# 2018 O'Reilly Auto Parts 500

The 2018 O'Reilly Auto Parts 500 was a Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race held on April 8, 2018, at Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth, Texas. Contested over 334 laps on the 1.5-mile (2.4 km) intermediate quad-oval, it was the seventh race of the 2018 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series season.

## Report
### Background

Texas Motor Speedway is a speedway located in the northernmost portion of the U.S. city of Fort Worth, Texas – the portion located in Denton County, Texas. The track measures 1.5 miles (2.4 km) around and is banked 24 degrees in the turns, and is of the oval design, where the front straightaway juts outward slightly. The track layout is similar to Atlanta Motor Speedway and Charlotte Motor Speedway (formerly Lowe's Motor Speedway). The track is owned by Speedway Motorsports, Inc., the same company that owns Atlanta and Charlotte Motor Speedways, as well as the short-track Bristol Motor Speedway.

#### Entry list

| No. | Driver | Team | Manufacturer |
| 00 | Landon Cassill | StarCom Racing | Chevrolet |
| 1 | Jamie McMurray | Chip Ganassi Racing | Chevrolet |
| 2 | Brad Keselowski | Team Penske | Ford |
| 3 | Austin Dillon | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet |
| 4 | Kevin Harvick | Stewart-Haas Racing | Ford |
| 6 | Trevor Bayne | Roush Fenway Racing | Ford |
| 9 | Chase Elliott | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet |
| 10 | Aric Almirola | Stewart-Haas Racing | Ford |
| 11 | Denny Hamlin | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota |
| 12 | Ryan Blaney | Team Penske | Ford |
| 13 | Ty Dillon | Germain Racing | Chevrolet |
| 14 | Clint Bowyer | Stewart-Haas Racing | Ford |
| 15 | Ross Chastain (i) | Premium Motorsports | Chevrolet |
| 17 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | Roush Fenway Racing | Ford |
| 18 | Kyle Busch | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota |
| 19 | Daniel Suárez | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota |
| 20 | Erik Jones | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota |
| 21 | Paul Menard | Wood Brothers Racing | Ford |
| 22 | Joey Logano | Team Penske | Ford |
| 23 | Gray Gaulding | BK Racing | Toyota |
| 24 | William Byron (R) | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet |
| 31 | Ryan Newman | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet |
| 32 | Matt DiBenedetto | Go Fas Racing | Ford |
| 34 | Michael McDowell | Front Row Motorsports | Ford |
| 37 | Chris Buescher | JTG Daugherty Racing | Chevrolet |
| 38 | David Ragan | Front Row Motorsports | Ford |
| 41 | Kurt Busch | Stewart-Haas Racing | Ford |
| 42 | Kyle Larson | Chip Ganassi Racing | Chevrolet |
| 43 | Darrell Wallace Jr. (R) | Richard Petty Motorsports | Chevrolet |
| 47 | A. J. Allmendinger | JTG Daugherty Racing | Chevrolet |
| 48 | Jimmie Johnson | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet |
| 51 | Harrison Rhodes | Rick Ware Racing | Chevrolet |
| 55 | Reed Sorenson | Premium Motorsports | Chevrolet |
| 72 | Cole Whitt | TriStar Motorsports | Chevrolet |
| 78 | Martin Truex Jr. | Furniture Row Racing | Toyota |
| 88 | Alex Bowman | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet |
| 95 | Kasey Kahne | Leavine Family Racing | Chevrolet |
| Official entry list ||||

## First practice

Kurt Busch was the fastest in the first practice session with a time of 27.523 seconds and a speed of 196.200 mph (315.753 km/h).
| Pos | No. | Driver | Team | Manufacturer | Time | Speed |
| 1 | 41 | Kurt Busch | Stewart-Haas Racing | Ford | 27.523 | 196.200 |
| 2 | 4 | Kevin Harvick | Stewart-Haas Racing | Ford | 27.559 | 195.943 |
| 3 | 14 | Clint Bowyer | Stewart-Haas Racing | Ford | 27.632 | 195.426 |
| Official first practice results |||||||

## Qualifying

Kurt Busch scored the pole for the race with a time of 27.360 and a speed of 197.368 mph (317.633 km/h) after only one round of qualifying was completed due to lightning in the area.

