2018 Bojangles' Southern 500

2018 Bojangles' Southern 500
Race details[1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9]
Race 25 of 36 in the 2018 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series
The 2018 Bojangles' Southern 500 program cover.
The 2018 Bojangles' Southern 500 program cover.
Date September 2, 2018 (2018-09-02)
Location Darlington Raceway in Darlington, South Carolina
Course Permanent racing facility
1.366 mi (2.198 km)
Distance 367 laps, 501.322 mi (806.666 km)
Average speed 131.408 miles per hour (211.481 km/h)
Pole position
Driver
Joe Gibbs Racing
Time 28.332
Most laps led
Driver Kyle Larson Chip Ganassi Racing
Laps 284
Winner
No. 2 Brad Keselowski Team Penske
Television in the United States
Network NBC
Announcers Steve Letarte, Jeff Burton and Dale Earnhardt Jr. (booth)
Rick Allen, Dale Jarrett and Kyle Petty (NBC Peacock Pitbox)
Nielsen Ratings 1.5 (Overnight)[10]
Radio in the United States
Radio MRN
Booth Announcers Joe Moore, Jeff Striegle and Rusty Wallace
Turn Announcers Dave Moody (1 & 2) and Mike Bagley (3 & 4)

The 2018 Bojangles' Southern 500, the 69th running of the event was a Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race held on September 2, 2018, at Darlington Raceway in Darlington, South Carolina. Contested over 367 laps on the 1.366-mile (2.198 km) egg-shaped oval, it was the 25th race of the 2018 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series season. This race marked the final career start for Kasey Kahne.

Report

Background

Layout of Darlington Raceway, the track where the race is held.

Darlington Raceway is a race track built for NASCAR racing located near Darlington, South Carolina. It is nicknamed "The Lady in Black" and "The Track Too Tough to Tame" by many NASCAR fans and drivers and advertised as "A NASCAR Tradition." It is of a unique, somewhat egg-shaped design, an oval with the ends of very different configurations, a condition which supposedly arose from the proximity of one end of the track to a minnow pond the owner refused to relocate. This situation makes it very challenging for the crews to set up their cars' handling in a way that is effective at both ends.

