# 2018 Bojangles' Southern 500

The 2018 Bojangles' Southern 500, the 69th running of the event was a Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race held on September 2, 2018, at Darlington Raceway in Darlington, South Carolina. Contested over 367 laps on the 1.366-mile (2.198 km) egg-shaped oval, it was the 25th race of the 2018 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series season. This race marked the final career start for Kasey Kahne.

## Report
### Background

Darlington Raceway is a race track built for NASCAR racing located near Darlington, South Carolina. It is nicknamed "The Lady in Black" and "The Track Too Tough to Tame" by many NASCAR fans and drivers and advertised as "A NASCAR Tradition." It is of a unique, somewhat egg-shaped design, an oval with the ends of very different configurations, a condition which supposedly arose from the proximity of one end of the track to a minnow pond the owner refused to relocate. This situation makes it very challenging for the crews to set up their cars' handling in a way that is effective at both ends.

#### Entry list

| No. | Driver | Team | Manufacturer | Sponsor or Throwback |
| 00 | Landon Cassill (i) | StarCom Racing | Chevrolet | StarCom Fiber – Bobby Allison's 1988 Daytona 500 winning car |
| 1 | Jamie McMurray | Chip Ganassi Racing | Chevrolet | McDonald's – Bill Elliott's 1998 car, scheme dedicated to the 50th anniversary of McDonald's Big Mac |
| 2 | Brad Keselowski | Team Penske | Ford | Miller Genuine Draft – Rusty Wallace's 1990 car |
| 3 | Austin Dillon | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | American Ethanol E15 – Dale Earnhardt's 1995 Silver Monster Energy NASCAR All-Star Race car |
| 4 | Kevin Harvick | Stewart-Haas Racing | Ford | 1996 Busch Beer design |
| 6 | Matt Kenseth | Roush Fenway Racing | Ford | Oscar Mayer |
| 9 | Chase Elliott | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | NAPA Auto Parts – Cousin Casey Elliott's 1993 All Pro Series-inspired car. |
| 10 | Aric Almirola | Stewart-Haas Racing | Ford | Smithfield Foods Helping Hungry Homes |
| 11 | Denny Hamlin | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | FedEx – Hamlin's first-ever car that he ran in mini stock in 1997 at Langley Speedway and Southside Speedway in Virginia. |
| 12 | Ryan Blaney | Team Penske | Ford | Duracell – Father Dave Blaney's 2003 car |
| 13 | Ty Dillon | Germain Racing | Chevrolet | GEICO – 2009–2011 team car |
| 14 | Clint Bowyer | Stewart-Haas Racing | Ford | Ned Jarrett's 1965 Southern 500 winning car |
| 15 | Ross Chastain (i) | Premium Motorsports | Chevrolet | None |
| 17 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | Roush Fenway Racing | Ford | John Deere – Chad Little's 1997–2000 car |
| 18 | Kyle Busch | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | Skittles – Derrike Cope & Ernie Irvan's 1997–1998 car |
| 19 | Daniel Suárez | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | Arris |
