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.
Report
Format and eligibility 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 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 ChevroletOfficial entry list
Practice Ryan Blaney was the fastest in the practice session with a time of 45.090 seconds and a speed of .
Pos Driver Team Manufacturer Time 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 45.111 199.508Official practice results
Starting lineup The lineup was determined by random draw, with Austin Dillon drawing the top spot. Pos 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 FordOfficial starting lineup
Race 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 Pos Grid Driver Team Manufacturer Laps1 17 2 Brad Keselowski Team Penske Ford 752 3 22 Joey Logano Team Penske Ford 753 14 41 Kurt Busch Stewart–Haas Racing Ford 754 15 12 Ryan Blaney Team Penske Ford 755 1 3 Austin Dillon Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 756 2 11 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 757 13 18 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 758 4 20 Erik Jones Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 759 9 4 Kevin Harvick Stewart–Haas Racing Ford 7510 10 42 Kyle Larson Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 7511 11 31 Ryan Newman Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 7512 5 48 Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 7413 12 9 Chase Elliott Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 7414 6 78 Martin Truex Jr. Furniture Row Racing Toyota 7415 7 95 Kasey Kahne Leavine Family Racing Chevrolet 7416 8 17 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Roush Fenway Racing Ford 7317 16 1 Jamie McMurray Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 43Official race results
Media 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 FS1Booth announcersPit reporters Lap-by-lap: Mike JoyColor-commentator: Jeff GordonColor commentator: Darrell Waltrip Jamie LittleVince WelchMatt Yocum
Radio MRN RadioBooth announcersTurn announcersPit reporters Lead announcer: Joe MooreAnnouncer: Jeff StriegleAnnouncer: Rusty Wallace Turns 1 & 2: Dave MoodyBackstretch: Mike BagleyTurns 3 & 4: Kyle Rickey Alex HaydenWinston KelleySteve Post
References