Entry list

No. Driver Team Manufacturer Sponsor or Throwback
00 Landon Cassill (i) StarCom Racing Chevrolet StarCom Fiber – Bobby Allison's 1988 Daytona 500 winning car[11]
1 Jamie McMurray Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet McDonald's – Bill Elliott's 1998 car, scheme dedicated to the 50th anniversary of McDonald's Big Mac[11]
2 Brad Keselowski Team Penske Ford Miller Genuine Draft – Rusty Wallace's 1990 car[11]
3 Austin Dillon Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet American Ethanol E15 – Dale Earnhardt's 1995 Silver Monster Energy NASCAR All-Star Race car[11]
4 Kevin Harvick Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 1996 Busch Beer design[11]
6 Matt Kenseth Roush Fenway Racing Ford Oscar Mayer[11][12]
9 Chase Elliott Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet NAPA Auto Parts – Cousin Casey Elliott's 1993 All Pro Series-inspired car.[11]
10 Aric Almirola Stewart-Haas Racing Ford Smithfield Foods Helping Hungry Homes[11]
11 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota FedEx – Hamlin's first-ever car that he ran in mini stock in 1997 at Langley Speedway and Southside Speedway in Virginia.[11]
12 Ryan Blaney Team Penske Ford Duracell – Father Dave Blaney's 2003 car[11]
13 Ty Dillon Germain Racing Chevrolet GEICO – 2009–2011 team car[11]
14 Clint Bowyer Stewart-Haas Racing Ford Ned Jarrett's 1965 Southern 500 winning car[11]
15 Ross Chastain (i) Premium Motorsports Chevrolet None
17 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Roush Fenway Racing Ford John Deere – Chad Little's 1997–2000 car[11]
18 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota Skittles – Derrike Cope & Ernie Irvan's 1997–1998 car[11]
19 Daniel Suárez Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota Arris
20 Erik Jones Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota Sport Clips – Rick Carelli Camping World Truck Series inspired car[11]
21 Paul Menard Wood Brothers Racing Ford Ford Motorcraft/Quick Lane Tire & Auto Center – Cale Yarborough's 1968 Southern 500 winning car[11]
22 Joey Logano Team Penske Ford Pennzoil – Steve Park's 1998 – 2002 car[11]
23 Joey Gase (i) BK Racing Toyota Sparks Energy – Scheme duplicates his father Bob Gase, had when he won the 2003 championship in his modified at Hawkeye Downs Speedway.[11]
24 William Byron (R) Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet Axalta Coating Systems – Jeff Gordon's iconic 1993–2000 “Rainbow Warriors” car[11]
31 Ryan Newman Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet Caterpillar Inc. – Neil Bonnett's 1993 car[11]
32 Matt DiBenedetto Go Fas Racing Ford Keen Parts/CorvetteParts.net – Jeff Burton's 2000 car[11]
34 Michael McDowell Front Row Motorsports Ford Love's Travel Stops & Country Stores – Scheme pays tribute to Love's first travel stop in Amarillo, Texas in 1981.[11]
37 Chris Buescher JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet Scheme dedicated to the 110th anniversary of Bush's Best Beans.[11]
38 David Ragan Front Row Motorsports Ford Citgo – Dale Jarrett's 1991 Champion Spark Plug 400 winning car, which was his first cup win.[11]
41 Kurt Busch Stewart-Haas Racing Ford Haas Automation – Busch's 2003 Carolina Dodge Dealers 400 car, where he was part of one of the closest finishes in NASCAR history at Darlington Raceway.[11]
42 Kyle Larson Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet DC Solar – Davey Allison inspired car[11]
43 Darrell Wallace Jr. (R) Richard Petty Motorsports Chevrolet STP – Richard Petty's 1972 car with STP day glo red[11]
47 A. J. Allmendinger JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet Kroger – Robert Pressley's 1998 NASCAR Busch Series car[11]
48 Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet Lowe's/Kobalt (tools) – Johnson's 2012 Bojangles' Southern 500 winning car[11]
51 B. J. McLeod (i) Rick Ware Racing Chevrolet Jacob Companies – Days of Thunder antagonist Russ Wheeler's Hardee's-themed replica car
52 J. J. Yeley (i) Rick Ware Racing Chevrolet Trading View
66 Timmy Hill (i) MBM Motorsports Toyota Rewards.com – Darrell Waltrip's 2000 car.[11]
72 Corey LaJoie TriStar Motorsports Chevrolet Blockchain Terminal – Father Randy LaJoie's 1996–1998 NASCAR Busch Series car[11]
78 Martin Truex Jr. Furniture Row Racing Toyota Bass Pro Shops/5-hour Energy
88 Alex Bowman Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet LLumar[11]
95 Kasey Kahne Leavine Family Racing Chevrolet Dumont Jets – Kahne's 2006 car[11]
96 Jeffrey Earnhardt Gaunt Brothers Racing Toyota Xtreme Concepts/Project K9 Hero/Nine Line Apparel – Grandfather Dale Earnhardt's 1978 car[11]
99 Derrike Cope StarCom Racing Chevrolet Bojangles' Famous Chicken 'n Biscuits – Cope's 1993 car[11]
Official entry list

Practice

First practice

Denny Hamlin was the fastest in the first practice session with a time of 28.543 seconds and a speed of 172.287 mph (277.269 km/h).[13]

Pos No. Driver Team Manufacturer Time Speed
1 11 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 28.543 172.287
2 42 Kyle Larson Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 28.585 172.034
3 2 Brad Keselowski Team Penske Ford 28.591 171.998
Official first practice results

Final practice

Ryan Newman was the fastest in the final practice session with a time of 28.641 seconds and a speed of 171.698 mph (276.321 km/h).[14]

Pos No. Driver Team Manufacturer Time Speed
1 31 Ryan Newman Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 28.641 171.698
2 9 Chase Elliott Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 28.672 171.512
3 48 Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 28.754 171.023
Official final practice results

Qualifying

Denny Hamlin scored the pole position.