### Qualifying results

| Pos | No. | Driver | Team | Manufacturer | R1 |
| 1 | 41 | Kurt Busch | Stewart-Haas Racing | Ford | 27.360 |
| 2 | 4 | Kevin Harvick | Stewart-Haas Racing | Ford | 27.395 |
| 3 | 14 | Clint Bowyer | Stewart-Haas Racing | Ford | 27.435 |
| 4 | 12 | Ryan Blaney | Team Penske | Ford | 27.467 |
| 5 | 11 | Denny Hamlin | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 27.515 |
| 6 | 78 | Martin Truex Jr. | Furniture Row Racing | Toyota | 27.554 |
| 7 | 22 | Joey Logano | Team Penske | Ford | 27.562 |
| 8 | 18 | Kyle Busch | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 27.583 |
| 9 | 48 | Jimmie Johnson | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 27.607 |
| 10 | 42 | Kyle Larson | Chip Ganassi Racing | Chevrolet | 27.688 |
| 11 | 2 | Brad Keselowski | Team Penske | Ford | 27.689 |
| 12 | 10 | Aric Almirola | Stewart-Haas Racing | Ford | 27.693 |
| 13 | 6 | Trevor Bayne | Roush Fenway Racing | Ford | 27.715 |
| 14 | 19 | Daniel Suárez | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 27.719 |
| 15 | 43 | Darrell Wallace Jr. (R) | Richard Petty Motorsports | Chevrolet | 27.726 |
| 16 | 88 | Alex Bowman | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 27.729 |
| 17 | 3 | Austin Dillon | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 27.757 |
| 18 | 37 | Chris Buescher | JTG Daugherty Racing | Chevrolet | 27.758 |
| 19 | 21 | Paul Menard | Wood Brothers Racing | Ford | 27.774 |
| 20 | 9 | Chase Elliott | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 27.789 |
| 21 | 20 | Erik Jones | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 27.810 |
| 22 | 47 | A. J. Allmendinger | JTG Daugherty Racing | Chevrolet | 27.842 |
| 23 | 13 | Ty Dillon | Germain Racing | Chevrolet | 27.861 |
| 24 | 1 | Jamie McMurray | Chip Ganassi Racing | Chevrolet | 27.873 |
| 25 | 31 | Ryan Newman | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 27.905 |
| 26 | 17 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | Roush Fenway Racing | Ford | 27.913 |
| 27 | 34 | Michael McDowell | Front Row Motorsports | Ford | 27.919 |
| 28 | 95 | Kasey Kahne | Leavine Family Racing | Chevrolet | 28.030 |
| 29 | 38 | David Ragan | Front Row Motorsports | Ford | 28.082 |
| 30 | 32 | Matt DiBenedetto | Go Fas Racing | Ford | 28.184 |
| 31 | 15 | Ross Chastain (i) | Premium Motorsports | Chevrolet | 28.325 |
| 32 | 23 | Gray Gaulding | BK Racing | Toyota | 28.569 |
| 33 | 24 | William Byron (R) | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 28.694 |
| 34 | 72 | Cole Whitt | TriStar Motorsports | Chevrolet | 28.963 |
| 35 | 00 | Landon Cassill | StarCom Racing | Chevrolet | 30.276 |
| 36 | 51 | Harrison Rhodes | Rick Ware Racing | Chevrolet | 32.729 |
| 37 | 55 | Reed Sorenson | Premium Motorsports | Chevrolet | 0.000 |
| Official qualifying results ||||||

