alex Bowman Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 23.110 23.128 — 1637 Chris Buescher JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet 23.274 23.149 — 1724 William Byron (R) Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 23.301 23.179 — 1822 Joey Logano Team Penske Ford 23.125 23.181 — 1948 Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 23.074 23.193 — 2021 Paul Menard Wood Brothers Racing Ford 23.189 23.201 — 2131 Ryan Newman Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 23.306 23.222 — 226 Trevor Bayne Roush Fenway Racing Ford 23.257 23.274 — 231 Jamie McMurray Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 23.229 23.301 — 2432 Matt DiBenedetto Go Fas Racing Ford 23.288 23.495 — 2595 Kasey Kahne Leavine Family Racing Chevrolet 23.306 — — 2643 Bubba Wallace (R) Richard Petty Motorsports Chevrolet 23.345 — — 273 Austin Dillon Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 23.360 — — 2847 A. J. Allmendinger JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet 23.375 — — 2934 Michael McDowell Front Row Motorsports Ford 23.384 — — 3013 Ty Dillon Germain Racing Chevrolet 23.459 — — 3115 Ross Chastain (i) Premium Motorsports Chevrolet 23.502 — — 3238 David Ragan Front Row Motorsports Ford 23.593 — — 3300 Landon Cassill StarCom Racing Chevrolet 23.649 — — 3455 Reed Sorenson Premium Motorsports Chevrolet 24.026 — — 3523 Gray Gaulding BK Racing Toyota 24.048 — — 3699 Derrike Cope StarCom Racing Chevrolet 24.884 — — 3751 Cody Ware (i) Rick Ware Racing Chevrolet 25.442 — — 3872 Corey LaJoie TriStar Motorsports Chevrolet 0.000 — —Official qualifying results
Practice (post-qualifying)
Second practice Joey Logano was the fastest in the second practice session with a time of 22.858 seconds and a speed of .
Pos Driver Team Manufacturer Time 1 22 Joey Logano Team Penske Ford 22.858 157.494 2 2 Brad Keselowski Team Penske Ford 22.864 157.453 3 78 Martin Truex Jr. Furniture Row Racing Toyota 22.923 157.048Official second practice results
Final practice Aric Almirola was the fastest in the final practice session with a time of 22.745 seconds and a speed of .
Pos Driver Team Manufacturer Time 1 10 Aric Almirola Stewart–Haas Racing Ford 22.745 158.277 2 9 Chase Elliott Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 22.777 158.054 3 14 Clint Bowyer Stewart–Haas Racing Ford 22.797 157.916Official final practice results
Race
Stage Results
Stage 1 Laps: 120
Pos Driver Team Manufacturer Points1 4 Kevin Harvick Stewart–Haas Racing Ford 102 18 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 93 2 Brad Keselowski Team Penske Ford 84 19 Daniel Suárez Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 75 41 Kurt Busch Stewart–Haas Racing Ford 66 9 Chase Elliott Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 57 14 Clint Bowyer Stewart–Haas Racing Ford 48 48 Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 39 22 Joey Logano Team Penske Ford 210 12 Ryan Blaney Team Penske Ford 1Official stage one results
Stage 2 Laps: 120
Pos Driver Team Manufacturer Points1 4 Kevin Harvick Stewart–Haas Racing Ford 102 2 Brad Keselowski Team Penske Ford 93 18 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 84 48 Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 75 14 Clint Bowyer Stewart–Haas Racing Ford 66 19 Daniel Suárez Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 57 78 Martin Truex Jr. Furniture Row Racing Toyota 48 12 Ryan Blaney Team Penske Ford 39 9 Chase Elliott Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 210 22 Joey Logano Team Penske Ford 1Official stage two results
Final Stage Results
Stage 3 Laps: 160