| 20 | Erik Jones | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | Sport Clips – Rick Carelli Camping World Truck Series inspired car |
| 21 | Paul Menard | Wood Brothers Racing | Ford | Ford Motorcraft/Quick Lane Tire & Auto Center – Cale Yarborough's 1968 Southern 500 winning car |
| 22 | Joey Logano | Team Penske | Ford | Pennzoil – Steve Park's 1998 – 2002 car |
| 23 | Joey Gase (i) | BK Racing | Toyota | Sparks Energy – Scheme duplicates his father Bob Gase, had when he won the 2003 championship in his modified at Hawkeye Downs Speedway. |
| 24 | William Byron (R) | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | Axalta Coating Systems – Jeff Gordon's iconic 1993–2000 “Rainbow Warriors” car |
| 31 | Ryan Newman | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | Caterpillar Inc. – Neil Bonnett's 1993 car |
| 32 | Matt DiBenedetto | Go Fas Racing | Ford | Keen Parts/CorvetteParts.net – Jeff Burton's 2000 car |
| 34 | Michael McDowell | Front Row Motorsports | Ford | Love's Travel Stops & Country Stores – Scheme pays tribute to Love's first travel stop in Amarillo, Texas in 1981. |
| 37 | Chris Buescher | JTG Daugherty Racing | Chevrolet | Scheme dedicated to the 110th anniversary of Bush's Best Beans. |
| 38 | David Ragan | Front Row Motorsports | Ford | Citgo – Dale Jarrett's 1991 Champion Spark Plug 400 winning car, which was his first cup win. |
| 41 | Kurt Busch | Stewart-Haas Racing | Ford | Haas Automation – Busch's 2003 Carolina Dodge Dealers 400 car, where he was part of one of the closest finishes in NASCAR history at Darlington Raceway. |
| 42 | Kyle Larson | Chip Ganassi Racing | Chevrolet | DC Solar – Davey Allison inspired car |
| 43 | Darrell Wallace Jr. (R) | Richard Petty Motorsports | Chevrolet | STP – Richard Petty's 1972 car with STP day glo red |
| 47 | A. J. Allmendinger | JTG Daugherty Racing | Chevrolet | Kroger – Robert Pressley's 1998 NASCAR Busch Series car |
| 48 | Jimmie Johnson | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | Lowe's/Kobalt (tools) – Johnson's 2012 Bojangles' Southern 500 winning car |
| 51 | B. J. McLeod (i) | Rick Ware Racing | Chevrolet | Jacob Companies – Days of Thunder antagonist Russ Wheeler's Hardee's-themed replica car |
| 52 | J. J. Yeley (i) | Rick Ware Racing | Chevrolet | Trading View |
| 66 | Timmy Hill (i) | MBM Motorsports | Toyota | Rewards.com – Darrell Waltrip's 2000 car. |
| 72 | Corey LaJoie | TriStar Motorsports | Chevrolet | Blockchain Terminal – Father Randy LaJoie's 1996–1998 NASCAR Busch Series car |
| 78 | Martin Truex Jr. | Furniture Row Racing | Toyota | Bass Pro Shops/5-hour Energy |
| 88 | Alex Bowman | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | LLumar |
| 95 | Kasey Kahne | Leavine Family Racing | Chevrolet | Dumont Jets – Kahne's 2006 car |
| 96 | Jeffrey Earnhardt | Gaunt Brothers Racing | Toyota | Xtreme Concepts/Project K9 Hero/Nine Line Apparel – Grandfather Dale Earnhardt's 1978 car |
| 99 | Derrike Cope | StarCom Racing | Chevrolet | Bojangles' Famous Chicken 'n Biscuits – Cope's 1993 car |
| Official entry list |||||

