2018 AAA 400 Drive for Autism

Race details[1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10]
Race 11 of 36 in the 2018 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series
Date	May 6, 2018 (2018-05-06)
Location	Dover International Speedway in Dover, Delaware
Course	Permanent racing facility 1 mi (1.6 km)
Distance	400 laps, 400 mi (640 km)
Average speed	115.044 miles per hour (185.145 km/h)
Pole position
Driver	Kyle Larson	Chip Ganassi Racing
Time	22.770
Most laps led
Driver	Kevin Harvick	Stewart-Haas Racing
Laps	201
Winner
No. 4	Kevin Harvick	Stewart-Haas Racing
Television in the United States
Network	FS1
Announcers	Mike Joy, Jeff Gordon and Darrell Waltrip
Nielsen Ratings	1.7 (Overnight)[11]
Radio in the United States
Radio	MRN
Booth Announcers	Joe Moore, Jeff Striegle and Rusty Wallace
Turn Announcers	Mike Bagley (Backstretch)

The 2018 AAA 400 Drive for Autism was a Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race held on May 6, 2018, at Dover International Speedway in Dover, Delaware. Contested over 400 laps on the 1-mile (1.6 km) concrete speedway, it was the 11th race of the 2018 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series season.

Report

Background

Dover International Speedway is an oval race track in Dover, Delaware, United States that has held at least two NASCAR races since it opened in 1969. In addition to NASCAR, the track also hosted USAC and the Verizon IndyCar Series. The track features one layout, a 1 mile (1.6 km) concrete oval, with 24° banking in the turns and 9° banking on the straights. The speedway is owned and operated by Dover Motorsports.

The track, nicknamed "The Monster Mile", was built in 1969 by Melvin Joseph of Melvin L. Joseph Construction Company, Inc., with an asphalt surface, but was replaced with concrete in 1995. Six years later in 2001, the track's capacity moved to 135,000 seats, making the track have the largest capacity of sports venue in the mid-Atlantic. In 2002, the name changed to Dover International Speedway from Dover Downs International Speedway after Dover Downs Gaming and Entertainment split, making Dover Motorsports. From 2007 to 2009, the speedway worked on an improvement project called "The Monster Makeover", which expanded facilities at the track and beautified the track. After the 2014 season, the track's capacity was reduced to 95,500 seats.

Entry list

First practice

Paul Menard was the fastest in the first practice session with a time of 22.524 seconds and a speed of 159.830 mph (257.221 km/h).^[12]

Qualifying

Kyle Larson scored the pole for the race with a time of 22.770 and a speed of 158.103 mph (254.442 km/h).^[13]

Qualifying results

Practice (post-qualifying)

Second practice

Joey Logano was the fastest in the second practice session with a time of 22.858 seconds and a speed of 157.494 mph (253.462 km/h).^[14]

Final practice

Aric Almirola was the fastest in the final practice session with a time of 22.745 seconds and a speed of 158.277 mph (254.722 km/h).^[15]

Race

Stage Results

Stage 1 Laps: 120

Stage 2 Laps: 120

Final Stage Results

Stage 3 Laps: 160

Race statistics

• Lead changes: 6 among different drivers
• Cautions/Laps: 8 for 48
• Red flags: 1 for 41 minutes and 1 second
• Time of race: 3 hours, 28 minutes and 37 seconds
• Average speed: 115.044 miles per hour (185.145 km/h)

Media

Television

Fox Sports covered their 18th race at the Dover International Speedway. Mike Joy, five-time Dover winner Jeff Gordon and two-time Dover winner Darrell Waltrip had the call in the booth for the race. Jamie Little, Vince Welch and Matt Yocum handled the action on pit road for the television side.

Radio

MRN had the radio call for the race which was also simulcasted on Sirius XM NASCAR Radio.

Standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings Pos Driver Points 1 Kyle Busch 466 2 Joey Logano 444 (–22) 3 Kevin Harvick 426 (–40) 4 Clint Bowyer 380 (–86) 1 5 Brad Keselowski 365 (–101) 1 6 Kurt Busch 358 (–108) 1 7 Ryan Blaney 346 (–120) 1 8 Denny Hamlin 344 (–122) 9 Martin Truex Jr. 340 (–126) 10 Kyle Larson 307 (–159) 11 Aric Almirola 304 (–162) 2 12 Jimmie Johnson 268 (–198) 13 Erik Jones 253 (–213) 2 14 Alex Bowman 252 (–214) 3 15 Chase Elliott 241 (–225) 1 16 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. 239 (–227) Official driver's standings

Manufacturers' Championship standings Pos Manufacturer Points 1 Ford 399 2 Toyota 393 (–6) 3 Chevrolet 359 (–40) 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.