The 2018 Drive for the Cure 200 presented by Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina was the 28th stock car race of the 2018 NASCAR Xfinity Series season, the second race in the Round of 12, and the 37th iteration of the event. The race was held on Saturday, September 29, 2018, in Concord, North Carolina at the Charlotte Motor Speedway roval, a permanent 2.28 miles (3.67 km) road course, using part of the oval and part of the infield road course. The race took the scheduled 55 laps to complete. At race's end, Chase Briscoe of Stewart-Haas Racing with Biagi-DenBeste would dominate the late stages of the race to win his first ever career NASCAR Xfinity Series win and his first and only win of the season. To fill out the podium, Justin Marks of Chip Ganassi Racing and Austin Cindric of Team Penske would finish second and third, respectively.
Background
For 2018, deviating from past NASCAR events at Charlotte, the race would utilize a road course configuration of Charlotte Motor Speedway, promoted and trademarked as the "Roval". The course is in length and features 17 turns, utilizing the infield road course and portions of the oval track. The race would be contested over a scheduled distance of 55 laps, .
During July 2018 tests on the road course, concerns were raised over drivers "cheating" designated chicanes on the course. The chicanes were modified with additional tire barriers and rumble strips in order to encourage drivers to properly drive through them, and NASCAR will enforce drive-through penalties on drivers who illegally "short-cut" parts of the course. The chicanes will not be used during pace laps, nor will they be used during restarts.
Entry list #DriverTeamMakeSponsor0Garrett SmithleyJD MotorsportsChevroletJD Motorsports00Cole CusterStewart-Haas Racing with Biagi-DenBesteFordHaas Automation1Elliott SadlerJR MotorsportsChevroletOneMain Financial "Lending Done Human"01Lawson AschenbachJD MotorsportsChevroletJD Motorsports2Matt TifftRichard Childress RacingChevroletNexteer3Brendan GaughanRichard Childress RacingChevroletSouth Point Hotel, Casino & Spa, Beard Oil Distributing4Ross ChastainJD MotorsportsChevroletOutdoor Republic, Florida Watermelon Association5Michael AnnettJR MotorsportsChevroletTMC Transportation7Justin AllgaierJR MotorsportsChevroletVannoy Construction8Dylan MurcottB. J. McLeod MotorsportsChevroletCorvetteParts.net, The Drying Center9Tyler ReddickJR MotorsportsChevroletBurgerFi11Ryan TruexKaulig RacingChevroletLeafFilter Gutter Protection13Landon CassillMBM MotorsportsDodgeMBM Motorsports15Katherine LeggeJD MotorsportsChevroletAirtec16Ryan ReedRoush Fenway RacingFordDriveDownA1C.com18Ryan PreeceJoe Gibbs RacingToyotaRheem19Brandon JonesJoe Gibbs RacingToyotaJuniper Networks20Christopher BellJoe Gibbs RacingToyotaGameStop, Fallout 7621Daniel HemricRichard Childress RacingChevroletSouth Point Hotel, Casino & Spa22Austin CindricTeam PenskeFordMoneyLion23Spencer GallagherGMS RacingChevroletISM Connect35Joey GaseGo Green Racing with SS-Green Light RacingChevroletSparks Energy, Agri Supply Company36Alex LabbéDGM RacingChevroletLa Rue Industrial Snowblowers38Jeff GreenRSS RacingChevrolet'Til I'm Gone by Frank Foster39Ryan SiegRSS RacingChevroletNight Owl Contractors40Chad FinchumMBM MotorsportsToyotaCrashClaimsR.Us, Smithbilt Homes42Justin MarksChip Ganassi RacingChevroletChevrolet Accessories45Josh BilickiJP MotorsportsToyotaPrevagen51Jeremy ClementsJeremy Clements RacingChevroletTravers