## Practice
### First practice

Denny Hamlin was the fastest in the first practice session with a time of 28.543 seconds and a speed of 172.287 mph (277.269 km/h).
| Pos | No. | Driver | Team | Manufacturer | Time | Speed |
| 1 | 11 | Denny Hamlin | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 28.543 | 172.287 |
| 2 | 42 | Kyle Larson | Chip Ganassi Racing | Chevrolet | 28.585 | 172.034 |
| 3 | 2 | Brad Keselowski | Team Penske | Ford | 28.591 | 171.998 |
| Official first practice results |||||||

### Final practice

Ryan Newman was the fastest in the final practice session with a time of 28.641 seconds and a speed of 171.698 mph (276.321 km/h).
| Pos | No. | Driver | Team | Manufacturer | Time | Speed |
| 1 | 31 | Ryan Newman | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 28.641 | 171.698 |
| 2 | 9 | Chase Elliott | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 28.672 | 171.512 |
| 3 | 48 | Jimmie Johnson | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 28.754 | 171.023 |
| Official final practice results |||||||

## Qualifying

Denny Hamlin scored the pole for the race with a time of 28.332 and a speed of 173.571 mph (279.335 km/h).

### Qualifying results

| Pos | No. | Driver | Team | Manufacturer | R1 | R2 | R3 |
| 1 | 11 | Denny Hamlin | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 28.207 | 28.266 | 28.332 |
| 2 | 42 | Kyle Larson | Chip Ganassi Racing | Chevrolet | 27.908 | 28.217 | 28.358 |
| 3 | 78 | Martin Truex Jr. | Furniture Row Racing | Toyota | 28.381 | 28.376 | 28.392 |
| 4 | 88 | Alex Bowman | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 28.006 | 28.161 | 28.400 |
| 5 | 18 | Kyle Busch | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 28.255 | 28.314 | 28.415 |
| 6 | 31 | Ryan Newman | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 28.215 | 28.313 | 28.453 |
| 7 | 20 | Erik Jones | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 28.422 | 28.344 | 28.506 |
| 8 | 22 | Joey Logano | Team Penske | Ford | 28.219 | 28.347 | 28.507 |
| 9 | 41 | Kurt Busch | Stewart-Haas Racing | Ford | 28.191 | 28.411 | 28.535 |
| 10 | 24 | William Byron (R) | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 27.997 | 28.390 | 28.550 |
| 11 | 9 | Chase Elliott | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 28.116 | 28.236 | 28.694 |
| 12 | 10 | Aric Almirola | Stewart-Haas Racing | Ford | 28.405 | 28.420 | 28.922 |
| 13 | 2 | Brad Keselowski | Team Penske | Ford | 28.360 | 28.460 | — |
| 14 | 21 | Paul Menard | Wood Brothers Racing | Ford | 28.250 | 28.505 | — |
| 15 | 6 | Matt Kenseth | Roush Fenway Racing | Ford | 28.299 | 28.512 | — |
| 16 | 19 | Daniel Suárez | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 28.375 | 28.523 | — |
| 17 | 14 | Clint Bowyer | Stewart-Haas Racing | Ford | 28.356 | 28.547 | — |
| 18 | 3 | Austin Dillon | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 28.421 | 28.585 | — |
| 19 | 37 | Chris Buescher | JTG Daugherty Racing | Chevrolet | 28.433 | 28.621 | — |
| 20 | 48 | Jimmie Johnson | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 28.180 | 28.635 | — |
| 21 | 12 | Ryan Blaney | Team Penske | Ford | 28.217 | 28.663 | — |
| 22 | 4 | Kevin Harvick | Stewart-Haas Racing | Ford | 28.279 | 28.667 | — |
| 23 | 38 | David Ragan | Front Row Motorsports | Ford | 28.365 | 28.810 | — |
| 24 | 47 | A. J. Allmendinger | JTG Daugherty Racing | Chevrolet | 28.371 | 28.830 | — |
| 25 | 17 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | Roush Fenway Racing | Ford | 28.439 | — | — |
| 26 | 34 | Michael McDowell | Front Row Motorsports | Ford | 28.445 | — | — |
| 27 | 43 | Darrell Wallace Jr. (R) | Richard Petty Motorsports | Chevrolet | 28.489 | — | — |
| 28 | 13 | Ty Dillon | Germain Racing | Chevrolet | 28.542 | — | — |
| 29 | 95 | Kasey Kahne | Leavine Family Racing | Chevrolet | 28.585 | — | — |
| 30 | 32 | Matt DiBenedetto | Go Fas Racing | Ford | 28.622 | — | — |
| 31 | 1 | Jamie McMurray | Chip Ganassi Racing | Chevrolet | 28.819 | — | — |
| 32 | 52 | J. J. Yeley (i) | Rick Ware Racing | Chevrolet | 28.854 | — | — |
| 33 | 15 | Ross Chastain (i) | Premium Motorsports | Chevrolet | 28.928 | — | — |
| 34 | 72 | Corey LaJoie | TriStar Motorsports | Chevrolet | 29.091 | — | — |
| 35 | 00 | Landon Cassill (i) | StarCom Racing | Chevrolet | 29.330 | — | — |
| 36 | 66 | Timmy Hill (i) | MBM Motorsports | Toyota | 30.018 | — | — |
| 37 | 51 | B. J. McLeod (i) | Rick Ware Racing | Chevrolet | 30.038 | — | — |
| 38 | 99 | Derrike Cope | StarCom Racing | Chevrolet | 30.662 | — | — |
| 39 | 23 | Joey Gase (i) | BK Racing | Toyota | 31.781 | — | — |
| 40 | 96 | Jeffrey Earnhardt | Gaunt Brothers Racing | Toyota | 0.000 | — | — |
| Official qualifying results ||||||||

