2018 Pennzoil 400
Motor car race
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The 2018 Pennzoil 400 was a Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race held on March 4, 2018, at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in Las Vegas. Contested over 267 laps on the 1.5 mi (2.4 km) asphalt intermediate speedway, it was the third race of the 2018 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series season.
| Race details[1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10] | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Race 3 of 36 in the 2018 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series | |||
|
The 2018 Pennzoil 400 program cover. | |||
| Date | March 4, 2018 | ||
| Location | Las Vegas Motor Speedway in Las Vegas | ||
| Course | Permanent racing facility | ||
| Course length | 1.5 miles (2.4 km) | ||
| Distance | 267 laps, 400.5 mi (640.8 km) | ||
| Average speed | 141.756 miles per hour (228.134 km/h) | ||
| Pole position | |||
| Driver | Team Penske | ||
| Time | 28.200 | ||
| Most laps led | |||
| Driver | Kevin Harvick | Stewart–Haas Racing | |
| Laps | 214 | ||
| Winner | |||
| No. 4 | Kevin Harvick | Stewart–Haas Racing | |
| Television in the United States | |||
| Network | Fox | ||
| Announcers | Mike Joy, Jeff Gordon and Darrell Waltrip | ||
| Nielsen ratings | 2.9/2.8 (Overnight)[11] | ||
| Radio in the United States | |||
| Radio | PRN | ||
| Booth announcers | Doug Rice, Mark Garrow and Wendy Venturini | ||
| Turn announcers | Rob Albright (1 & 2) and Pat Patterson (3 & 4) | ||
Entry list
First practice
Kyle Larson was the fastest in the first practice session with a time of 28.323 seconds and a speed of 190.658 mph (306.834 km/h).[12]
| Pos | No. | Driver | Team | Manufacturer | Time | Speed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 42 | Kyle Larson | Chip Ganassi Racing | Chevrolet | 28.323 | 190.658 |
| 2 | 4 | Kevin Harvick | Stewart–Haas Racing | Ford | 28.360 | 190.409 |
| 3 | 21 | Paul Menard | Wood Brothers Racing | Ford | 28.366 | 190.369 |
| Official first practice results | ||||||
Qualifying
Ryan Blaney scored the pole for the race with a time of 28.200 and a speed of 191.489 mph (308.172 km/h).[13]
Qualifying results
Practice (post-qualifying)
Second practice
Kyle Larson was the fastest in the second practice session with a time of 28.791 seconds and a speed of 187.559 mph (301.847 km/h).[14]
| Pos | No. | Driver | Team | Manufacturer | Time | Speed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 42 | Kyle Larson | Chip Ganassi Racing | Chevrolet | 28.791 | 187.559 |
| 2 | 31 | Ryan Newman | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 28.807 | 187.454 |
| 3 | 48 | Jimmie Johnson | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 28.941 | 186.587 |
| Official second practice results | ||||||
Final practice
Ryan Blaney was the fastest in the final practice session with a time of 28.963 seconds and a speed of 186.445 mph (300.054 km/h).[15]
| Pos | No. | Driver | Team | Manufacturer | Time | Speed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 12 | Ryan Blaney | Team Penske | Ford | 28.963 | 186.445 |
| 2 | 42 | Kyle Larson | Chip Ganassi Racing | Chevrolet | 29.011 | 186.136 |
| 3 | 78 | Martin Truex Jr. | Furniture Row Racing | Toyota | 29.018 | 186.091 |
| Official final practice results | ||||||
Race result
Stage Results
Stage 1 Laps: 80