Pos Grid Driver Team Manufacturer Laps Points1 2 4 Kevin Harvick Stewart–Haas Racing Ford 400 602 12 14 Clint Bowyer Stewart–Haas Racing Ford 400 453 7 19 Daniel Suárez Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 400 464 3 78 Martin Truex Jr. Furniture Row Racing Toyota 400 375 9 41 Kurt Busch Stewart–Haas Racing Ford 400 386 8 2 Brad Keselowski Team Penske Ford 400 487 10 11 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 400 308 14 12 Ryan Blaney Team Penske Ford 400 339 19 48 Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 400 3810 1 42 Kyle Larson Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 400 2711 13 10 Aric Almirola Stewart–Haas Racing Ford 400 2612 6 9 Chase Elliott Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 400 3213 18 22 Joey Logano Team Penske Ford 400 2714 17 24 William Byron (R) Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 399 2315 5 17 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Roush Fenway Racing Ford 399 2216 23 1 Jamie McMurray Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 399 2117 25 95 Kasey Kahne Leavine Family Racing Chevrolet 399 2018 11 20 Erik Jones Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 399 1919 22 6 Trevor Bayne Roush Fenway Racing Ford 398 1820 16 37 Chris Buescher JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet 398 1721 28 47 A. J. Allmendinger JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet 397 1622 29 34 Michael McDowell Front Row Motorsports Ford 397 1523 15 88 Alex Bowman Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 397 1424 30 13 Ty Dillon Germain Racing Chevrolet 396 1325 26 43 Bubba Wallace (R) Richard Petty Motorsports Chevrolet 396 1226 27 3 Austin Dillon Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 395 1127 32 38 David Ragan Front Row Motorsports Ford 395 1028 31 15 Ross Chastain (i) Premium Motorsports Chevrolet 393 029 24 32 Matt DiBenedetto Go Fas Racing Ford 392 830 35 23 Gray Gaulding BK Racing Toyota 386 731 33 00 Landon Cassill StarCom Racing Chevrolet 385 632 34 55 Reed Sorenson Premium Motorsports Chevrolet 382 533 21 31 Ryan Newman Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 377 434 20 21 Paul Menard Wood Brothers Racing Ford 354 335 4 18 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 271 1936 37 51 Cody Ware (i) Rick Ware Racing Chevrolet 244 037 36 99 Derrike Cope StarCom Racing Chevrolet 145 138 38 72 Corey LaJoie TriStar Motorsports Chevrolet 20 1Official race results
Race statistics Lead changes: 6 among different drivers Cautions/Laps: 8 for 48 Red flags: 1 for 41 minutes and 1 second Time of race: 3 hours, 28 minutes and 37 seconds Average speed:
Media
Television Fox Sports covered their 18th race at the Dover International Speedway. Mike Joy, five-time Dover winner Jeff Gordon and two-time Dover winner Darrell Waltrip had the call in the booth for the race. Jamie Little, Vince Welch and Matt Yocum handled the action on pit road for the television side.
FS1Booth 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.
MRN RadioBooth announcersTurn announcersPit reporters Lead announcer: Joe MooreAnnouncer: Jeff StriegleAnnouncer: Rusty Wallace Backstretch: Mike Bagley Kim CoonAlex HaydenDillon WelchSteve Post
Standings after the race
Drivers' Championship standings Pos Driver Points 1 Kyle Busch 466 2 Joey Logano 444 (–22) 3 Kevin Harvick 426 (–40) 4 Clint Bowyer 380 (–86) 1 5 Brad Keselowski 365 (–101) 1 6 Kurt Busch 358 (–108) 1 7 Ryan Blaney 346 (–120) 1 8 Denny Hamlin 344 (–122) 9 Martin Truex Jr. 340 (–126) 10 Kyle Larson 307 (–159) 11 Aric Almirola 304 (–162) 2 12 Jimmie Johnson 268 (–198) 13 Erik Jones 253 (–213) 2 14 Alex Bowman 252 (–214) 3 15 Chase Elliott 241 (–225) 1 16 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. 239 (–227)Official driver's standings
Manufacturers' Championship standings Pos Manufacturer Points 1 Ford 399 2 Toyota 393 (–6) 3 Chevrolet 359 (–40)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.
References