2018 Advance Auto Parts Clash

The 2018 Advance Auto Parts Clash was a Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race held on February 11, 2018, at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida. Contested over 75 laps, it was the first exhibition race of the 2018 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series season.

2018 Advance Auto Parts Clash
Race details[1][2][3][4][5][6]
Race 1 of 2 exhibition races in the 2018 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series
Date February 11, 2018 (2018-02-11)
Location Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida
Course Permanent racing facility
2.5 mi (4 km)
Distance 75 laps, 187.5 mi (300 km)
Average speed 169.641 mph (273.011 km/h)
Pole position
Driver Richard Childress Racing
Most laps led
Driver Brad Keselowski Team Penske
Laps 43
Winner
No. 2 Brad Keselowski Team Penske
Television in the United States
Network FS1
Announcers Mike Joy, Jeff Gordon and Darrell Waltrip
Nielsen Ratings 1.35 (Overnight)[7]
Radio in the United States
Radio MRN
Booth Announcers Joe Moore, Jeff Striegle and Rusty Wallace
Turn Announcers Dave Moody (1 & 2), Mike Bagley (Backstretch) and Kyle Rickey (3 & 4)

Report

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Background

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Daytona International Speedway, where the race was held.

The track, Daytona International Speedway, is one of six superspeedways to hold NASCAR races, the others being Michigan International Speedway, Auto Club Speedway, Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Pocono Raceway and Talladega Superspeedway. The standard track at Daytona International Speedway is a four–turn superspeedway that is 2.5-mile (4.0 km) The track's turns are banked at 31 degrees, while the front stretch, the location of the finish line, is banked at 18 degrees.

Format and eligibility

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The race is 75 laps in length, and is divided into two segments; the first is 25 laps and the second is 50 laps. The race is open to those drivers who won a pole in the 2017 season or had won "The Clash" previously.

The 2018 Clash at Daytona will not be a predetermined number of cars; rather, the field is limited to drivers who meet more exclusive criteria. Only drivers who were 2017 Pole Award winners, former Clash race winners, former Daytona 500 pole winners who competed full–time in 2017 and drivers who qualified for the 2017 Playoffs are eligible.

Entry list

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No. Driver Team Manufacturer
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
9 Chase Elliott Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
11 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
12 Ryan Blaney Team Penske Ford
17 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Roush Fenway Racing Ford
18 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
20 Erik Jones Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
22 Joey Logano Team Penske Ford
31 Ryan Newman Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet
41 Kurt Busch Stewart-Haas Racing Ford
42 Kyle Larson Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet
48 Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
78 Martin Truex Jr. Furniture Row Racing Toyota
95 Kasey Kahne Leavine Family Racing Chevrolet
Official entry list

Practice

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Ryan Blaney was the fastest in the practice session with a time of 45.090 seconds and a speed of 199.601 mph (321.227 km/h).[8]

Pos No. Driver Team Manufacturer Time Speed
1 12 Ryan Blaney Team Penske Ford 45.090 199.601
2 22 Joey Logano Team Penske Ford 45.103 199.543
3 17 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Roush Fenway Racing Ford 45.111 199.508
Official practice results

Starting lineup

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The lineup was determined by random draw, with Austin Dillon drawing the top spot.

Pos No Driver Team Manufacturer
1 3 Austin Dillon Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet
2 11 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
3 22 Joey Logano Team Penske Ford
4 20 Erik Jones Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
5 48 Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
6 78 Martin Truex Jr. Furniture Row Racing Toyota
7 95 Kasey Kahne Leavine Family Racing Chevrolet
8 17 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Roush Fenway Racing Ford
9 4 Kevin Harvick Stewart-Haas Racing Ford
10 42 Kyle Larson Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet
11 31 Ryan Newman Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet
12 9 Chase Elliott Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
13 18 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
14 41 Kurt Busch Stewart-Haas Racing Ford
15 12 Ryan Blaney Team Penske Ford
16 1 Jamie McMurray Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet
17 2 Brad Keselowski Team Penske Ford
Official starting lineup

Race

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Austin Dillon led the field to the green flag. He would lead the first lap of the race, as Denny Hamlin would pass him just after the start finish line to take over the lead. By lap 6, the field quickly became mostly single file on the top lane. On lap 7 heading into turn 1, Kyle Larson, who was running 5th at that time, made contact with Ricky Stenhouse Jr. which resulted in Larson getting loose onto the apron and back up the track to save it, but fell all the way back to 16th. On lap 10, the field suddenly became double wide in front as Chase Elliott was able to pass Hamlin for the lead. Elliott would be challenged by Austin Dillon for the lead side by side for the next several laps, but Elliott would manage to hang on with the lead. By lap 22, Elliott would again be challenged for the lead this time with Joey Logano, who was running near the front the whole time, with Logano taking over the lead on lap 24 after a push from Martin Truex Jr. On lap 25, all but Kyle Larson, Kevin Harvick, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Ryan Newman, and Jamie McMurray pitted for fuel and tires. Brad Keselowski was first off of pit road after only taking two tires as the competition caution came out on lap 26. The drivers who didn't pit before the caution ended up pitting for service. Jimmie Johnson was busted after driving through too many pit boxes and would restart at the tail end of the field.