Denny Hamlin scored the pole for the race with a time of 28.332 and a speed of 173.571 mph (279.335 km/h).[15]

Qualifying results

Pos No. Driver Team Manufacturer R1 R2 R3
1 11 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 28.207 28.266 28.332
2 42 Kyle Larson Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 27.908 28.217 28.358
3 78 Martin Truex Jr. Furniture Row Racing Toyota 28.381 28.376 28.392
4 88 Alex Bowman Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 28.006 28.161 28.400
5 18 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 28.255 28.314 28.415
6 31 Ryan Newman Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 28.215 28.313 28.453
7 20 Erik Jones Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 28.422 28.344 28.506
8 22 Joey Logano Team Penske Ford 28.219 28.347 28.507
9 41 Kurt Busch Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 28.191 28.411 28.535
10 24 William Byron (R) Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 27.997 28.390 28.550
11 9 Chase Elliott Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 28.116 28.236 28.694
12 10 Aric Almirola Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 28.405 28.420 28.922
13 2 Brad Keselowski Team Penske Ford 28.360 28.460 —
14 21 Paul Menard Wood Brothers Racing Ford 28.250 28.505 —
15 6 Matt Kenseth Roush Fenway Racing Ford 28.299 28.512 —
16 19 Daniel Suárez Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 28.375 28.523 —
17 14 Clint Bowyer Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 28.356 28.547 —
18 3 Austin Dillon Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 28.421 28.585 —
19 37 Chris Buescher JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet 28.433 28.621 —
20 48 Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 28.180 28.635 —
21 12 Ryan Blaney Team Penske Ford 28.217 28.663 —
22 4 Kevin Harvick Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 28.279 28.667 —
23 38 David Ragan Front Row Motorsports Ford 28.365 28.810 —
24 47 A. J. Allmendinger JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet 28.371 28.830 —
25 17 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Roush Fenway Racing Ford 28.439 — —
26 34 Michael McDowell Front Row Motorsports Ford 28.445 — —
27 43 Darrell Wallace Jr. (R) Richard Petty Motorsports Chevrolet 28.489 — —
28 13 Ty Dillon Germain Racing Chevrolet 28.542 — —
29 95 Kasey Kahne Leavine Family Racing Chevrolet 28.585 — —
30 32 Matt DiBenedetto Go Fas Racing Ford 28.622 — —
31 1 Jamie McMurray Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 28.819 — —
32 52 J. J. Yeley (i) Rick Ware Racing Chevrolet 28.854 — —
33 15 Ross Chastain (i) Premium Motorsports Chevrolet 28.928 — —
34 72 Corey LaJoie TriStar Motorsports Chevrolet 29.091 — —
35 00 Landon Cassill (i) StarCom Racing Chevrolet 29.330 — —
36 66 Timmy Hill (i) MBM Motorsports Toyota 30.018 — —
37 51 B. J. McLeod (i) Rick Ware Racing Chevrolet 30.038 — —
38 99 Derrike Cope StarCom Racing Chevrolet 30.662 — —
39 23 Joey Gase (i) BK Racing Toyota 31.781 — —
40 96 Jeffrey Earnhardt Gaunt Brothers Racing Toyota 0.000 — —
Official qualifying results

Race

Brad Keselowski won the race.

