The 2018 O'Reilly Auto Parts Challenge was the 31st stock car race of the 2018 NASCAR Xfinity Series season, the second race in the Round of 12, and the 18th iteration of the event. The race was held on Saturday, November 3, 2018, in Fort Worth, Texas at Texas Motor Speedway, a 1.5 miles (2.4 km) permanent tri-oval shaped racetrack. The race took the scheduled 200 laps to complete. A wild finish would see Cole Custer of Stewart-Haas Racing with Biagi-DenBeste best JR Motorsports driver Tyler Reddick with a last-lap pass on the backstretch to win his second career NASCAR Xfinity Series race, his first and only win of the season, and a guaranteed spot in the Championship 4. To fill out the podium, Austin Cindric of Team Penske would finish third.
Background
Texas Motor Speedway is a speedway located in the northernmost portion of the U.S. city of Fort Worth, Texas – the portion located in Denton County, Texas. The track measures 1.5 miles (2.4 km) around and is banked 24 degrees in the turns, and is of the oval design, where the front straightaway juts outward slightly. The track layout is similar to Atlanta Motor Speedway and Charlotte Motor Speedway (formerly Lowe's Motor Speedway). The track is owned by Speedway Motorsports, Inc., the same company that owns Atlanta and Charlotte Motor Speedway, as well as the short-track Bristol Motor Speedway.
Entry list #DriverTeamMakeSponsor0Garrett SmithleyJD MotorsportsChevroletTrophy Tractor, Equipment World00Cole CusterStewart-Haas Racing with Biagi-DenBesteFordAutodesk1Elliott SadlerJR MotorsportsChevroletOneMain Financial "Lending Done Human"01B. J. McLeodJD MotorsportsChevroletJD Motorsports2Matt TifftRichard Childress RacingChevroletAnderson's Maple Syrup, Albertsons3Shane LeeRichard Childress RacingChevroletChildress Vineyards4Ross ChastainJD MotorsportsChevroletFlex Seal5Michael AnnettJR MotorsportsChevroletPilot Flying J7Justin AllgaierJR MotorsportsChevroletSuave Men8Ray Black Jr.B. J. McLeod MotorsportsChevroletIsokern Fireplaces & Chimmeys9Tyler ReddickJR MotorsportsChevroletBurgerFi11Ryan TruexKaulig RacingChevroletLeafFilter Gutter Protection13Timmy HillMBM MotorsportsToyotaMBM Motorsports15Quin HouffJD MotorsportsChevroletJD Motorsports16Ryan ReedRoush Fenway RacingFordDriveDownA1C.com18Ryan PreeceJoe Gibbs RacingToyotaJohns Manville19Brandon JonesJoe Gibbs RacingToyotaInterstate Batteries20Christopher BellJoe Gibbs RacingToyotaGameStop, NBA 2K1921Daniel HemricRichard Childress RacingChevroletSouth Point Hotel, Casino & Spa22Austin CindricTeam PenskeFordDiscount Tire23Spencer GallagherGMS RacingChevroletAllegiant Air35Joey GaseGo Green Racing with SS-Green Light RacingChevroletDonate Life Texas, Louisiana Organ Procurement Agency36Alex LabbéDGM RacingChevroletAlpha Prime Regimen38J. J. YeleyRSS RacingChevroletRagingWire Data Centers39Ryan SiegRSS RacingChevroletEast Texas Baptist University40Chad FinchumMBM MotorsportsToyotaSmithbilt Homes42John Hunter NemechekChip Ganassi RacingChevroletRomco Equipment Co.45Josh Bilicki*JP MotorsportsToyotaPrevagen51Jeremy ClementsJeremy Clements RacingChevroletRepairableVehicles.com52David StarrJimmy Means RacingChevroletWhataburger55Bayley Currey*JP MotorsportsToyotaTouched by Pros, Rollin Smoke Barbecue60Ty MajeskiRoush Fenway RacingFordFord66Bobby Dale EarnhardtMBM MotorsportsToyotaHABCO Material Handling Specialists, Copeland Insurance Agency74Mike HarmonMike Harmon RacingDodgeShadow Warriors Project, The Journey Home Project76Spencer BoydSS-Green Light RacingChevroletGrunt Style "This We'll Defend"78Vinnie MillerB. J. McLeod MotorsportsChevroletCorvetteParts.net89Morgan ShepherdShepherd Racing VenturesChevroletVisone RV Motorhome Parts, Racing with Jesus90Brandon BrownBrandonbilt MotorsportsChevroletCoalition to Salute America's Heroes93Jeff GreenRSS RacingChevroletRSS Racing99Stephen LeichtB. J. McLeod MotorsportsChevroletB. J. McLeod MotorsportsOfficial entry list *Bilicki would wreck during pre-race activities, and as JP Motorsports had no backup cars, they would withdraw the #55 entry, and move Currey to the #45 entry.
Practice
First practice The first practice session was held on Friday, November 2, at 2:05 PM CST, and would last for 45 minutes. Ryan Truex of Kaulig Racing would set the fastest time in the session, with a lap of 28.852 and an average speed of . Pos.#DriverTeamMakeTimeSpeed111Ryan TruexKaulig RacingChevrolet28.852187.162221Daniel HemricRichard Childress RacingChevrolet28.903186.83231Elliott SadlerJR MotorsportsChevrolet28.942186.580Full first practice results
Second and final practice The second and final practice session, sometimes referred to as Happy Hour, was held on Friday, November 2, at 4:35 PM CST, and would last for 50 minutes. Ryan Truex of Kaulig Racing would set the fastest time in the session, with a lap of 28.757 and an average speed of . Pos.#DriverTeamMakeTimeSpeed111Ryan TruexKaulig RacingChevrolet28.757187.780219Brandon JonesJoe Gibbs RacingToyota28.771187.68933Shane LeeRichard Childress RacingChevrolet28.773187.676Full Happy Hour practice results
Qualifying Qualifying was held on Saturday, November 3, at 12:40 PM CST. Since Texas Motor Speedway is under 2 miles (3.2 km), 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.
