The 2018 Alpha Energy Solutions 250 was the fourth stock car race of the 2018 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, and the 24th iteration of the event. The race was originally held on Saturday, March 24, 2018 but after 24 laps, rain and snow postponed the race until Monday, March 26, 2018. The race was held in Martinsville, Virginia at Martinsville Speedway. The race took the scheduled 250 laps to complete. John Hunter Nemechek, driving a part-time schedule for NEMCO Motorsports would win the race after holding off Kyle Benjamin on a late-race restart, garnering the 6th win of his career and the first of the season.

The race was the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series debut for Tyler Matthews, Cory Roper, and Reid Wilson.

Background

Martinsville Speedway is a NASCAR-owned stock car racing track located in Henry County, in Ridgeway, Virginia, just to the south of Martinsville. At 0.526 miles (0.847 km) in length, it is the shortest track in the NASCAR Cup Series. The track was also one of the first paved oval tracks in NASCAR, being built in 1947 by H. Clay Earles. It is also the only remaining race track that has been on the NASCAR circuit from its beginning in 1948.

Entry list #DriverTeamMakeSponsor1Mike SenicaTJL MotorsportsChevroletPennsylvania Power Products, Inc.2Cody CoughlinGMS RacingChevroletJegs02Austin HillYoung's MotorsportsChevroletUnited Rentals3Jordan AndersonJordan Anderson RacingChevroletBommarito Automotive Group, Lucas Oil4Todd GillilandKyle Busch MotorsportsToyotaMobil 104Cory RoperRoper RacingFordPreferred Industrial Contractors, Inc.6Norm BenningNorm Benning RacingChevroletZomongo8John Hunter NemechekNEMCO MotorsportsChevroletFleetwing, D. A. B. Constructors, Inc.10Jennifer Jo CobbJennifer Jo Cobb RacingChevroletDriven2Honor.org13Myatt SniderThorSport RacingFordLiberty Tax "You Do Life, We Do Taxes"15Robby LyonsPremium MotorsportsChevroletBubba Bear Sauce Ain't Giving It Up Sauce16Brett MoffittHattori Racing EnterprisesToyotaAisin18Noah GragsonKyle Busch MotorsportsToyotaSafelite Auto Glass20Reid WilsonYoung's MotorsportsChevroletOEM2 powered by TruNorth21Johnny SauterGMS RacingChevroletAllegiant Air22Austin Wayne SelfNiece MotorsportsChevroletKreuz Market "Shipping Real TX BBQ"24Justin HaleyGMS RacingChevroletFraternal Order of Eagles25Dalton SargeantGMS RacingChevroletPerformance Plus Motor Oil33Josh ReaumeReaume Brothers RacingChevroletGreen Heart Partners, R-Coin35Travis Kvapil*NextGen MotorsportsChevrolet41Ben RhodesThorSport RacingFordAlpha Energy Solutions45Justin FontaineNiece MotorsportsChevroletProMatic Automation49Wendell ChavousPremium MotorsportsChevroletSobrietyNation.org 50Dawson CramBeaver MotorsportsChevroletFluidyne, Bojangles51Harrison BurtonKyle Busch MotorsportsToyotaDEX Imaging52Stewart FriesenHalmar Friesen RacingChevroletHalmar "We Build America"54Kyle BenjaminDGR-CrosleyToyotaCrosley Brands57Jeff Zillweger*Norm Benning RacingChevrolet63Kevin DonahueCopp MotorsportsChevroletFirst Responder Racing74Mike HarmonMike Harmon RacingChevroletHorizon Transport83Kyle DonahueCopp MotorsportsChevroletFirst Responder Racing87Joe Nemechek*NEMCO MotorsportsChevrolet88Matt CraftonThorSport RacingFordMenards, Ideal Door Garage Doors92Timothy PetersRBR EnterprisesFordBTS Tire & Wheel Distributors98Grant EnfingerThorSport RacingFordChampion Power Equipment "Powering Your Life."99Tyler MatthewsMDM MotorsportsChevroletScott & Stringfellow, BB&T, PopeyesOfficial entry list *Withdrew.

