2018 FireKeepers Casino 400
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| Race details[1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9] | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Race 15 of 36 in the 2018 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series | |||
 | |||
| Date | June 10, 2018 | ||
| Location | Michigan International Speedway in Cambridge Township, Michigan | ||
| Course | Permanent racing facility | ||
| Course length | 2.0 miles (3.219 km) | ||
| Distance | 133 laps, 266 mi (428.086 km) | ||
| Scheduled distance | 200 laps, 400 mi (643.738 km) | ||
| Average speed | 132.723 miles per hour (213.597 km/h) | ||
| Pole position | |||
| Driver | Stewart–Haas Racing | ||
| Time | 35.405 | ||
| Most laps led | |||
| Driver | Kevin Harvick | Stewart–Haas Racing | |
| Laps | 49 | ||
| Winner | |||
| No. 14 | Clint Bowyer | Stewart–Haas Racing | |
| Television in the United States | |||
| Network | FOX | ||
| Announcers | Mike Joy, Jeff Gordon and Darrell Waltrip | ||
| Nielsen ratings | 2.2 (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 Buddy Long (3–4) | ||
The 2018 FireKeepers Casino 400 was a Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race held on June 10, 2018 at Michigan International Speedway in Cambridge Township, Michigan. The 15th race of the 2018 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series season, it was scheduled for 200 laps of the 2-mile (3.2-kilometre) D-shaped oval, but was shortened to 133 laps due to rain.
Clint Bowyer took his second victory of the season and his tenth win overall.
Background
The race was held at Michigan International Speedway, a 2-mile (3.2-kilometre) moderate-banked D-shaped speedway located in Cambridge Township, Michigan. The track is used primarily for NASCAR events. It is sometimes known as a "sister track" to Texas World Speedway, and was used as the basis of Auto Club Speedway. The track is owned by NASCAR. Michigan International Speedway is recognized as one of motorsports' premier facilities because of its wide racing surface and high banking (by open-wheel standards; the 18-degree banking is modest by stock car standards).
Entry list
First practice
Ryan Blaney was the fastest in the first practice session with a time of 35.535 seconds and a speed of 202.617 mph (326.080 km/h).[11]
| Pos | No. | Driver | Team | Manufacturer | Time | Speed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 12 | Ryan Blaney | Team Penske | Ford | 35.535 | 202.617 |
| 2 | 18 | Kyle Busch | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 35.655 | 201.935 |
| 3 | 2 | Brad Keselowski | Team Penske | Ford | 35.667 | 201.867 |
| Official first practice results | ||||||
Qualifying
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Kurt Busch scored the pole for the race with a time of 35.405 and a speed of 203.361 mph (327.278 km/h).[12]
Qualifying results
Practice (post-qualifying)
Second practice
Kevin Harvick was the fastest in the second practice session with a time of 35.871 seconds and a speed of 200.719 mph (323.026 km/h).[13]
| Pos | No. | Driver | Team | Manufacturer | Time | Speed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4 | Kevin Harvick | Stewart–Haas Racing | Ford | 35.871 | 200.719 |
| 2 | 42 | Kyle Larson | Chip Ganassi Racing | Chevrolet | 35.985 | 200.083 |
| 3 | 22 | Joey Logano | Team Penske | Ford | 36.036 | 199.800 |
| Official second practice results | ||||||
Final practice
Final practice session for Saturday was cancelled due to rain.
Race
Stage results
Stage 1 Laps: 60
| Pos | No | Driver | Team | Manufacturer | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 12 | Ryan Blaney | Team Penske | Ford | 10 |
| 2 | 42 | Kyle Larson | Chip Ganassi Racing | Chevrolet | 9 |
| 3 | 14 | Clint Bowyer | Stewart–Haas Racing | Ford | 8 |
| 4 | 4 | Kevin Harvick | Stewart–Haas Racing | Ford | 7 |
| 5 | 11 | Denny Hamlin | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 6 |
| 6 | 2 | Brad Keselowski | Team Penske | Ford | 5 |
| 7 | 41 | Kurt Busch | Stewart–Haas Racing | Ford | 4 |
| 8 | 24 | William Byron (R) | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 3 |
| 9 | 22 | Joey Logano | Team Penske | Ford | 2 |
| 10 | 10 | Aric Almirola | Stewart–Haas Racing | Ford | 1 |
| Official stage one results | |||||