## Race
### Stage Results

Stage 1 Laps: 100
| Pos | No | Driver | Team | Manufacturer | Points |
| 1 | 42 | Kyle Larson | Chip Ganassi Racing | Chevrolet | 10 |
| 2 | 20 | Erik Jones | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 9 |
| 3 | 78 | Martin Truex Jr. | Furniture Row Racing | Toyota | 8 |
| 4 | 22 | Joey Logano | Team Penske | Ford | 7 |
| 5 | 2 | Brad Keselowski | Team Penske | Ford | 6 |
| 6 | 4 | Kevin Harvick | Stewart-Haas Racing | Ford | 5 |
| 7 | 11 | Denny Hamlin | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 4 |
| 8 | 41 | Kurt Busch | Stewart-Haas Racing | Ford | 3 |
| 9 | 18 | Kyle Busch | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 2 |
| 10 | 9 | Chase Elliott | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 1 |
| Official stage one results ||||||
Stage 2 Laps: 100
| Pos | No | Driver | Team | Manufacturer | Points |
| 1 | 42 | Kyle Larson | Chip Ganassi Racing | Chevrolet | 10 |
| 2 | 2 | Brad Keselowski | Team Penske | Ford | 9 |
| 3 | 22 | Joey Logano | Team Penske | Ford | 8 |
| 4 | 9 | Chase Elliott | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 7 |
| 5 | 20 | Erik Jones | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 6 |
| 6 | 41 | Kurt Busch | Stewart-Haas Racing | Ford | 5 |
| 7 | 31 | Ryan Newman | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 4 |
| 8 | 18 | Kyle Busch | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 3 |
| 9 | 1 | Jamie McMurray | Chip Ganassi Racing | Chevrolet | 2 |
| 10 | 4 | Kevin Harvick | Stewart-Haas Racing | Ford | 1 |
| Official stage two results ||||||

### Final Stage Results

Stage 3 Laps: 167
| Pos | Grid | No | Driver | Team | Manufacturer | Laps | Points |
| 1 | 13 | 2 | Brad Keselowski | Team Penske | Ford | 367 | 55 |
| 2 | 8 | 22 | Joey Logano | Team Penske | Ford | 367 | 50 |
| 3 | 2 | 42 | Kyle Larson | Chip Ganassi Racing | Chevrolet | 367 | 54 |
| 4 | 22 | 4 | Kevin Harvick | Stewart-Haas Racing | Ford | 367 | 39 |
| 5 | 11 | 9 | Chase Elliott | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 367 | 40 |
| 6 | 9 | 41 | Kurt Busch | Stewart-Haas Racing | Ford | 367 | 39 |
| 7 | 5 | 18 | Kyle Busch | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 367 | 35 |
| 8 | 7 | 20 | Erik Jones | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 367 | 44 |
| 9 | 31 | 1 | Jamie McMurray | Chip Ganassi Racing | Chevrolet | 367 | 30 |
| 10 | 1 | 11 | Denny Hamlin | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 367 | 31 |
| 11 | 3 | 78 | Martin Truex Jr. | Furniture Row Racing | Toyota | 367 | 34 |
| 12 | 25 | 17 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | Roush Fenway Racing | Ford | 367 | 25 |
| 13 | 19 | 37 | Chris Buescher | JTG Daugherty Racing | Chevrolet | 367 | 24 |
| 14 | 12 | 10 | Aric Almirola | Stewart-Haas Racing | Ford | 367 | 23 |
| 15 | 21 | 12 | Ryan Blaney | Team Penske | Ford | 367 | 22 |
| 16 | 18 | 3 | Austin Dillon | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 367 | 21 |
| 17 | 14 | 21 | Paul Menard | Wood Brothers Racing | Ford | 366 | 20 |
| 18 | 23 | 38 | David Ragan | Front Row Motorsports | Ford | 366 | 19 |
| 19 | 6 | 31 | Ryan Newman | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 366 | 22 |
| 20 | 26 | 34 | Michael McDowell | Front Row Motorsports | Ford | 365 | 17 |
| 21 | 28 | 13 | Ty Dillon | Germain Racing | Chevrolet | 365 | 16 |
| 22 | 24 | 47 | A. J. Allmendinger | JTG Daugherty Racing | Chevrolet | 365 | 15 |
| 23 | 4 | 88 | Alex Bowman | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 365 | 14 |
| 24 | 29 | 95 | Kasey Kahne | Leavine Family Racing | Chevrolet | 364 | 13 |
| 25 | 15 | 6 | Matt Kenseth | Roush Fenway Racing | Ford | 364 | 12 |
| 26 | 27 | 43 | Darrell Wallace Jr. (R) | Richard Petty Motorsports | Chevrolet | 363 | 11 |
| 27 | 34 | 72 | Corey LaJoie | TriStar Motorsports | Chevrolet | 360 | 10 |
| 28 | 33 | 15 | Ross Chastain (i) | Premium Motorsports | Chevrolet | 360 | 0 |
| 29 | 16 | 19 | Daniel Suárez | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 358 | 8 |
| 30 | 35 | 00 | Landon Cassill (i) | StarCom Racing | Chevrolet | 357 | 0 |
| 31 | 32 | 52 | J. J. Yeley (i) | Rick Ware Racing | Chevrolet | 350 | 0 |
| 32 | 37 | 51 | B. J. McLeod (i) | Rick Ware Racing | Chevrolet | 347 | 0 |
| 33 | 38 | 99 | Derrike Cope | StarCom Racing | Chevrolet | 346 | 4 |
| 34 | 40 | 96 | Jeffrey Earnhardt | Gaunt Brothers Racing | Toyota | 344 | 3 |
| 35 | 10 | 24 | William Byron (R) | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 329 | 2 |
| 36 | 17 | 14 | Clint Bowyer | Stewart-Haas Racing | Ford | 309 | 1 |
| 37 | 36 | 66 | Timmy Hill (i) | MBM Motorsports | Toyota | 268 | 0 |
| 38 | 30 | 32 | Matt DiBenedetto | Go Fas Racing | Ford | 254 | 1 |
| 39 | 20 | 48 | Jimmie Johnson | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 227 | 1 |
| 40 | 39 | 23 | Joey Gase (i) | BK Racing | Toyota | 120 | 0 |
| Official race results ||||||||

