2018 Sparks Energy 300
Race details | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Race 9 of 33 of the 2018 NASCAR Xfinity Series | |||||
Date | April 28, 2018 | ||||
Official name | 27th Annual Sparks Energy 300 | ||||
Location | Lincoln, Alabama, Talladega Superspeedway | ||||
Course |
Permanent racing facility 2.66 mi (4.28 km) | ||||
Distance | 115 laps, 305.9 mi (492.298 km) | ||||
Scheduled Distance | 113 laps, 300.58 mi (483.736 km) | ||||
Average speed | 133.258 miles per hour (214.458 km/h) | ||||
Pole position | |||||
Driver | Richard Childress Racing | ||||
Time | 50.559 | ||||
Most laps led | |||||
Driver | Daniel Hemric | Richard Childress Racing | |||
Laps | 39 | ||||
Winner | |||||
No. 23 | Spencer Gallagher |
Network |
FOX | ||
Announcers | Kevin Harvick, Clint Bowyer, Joey Logano | ||||
Radio in the United States | |||||
Radio | Motor Racing Network |
The 2018 Sparks Energy 300 was the ninth
Background
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/70/Talladega_Superspeedway.svg/220px-Talladega_Superspeedway.svg.png)
Talladega Superspeedway, originally known as Alabama International Motor Superspeedway (AIMS), is a
Entry list
Practice
First practice
The first practice session would occur on Friday, April 27, at 10:35 AM
Pos. | # | Driver | Team | Make | Time | Speed |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 00 | Cole Custer | Stewart-Haas Racing with Biagi-DenBeste
|
Ford | 49.329 | 194.125 |
2 | 23 | Spencer Gallagher | GMS Racing | Chevrolet | 49.366 | 193.980 |
3 | 11 | Ryan Truex | Kaulig Racing | Chevrolet | 49.373 | 193.952 |
Full first practice results |
Second and final practice
The second and final practice session, sometimes referred to as Happy Hour, would occur on Friday, April 27, at 12:35 PM EST, and would last for 50 minutes.[2] Shane Lee of Richard Childress Racing would set the fastest time in the session, with a time of 50.953 and an average speed of 187.938 miles per hour (302.457 km/h).[3]
Pos. | # | Driver | Team | Make | Time | Speed |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 3 | Shane Lee | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 50.953 | 187.938 |
2 | 11 | Ryan Truex | Kaulig Racing | Chevrolet | 51.389 | 186.343 |
3 | 16 | Ryan Reed | Roush Fenway Racing
|
Ford | 51.443 | 186.148 |
Full Happy Hour practice results |
Qualifying
Qualifying would occur on Saturday, April 28, at 10:00 AM EST.[2] Since Talladega Superspeedway at least 2 miles (3.2 km), the qualifying system was a single car, single lap, two round system where in the first round, everyone would set a time to determine positions 13-40. Then, the fastest 12 qualifiers would move on to the second round to determine positions 1-12.[4]
Daniel Hemric of Richard Childress Racing would win the pole, setting a time of 50.559 and an average speed of 189.402 miles per hour (304.813 km/h) in the second round.[5]
One driver would fail to qualify: Morgan Shepherd.
Pos. | # | Driver | Team | Make | Time (R1) | Speed (R1) | Time (R2) | Speed (R2) |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 21 | Daniel Hemric | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 50.640 | 189.100 | 50.559 | 189.402 |
2 | 1 | Elliott Sadler | JR Motorsports | Chevrolet | 50.794 | 188.526 | 50.727 | 188.775 |
3 | 23 | Spencer Gallagher | GMS Racing | Chevrolet | 50.842 | 188.348 | 50.762 | 188.645 |
4 | 42 | John Hunter Nemechek | Chip Ganassi Racing | Chevrolet | 50.940 | 187.986 | 50.810 | 188.467 |
5 | 5 | Michael Annett | JR Motorsports | Chevrolet | 50.848 | 188.326 | 50.814 | 188.452 |
6 | 7 | Justin Allgaier | JR Motorsports | Chevrolet | 50.793 | 188.530 | 50.885 | 188.189 |
7 | 3 | Shane Lee | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 51.044 | 187.603 | 50.914 | 188.082 |
8 | 9 | Tyler Reddick | JR Motorsports | Chevrolet | 50.999 | 187.768 | 50.929 | 188.026 |
9 | 11 | Ryan Truex | Kaulig Racing | Chevrolet | 51.039 | 187.621 | 51.030 | 187.654 |
10 | 2 | Matt Tifft | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 51.033 | 187.643 | 51.106 | 187.375 |
11 | 22 | Austin Cindric | Team Penske | Ford | 50.959 | 187.916 | 51.123 | 187.313 |
12 | 00 | Cole Custer | Stewart-Haas Racing with Biagi-DenBeste
|
Ford | 51.260 | 186.812 | 51.322 | 186.587 |
Eliminated in Round 1 | ||||||||
13 | 20 | Christopher Bell | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 51.283 | 186.729 | — | — |
14 | 60 | Ty Majeski | Roush Fenway Racing
|
Ford | 51.309 | 186.634 | — | — |
15 | 19 | Brandon Jones | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 51.322 | 186.587 | — | — |