| Pos | No | Driver | Team | Manufacturer | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4 | Kevin Harvick | Stewart–Haas Racing | Ford | 10 |
| 2 | 78 | Martin Truex Jr. | Furniture Row Racing | Toyota | 9 |
| 3 | 42 | Kyle Larson | Chip Ganassi Racing | Chevrolet | 8 |
| 4 | 12 | Ryan Blaney | Team Penske | Ford | 7 |
| 5 | 22 | Joey Logano | Team Penske | Ford | 6 |
| 6 | 2 | Brad Keselowski | Team Penske | Ford | 5 |
| 7 | 41 | Kurt Busch | Stewart–Haas Racing | Ford | 4 |
| 8 | 9 | Chase Elliott | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 3 |
| 9 | 18 | Kyle Busch | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 2 |
| 10 | 21 | Paul Menard | Wood Brothers Racing | Ford | 1 |
| Official stage one results | |||||
Stage 2 Laps: 80
| Pos | No | Driver | Team | Manufacturer | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4 | Kevin Harvick | Stewart–Haas Racing | Ford | 10 |
| 2 | 12 | Ryan Blaney | Team Penske | Ford | 9 |
| 3 | 42 | Kyle Larson | Chip Ganassi Racing | Chevrolet | 8 |
| 4 | 22 | Joey Logano | Team Penske | Ford | 7 |
| 5 | 18 | Kyle Busch | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 6 |
| 6 | 2 | Brad Keselowski | Team Penske | Ford | 5 |
| 7 | 78 | Martin Truex Jr. | Furniture Row Racing | Toyota | 4 |
| 8 | 41 | Kurt Busch | Stewart–Haas Racing | Ford | 3 |
| 9 | 9 | Chase Elliott | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 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 | 2 | 4 | Kevin Harvick | Stewart–Haas Racing | Ford | 267 | 40[N 1] |
| 2 | 13 | 18 | Kyle Busch | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 267 | 43 |
| 3 | 5 | 42 | Kyle Larson | Chip Ganassi Racing | Chevrolet | 267 | 50 |
| 4 | 4 | 78 | Martin Truex Jr. | Furniture Row Racing | Toyota | 267 | 46 |
| 5 | 1 | 12 | Ryan Blaney | Team Penske | Ford | 267 | 48 |
| 6 | 8 | 2 | Brad Keselowski | Team Penske | Ford | 267 | 41 |
| 7 | 10 | 22 | Joey Logano | Team Penske | Ford | 267 | 43 |
| 8 | 9 | 20 | Erik Jones | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 267 | 29 |
| 9 | 12 | 21 | Paul Menard | Wood Brothers Racing | Ford | 267 | 30 |
| 10 | 29 | 10 | Aric Almirola | Stewart–Haas Racing | Ford | 266 | 27 |
| 11 | 25 | 31 | Ryan Newman | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 266 | 26 |
| 12 | 14 | 48 | Jimmie Johnson | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 266 | 25 |
| 13 | 16 | 3 | Austin Dillon | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 266 | 24 |
| 14 | 7 | 17 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | Roush Fenway Racing | Ford | 265 | 23 |
| 15 | 28 | 37 | Chris Buescher | JTG Daugherty Racing | Chevrolet | 265 | 22 |
| 16 | 20 | 88 | Alex Bowman | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 265 | 21 |
| 17 | 19 | 11 | Denny Hamlin | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 265 | 20 |
| 18 | 11 | 14 | Clint Bowyer | Stewart–Haas Racing | Ford | 265 | 19 |
| 19 | 21 | 95 | Kasey Kahne | Leavine Family Racing | Chevrolet | 264 | 18 |
| 20 | 24 | 6 | Trevor Bayne | Roush Fenway Racing | Ford | 264 | 17 |
| 21 | 26 | 43 | Bubba Wallace (R) | Richard Petty Motorsports | Chevrolet | 264 | 16 |
| 22 | 32 | 32 | Matt DiBenedetto | Go Fas Racing | Ford | 264 | 15 |
| 23 | 23 | 38 | David Ragan | Front Row Motorsports | Ford | 264 | 14 |
| 24 | 31 | 13 | Ty Dillon | Germain Racing | Chevrolet | 264 | 13 |
| 25 | 30 | 51 | Cole Custer (i) | Rick Ware Racing | Ford | 264 | 0 |
