2018 Quaker State 400

The 2018 Quaker State 400 presented by Walmart is a Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race held on July 14, 2018, at Kentucky Speedway in Sparta, Kentucky. Contested over 267 laps on the 1.5-mile (2.4 km) speedway, it was the 19th race of the 2018 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series season.

2018 Quaker State 400

Race details[1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9]
Race 19 of 36 in the 2018 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series
Layout of Kentucky Speedway
Date	July 14, 2018 (2018-07-14)
Location	Kentucky Speedway in Sparta, Kentucky
Course	Permanent racing facility
Course length	1.5 miles (2.4 km)
Distance	267 laps, 400.5 mi (640.8 km)
Average speed	150.454 miles per hour (242.132 km/h)
Pole position
Driver	Martin Truex Jr.	Furniture Row Racing
Time	28.588
Most laps led
Driver	Martin Truex Jr.	Furniture Row Racing
Laps	174
Winner
No. 78	Martin Truex Jr.	Furniture Row Racing
Television in the United States
Network	NBCSN
Announcers	Rick Allen, Jeff Burton, Steve Letarte and Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Nielsen ratings	1.3/1.33 (Overnight)[10]
Radio in the United States
Radio	PRN
Booth announcers	Doug Rice and Mark Garrow
Turn announcers	Rob Albright (1 & 2) and Pat Patterson (3 & 4)

Report

Background

The sixth running of the Quaker State 400 was held in Sparta, Kentucky at Kentucky Speedway on July 9, 2016. The track is a 1.5-mile (2.4 km) tri-oval speedway owned by Speedway Motorsports, Inc. Kentucky Speedway, which has also hosted the ARCA Racing Series, NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, NASCAR Xfinity Series, and the Indy Racing League, has a grandstand seating capacity of 107,000.

Entry list

No.	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
7	Jesse Little (i)	Premium Motorsports	Chevrolet
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	J. J. Yeley (i)	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	Darrell Wallace Jr. (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
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	Chevrolet
99	Garrett Smithley (i)	StarCom Racing	Chevrolet
Official entry list

Practice

First practice

Kyle Larson was the fastest in the first practice session with a time of 29.053 seconds and a speed of 185.867 mph (299.124 km/h).^[11]

Pos	No.	Driver	Team	Manufacturer	Time	Speed
1	42	Kyle Larson	Chip Ganassi Racing	Chevrolet	29.053	185.867
2	12	Ryan Blaney	Team Penske	Ford	29.244	184.653
3	22	Joey Logano	Team Penske	Ford	29.300	184.300
Official first practice results

Final practice

Erik Jones was the fastest in the final practice session with a time of 28.762 seconds and a speed of 187.748 mph (302.151 km/h).^[12]

Pos	No.	Driver	Team	Manufacturer	Time	Speed
1	20	Erik Jones	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	28.762	187.748
2	12	Ryan Blaney	Team Penske	Ford	28.829	187.311
3	18	Kyle Busch	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	28.954	186.503
Official final practice results

Qualifying

Martin Truex Jr. scored the pole for the race with a time of 28.588 and a speed of 188.890 mph (303.989 km/h).^[13]

