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 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. Practice. First practice. Denny Hamlin was the fastest in the first practice session with a time of 28.543 seconds and a speed of . Final  practice. Ryan Newman was the fastest in the final practice session with a time of 28.641 seconds and a speed of . Qualifying. Denny Hamlin scored the pole for the race with a time of 28.332 and a speed of . Race. Stage Results. Stage 1 "Laps:" 100 Stage 2 "Laps:" 100 Final Stage Results. Stage 3 "Laps:" 167 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. 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