The race restarted with 46 to go as Keselowski the leader. On lap 33, Chase Elliott got shuffled out of line while running 2nd and would fall back to 7th. The second caution came out on lap 34 when Jamie McMurray got side drafted by Kurt Busch which caused Jamie to get loose and spin into the outside wall, causing significant damage to the right front.

The race restarted with 37 to go with Keselowski leading. With 33 to go, Martin Truex Jr., came up behind Keselowski to take over the lead for a brief moment, when Keselowski passed Truex on the same lap. At the same time, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. got forced below the double yellow line and passed Kyle Busch when he was below the line. He would be assessed a drive-thru penalty that would ultimately eliminate him out of contention. The field became single file once again with 29 to go.

With 8 laps to go, the field was still running single file as Brad Keselowski stayed in the lead. His car picked up a big piece of debris that covered a third of his grille, but that didn't really affect him during the race. At 2 laps to go, Austin Dillon was first to make a second lane from the 8th position as Chase Elliott joined him in the inside lane. On the white flag, Ryan Blaney attempted to make a move on the inside, but Keselowski blocked Blaney. On the back straightaway, Kyle Larson bumped Jimmie Johnson into the outside wall creating a multi-car crash collecting Kasey Kahne, Martin Truex Jr., Chase Elliott, and Kyle Busch. This brought out the final caution and Keselowski was ahead of the wreck and drove on to his first Clash victory.

Race results

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Pos Grid No Driver Team Manufacturer Laps
1 17 2 Brad Keselowski Team Penske Ford 75
2 3 22 Joey Logano Team Penske Ford 75
3 14 41 Kurt Busch Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 75
4 15 12 Ryan Blaney Team Penske Ford 75
5 1 3 Austin Dillon Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 75
6 2 11 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 75
7 13 18 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 75
8 4 20 Erik Jones Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 75
9 9 4 Kevin Harvick Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 75
10 10 42 Kyle Larson Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 75
11 11 31 Ryan Newman Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 75
12 5 48 Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 74
13 12 9 Chase Elliott Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 74
14 6 78 Martin Truex Jr. Furniture Row Racing Toyota 74
15 7 95 Kasey Kahne Leavine Family Racing Chevrolet 74
16 8 17 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Roush Fenway Racing Ford 73
17 16 1 Jamie McMurray Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 43
Official race results

Media

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FS1 covered the race on the television side; Mike Joy, Darrell Waltrip and Jeff Gordon handled the call in the booth for the race; Matt Yocum, Jamie Little and Vince Welch handled pit road for the television side.

Television

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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

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MRN Radio
Booth announcers Turn announcers Pit reporters
Lead announcer: Joe Moore
Announcer: Jeff Striegle
Announcer: Rusty Wallace
Turns 1 & 2: Dave Moody
Backstretch: Mike Bagley
Turns 3 & 4: Kyle Rickey
Alex Hayden
Winston Kelley
Steve Post

References

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  1. ^ "2018 schedule". Jayski.com. Jayski's Silly Season Site. May 5, 2017. Archived from the original on December 24, 2017. Retrieved December 25, 2017.
  2. ^ "Daytona International Speedway". NASCAR.com. NASCAR Media Group, LLC. January 3, 2013. Archived from the original on July 4, 2015. Retrieved December 25, 2017.
  3. ^ "Entry List". MRN.com. Motor Racing Network. February 7, 2018. Retrieved February 7, 2018.
  4. ^ "Practice Results". MRN.com. Motor Racing Network. February 10, 2018. Retrieved February 10, 2018.
  5. ^ "Starting Lineup". MRN.com. Motor Racing Network. February 10, 2018. Retrieved February 10, 2018.
  6. ^ "Advance Auto Parts Clash at Daytona Results". MRN.com. Motor Racing Network. February 11, 2018. Retrieved February 11, 2018.
  7. ^ "NASCAR 2018 TV Ratings". Jayski's Silly Season Site. ESPN. Retrieved 7 May 2018.
  8. ^ Spencer, Lee (February 10, 2018). "Ryan Blaney leads practice for the Clash at Daytona". Motorsport.com. Daytona Beach, Florida: Motorsport Network. Retrieved February 10, 2018.