## Practice (post-qualifying)
### Second practice

Daniel Suárez was the fastest in the second practice session with a time of 27.136 seconds and a speed of 198.998 mph (320.256 km/h).
| Pos | No. | Driver | Team | Manufacturer | Time | Speed |
| 1 | 19 | Daniel Suárez | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 27.136 | 198.998 |
| 2 | 11 | Denny Hamlin | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 27.163 | 198.800 |
| 3 | 24 | William Byron | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 27.171 | 198.741 |
| Official second practice results |||||||

### Final practice

Jimmie Johnson was the fastest in the final practice session with a time of 27.253 seconds and a speed of 198.143 mph (318.880 km/h).
| Pos | No. | Driver | Team | Manufacturer | Time | Speed |
| 1 | 48 | Jimmie Johnson | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 27.253 | 198.143 |
| 2 | 4 | Kevin Harvick | Stewart-Haas Racing | Ford | 27.275 | 197.984 |
| 3 | 19 | Daniel Suárez | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 27.303 | 197.780 |
| Official final practice results |||||||

## Race
### First stage

Kurt Busch led the field to green at 2:10 p.m., and the first caution flew on lap 4 when Austin Dillon, Daniel Suárez, Paul Menard, Ross Chastain and Alex Bowman were involved in an accident in turn four.
The race restarted on lap 7, The second caution of the race flew on lap 82 when Martin Truex Jr. spun out, Truex was running second to Harvick when his right front tire blew entering Turn 4.

### Second stage

The race restarted on lap 91 and stayed green for the start of stage 2, Kyle Larson was making up for a bad start after having to start the race at the back of the field after failing pre-race inspection. That all changed on Lap 128 with Larson running second. He blew a right front tire and crashed hard into the Turn 2 wall, bringing out the third caution of the race.
The race restarted on lap 135, Kyle Busch passed his brother Kurt Busch to win his second stage of the season. Kurt Busch finished second followed by Joey Logano, Jones, Clint Bowyer, Chase Elliott, Keselowski, Stenhouse, Hamlin and Almirola, The fourth caution flew again for the conclusion of the second stage

### Final stage

The race restarted on lap 178 and the fifth caution flew for a seven-car wreck, The final stage got off to a rough start as Hamlin and Aric Almirola made contact which sent Hamlin spinning back and collecting both Keselowski and Johnson.
The seven-car incident, which also collected Austin Dillon, brought out a red flag that stopped the race for more than 11 minutes with Jones leading the race.
Racing resumed on lap 184.
The seventh caution flew when Trevor Bayne and Kasey Kahne were involved in an accident in turn four.
The race restarted on lap 258, Busch and Harvick went side by side with Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Darrell Wallace Jr. behind them, and the eighth caution flew when Ryan Newman hit the wall in turn 1.
The race restarted on lap 305.
Kyle Busch edging Kevin Harvick for his first victory of the season.
Harvick, gunning for his fourth victory of 2018, finished three-tenths of a second behind. Busch, who won the second stage, led for 116 laps, while Harvick, who dominated the first stage, led 87.

### Post-race
#### Driver comments

“(Harvick) was probably just a tick faster overall, but I just had to make sure I did everything I could to hit all my marks and everything, and did the right things to block his air and everything, but this Camry was really awesome today," Busch said in victory lane.
"This has been a trying couple of months, you know? After Daytona, we’ve just been on a roll of finishing real good and been really pumped and excited about that and the momentum we were able to carry, but frustrated at the same time trying to get to victory lane," added Busch, who finished second in three of the first six races of 2018.