Qualifying results

Pos	No.	Driver	Team	Manufacturer	R1	R2	R3
1	78	Martin Truex Jr.	Furniture Row Racing	Toyota	28.927	28.575	28.588
2	20	Erik Jones	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	28.773	28.763	28.611
3	4	Kevin Harvick	Stewart-Haas Racing	Ford	28.745	28.791	28.640
4	2	Brad Keselowski	Team Penske	Ford	28.851	28.757	28.664
5	18	Kyle Busch	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	28.884	28.662	28.692
6	21	Paul Menard	Wood Brothers Racing	Ford	28.878	28.813	28.705
7	12	Ryan Blaney	Team Penske	Ford	28.911	28.798	28.732
8	14	Clint Bowyer	Stewart-Haas Racing	Ford	28.902	28.769	28.770
9	41	Kurt Busch	Stewart-Haas Racing	Ford	29.018	28.780	28.780
10	31	Ryan Newman	Richard Childress Racing	Chevrolet	28.906	28.767	28.866
11	19	Daniel Suárez	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	28.898	28.831	28.877
12	10	Aric Almirola	Stewart-Haas Racing	Ford	28.937	28.707	28.895
13	3	Austin Dillon	Richard Childress Racing	Chevrolet	28.783	28.851	—
14	17	Ricky Stenhouse Jr.	Roush Fenway Racing	Ford	29.143	28.866	—
15	88	Alex Bowman	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	28.977	28.935	—
16	9	Chase Elliott	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	29.074	28.947	—
17	6	Matt Kenseth	Roush Fenway Racing	Ford	29.222	28.951	—
18	42	Kyle Larson	Chip Ganassi Racing	Chevrolet	29.152	28.979	—
19	22	Joey Logano	Team Penske	Ford	29.205	28.981	—
20	37	Chris Buescher	JTG Daugherty Racing	Chevrolet	29.036	29.004	—
21	24	William Byron (R)	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	29.121	29.010	—
22	1	Jamie McMurray	Chip Ganassi Racing	Chevrolet	29.135	29.050	—
23	34	Michael McDowell	Front Row Motorsports	Ford	29.175	29.116	—
24	38	David Ragan	Front Row Motorsports	Ford	29.235	29.234	—
25	43	Darrell Wallace Jr. (R)	Richard Petty Motorsports	Chevrolet	29.263	—	—
26	47	A. J. Allmendinger	JTG Daugherty Racing	Chevrolet	29.271	—	—
27	48	Jimmie Johnson	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	29.281	—	—
28	13	Ty Dillon	Germain Racing	Chevrolet	29.533	—	—
29	95	Kasey Kahne	Leavine Family Racing	Chevrolet	29.582	—	—
30	15	Ross Chastain (i)	Premium Motorsports	Chevrolet	29.805	—	—
31	72	Corey LaJoie	TriStar Motorsports	Chevrolet	29.936	—	—
32	23	J. J. Yeley (i)	BK Racing	Toyota	30.022	—	—
33	00	Landon Cassill	StarCom Racing	Chevrolet	30.150	—	—
34	51	B. J. McLeod (i)	Rick Ware Racing	Chevrolet	30.357	—	—
35	99	Garrett Smithley (i)	StarCom Racing	Chevrolet	30.649	—	—
36	11	Denny Hamlin	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	0.000	—	—
37	32	Matt DiBenedetto	Go Fas Racing	Ford	0.000	—	—
38	7	Jesse Little (i)	Premium Motorsports	Chevrolet	0.000	—	—
39	66	Timmy Hill (i)	MBM Motorsports	Toyota	0.000	—	—
Official qualifying results

Race

Martin Truex Jr. swept all three stages and won the race from the pole position.

Stage Results

Stage 1 Laps: 80

Pos	No	Driver	Team	Manufacturer	Points
1	78	Martin Truex Jr.	Furniture Row Racing	Toyota	10
2	4	Kevin Harvick	Stewart-Haas Racing	Ford	9
3	18	Kyle Busch	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	8
4	12	Ryan Blaney	Team Penske	Ford	7
5	21	Paul Menard	Wood Brothers Racing	Ford	6
6	14	Clint Bowyer	Stewart-Haas Racing	Ford	5
7	19	Daniel Suárez	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	4
8	42	Kyle Larson	Chip Ganassi Racing	Chevrolet	3
9	10	Aric Almirola	Stewart-Haas Racing	Ford	2
10	9	Chase Elliott	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	1
Official stage one results

Stage 2 Laps: 80

Pos	No	Driver	Team	Manufacturer	Points
1	78	Martin Truex Jr.	Furniture Row Racing	Toyota	10
2	18	Kyle Busch	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	9
3	12	Ryan Blaney	Team Penske	Ford	8
4	4	Kevin Harvick	Stewart-Haas Racing	Ford	7
5	42	Kyle Larson	Chip Ganassi Racing	Chevrolet	6
6	14	Clint Bowyer	Stewart-Haas Racing	Ford	5
7	41	Kurt Busch	Stewart-Haas Racing	Ford	4
8	22	Joey Logano	Team Penske	Ford	3
9	20	Erik Jones	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	2
10	21	Paul Menard	Wood Brothers Racing	Ford	1
Official stage two results