Tool Company, RepairableVehicles.com52David StarrJimmy Means RacingChevroletExtreme Kleaner55Bayley CurreyJP MotorsportsToyotaTouched by Pros, Rollin Smoke Barbecue60Ty MajeskiRoush Fenway RacingFordFord61Kaz GralaFury Race CarsFordIT Coalition66Timmy HillMBM MotorsportsDodgeLeith Cars74Ray Black Jr.Mike Harmon RacingChevroletIsokern Fireplaces & Chimmeys76Spencer BoydSS-Green Light RacingChevroletGrunt Style "This We'll Defend"78Vinnie MillerB. J. McLeod MotorsportsChevroletJAS Expedited Trucking90Andy LallyDGM RacingChevroletAlpha Prime Regimen93Jeff GreenRSS RacingChevroletRSS Racing97Tanner BerryhillObaika RacingChevroletVroom! Brands, South Africa98Chase BriscoeStewart-Haas Racing with Biagi-DenBesteFordFordOfficial entry list
Practice
First practice The first practice session would occur on Thursday, September 27, at 11:00 AM EST and would last for two hours. Austin Cindric of Team Penske would set the fastest time in the session, with a lap of 1:19.998 and an average speed of . Pos.#DriverTeamMakeTimeSpeed122Austin CindricTeam PenskeFord1:19.998102.603221Daniel HemricRichard Childress RacingChevrolet1:20.871101.495311Ryan TruexKaulig RacingChevrolet1:21.156101.139Full first practice results
Second practice The second practice session would occur on Thursday, September 27, at 2:00 PM EST and would last for two hours. Cole Custer of Stewart-Haas Racing with Biagi-DenBeste would set the fastest time in the session, with a lap of 1:19.517 and an average speed of . Pos.#DriverTeamMakeTimeSpeed100Cole CusterStewart-Haas Racing with Biagi-DenBesteFord1:19.517103.223222Austin CindricTeam PenskeFord1:19.770102.89639Tyler ReddickJR MotorsportsChevrolet1:19.771102.895Full second practice results
Third practice The third practice session would occur on Friday, September 28, at 1:05 PM EST and would last for 50 minutes. Austin Cindric of Team Penske would set the fastest time in the session, with a lap of 1:18.443 and an average speed of . Pos.#DriverTeamMakeTimeSpeed122Austin CindricTeam PenskeFord1:18.443104.636221Daniel HemricRichard Childress RacingChevrolet1:18.561104.479336Alex LabbéDGM RacingChevrolet1:18.885104.050Official third practice results
Fourth and final practice The fourth and final practice session, sometimes referred to as Happy Hour, would occur on Friday, September 28, at 3:05 PM EST and would last for 50 minutes. Daniel Hemric of Richard Childress Racing would set the fastest time in the session, with a lap of 1:18.197 and an average speed of . Pos.#DriverTeamMakeTimeSpeed121Daniel HemricRichard Childress RacingChevrolet1:18.197104.966211Ryan TruexKaulig RacingChevrolet1:19.184103.657300Cole CusterStewart-Haas Racing with Biagi-DenBesteFord1:19.458103.300Official Happy Hour practice results
Qualifying Qualifying would occur on Saturday, September 29, at 12:10 PM EST. Since the Charlotte Motor Speedway Roval is a road course, the qualifying system was a multi-car system that included two rounds. The first round was 25 minutes, where every driver would be able to set a lap within the 25 minutes. Then, the second round would consist of the fastest 12 cars in Round 1, and drivers would have 10 minutes to set a lap. Whoever set the fastest time in Round 2 would win the pole.
Austin Cindric of Team Penske would win the pole, setting a time of 1:17.781 and an average speed of in the second round.
Tanner Berryhill of Obaika Racing would be the only driver to fail to qualify, not making a lap in the qualifying session.