Practice

First practice First practice was held on Friday, March 23, at 11:05 AM EST. Justin Haley of GMS Racing would set the fastest time with a 20.118 and an average speed of . Pos.#DriverTeamMakeTimeSpeed124Justin HaleyGMS RacingChevrolet20.11894.125218Noah GragsonKyle Busch MotorsportsToyota20.16893.891388Matt CraftonThorSport RacingFord20.20193.738Full first practice results

Second practice Second practice was held on Friday, March 23, at 1:05 PM EST. Matt Crafton of ThorSport Racing would set the fastest time with a 20.023 and an average speed of . Pos.#DriverTeamMakeTimeSpeed188Matt CraftonThorSport RacingFord20.02394.571216Brett MoffittHattori Racing EnterprisesToyota20.02694.55732Cody CoughlinGMS RacingChevrolet20.03294.529Full second practice results

Third and final practice Third and final practice was held on Friday, March 23, at 3:05 PM EST. Grant Enfinger of ThorSport Racing would set the fastest time with a 19.921 and an average speed of . Pos.#DriverTeamMakeTimeSpeed198Grant EnfingerThorSport RacingFord19.92195.056288Matt CraftonThorSport RacingFord19.92495.041354Kyle BenjaminDGR-CrosleyToyota19.95994.874Full final practice results

Qualifying Qualifying was held on Saturday, March 24, at 11:05 AM EST. Since Martinsville Speedway is a short track, the qualifying system was a multi-car system that included three rounds. The first round was 15 minutes, where every driver would be able to set a lap within the 15 minutes. Then, the second round would consist of the fastest 24 cars in Round 1, and drivers would have 10 minutes to set a lap. Round 3 consisted of the fastest 12 drivers from Round 2, and the drivers would have 5 minutes to set a time. Whoever was fastest in Round 3 would win the pole.

Ben Rhodes of ThorSport Racing would set the fastest time in Round 3, with a 19.737 and an average speed of , thus winning the pole.

While Mike Harmon would not set the slowest time (Mike Senica would set the slowest, being a over a second slower than Harmon), Harmon would not have enough owner points to qualify, making Harmon the only driver to fail to qualify for the race. Pos.#DriverTeamMakeTime (R1)Speed (R1)Time (R2)Speed (R2)Time (R3)Speed (R3)141Ben RhodesThorSport RacingFord19.73795.942288Matt CraftonThorSport RacingFord19.78695.704398Grant EnfingerThorSport RacingFord19.81095.588454Kyle BenjaminDGR-CrosleyToyota19.83095.492552Stewart FriesenHalmar Friesen RacingChevrolet19.83195.487621Johnny SauterGMS RacingChevrolet19.83295.482716Brett MoffittHattori Racing EnterprisesToyota19.850 95.39588John Hunter NemechekNEMCO MotorsportsChevrolet19.85195.391913Myatt SniderThorSport RacingFord19.88995.208102Cody CoughlinGMS RacingChevrolet19.90295.1461118Noah GragsonKyle Busch MotorsportsToyota19.96594.8461224Justin HaleyGMS RacingChevrolet20.05094.444Eliminated in Round 21351Harrison BurtonKyle Busch MotorsportsToyota19.98194.770——1499Tyler MatthewsMDM MotorsportsChevrolet20.01194.628——1502Austin HillYoung's MotorsportsChevrolet20.04794.458——1692Timothy PetersRBR EnterprisesFord20.09794.223——1704Cory RoperRoper RacingFord20.13394.055——1825Dalton SargeantGMS RacingChevrolet20.17693.854——1945Justin FontaineNiece MotorsportsChevrolet20.22793.617——2020Reid WilsonYoung's MotorsportsChevrolet20.24893.520——2122Austin Wayne SelfNiece MotorsportsChevrolet20.26293.456——2283Kyle DonahueCopp MotorsportsChevrolet20.40692.796——234Todd GillilandKyle Busch MotorsportsToyota19.88895.213————2415Robby LyonsPremium MotorsportsChevrolet20.24893.520————Eliminated in Round 1253Jordan AndersonJordan Anderson RacingChevrolet20.41492.760————2633Josh ReaumeReaume Brothers RacingChevrolet20.45892.560————2763Kevin DonahueCopp MotorsportsChevrolet20.47492.488————Qualified by owner's points2850Dawson CramBeaver MotorsportsChevrolet20.53292.227————2949Wendell ChavousPremium MotorsportsChevrolet20.78391.113————306Norm BenningNorm Benning RacingChevrolet20.998 90.180————3110Jennifer Jo CobbJennifer Jo Cobb RacingChevrolet21.66987.388————321Mike SenicaTJL MotorsportsChevrolet23.00182.327————Failed to qualify or withdrew3374Mike HarmonMike Harmon RacingChevrolet21.62187.582————WD35Travis KvapilNextGen MotorsportsChevrolet——————WD57Jeff ZillwegerNorm Benning RacingChevrolet——————WD87Joe NemechekNEMCO MotorsportsChevrolet——————Official starting lineup