Final Stage Results

Stage 3 Laps: 107

Pos	Grid	No	Driver	Team	Manufacturer	Laps	Points
1	1	78	Martin Truex Jr.	Furniture Row Racing	Toyota	267	60
2	7	12	Ryan Blaney	Team Penske	Ford	267	50
3	4	2	Brad Keselowski	Team Penske	Ford	267	34
4	5	18	Kyle Busch	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	267	50
5	3	4	Kevin Harvick	Stewart-Haas Racing	Ford	267	48
6	9	41	Kurt Busch	Stewart-Haas Racing	Ford	267	35
7	2	20	Erik Jones	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	267	32
8	12	10	Aric Almirola	Stewart-Haas Racing	Ford	267	31
9	18	42	Kyle Larson	Chip Ganassi Racing	Chevrolet	267	37
10	19	22	Joey Logano	Team Penske	Ford	267	30
11	6	21	Paul Menard	Wood Brothers Racing	Ford	267	33
12	8	14	Clint Bowyer	Stewart-Haas Racing	Ford	267	35
13	16	9	Chase Elliott	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	267	25
14	27	48	Jimmie Johnson	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	267	23
15	11	19	Daniel Suárez	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	267	26
16	36	11	Denny Hamlin	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	267	21
17	22	1	Jamie McMurray	Chip Ganassi Racing	Chevrolet	267	20
18	24	38	David Ragan	Front Row Motorsports	Ford	267	19
19	17	6	Matt Kenseth	Roush Fenway Racing	Ford	267	18
20	21	24	William Byron (R)	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	267	17
21	10	31	Ryan Newman	Richard Childress Racing	Chevrolet	267	16
22	13	3	Austin Dillon	Richard Childress Racing	Chevrolet	266	15
23	20	37	Chris Buescher	JTG Daugherty Racing	Chevrolet	266	14
24	23	34	Michael McDowell	Front Row Motorsports	Ford	266	13
25	29	95	Kasey Kahne	Leavine Family Racing	Chevrolet	266	12
26	14	17	Ricky Stenhouse Jr.	Roush Fenway Racing	Ford	266	11
27	25	43	Darrell Wallace Jr. (R)	Richard Petty Motorsports	Chevrolet	264	10
28	30	15	Ross Chastain (i)	Premium Motorsports	Chevrolet	263	0
29	28	13	Ty Dillon	Germain Racing	Chevrolet	263	8
30	26	47	A. J. Allmendinger	JTG Daugherty Racing	Chevrolet	262	7
31	31	72	Corey LaJoie	TriStar Motorsports	Chevrolet	260	6
32	34	51	B. J. McLeod (i)	Rick Ware Racing	Chevrolet	256	0
33	33	00	Landon Cassill	StarCom Racing	Chevrolet	256	4
34	39	66	Timmy Hill (i)	MBM Motorsports	Toyota	254	0
35	38	7	Jesse Little (i)	Premium Motorsports	Chevrolet	253	0
36	35	99	Garrett Smithley (i)	StarCom Racing	Chevrolet	251	0
37	37	32	Matt DiBenedetto	Go Fas Racing	Ford	200	1
38	32	23	J. J. Yeley (i)	BK Racing	Toyota	199	0
39	15	88	Alex Bowman	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	108	1
Official race results

Race statistics

• Lead changes: 7 among different drivers
• Cautions/Laps: 4 for 22
• Red flags: 0
• Time of race: 2 hours, 39 minutes and 43 seconds
• Average speed: 150.454 miles per hour (242.132 km/h)

Media

Television

NBC Sports covered the race on the television side. Rick Allen, Jeff Burton, Steve Letarte and Dale Earnhardt Jr. had the call in the booth for 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: Rick Allen Color-commentator: Jeff Burton Color-commentator: Steve Letarte Color-commentator: Dale Earnhardt Jr.	Dave Burns Parker Kligerman Marty Snider Kelli Stavast

Radio

PRN had the radio call for the race, which was simulcast on Sirius XM NASCAR Radio.

PRN
Booth announcers	Turn announcers	Pit reporters
Lead announcer: Doug Rice Announcer: Mark Garrow	Turns 1 & 2: Rob Albright Turns 3 & 4: Pat Patterson	Brad Gillie Brett McMillan Jim Noble Steve Richards

Standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings Pos Driver Points 1 Kyle Busch 799 2 Kevin Harvick 740 (–59) 3 Martin Truex Jr. 689 (–110) 4 Joey Logano 648 (–151) 5 Brad Keselowski 630 (–169) 6 Clint Bowyer 629 (–170) 7 Kurt Busch 601 (–198) 8 Kyle Larson 581 (–218) 9 Denny Hamlin 559 (–240) 1 10 Ryan Blaney 546 (–253) 1 11 Aric Almirola 534 (–265) 12 Jimmie Johnson 484 (–315) 13 Erik Jones 480 (–319) 14 Chase Elliott 469 (–330) 15 Alex Bowman 427 (–372) 16 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. 418 (–381) Official driver's standings

Manufacturers' Championship standings Pos Manufacturer Points 1 Toyota 700 2 Ford 679 (–21) 3 Chevrolet 609 (–91) 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.