Motor car race
The
2018 Advance Auto Parts Clash
was a
Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series
race
held on February 11, 2018, at
Daytona International Speedway
in
Daytona Beach, Florida
. Contested over 75 laps, it was the first exhibition race of the
2018 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series
season.
Report
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]
Background
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]
The track,
Daytona International Speedway
, is one of six
superspeedways
to hold
NASCAR
races, the others being
Michigan International Speedway
,
Auto Club Speedway
,
Indianapolis Motor Speedway
,
Pocono Raceway
and
Talladega Superspeedway
. The standard track at Daytona International Speedway is a four?turn superspeedway that is 2.5-mile (4.0 km) The track's turns are banked at 31
degrees
, while the front stretch, the location of the finish line, is banked at 18 degrees.
Format and eligibility
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The race is 75 laps in length, and is divided into two segments; the first is 25 laps and the second is 50 laps. The race is open to those drivers who won a pole in the 2017 season or had won "The Clash" previously.
The 2018 Clash at Daytona will not be a predetermined number of cars; rather, the field is limited to drivers who meet more exclusive criteria. Only drivers who were 2017 Pole Award winners, former Clash race winners, former Daytona 500 pole winners who competed full?time in 2017 and drivers who qualified for the 2017 Playoffs are eligible.
Entry list
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Practice
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Ryan Blaney
was the fastest in the practice session with a time of 45.090 seconds and a speed of 199.601 mph (321.227 km/h).
[8]
Starting lineup
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The lineup was determined by random draw, with
Austin Dillon
drawing the top spot.
Race
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Austin Dillon
led the field to the green flag. He would lead the first lap of the race, as
Denny Hamlin
would pass him just after the start finish line to take over the lead. By lap 6, the field quickly became mostly single file on the top lane. On lap 7 heading into turn 1,
Kyle Larson
, who was running 5th at that time, made contact with
Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
which resulted in Larson getting loose onto the apron and back up the track to save it, but fell all the way back to 16th. On lap 10, the field suddenly became double wide in front as
Chase Elliott
was able to pass Hamlin for the lead. Elliott would be challenged by
Austin Dillon
for the lead side by side for the next several laps, but Elliott would manage to hang on with the lead. By lap 22, Elliott would again be challenged for the lead this time with
Joey Logano
, who was running near the front the whole time, with Logano taking over the lead on lap 24 after a push from
Martin Truex Jr.
On lap 25, all but
Kyle Larson
,
Kevin Harvick
,
Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
,
Ryan Newman
, and
Jamie McMurray
pitted for fuel and tires.
Brad Keselowski
was first off of pit road after only taking two tires as the competition caution came out on lap 26. The drivers who didn't pit before the caution ended up pitting for service.
Jimmie Johnson
was busted after driving through too many pit boxes and would restart at the tail end of the field.
The race restarted with 46 to go as Keselowski the leader. On lap 33,
Chase Elliott
got shuffled out of line while running 2nd and would fall back to 7th. The second caution came out on lap 34 when
Jamie McMurray
got side drafted by
Kurt Busch
which caused Jamie to get loose and spin into the outside wall, causing significant damage to the right front.
The race restarted with 37 to go with Keselowski leading. With 33 to go, Martin Truex Jr., came up behind Keselowski to take over the lead for a brief moment, when Keselowski passed Truex on the same lap. At the same time, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. got forced below the double yellow line and passed
Kyle Busch
when he was below the line. He would be assessed a drive-thru penalty that would ultimately eliminate him out of contention. The field became single file once again with 29 to go.
With 8 laps to go, the field was still running single file as Brad Keselowski stayed in the lead. His car picked up a big piece of debris that covered a third of his grille, but that didn't really affect him during the race. At 2 laps to go, Austin Dillon was first to make a second lane from the 8th position as Chase Elliott joined him in the inside lane. On the white flag,
Ryan Blaney
attempted to make a move on the inside, but Keselowski blocked Blaney. On the back straightaway, Kyle Larson bumped Jimmie Johnson into the outside wall creating a multi-car crash collecting Kasey Kahne, Martin Truex Jr., Chase Elliott, and Kyle Busch. This brought out the final caution and Keselowski was ahead of the wreck and drove on to his first Clash victory.
