2018 AAA 400 Drive for Autism

The **2018 AAA 400 Drive for Autism** is a Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race held on May 6, 2018, at Dover International Speedway in Dover, Delaware. Contested over 400 laps on the 1-mile (1.6 km) concrete speedway, it was the 11th race of the 2018 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series season.

## Report

### Background

Dover International Speedway is an oval race track in Dover, Delaware, United States that has held at least two NASCAR races since it opened in 1969. In addition to NASCAR, the track also hosted USAC and the Verizon IndyCar Series. The track features one layout, a 1 mile (1.6 km) concrete oval, with 24° banking in the turns and 9° banking on the straights. The speedway is owned and operated by Dover Motorsports.

The track, nicknamed "The Monster Mile", was built in 1969 by Melvin Joseph of Melvin L. Joseph Construction Company, Inc., with an asphalt surface, but was replaced with concrete in 1995. Six years later in 2001, the track's capacity moved to 135,000 seats, making the track have the largest capacity of sports venue in the mid-Atlantic. In 2002, the name changed to Dover International Speedway from Dover Downs International Speedway after Dover Downs Gaming and Entertainment split, making Dover Motorsports. From 2007 to 2009, the speedway worked on an improvement project called "The Monster Makeover", which expanded facilities at the track and beautified the track. After the 2014 season, the track's capacity was reduced to 95,500 seats.

## First practice

Paul Menard was the fastest in the first practice session with a time of 22.524 seconds and a speed of 159.830 mph (257.221 km/h).

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## Qualifying

Kyle Larson scored the pole for the race with a time of 22.770 and a speed of 158.103 mph (254.442 km/h).

## Practice (post-qualifying)

### Second practice

Joey Logano was the fastest in the second practice session with a time of 22.858 seconds and a speed of 157.494 mph (253.462 km/h).

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### Final practice

 File:2018 AAA 400 Drive for Autism final practice.jpg
Aric Almirola was the fastest in the final practice session with a time of 22.745 seconds and a speed of 158.277 mph (254.722 km/h).

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### Stage 1

Kyle Larson led the field to the green flag at 2:09 p.m., The field had completed only three laps before the track, which attracts cautions like a magnet, drew in its first victim. After contact with Darrell Wallace Jr., Michael McDowell slid through turn four and down to the inside of the track, sparking the first yellow period of the race.

Back to green on lap 8, and it remained green for 15 laps.

Caution flew for for the second time again on lap 20 when Corey LaJoie's engine blew on the back straigtaway, and Derrike Cope won the free pass.

Racing resumed on lap 26, There were lead changes at the end of the race, and with several drivers saving fuel to make it to the end of the stage, Kevin Harvick led the opening stage in front of Kyle Busch and Brad Keselowski. Also in the top 10: Daniel Suárez, Kurt Busch, Chase Elliott, Clint Bowyer, Jimmie Johnson, Joey Logano and Ryan Blaney, the third caution flew for conclusion of the first stage.

### Stage 2

Restart flew on lap 128, and it remained green for 26 laps.

Derrike Cope lost control of his car in the fourth turn on lap 154 and bounced off the outside wall before hitting the inside wall much harder. Cope was not hurt. The accident brought out the fourth caution of the race.

Racing restarted on lap 159, and there were lead changes for the remainder of stage 2, Kevin Harvick outran Brad Keselowski to win the second stage. Following in the top 10 were Kyle Busch, Jimmie Johnson, Bowyer, Daniel Suárez, Martin Truex Jr., Ryan Blaney, Chase Elliott and Joey Logano, the fifth caution flew for conclusion of the second stage.

### Final stage

Back to green on lap 249, and caution flew for the sixth time when Cody Ware hit the wall in turn four on lap 253.

Racing resumed on lap 260, and Kyle Busch dropped out of the race on lap 272 because of a broken driveshaft. Busch complained of driveshaft problems early in the race but held on and raced in the top five before parking. and the seventh caution flew one lap later for fluid on the track and Brad Keselowski took the lead.

Racing resumed on lap 282 and it remained green for 35 laps.

A rain shower brought out the eighth caution flag of the race, on lap 315 (of a scheduled 400). Bowyer had a four-second lead over Harvick. Joey Logano was third, followed by Martin Truex Jr. and Brad Keselowski. NASCAR parked the cars under a red flag at lap 320. The delay lasted roughly 40 minutes as the rain moved out, and the red flag was lifted and the field was continued under caution.

Racing resumed on lap 326, Eighteen laps after the race was restarted from a rain delay, Kevin Harvick breezed past Stewart-Haas Racing teammate Bowyer to take the lead. He quickly built a three-second edge and drove on to score the victory.

#### Post race

“It was just one of those weekends where the car was spot‑on from the time we got here, and the guys are just doing a great job,” Harvick said. “Everybody is just so detail-oriented right now, and I feel like we're playoff racing on a weekly basis, and if you're going to win a bunch of races, that's what you have to do.”

##### Driver comments

“This track is really hard to maintain the balance on,” said Tony Stewart, Harvick’s car owner. “You know, at times it can get really frustrating. There’s really no drivers that back into a win here. It's guys that have a lot of experience and figure it out.

“Kevin is so good here. He knows what his balance needs to be in happy hour to be good in the race, and like I say, from the beginning of the race to the end of the race, the cars change so much here that you really have to kind of stay two steps ahead of it to be right at the end of the day.”

### Stage Results

**Stage 1**
*Laps:* 120

**Stage 2**
*Laps:* 120

### Final Stage Results

**Stage 3**
*Laps:* 160

### Race statistics

* Lead changes: 6 among different drivers
* Cautions/Laps: 8 for 48
* Red flags: 1 for 41 minutes and 1 second
* Time of race: 3 hours, 28 minutes and 37 seconds
* Average speed: 115.044 miles per hour (185.145 km/h)

## Media

### Television

Fox Sports covered their 18th race at the Dover International Speedway. Mike Joy, five-time Dover winner Jeff Gordon and two-time Dover winner Darrell Waltrip had the call in the booth for the race. Jamie Little, Vince Welch and Matt Yocum handled the action on pit road for the television side.

### Radio

MRN had the radio call for the race which was also simulcasted on Sirius XM NASCAR Radio.

 **Lead announcer:** Joe Moore**Announcer:** Jeff Striegle**Announcer:** Rusty Wallace | **Backstretch:** Mike Bagley | Kim CoonAlex HaydenDillon WelchSteve Post

## References

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