Stage Results

Stage 1 Laps: 100

Pos No Driver Team Manufacturer Points
1 42 Kyle Larson Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 10
2 20 Erik Jones Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 9
3 78 Martin Truex Jr. Furniture Row Racing Toyota 8
4 22 Joey Logano Team Penske Ford 7
5 2 Brad Keselowski Team Penske Ford 6
6 4 Kevin Harvick Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 5
7 11 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 4
8 41 Kurt Busch Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 3
9 18 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 2
10 9 Chase Elliott Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 1
Official stage one results

Stage 2 Laps: 100

Pos No Driver Team Manufacturer Points
1 42 Kyle Larson Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 10
2 2 Brad Keselowski Team Penske Ford 9
3 22 Joey Logano Team Penske Ford 8
4 9 Chase Elliott Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 7
5 20 Erik Jones Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 6
6 41 Kurt Busch Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 5
7 31 Ryan Newman Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 4
8 18 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 3
9 1 Jamie McMurray Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 2
10 4 Kevin Harvick Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 1
Official stage two results

Final Stage Results

Stage 3 Laps: 167

Pos Grid No Driver Team Manufacturer Laps Points
1 13 2 Brad Keselowski Team Penske Ford 367 55
2 8 22 Joey Logano Team Penske Ford 367 50
3 2 42 Kyle Larson Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 367 54
4 22 4 Kevin Harvick Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 367 39
5 11 9 Chase Elliott Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 367 40
6 9 41 Kurt Busch Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 367 39
7 5 18 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 367 35
8 7 20 Erik Jones Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 367 44
9 31 1 Jamie McMurray Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 367 30
10 1 11 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 367 31
11 3 78 Martin Truex Jr. Furniture Row Racing Toyota 367 34
12 25 17 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Roush Fenway Racing Ford 367 25
13 19 37 Chris Buescher JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet 367 24
14 12 10 Aric Almirola Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 367 23
15 21 12 Ryan Blaney Team Penske Ford 367 22
16 18 3 Austin Dillon Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 367 21
17 14 21 Paul Menard Wood Brothers Racing Ford 366 20
18 23 38 David Ragan Front Row Motorsports Ford 366 19
19 6 31 Ryan Newman Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 366 22
20 26 34 Michael McDowell Front Row Motorsports Ford 365 17
21 28 13 Ty Dillon Germain Racing Chevrolet 365 16
22 24 47 A. J. Allmendinger JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet 365 15
23 4 88 Alex Bowman Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 365 14
24 29 95 Kasey Kahne Leavine Family Racing Chevrolet 364 13
25 15 6 Matt Kenseth Roush Fenway Racing Ford 364 12
26 27 43 Darrell Wallace Jr. (R) Richard Petty Motorsports Chevrolet 363 11
27 34 72 Corey LaJoie TriStar Motorsports Chevrolet 360 10
28 33 15 Ross Chastain (i) Premium Motorsports Chevrolet 360 0
29 16 19 Daniel Suárez Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 358 8
30 35 00 Landon Cassill (i) StarCom Racing Chevrolet 357 0
31 32 52 J. J. Yeley (i) Rick Ware Racing Chevrolet 350 0
32 37 51 B. J. McLeod (i) Rick Ware Racing Chevrolet 347 0
33 38 99 Derrike Cope StarCom Racing Chevrolet 346 4
34 40 96 Jeffrey Earnhardt Gaunt Brothers Racing Toyota 344 3
35 10 24 William Byron (R) Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 329 2
36 17 14 Clint Bowyer Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 309 1
37 36 66 Timmy Hill (i) MBM Motorsports Toyota 268 0
38 30 32 Matt DiBenedetto Go Fas Racing Ford 254 1
39 20 48 Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 227 1
40 39 23 Joey Gase (i) BK Racing Toyota 120 0
Official race results

Race statistics

  • Lead changes: 5 among different drivers
  • Cautions/Laps: 6 for 35
  • Red flags: 0
  • Time of race: 3 hours, 48 minutes and 54 seconds
  • Average speed: 131.408 miles per hour (211.481 km/h)

Media

Television

NBC Sports covered the race on the television side. Steve Letarte, two–time Darlington winner Jeff Burton and Dale Earnhardt Jr. had the call in the booth for the race. Rick Allen, three-time Darlington winner Dale Jarrett and Kyle Petty called from the NBC Peacock Pit Box on pit road. Jarrett and Petty also join Earnhardt in the booth for a portion of the race. Dave Burns, Parker Kligerman, Marty Snider and Kelli Stavast reported from pit lane during the race.