Stage 2 Laps: 60
| Pos | No | Driver | Team | Manufacturer | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4 | Kevin Harvick | Stewart–Haas Racing | Ford | 10 |
| 2 | 14 | Clint Bowyer | Stewart–Haas Racing | Ford | 9 |
| 3 | 41 | Kurt Busch | Stewart–Haas Racing | Ford | 8 |
| 4 | 18 | Kyle Busch | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 7 |
| 5 | 21 | Paul Menard | Wood Brothers Racing | Ford | 6 |
| 6 | 12 | Ryan Blaney | Team Penske | Ford | 5 |
| 7 | 2 | Brad Keselowski | Team Penske | Ford | 4 |
| 8 | 1 | Jamie McMurray | Chip Ganassi Racing | Chevrolet | 3 |
| 9 | 20 | Erik Jones | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 2 |
| 10 | 24 | William Byron (R) | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 1 |
| Official stage two results | |||||
Final stage results
Stage 3 Laps: 80
| Pos | Grid | No | Driver | Team | Manufacturer | Laps | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 12 | 14 | Clint Bowyer | Stewart–Haas Racing | Ford | 133 | 57 |
| 2 | 4 | 4 | Kevin Harvick | Stewart–Haas Racing | Ford | 133 | 52 |
| 3 | 1 | 41 | Kurt Busch | Stewart–Haas Racing | Ford | 133 | 46 |
| 4 | 3 | 18 | Kyle Busch | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 133 | 40 |
| 5 | 15 | 21 | Paul Menard | Wood Brothers Racing | Ford | 133 | 38 |
| 6 | 2 | 2 | Brad Keselowski | Team Penske | Ford | 133 | 40 |
| 7 | 5 | 22 | Joey Logano | Team Penske | Ford | 133 | 38 |
| 8 | 9 | 12 | Ryan Blaney | Team Penske | Ford | 133 | 44 |
| 9 | 13 | 9 | Chase Elliott | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 133 | 28 |
| 10 | 24 | 1 | Jamie McMurray | Chip Ganassi Racing | Chevrolet | 133 | 30 |
| 11 | 6 | 10 | Aric Almirola | Stewart–Haas Racing | Ford | 133 | 27 |
| 12 | 10 | 11 | Denny Hamlin | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 133 | 31 |
| 13 | 14 | 24 | William Byron (R) | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 133 | 28 |
| 14 | 16 | 3 | Austin Dillon | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 133 | 23 |
| 15 | 8 | 20 | Erik Jones | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 133 | 24 |
| 16 | 21 | 88 | Alex Bowman | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 133 | 21 |
| 17 | 25 | 47 | A. J. Allmendinger | JTG Daugherty Racing | Chevrolet | 133 | 20 |
| 18 | 17 | 78 | Martin Truex Jr. | Furniture Row Racing | Toyota | 133 | 19 |
| 19 | 28 | 43 | Bubba Wallace (R) | Richard Petty Motorsports | Chevrolet | 133 | 18 |
| 20 | 20 | 48 | Jimmie Johnson | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 133 | 17 |
| 21 | 31 | 13 | Ty Dillon | Germain Racing | Chevrolet | 133 | 16 |
| 22 | 11 | 31 | Ryan Newman | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 133 | 15 |
| 23 | 29 | 95 | Kasey Kahne | Leavine Family Racing | Chevrolet | 133 | 14 |
| 24 | 18 | 37 | Chris Buescher | JTG Daugherty Racing | Chevrolet | 133 | 13 |
| 25 | 23 | 34 | Michael McDowell | Front Row Motorsports | Ford | 133 | 12 |
| 26 | 33 | 15 | Ross Chastain (i) | Premium Motorsports | Chevrolet | 133 | 0 |
| 27 | 32 | 72 | Corey LaJoie | TriStar Motorsports | Chevrolet | 133 | 10 |
| 28 | 26 | 42 | Kyle Larson | Chip Ganassi Racing | Chevrolet | 133 | 18 |
| 29 | 7 | 17 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | Roush Fenway Racing | Ford | 133 | 8 |
| 30 | 22 | 19 | Daniel Suárez | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 132 | 7 |
| 31 | 34 | 23 | Gray Gaulding | BK Racing | Toyota | 132 | 6 |
| 32 | 36 | 00 | Landon Cassill | StarCom Racing | Chevrolet | 132 | 5 |
| 33 | 19 | 6 | Matt Kenseth | Roush Fenway Racing | Ford | 132 | 4 |
| 34 | 37 | 7 | D. J. Kennington | Premium Motorsports | Chevrolet | 132 | 3 |
| 35 | 38 | 66 | Timmy Hill (i) | MBM Motorsports | Toyota | 132 | 0 |
| 36 | 30 | 32 | Matt DiBenedetto | Go Fas Racing | Ford | 131 | 1 |
| 37 | 35 | 51 | B. J. McLeod (i) | Rick Ware Racing | Chevrolet | 131 | 0 |
| 38 | 27 | 38 | David Ragan | Front Row Motorsports | Ford | 35 | 1 |
| 39 | 39 | 99 | Garrett Smithley (i) | StarCom Racing | Chevrolet | 1 | 0 |
| Official race results | |||||||
Race statistics
- Lead changes: 9 among 7 different drivers
- Cautions/Laps: 8 for 30 laps
- Red flags: 1
- Time of race: 2 hours, 15 seconds
- Average speed: 132.723 miles per hour (213.597 km/h)