Race results Stage 1 Laps: 70 Fin#DriverTeamMakePts141Ben RhodesThorSport RacingFord10288Matt CraftonThorSport RacingFord9398Grant EnfingerThorSport RacingFord8421Johnny SauterGMS RacingChevrolet7554Kyle BenjaminDGR-CrosleyToyota068John Hunter NemechekNEMCO MotorsportsChevrolet0752Stewart FriesenHalmar Friesen RacingChevrolet4818Noah GragsonKyle Busch MotorsportsToyota3916Brett MoffittHattori Racing EnterprisesToyota21013Myatt SniderThorSport RacingFord1 Stage 2 Laps: 70 Fin#DriverTeamMakePts141Ben RhodesThorSport RacingFord1024Todd GillilandKyle Busch MotorsportsToyota9321Johnny SauterGMS RacingChevrolet8488Matt CraftonThorSport RacingFord758John Hunter NemechekNEMCO MotorsportsChevrolet0618Noah GragsonKyle Busch MotorsportsToyota5716Brett MoffittHattori Racing EnterprisesToyota4898Grant EnfingerThorSport RacingFord3913Myatt SniderThorSport RacingFord21051Harrison BurtonKyle Busch MotorsportsToyota1 Stage 3 Laps: 110 FinSt#DriverTeamMakeLapsLedStatusPts188John Hunter NemechekNEMCO MotorsportsChevrolet25031running02454Kyle BenjaminDGR-CrosleyToyota25074running03716Brett MoffittHattori Racing EnterprisesToyota2500running414398Grant EnfingerThorSport RacingFord2500running4451118Noah GragsonKyle Busch MotorsportsToyota2500running396913Myatt SniderThorSport RacingFord2500running3471692Timothy PetersRBR EnterprisesFord2500running3081351Harrison BurtonKyle Busch MotorsportsToyota2500running3091502Austin HillYoung's MotorsportsChevrolet2500running28101224Justin HaleyGMS RacingChevrolet2500running27111825Dalton SargeantGMS RacingChevrolet2500running2612141Ben RhodesThorSport RacingFord250134running45131704Cory RoperRoper RacingFord2500running2414234Todd GillilandKyle Busch MotorsportsToyota2501running3215288Matt CraftonThorSport RacingFord2504running38162020Reid WilsonYoung's MotorsportsChevrolet2500running21172850Dawson CramBeaver MotorsportsChevrolet2500running20182949Wendell ChavousPremium MotorsportsChevrolet2500running1919621Johnny SauterGMS RacingChevrolet2490running3320552Stewart FriesenHalmar Friesen RacingChevrolet2486running21211499Tyler MatthewsMDM MotorsportsChevrolet2480running1622253Jordan AndersonJordan Anderson RacingChevrolet2480running15232283Kyle DonahueCopp MotorsportsChevrolet2340electrical14242415Robby LyonsPremium MotorsportsChevrolet2270engine13252633Josh ReaumeReaume Brothers RacingChevrolet2270running1226102Cody CoughlinGMS RacingChevrolet2250running11272122Austin Wayne SelfNiece MotorsportsChevrolet1640electrical10281945Justin FontaineNiece MotorsportsChevrolet1580crash9293110Jennifer Jo CobbJennifer Jo Cobb RacingChevrolet550electrical8302763Kevin DonahueCopp MotorsportsChevrolet490brakes731306Norm BenningNorm Benning RacingChevrolet350too slow632321Mike SenicaTJL MotorsportsChevrolet80parked5Failed to qualify or withdrew3374Mike HarmonMike Harmon RacingChevroletWD35Travis KvapilNextGen MotorsportsChevroletWD57Jeff ZillwegerNorm Benning RacingChevroletWD87Joe NemechekNEMCO MotorsportsChevrolet

References