NBCSN
Booth announcers Pit reporters
Lap-by-lap: Steve Letarte
Color-commentator: Jeff Burton
Color-commentator: Dale Earnhardt Jr.
NBC Peacock Pitbox: Rick Allen
NBC Peacock Pitbox: Dale Jarrett
NBC Peacock Pitbox: Kyle Petty		 Dave Burns
Parker Kligerman
Marty Snider
Kelli Stavast

Radio

The Motor Racing Network had the radio call for the race, which was simulcast on Sirius XM NASCAR Radio. Dave Moody called the race from a Billboard outside of turn when the field raced through turns 1 and 2, and Mike Bagley had the call of the race atop of the Darlington Raceway Club outside of turn 3 when the field raced through turns 3 and 4

MRN
Booth announcers Turn announcers Pit reporters
Lead announcer: Joe Moore
Announcer: Jeff Striegle
Announcer: Rusty Wallace		 Turns 1 & 2: Dave Moody
Turns 3 & 4: Mike Bagley		 Alex Hayden
Winston Kelley
Steve Post

Standings after the race

References

  1. ^ "2018 schedule". Jayski.com. Jayski's Silly Season Site. May 5, 2017. Archived from the original on December 24, 2017. Retrieved July 22, 2018.
  2. ^ "Darlington Raceway". NASCAR.com. NASCAR Media Group, LLC. January 3, 2013. Archived from the original on April 30, 2017. Retrieved July 22, 2018.
  3. ^ "Entry List". MRN.com. Motor Racing Network. August 27, 2018. Retrieved August 27, 2018.
  4. ^ "First Practice Results". MRN.com. Motor Racing Network. August 31, 2018. Retrieved August 31, 2018.
  5. ^ "Final Practice Results". MRN.com. Motor Racing Network. August 31, 2018. Retrieved August 31, 2018.
  6. ^ "Starting Lineup". MRN.com. Motor Racing Network. September 1, 2018. Retrieved September 1, 2018.
  7. ^ "Bojangles' Southern 500 Results". MRN.com. Motor Racing Network. September 2, 2018. Retrieved September 2, 2018.
  8. ^ "Points standings" (PDF). Jayski.com. Jayski's Silly Season Site. September 3, 2018. Archived from the original (PDF) on January 29, 2019. Retrieved September 3, 2018.
  9. ^ "Manufacturer standings" (PDF). Jayski.com. Jayski's Silly Season Site. September 3, 2018. Archived from the original (PDF) on January 29, 2019. Retrieved September 3, 2018.
  10. ^ "Darlington final TV ratings". Jayski's Silly Season Site. ESPN. 6 September 2018. Retrieved 4 October 2018.
  11. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab ac ad ae af ag ah ai McFadin, Daniel (September 2, 2018). "Retro Rundown 2018: Southern 500 paint schemes". NASCARTalk.com. NBC Sports. Retrieved September 2, 2018.
  12. ^ McFadin, Daniel (August 21, 2018). "Oscar Mayer to sponsor Matt Kenseth in Southern 500". NASCARTalk.com. NBC Sports. Retrieved August 21, 2018.
  13. ^ Utter, Jim (August 31, 2018). "Defending winner Denny Hamlin fastest in first Darlington practice". Motorsport.com. Darlington, South Carolina: Motorsport Network. Retrieved August 31, 2018.
  14. ^ Utter, Jim (August 31, 2018). "Ryan Newman tops Chase Elliott in final Darlington practice". Motorsport.com. Darlington, South Carolina: Motorsport Network. Retrieved August 31, 2018.
  15. ^ Iacobelli, Pete (September 1, 2018). "Bojangles' Southern 500". Associated Press. Darlington, South Carolina: AP Sports. Associated Press. Archived from the original on September 2, 2018. Retrieved September 1, 2018.


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