16 | 98 | Chase Briscoe | Stewart-Haas Racing with Biagi-DenBeste
|
Ford | 51.341 | 186.518 | — | — |
17 | 28 | Dylan Lupton | JGL Racing | Ford | 51.411 | 186.264 | — | — |
18 | 35 | Joey Gase | Go Green Racing with SS-Green Light Racing | Chevrolet | 51.452 | 186.115 | — | — |
19 | 16 | Ryan Reed | Roush Fenway Racing
|
Ford | 51.549 | 185.765 | — | — |
20 | 18 | Noah Gragson | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 51.653 | 185.391 | — | — |
21 | 36 | Alex Labbé | DGM Racing | Chevrolet | 51.699 | 185.226 | — | — |
22 | 39 | Ryan Sieg | RSS Racing | Chevrolet | 51.733 | 185.104 | — | — |
23 | 15 | Joe Nemechek | JD Motorsports | Chevrolet | 51.752 | 185.036 | — | — |
24 | 51 | Jeremy Clements | Jeremy Clements Racing | Chevrolet | 51.844 | 184.708 | — | — |
25 | 01 | Vinnie Miller | JD Motorsports | Chevrolet | 51.946 | 184.345 | — | — |
26 | 4 | Ross Chastain | JD Motorsports | Chevrolet | 51.989 | 184.193 | — | — |
27 | 38 | J. J. Yeley | RSS Racing | Chevrolet | 52.002 | 184.147 | — | — |
28 | 8 | Tommy Joe Martins | B. J. McLeod Motorsports | Toyota | 52.036 | 184.026 | — | — |
29 | 78 | B. J. McLeod | B. J. McLeod Motorsports | Toyota | 52.090 | 183.836 | — | — |
30 | 76 | Spencer Boyd | SS-Green Light Racing | Chevrolet | 52.195 | 183.466 | — | — |
31 | 90 | Josh Williams | DGM Racing | Chevrolet | 52.216 | 183.392 | — | — |
32 | 45 | Josh Bilicki | JP Motorsports | Toyota | 52.276 | 183.182 | — | — |
33 | 24 | Kaz Grala | JGL Racing | Ford | 52.300 | 183.098 | — | — |
Qualified by owner's points | ||||||||
34 | 0 | Garrett Smithley | JD Motorsports | Chevrolet | 52.353 | 182.912 | — | — |
35 | 93 | Jeff Green | RSS Racing | Chevrolet | 52.359 | 182.891 | — | — |
36 | 40 | Chad Finchum | MBM Motorsports | Toyota | 52.619 | 181.987 | — | — |
37 | 52 | David Starr | Jimmy Means Racing | Chevrolet | 52.632 | 181.943 | — | — |
38 | 66 | Timmy Hill | MBM Motorsports | Toyota | 53.250 | 179.831 | — | — |
39 | 55 | Jennifer Jo Cobb | JP Motorsports | Toyota | 53.312 | 179.622 | — | — |
40 | 74 | Mike Harmon | Mike Harmon Racing | Dodge | 53.491 | 179.021 | — | — |
Failed to qualify or withdrew | ||||||||
41 | 89 | Morgan Shepherd | Shepherd Racing Ventures | Chevrolet | 52.504 | 182.386 | — | — |
WD | 54 | ? | NXT Motorsports | Toyota | — | — | — | — |
Official qualifying results | ||||||||
Official starting lineup |
Race results
Stage 1 Laps: 25
Pos. | # | Driver | Team | Make | Pts |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 21 | Daniel Hemric | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 10 |
2 | 7 | Justin Allgaier | JR Motorsports | Chevrolet | 9 |
3 | 11 | Ryan Truex | Kaulig Racing | Chevrolet | 8 |
4 | 19 | Brandon Jones | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 7 |
5 | 42 | John Hunter Nemechek | Chip Ganassi Racing | Chevrolet | 6 |
6 | 2 | Matt Tifft | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 5 |
7 | 00 | Cole Custer | Stewart-Haas Racing with Biagi-DenBeste
|
Ford | 4 |
8 | 1 | Elliott Sadler | JR Motorsports | Chevrolet | 3 |
9 | 3 | Shane Lee | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 2 |
10 | 9 | Tyler Reddick | JR Motorsports | Chevrolet | 1 |
Stage 2 Laps: 25
Pos. | # | Driver | Team | Make | Pts |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 1 | Elliott Sadler | JR Motorsports | Chevrolet | 10 |
2 | 23 | Spencer Gallagher | GMS Racing | Chevrolet | 9 |
3 | 16 | Ryan Reed | Roush Fenway Racing
|
Ford | 8 |
4 | 5 | Michael Annett | JR Motorsports | Chevrolet | 7 |
5 | 9 | Tyler Reddick | JR Motorsports | Chevrolet | 6 |
6 | 2 | Matt Tifft | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 5 |
7 | 00 | Cole Custer | Stewart-Haas Racing with Biagi-DenBeste
|
Ford | 4 |
8 | 7 | Justin Allgaier | JR Motorsports | Chevrolet | 3 |
9 | 35 | Joey Gase | Go Green Racing with SS-Green Light Racing | Chevrolet | 2 |
10 | 42 | John Hunter Nemechek | Chip Ganassi Racing | Chevrolet | 1 |
Stage 3 Laps: 65
References
- ^ Reid, Spencer (2018-04-28). "Spencer Gallagher earns first Xfinity win at Talladega". Official Site Of NASCAR. Archived from the original on 2018-05-01. Retrieved 2021-12-14.
- ^ a b c "2018 NASCAR XFINITY Talladega Race Page". ESPN.com. 2018-04-30. Retrieved 2021-12-14.
- ^ a b Beaver, Dan (2018-04-27). "Xfinity practice report at Talladega". NASCAR Talk | NBC Sports. Retrieved 2021-12-14.
- ^ "NASCAR Qualifying Rules". ESPN.com. 2018-02-07. Retrieved 2021-11-01.
- ^ McFadin, Daniel (2018-04-28). "Daniel Hemric wins Xfinity pole at Talladega". NASCAR Talk | NBC Sports. Retrieved 2021-12-14.
- ^ "2018 Sparks Energy 300 - The Third Turn". www.thethirdturn.com. Retrieved 2021-12-13.