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 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 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 Matt Kenseth 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 B. J. McLeod (i) Rick Ware Racing Chevrolet 55 Reed Sorenson Premium Motorsports Chevrolet 66 Timmy Hill (i) MBM Motorsports Toyota 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 ChevroletOfficial 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 .
Pos Driver Team Manufacturer Time 1 4 Kevin Harvick Stewart–Haas Racing Ford 29.009 186.149 2 42 Kyle Larson Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 29.035 185.982 3 18 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 29.163 185.166Official final practice results
Qualifying Kevin Harvick scored the pole for the race with a time of 28.600 and a speed of .
Qualifying results Pos Driver Team Manufacturer 14 Kevin Harvick Stewart–Haas RacingFord 28.569 28.556 28.600 212 Ryan Blaney Team Penske Ford 28.565 28.722 28.750 318 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 28.760 28.760 28.792 410 Aric Almirola Stewart–Haas RacingFord 28.666 28.790 28.811 52 Brad Keselowski Team Penske Ford 28.841 28.909 28.916 611 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 28.974 29.013 28.963 778 Martin Truex Jr. Furniture Row Racing Toyota 29.011 28.882 29.001 841 Kurt Busch Stewart–Haas RacingFord 28.746 28.850 29.002 922 Joey Logano Team Penske Ford 28.812 28.816 29.048 1037 Chris Buescher JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet 28.904 29.007 29.080 1121 Paul Menard Wood Brothers Racing Ford 28.749 28.961 29.115 1220 Erik Jones Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 28.841 28.862 29.169 1324 William Byron (R) Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 28.991 29.051 — 1419 Daniel Suárez Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 28.962 29.090 — 1531 Ryan Newman Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 28.995 29.094 — 1617 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Roush Fenway Racing Ford 28.879 29.101 — 179 Chase Elliott Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 28.980 29.173 — 1847 A. J. Allmendinger JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet 29.027 29.281 — 1988 Alex Bowman Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 28.833 29.311 — 2038 David Ragan Front Row Motorsports Ford 29.132 29.321 — 2143 Bubba Wallace (R) Richard Petty Motorsports Chevrolet 29.128 29.367 — 2242 Kyle Larson Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 28.618 0.000 — 2348 Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 29.087 0.000 — 241 Jamie McMurray Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 29.131 0.000 — 253 Austin Dillon Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 29.214 — — 2613 Ty Dillon Germain Racing Chevrolet 29.558 — — 2772 Corey LaJoie TriStar Motorsports Chevrolet 29.943 — — 2815 Ross Chastain (i) Premium Motorsports Chevrolet 30.031 — — 2923 Gray Gaulding BK Racing Toyota 30.035 — — 3055 Reed Sorenson Premium Motorsports Chevrolet 30.181 — — 3100 Landon Cassill StarCom Racing Chevrolet 30.216 — — 3251 B. J. McLeod (i) Rick Ware Racing Chevrolet 30.623 — — 3314 Clint Bowyer Stewart–Haas RacingFord 0.000 — — 3495 Kasey Kahne Leavine Family Racing Chevrolet 0.000 — — 356 Matt Kenseth Roush Fenway Racing Ford 0.000 — — 3634 Michael McDowell Front Row Motorsports Ford 0.000 — — 3732 Matt DiBenedetto Go Fas Racing Ford 0.000 — — 3866 Timmy Hill (i) MBM Motorsports Toyota 0.000 — —Official qualifying results
Race
Stage Results
Stage 1 Laps: 80
Pos Driver Team Manufacturer Points1 12 Ryan Blaney Team Penske Ford 102 4 Kevin Harvick Stewart–Haas Racing Ford 93 2 Brad Keselowski Team Penske Ford 84 22 Joey Logano Team Penske Ford 75 42 Kyle Larson Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 66 10 Aric Almirola Stewart–Haas Racing Ford 57 11 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 48 18 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 39 41 Kurt Busch Stewart–Haas Racing Ford 210 14 Clint Bowyer Stewart–Haas Racing Ford 1Official stage one results
Stage 2 Laps: 80
Pos Driver Team Manufacturer Points1 42 Kyle Larson Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 102 4 Kevin Harvick Stewart–Haas Racing Ford 93 12 Ryan Blaney Team Penske Ford 84 18 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 75 22 Joey Logano Team Penske Ford 66 10 Aric Almirola Stewart–Haas Racing Ford 57 41 Kurt Busch Stewart–Haas Racing Ford 48 14 Clint Bowyer Stewart–Haas Racing Ford 39 20 Erik Jones Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 210 78 Martin Truex Jr. Furniture Row Racing Toyota 1Official stage two results
Final Stage Results
Stage 3 Laps: 107
Pos Grid Driver Team Manufacturer Laps Points1 1 4 Kevin Harvick Stewart–Haas Racing Ford 267 582 7 78 Martin Truex Jr. Furniture Row Racing Toyota 267 363 9 22 Joey Logano Team Penske Ford 267 474 22 42 Kyle Larson Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 267 495 6 11 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 267 366 11 21 Paul Menard Wood Brothers Racing Ford 267 317 12 20 Erik Jones Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 267 328 8 41 Kurt Busch Stewart–Haas Racing Ford 267 359 4 10 Aric Almirola Stewart–Haas Racing Ford 267 3810 3 18 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 267 3711 16 17 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Roush Fenway Racing Ford 267 2612 17 9 Chase Elliott Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 267 2513 20 38 David Ragan Front Row Motorsports Ford 267 2414 5 2 Brad Keselowski Team Penske Ford 267 3115 33 14 Clint Bowyer Stewart–Haas Racing Ford 267 2616 18 47 A. J. Allmendinger JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet 266 2117 25 3 Austin Dillon Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 266 2018 19 88 Alex Bowman Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 266 1919 23 48 Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 265 1820 36 34 Michael McDowell Front Row Motorsports Ford 265 1721 34 95 Kasey Kahne Leavine Family Racing Chevrolet 264 1622 37 32 Matt DiBenedetto Go Fas Racing Ford 263 1523 21 43 Bubba Wallace (R) Richard Petty Motorsports Chevrolet 262 1424 27 72 Corey LaJoie TriStar Motorsports Chevrolet 262 1325 31 00 Landon Cassill StarCom Racing Chevrolet 260 1226 28 15 Ross Chastain (i) Premium Motorsports Chevrolet 259 027 30 55 Reed Sorenson Premium Motorsports Chevrolet 259 1028 14 19 Daniel Suárez Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 258 929 29 23 Gray Gaulding BK Racing Toyota 257 830 15 31 Ryan Newman Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 253 731 24 1 Jamie McMurray Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 253 632 38 66 Timmy Hill (i) MBM Motorsports Toyota 253 033 13 24 William Byron (R) Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 252 434 10 37 Chris Buescher JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet 252 335 32 51 B. J. McLeod (i) Rick Ware Racing Chevrolet 251 036 35 6 Matt Kenseth Roush Fenway Racing Ford 250 137 2 12 Ryan Blaney Team Penske Ford 247 1938 26 13 Ty Dillon Germain Racing Chevrolet 247 1Official 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:
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.
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. 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.
MRN RadioBooth announcersTurn announcersPit reporters Lead announcer: Jeff StriegleAnnouncer: Alex HaydenAnnouncer: Rusty Wallace Turns 1 & 2: Dave MoodyTurns 3 & 4: Mike Bagley Pete PistoneKim CoonSteve Post
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.
References