### Race statistics

* Lead changes: 5 among different drivers
* Cautions/Laps: 6 for 35
* Red flags: 0
* Time of race: 3 hours, 48 minutes and 54 seconds
* Average speed: 131.408 miles per hour (211.481 km/h)

## Media
### Television

NBC Sports covered the race on the television side. Steve Letarte, two–time Darlington winner Jeff Burton and Dale Earnhardt Jr. had the call in the booth for the race. Rick Allen, three-time Darlington winner Dale Jarrett and Kyle Petty called from the NBC Peacock Pit Box on pit road. Jarrett and Petty also join Earnhardt in the booth for a portion of the race. Dave Burns, Parker Kligerman, Marty Snider and Kelli Stavast reported from pit lane during the race.
NBCSN :
| Booth announcers | Pit reporters |
| Lap-by-lap: Steve Letarte Color-commentator: Jeff Burton Color-commentator: Dale Earnhardt Jr. NBC Peacock Pitbox: Rick Allen NBC Peacock Pitbox: Dale Jarrett NBC Peacock Pitbox: Kyle Petty | Dave Burns Parker Kligerman Marty Snider Kelli Stavast |

### Radio

The Motor Racing Network had the radio call for the race, which was simulcast on Sirius XM NASCAR Radio. Dave Moody called the race from a Billboard outside of turn when the field raced through turns 1 and 2, and Mike Bagley had the call of the race atop of the Darlington Raceway Club outside of turn 3 when the field raced through turns 3 and 4
MRN :
| Booth announcers | Turn announcers | Pit reporters |
| Lead announcer: Joe Moore Announcer: Jeff Striegle Announcer: Rusty Wallace | Turns 1 & 2: Dave Moody Turns 3 & 4: Mike Bagley | Alex Hayden Winston Kelley Steve Post |

## Standings after the race

| | Pos | Driver | Points |
| | 1 | Kyle Busch | 1,038 |
| | 2 | Kevin Harvick | 999 (–39) |
| | 3 | Martin Truex Jr. | 883 (–155) |
| | 4 | Kurt Busch | 835 (–203) |
| 1 | 5 | Joey Logano | 818 (–220) |
| 2 | 6 | Brad Keselowski | 785 (–253) |
| 2 | 7 | Kyle Larson | 783 (–255) |
| 3 | 8 | Clint Bowyer | 777 (–261) |
| 2 | 9 | Ryan Blaney | 755 (–283) |
| | 10 | Denny Hamlin | 738 (–300) |
| | 11 | Chase Elliott | 737 (–301) |
| | 12 | Aric Almirola | 681 (–357) |
| | 13 | Erik Jones | 679 (–359) |
| | 14 | Jimmie Johnson | 605 (–433) |
| | 15 | Alex Bowman | 586 (–452) |
| | 16 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | 518 (–520) |
| Official driver's standings ||||
| | Pos | Manufacturer | Points |
| | 1 | Toyota | 906 |
| | 2 | Ford | 895 (–11) |
| | 3 | Chevrolet | 817 (–89) |
| Official manufacturers' standings ||||