Race results
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Pos
|
Grid
|
|
Driver
|
Team
|
Manufacturer
|
Laps
|
1
|
17
|
2
|
Brad Keselowski
|
Team Penske
|
Ford
|
75
|
2
|
3
|
22
|
Joey Logano
|
Team Penske
|
Ford
|
75
|
3
|
14
|
41
|
Kurt Busch
|
Stewart-Haas Racing
|
Ford
|
75
|
4
|
15
|
12
|
Ryan Blaney
|
Team Penske
|
Ford
|
75
|
5
|
1
|
3
|
Austin Dillon
|
Richard Childress Racing
|
Chevrolet
|
75
|
6
|
2
|
11
|
Denny Hamlin
|
Joe Gibbs Racing
|
Toyota
|
75
|
7
|
13
|
18
|
Kyle Busch
|
Joe Gibbs Racing
|
Toyota
|
75
|
8
|
4
|
20
|
Erik Jones
|
Joe Gibbs Racing
|
Toyota
|
75
|
9
|
9
|
4
|
Kevin Harvick
|
Stewart-Haas Racing
|
Ford
|
75
|
10
|
10
|
42
|
Kyle Larson
|
Chip Ganassi Racing
|
Chevrolet
|
75
|
11
|
11
|
31
|
Ryan Newman
|
Richard Childress Racing
|
Chevrolet
|
75
|
12
|
5
|
48
|
Jimmie Johnson
|
Hendrick Motorsports
|
Chevrolet
|
74
|
13
|
12
|
9
|
Chase Elliott
|
Hendrick Motorsports
|
Chevrolet
|
74
|
14
|
6
|
78
|
Martin Truex Jr.
|
Furniture Row Racing
|
Toyota
|
74
|
15
|
7
|
95
|
Kasey Kahne
|
Leavine Family Racing
|
Chevrolet
|
74
|
16
|
8
|
17
|
Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
|
Roush Fenway Racing
|
Ford
|
73
|
17
|
16
|
1
|
Jamie McMurray
|
Chip Ganassi Racing
|
Chevrolet
|
43
|
Official race results
|
Media
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FS1
covered the race on the television side;
Mike Joy
,
Darrell Waltrip
and
Jeff Gordon
handled the call in the booth for the race;
Matt Yocum
,
Jamie Little
and Vince Welch handled pit road for the television side.
Television
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Radio
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MRN
Radio
|
Booth announcers
|
Turn announcers
|
Pit reporters
|
Lead announcer:
Joe Moore
Announcer:
Jeff Striegle
Announcer:
Rusty Wallace
|
Turns 1 & 2:
Dave Moody
Backstretch:
Mike Bagley
Turns 3 & 4:
Kyle Rickey
|
Alex Hayden
Winston Kelley
Steve Post
|
References
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]
- ^
"2018 schedule"
.
Jayski.com
.
Jayski's Silly Season Site
. May 5, 2017. Archived from
the original
on December 24, 2017
. Retrieved
December 25,
2017
.
- ^
"Daytona International Speedway"
.
NASCAR.com
. NASCAR Media Group, LLC. January 3, 2013. Archived from
the original
on July 4, 2015
. Retrieved
December 25,
2017
.
- ^
"Entry List"
.
MRN.com
.
Motor Racing Network
. February 7, 2018
. Retrieved
February 7,
2018
.
- ^
"Practice Results"
.
MRN.com
.
Motor Racing Network
. February 10, 2018
. Retrieved
February 10,
2018
.
- ^
"Starting Lineup"
.
MRN.com
.
Motor Racing Network
. February 10, 2018
. Retrieved
February 10,
2018
.
- ^
"Advance Auto Parts Clash at Daytona Results"
.
MRN.com
.
Motor Racing Network
. February 11, 2018
. Retrieved
February 11,
2018
.
- ^
"NASCAR 2018 TV Ratings"
.
Jayski's Silly Season Site
.
ESPN
. Retrieved
7 May
2018
.
- ^
Spencer, Lee (February 10, 2018).
"Ryan Blaney leads practice for the Clash at Daytona"
.
Motorsport.com
.
Daytona Beach, Florida
:
Motorsport Network
. Retrieved
February 10,
2018
.