2018 Food City 500


The 2018 Food City 500 was a Monster Energy [NASCAR Cup Series] race held on April 15 and 16, 2018, at Bristol Motor Speedway in Bristol, Tennessee. The second half of the race was postponed to April 16 due to rain. Contested over 500 laps on the concrete short track, it was the eighth race of the 2018 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series season.

Report

Background

Bristol Motor Speedway, formerly known as Bristol International Raceway and Bristol Raceway, is a NASCAR short track venue located in Bristol, Tennessee. Constructed in 1960, it held its first NASCAR race on July 30, 1961. Despite its short length, Bristol is among the most popular tracks on the NASCAR schedule because of its distinct features, which include extraordinarily steep banking, an all concrete surface, two pit roads, and stadium-like seating.

First practice

Ryan Blaney was the fastest in the first practice session with a time of 14.774 seconds and a speed of.

Qualifying

Kyle Busch scored the pole for the race with a time of 14.895 and a speed of.

Practice (post-qualifying)

Second practice

Kyle Larson was the fastest in the second practice session with a time of 14.874 seconds and a speed of.

Final practice

David Ragan was the fastest in the final practice session with a time of 15.051 seconds and a speed of.

Race results

Stage Results

Stage 1
Laps: 125
Stage 2
Laps: 125

Final Stage Results

Stage 3
Laps: 250

Race statistics

  • Lead changes: 8 among different drivers
  • Cautions/Laps: 13 for 114
  • Red flags: 4 for 18 hours 58 minutes and 48 seconds
  • Time of race: 3 hours, 26 minutes and 25 seconds
  • Average speed:

Media

Television

Fox Sports covered their 18th race at the Bristol Motor Speedway. Mike Joy, five-time Bristol winner Jeff Gordon and 12-time Bristol winner – and all-time Bristol race winner – Darrell Waltrip had the call in the booth for the race. Jamie Little, Vince Welch and Matt Yocum handled the pit road duties for the television side.

Radio

PRN had the radio call for the race which was also simulcasted on Sirius XM NASCAR Radio. Doug Rice, Mark Garrow and Wendy Venturini called the race in the booth when the field was racing down the frontstretch. Rob Albright called the race from atop the turn 3 suites when the field raced down the backstretch. Brad Gillie, Brett Mcmillan, Jim Noble, and Steve Richards covered the action on pit lane.

Standings after the race

;Drivers' Championship standings
;Manufacturers' Championship standings