Christopher Bell of Joe Gibbs Racing would win the pole after advancing from both preliminary rounds and setting the fastest lap in Round 3, with a time of 28.523 and an average speed of .
No drivers would fail to qualify.
Full qualifying results Pos.#DriverTeamMakeTime (R1)Speed (R1)Time (R2)Speed (R2)Time (R3)Speed (R3)120Christopher BellJoe Gibbs RacingToyota28.824187.34428.527189.29428.523189.32123Shane LeeRichard Childress RacingChevrolet28.786187.59128.660188.41628.563189.056300Cole CusterStewart-Haas Racing with Biagi-DenBesteFord29.061185.81628.653188.46228.608188.75849Tyler ReddickJR MotorsportsChevrolet29.011186.13628.707188.10728.649188.48857Justin AllgaierJR MotorsportsChevrolet29.219184.81128.657188.43628.670188.350618Ryan PreeceJoe Gibbs RacingToyota28.696188.18028.584188.91728.686188.24572Matt TifftRichard Childress RacingChevrolet28.953186.50928.821187.36328.722188.009822Austin CindricTeam PenskeFord28.941186.58728.657188.43628.741187.885921Daniel HemricRichard Childress RacingChevrolet28.688188.23228.552189.12928.752187.8131042John Hunter NemechekChip Ganassi RacingChevrolet28.950186.52828.689188.22528.882186.9681111Ryan TruexKaulig RacingChevrolet28.990186.27128.765187.72828.883186.9611223Spencer GallagherGMS RacingChevrolet29.251184.60928.821187.36328.936186.619Eliminated in Round 1131Elliott SadlerJR MotorsportsChevrolet28.889186.92228.873187.026——1419Brandon JonesJoe Gibbs RacingToyota29.141185.30628.921186.716——1516Ryan ReedRoush Fenway RacingFord29.178185.07128.930186.657——165Michael AnnettJR MotorsportsChevrolet29.260184.55228.942186.580——1739Ryan SiegRSS RacingChevrolet29.416183.57429.422183.536——1851Jeremy ClementsJeremy Clements RacingChevrolet29.400183.67329.497183.069——1940Chad FinchumMBM MotorsportsToyota29.676181.96529.543182.784——2036Alex LabbéDGM RacingChevrolet29.695181.84929.603182.414——2190Brandon BrownBrandonbilt MotorsportsChevrolet29.719181.70229.852180.892——2238J. J. YeleyRSS RacingChevrolet29.545182.77230.381177.743——234Ross ChastainJD MotorsportsChevrolet29.242184.666————240Garrett SmithleyJD MotorsportsChevrolet29.894180.638————Eliminated in Round 22501B. J. McLeodJD MotorsportsChevrolet29.936180.385————2615Quin HouffJD MotorsportsChevrolet29.941180.355————2713Timmy HillMBM MotorsportsToyota29.992180.048————2899Stephen LeichtB. J. McLeod MotorsportsChevrolet30.150179.104————298Ray Black Jr.B. J. McLeod MotorsportsChevrolet30.297178.235————3035Joey GaseGo Green Racing with SS-Green Light RacingChevrolet30.306178.183————3193Jeff GreenRSS RacingChevrolet30.342177.971————3252David StarrJimmy Means RacingChevrolet30.483177.148————3376Spencer BoydSS-Green Light RacingChevrolet30.560176.702————Qualified by owner's points3445Bayley CurreyJP MotorsportsToyota30.659176.131————3566Bobby Dale EarnhardtMBM MotorsportsToyota30.690175.953————3678Vinnie MillerB. J. McLeod MotorsportsChevrolet30.730175.724————3774Mike HarmonMike Harmon RacingChevrolet31.109173.583————3860Ty MajeskiRoush Fenway RacingFord——————3989Morgan ShepherdShepherd Racing VenturesChevrolet——————WithdrewWD55Bayley CurreyJP MotorsportsToyota——————Official qualifying resultsOfficial starting lineup
Race results Stage 1 Laps: 45 Pos.#DriverTeamMakePts121Daniel HemricRichard Childress RacingChevrolet10200Cole CusterStewart-Haas Racing with Biagi-DenBesteFord939Tyler ReddickJR MotorsportsChevrolet8420Christopher BellJoe Gibbs RacingToyota751Elliott SadlerJR MotorsportsChevrolet662Matt TifftRichard Childress RacingChevrolet577Justin AllgaierJR MotorsportsChevrolet4818Ryan PreeceJoe Gibbs RacingToyota3942John Hunter NemechekChip Ganassi RacingChevrolet21019Brandon JonesJoe Gibbs RacingToyota1 Stage 2 Laps: 45 Pos.#DriverTeamMakePts100Cole CusterStewart-Haas Racing with Biagi-DenBesteFord1027Justin AllgaierJR MotorsportsChevrolet9318Ryan PreeceJoe Gibbs RacingToyota849Tyler ReddickJR MotorsportsChevrolet7520Christopher BellJoe Gibbs RacingToyota661Elliott SadlerJR MotorsportsChevrolet572Matt TifftRichard Childress RacingChevrolet4821Daniel HemricRichard Childress RacingChevrolet3951Jeremy ClementsJeremy Clements RacingChevrolet21019Brandon JonesJoe Gibbs RacingToyota1 Stage 3 Laps: 110