Full qualifying results Pos.#DriverTeamMakeTime (R1)Speed (R1)Time (R2)Speed (R2)122Austin CindricTeam PenskeFord1:18.041105.1751:17.781105.527221Daniel HemricRichard Childress RacingChevrolet1:18.428104.6571:17.924105.33339Tyler ReddickJR MotorsportsChevrolet1:18.532104.5181:18.403104.690442Justin MarksChip Ganassi RacingChevrolet1:18.760104.2151:18.629 104.389536Alex LabbéDGM RacingChevrolet1:18.100105.0961:18.703104.291600Cole CusterStewart-Haas Racing with Biagi-DenBesteFord1:18.716104.2741:18.709104.28372Matt TifftRichard Childress RacingChevrolet1:18.923104.0001:18.773104.198860Ty MajeskiRoush-Fenway RacingFord1:18.501104.5591:18.785104.182998Chase BriscoeStewart-Haas Racing with Biagi-DenBesteFord1:18.699104.2961:18.824104.1311018Ryan PreeceJoe Gibbs RacingToyota1:18.714104.2761:19.045103.8401111Ryan TruexKaulig RacingChevrolet1:18.812104.1471:19.210103.623127Justin AllgaierJR MotorsportsChevrolet1:19.069103.8081:19.361103.426Eliminated in Round 11320Christopher BellJoe Gibbs RacingToyota1:19.091103.779——1461Kaz GralaFury Race CarsFord1:19.096103.773——1516Ryan ReedRoush-Fenway RacingFord1:19.284103.527——164Ross ChastainJD MotorsportsChevrolet1:19.333103.463——171Elliott SadlerJR MotorsportsChevrolet1:19.354103.435——183Brendan GaughanRichard Childress RacingChevrolet1:19.680103.012——1951Jeremy ClementsJeremy Clements RacingChevrolet1:19.930102.690——2090Andy LallyDGM RacingChevrolet1:20.235102.299——2101Lawson AschenbachJD MotorsportsChevrolet1:20.406102.082——2219Brandon JonesJoe Gibbs RacingToyota1:20.588101.851——235Michael AnnettJR MotorsportsChevrolet1:20.625101.805——2466Timmy HillMBM MotorsportsToyota1:20.643101.782——2523Spencer GallagherGMS RacingChevrolet1:20.896101.464——2615Katherine LeggeJD MotorsportsChevrolet1:20.994101.341——2739Ryan SiegRSS RacingChevrolet1:21.406100.828——2845Josh BilickiJP MotorsportsToyota1:21.577100.617——2935Joey GaseGo Green Racing with SS-Green Light RacingChevrolet1:21.646100.532——3074Ray Black Jr.Mike Harmon RacingChevrolet1:21.722100.438——3113Landon CassillMBM MotorsportsDodge1:21.813100.326——3255Bayley CurreyJP MotorsportsToyota1:23.10798.764——338Dylan MurcottB. J. McLeod MotorsportsChevrolet1:23.46098.347——Qualified by owner's points3452David StarrJimmy Means RacingChevrolet1:24.56297.065——3576Spencer BoydSS-Green Light RacingChevrolet1:25.01996.543——360Garrett SmithleyJD MotorsportsChevrolet1:25.24696.286——3740Chad FinchumMBM MotorsportsDodge1:25.95395.494——3838J. J. YeleyRSS RacingChevrolet1:27.07294.267——3993Jeff GreenRSS RacingChevrolet1:27.10894.228——4078Vinnie MillerB. J. McLeod MotorsportsChevrolet1:28.02293.249——Failed to qualify4197Tanner BerryhillObaika RacingChevrolet————Official qualifying resultsOfficial starting lineup
Race results Stage 1 Laps: 15 Pos.#DriverTeamMakePts121Daniel HemricRichard Childress RacingChevrolet10200Cole CusterStewart-Haas Racing with Biagi-DenBesteFord939Tyler ReddickJR MotorsportsChevrolet8422Austin CindricTeam PenskeFord7542Justin MarksChip Ganassi RacingChevrolet6618Ryan PreeceJoe Gibbs RacingToyota572Matt TifftRichard Childress RacingChevrolet483Brendan GaughanRichard Childress RacingChevrolet397Justin AllgaierJR MotorsportsChevrolet21061Kaz GralaFury Race CarsFord1 Stage 2 Laps: 15 Pos.#DriverTeamMakePts120Christopher BellJoe Gibbs RacingToyota10200Cole CusterStewart-Haas Racing with Biagi-DenBesteFord939Tyler ReddickJR MotorsportsChevrolet8418Ryan PreeceJoe Gibbs RacingToyota751Elliott SadlerJR MotorsportsChevrolet6690Andy LallyDGM RacingChevrolet5761Kaz GralaFury Race CarsFord4823Spencer GallagherGMS RacingChevrolet3998Chase BriscoeStewart-Haas Racing with Biagi-DenBesteFord21001Lawson AschenbachJD MotorsportsChevrolet1 Stage 3 Laps: 20