### Stage Results

Stage 1 Laps: 85
| Pos | No | Driver | Team | Manufacturer | Points |
| 1 | 4 | Kevin Harvick | Stewart-Hass Racing | Ford | 10 |
| 2 | 18 | Kyle Busch | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 9 |
| 3 | 41 | Kurt Busch | Stewart-Hass Racing | Ford | 8 |
| 4 | 22 | Joey Logano | Team Penske | Ford | 7 |
| 5 | 42 | Kyle Larson | Chip Ganassi Racing | Chevrolet | 6 |
| 6 | 14 | Clint Bowyer | Stewart-Hass Racing | Ford | 5 |
| 7 | 1 | Jamie McMurray | Chip Ganassi Racing | Chevrolet | 4 |
| 8 | 2 | Brad Keselowski | Team Penske | Ford | 3 |
| 9 | 9 | Chase Elliott | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 2 |
| 10 | 20 | Erik Jones | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 1 |
| Official stage one results ||||||
Stage 2 Laps: 85
| Pos | No | Driver | Team | Manufacturer | Points |
| 1 | 18 | Kyle Busch | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 10 |
| 2 | 41 | Kurt Busch | Stewart-Hass Racing | Ford | 9 |
| 3 | 22 | Joey Logano | Team Penske | Ford | 8 |
| 4 | 20 | Erik Jones | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 7 |
| 5 | 14 | Clint Bowyer | Stewart-Hass Racing | Ford | 6 |
| 6 | 9 | Chase Elliott | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 5 |
| 7 | 2 | Brad Keselowski | Team Penske | Ford | 4 |
| 8 | 17 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | Roush Fenway Racing | Ford | 3 |
| 9 | 11 | Denny Hamlin | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 2 |
| 10 | 10 | Aric Almirola | Stewart-Haas Racing | Ford | 1 |
| Official stage two results ||||||

### Final Stage Results

Stage 3 Laps: 164
| Pos | Grid | No | Driver | Team | Manufacturer | Laps | Points |
| 1 | 8 | 18 | Kyle Busch | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 334 | 59 |
| 2 | 2 | 4 | Kevin Harvick | Stewart-Haas Racing | Ford | 334 | 45 |
| 3 | 24 | 1 | Jamie McMurray | Chip Ganassi Racing | Chevrolet | 334 | 38 |
| 4 | 21 | 20 | Erik Jones | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 334 | 41 |
| 5 | 4 | 12 | Ryan Blaney | Team Penske | Ford | 334 | 32 |
| 6 | 7 | 22 | Joey Logano | Team Penske | Ford | 334 | 46 |
| 7 | 1 | 41 | Kurt Busch | Stewart-Haas Racing | Ford | 334 | 47 |
| 8 | 15 | 43 | Darrell Wallace Jr. (R) | Richard Petty Motorsports | Chevrolet | 334 | 29 |
| 9 | 3 | 14 | Clint Bowyer | Stewart-Haas Racing | Ford | 334 | 39 |
| 10 | 33 | 24 | William Byron (R) | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 334 | 27 |
| 11 | 20 | 9 | Chase Elliott | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 333 | 33 |
| 12 | 13 | 6 | Trevor Bayne | Roush Fenway Racing | Ford | 333 | 25 |
| 13 | 23 | 13 | Ty Dillon | Germain Racing | Chevrolet | 332 | 24 |
| 14 | 27 | 34 | Michael McDowell | Front Row Motorsports | Ford | 332 | 23 |
| 15 | 18 | 37 | Chris Buescher | JTG Daugherty Racing | Chevrolet | 331 | 22 |
| 16 | 30 | 32 | Matt DiBenedetto | Go Fas Racing | Ford | 329 | 21 |
| 17 | 28 | 95 | Kasey Kahne | Leavine Family Racing | Chevrolet | 328 | 20 |
| 18 | 31 | 15 | Ross Chastain (i) | Premium Motorsports | Chevrolet | 325 | 0 |
| 19 | 34 | 72 | Cole Whitt | TriStar Motorsports | Chevrolet | 324 | 18 |
| 20 | 32 | 23 | Gray Gaulding | BK Racing | Toyota | 322 | 17 |
| 21 | 35 | 00 | Landon Cassill | StarCom Racing | Chevrolet | 321 | 16 |
| 22 | 36 | 51 | Harrison Rhodes | Rick Ware Racing | Chevrolet | 319 | 15 |
| 23 | 29 | 38 | David Ragan | Front Row Motorsports | Ford | 317 | 14 |
| 24 | 22 | 47 | A. J. Allmendinger | JTG Daugherty Racing | Chevrolet | 316 | 13 |
| 25 | 26 | 17 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | Roush Fenway Racing | Ford | 315 | 15 |
| 26 | 17 | 3 | Austin Dillon | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 304 | 11 |
| 27 | 25 | 31 | Ryan Newman | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 303 | 10 |
| 28 | 16 | 88 | Alex Bowman | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 294 | 9 |
| 29 | 14 | 19 | Daniel Suárez | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 290 | 8 |
| 30 | 19 | 21 | Paul Menard | Wood Brothers Racing | Ford | 215 | 7 |
| 31 | 37 | 55 | Reed Sorenson | Premium Motorsports | Chevrolet | 209 | 6 |
| 32 | 12 | 10 | Aric Almirola | Stewart-Hass Racing | Ford | 178 | 6 |
| 33 | 11 | 2 | Brad Keselowski | Team Penske | Ford | 178 | 11 |
| 34 | 5 | 11 | Denny Hamlin | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 177 | 5 |
| 35 | 9 | 48 | Jimmie Johnson | Hendricks Motorsports | Chevrolet | 175 | 2 |
| 36 | 10 | 42 | Kyle Larson | Chip Ganassi Racing | Chevrolet | 126 | 7 |
| 37 | 6 | 78 | Martin Truex Jr. | Furniture Row Racing | Toyota | 80 | 1 |
| Official race results ||||||||