| 26 | 18 | 19 | Daniel Suárez | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 263 | 11 |
| 27 | 17 | 24 | William Byron (R) | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 263 | 10 |
| 28 | 34 | 72 | Cole Whitt | TriStar Motorsports | Chevrolet | 262 | 9 |
| 29 | 33 | 15 | Ross Chastain (i) | Premium Motorsports | Chevrolet | 262 | 0 |
| 30 | 27 | 47 | A. J. Allmendinger | JTG Daugherty Racing | Chevrolet | 262 | 7 |
| 31 | 36 | 00 | Jeffrey Earnhardt | StarCom Racing | Chevrolet | 255 | 6 |
| 32 | 37 | 55 | Joey Gase (i) | Premium Motorsports | Chevrolet | 253 | 0 |
| 33 | 35 | 23 | Gray Gaulding | BK Racing | Toyota | 195 | 4 |
| 34 | 6 | 9 | Chase Elliott | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 183 | 8 |
| 35 | 3 | 41 | Kurt Busch | Stewart–Haas Racing | Ford | 183 | 9 |
| 36 | 22 | 1 | Jamie McMurray | Chip Ganassi Racing | Chevrolet | 176 | 1 |
| 37 | 15 | 34 | Michael McDowell | Front Row Motorsports | Ford | 100 | 1 |
| Official race results | |||||||
- Kevin Harvick was penalized 20 points after failing post-race inspection.
Race statistics
- 11 lead changes among 6 different drivers
- 4 cautions for 29 laps
- Time of race: 2 hours, 49 minutes and 31 seconds
- Average speed: 141.760 miles per hour (228.141 km/h)
- Margin of victory: 2.906 seconds
Media
Television
Fox Sports covered their 18th race at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Mike Joy, 2001 race winner Jeff Gordon and Darrell Waltrip called from the booth for the race. Jamie Little, Vince Welch and Matt Yocum handled the pit road duties for the television side.
| Fox | |
|---|---|
| Booth announcers | Pit reporters |
| Lap-by-lap: Mike Joy Color-commentator: Jeff Gordon Color commentator: Darrell Waltrip | Jamie Little Vince Welch Matt Yocum |
Radio
PRN covered the radio call for the race which was also simulcasted on Sirius XM NASCAR Radio. Doug Rice, Mark Garrow and Wendy Venturini called the race in the booth when the field raced through the tri-oval. Rob Albright called the race from a billboard in turn 2 when the field raced through turns 1 and 2. Pat Patterson called the race from a billboard outside of turn 3 when the field raced through turns 3 and 4. Brad Gillie, Brett McMillan, Jim Noble and Steve Richards worked pit road for the radio side.
| PRN | ||
|---|---|---|
| Booth announcers | Turn announcers | Pit reporters |
| Lead announcer: Doug Rice Announcer: Mark Garrow Announcer: Wendy Venturini | Turns 1 & 2: Rob Albright Turns 3 & 4: Pat Patterson | Brad Gillie Brett McMillan Jim Noble Steve Richards |
Penalties
On March 7, 2018, NASCAR assessed the Stewart–Haas Racing No. 4 Ford an L1 penalty for violating sections 20.4.8.1 (dealing with rear window support) and 20.4.18 (rocker panel extensions). A brace that supports the rear window failed and did not meet specifications for keeping the rear window glass rigid in all directions, at all times. Additionally, the rocker panel extension was not aluminum. The team would be docked 20 driver and owner points, the win would not count toward playoffs, crew chief Rodney Childers was fined $50,000 and car chief Robert Smith would be suspended for the next two races. Additionally, the No. 55 team was penalized for a loose lug nut during inspection and crew chief Todd Parrott was fined $10,000.[16]
Standings after the race
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