2018 AAA 400 Drive for Autism


The 2018 AAA 400 Drive for Autism was 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 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 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.

Qualifying

Kyle Larson scored the pole for the race with a time of 22.770 and a speed of.

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.

Final practice

Aric Almirola was the fastest in the final practice session with a time of 22.745 seconds and a speed of.

Race

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:

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.

Standings after the race

;Drivers' Championship standings
;Manufacturers' Championship standings