### Race statistics

* Lead changes: 8 among different drivers
* Cautions/Laps: 8 for 48
* Red flags: 1 for 11 minutes and 5 seconds
* Time of race: 3 hours, 32 minutes and 7 seconds
* Average speed: 141.714 miles per hour (228.067 km/h)

## Media
### Television

Fox Sports covered their 18th race at the Texas Motor Speedway. Mike Joy, 2009 race winner Jeff Gordon and Darrell Waltrip had the call in the booth for the race. Jamie Little, Vince Welch and Matt Yocum handled the pit road duties for the television side.
FS1 :
| Booth announcers | Pit reporters |
| Lap-by-lap: Mike Joy Color-commentator: Jeff Gordon Color commentator: Darrell Waltrip | Jamie Little Vince Welch Matt Yocum |

### Radio

The race was broadcast on radio by the Performance Racing Network and simulcast on Sirius XM NASCAR Radio.
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 |

## Standings after the race

| | Pos | Driver | Points |
| | 1 | Kyle Busch | 316 |
| 2 | 2 | Joey Logano | 278 (–38) |
| | 3 | Ryan Blaney | 265 (–51) |
| 3 | 4 | Kevin Harvick | 257 (–59) |
| 3 | 5 | Martin Truex Jr. | 250 (–66) |
| 2 | 6 | Clint Bowyer | 249 (–67) |
| 2 | 7 | Brad Keselowski | 237 (–79) |
| 2 | 8 | Kurt Busch | 224 (–92) |
| 3 | 9 | Denny Hamlin | 222 (–94) |
| 1 | 10 | Kyle Larson | 202 (–114) |
| 1 | 11 | Erik Jones | 193 (–123) |
| 1 | 12 | Aric Almirola | 177 (–139) |
| | 13 | Austin Dillon | 159 (–157) |
| | 14 | Alex Bowman | 154 (–162) |
| 3 | 15 | Chase Elliott | 148 (–168) |
| 1 | 16 | Paul Menard | 146 (–170) |
| Official driver's standings ||||
| | Pos | Manufacturer | Points |
| | 1 | Ford | 253 |
| | 2 | Toyota | 252 (–1) |
| | 3 | Chevrolet | 227 (–26) |
| Official manufacturers' standings ||||