2018 Toyota Owners 400

2018 Toyota Owners 400

Race details[1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9]
Race 9 of 36 in the 2018 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series
Date	April 21, 2018 (2018-04-21)
Location	Richmond Raceway in Richmond, Virginia
Course	Permanent racing facility
Course length	0.75 miles (1.207 km)
Distance	402 laps, 301.5 mi (485.217 km)
Scheduled distance	400 laps, 300 mi (482.803 km)
Average speed	96.215 miles per hour (154.843 km/h)
Pole position
Driver	Martin Truex Jr.	Furniture Row Racing
Time	21.799
Most laps led
Driver	Martin Truex Jr.	Furniture Row Racing
Laps	121
Winner
No. 18	Kyle Busch	Joe Gibbs Racing
Television in the United States
Network	Fox
Announcers	Mike Joy, Jeff Gordon and Darrell Waltrip
Nielsen ratings	1.7 (Overnight)[10]
Radio in the United States
Radio	MRN
Booth announcers	Joe Moore, Jeff Striegle and Rusty Wallace
Turn announcers	Mike Bagley (Backstretch)

The 2018 Toyota Owners 400 was a Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race held on April 21, 2018, at Richmond Raceway in Richmond, Virginia. Contested over 402 laps – extended from 400 laps due to an overtime finish – on the 0.75-mile (1.21-kilometre) asphalt short track, it was the ninth race of the 2018 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series season.

Joe Gibbs Racing driver Kyle Busch took his third successive victory, having started from 32nd on the grid, taking the race lead at the final round of pit stops.

Richmond Raceway is a 0.75-mile (1.21-kilometre), D-shaped, asphalt race track located just outside Richmond, Virginia in Henrico County. Known as "America's premier short track", it has hosted all three NASCAR national series, an IndyCar Series race, and two USAC sprint car races.

Chase Elliott was the fastest in the first practice session with a time of 22.254 seconds and a speed of 121.327 mph (195.257 km/h).^[11]

Kyle Larson was the fastest in the final practice session with a time of 22.441 seconds and a speed of 120.315 mph (193.628 km/h).^[12]

Martin Truex Jr. scored the pole for the race with a time of 21.799 and a speed of 123.859 mph (199.332 km/h).^[13]

Stage 1 Laps: 100

Stage 2 Laps: 100

Stage 3 Laps: 202

• Lead changes: 16 among 7 different drivers
• Cautions/Laps: 6 for 46 laps
• Red flags: 0
• Time of race: 3 hours, 8 minutes and 1 second
• Average speed: 96.215 miles per hour (154.843 km/h)

Fox Sports covered their 18th race at Richmond Raceway. Mike Joy, two-time Richmond winner Jeff Gordon and six-time Richmond winner Darrell Waltrip called the race from the broadcast booth, while Regan Smith, Vince Welch and Matt Yocum handled pit road duties.

MRN had the radio call for the race which was also simulcast on SiriusXM's NASCAR Radio channel. Joe Moore, Jeff Striegle and six-time Richmond winner Rusty Wallace called the race in the booth when the field raced down the frontstretch. Mike Bagley called the race from a platform inside the backstretch when the field raced down the backstretch, while Winston Kelley, Alex Hayden and Glenn Jarrett worked pit road.

Drivers' Championship standings Pos Driver Points 1 Kyle Busch 415 2 Joey Logano 359 (–56) 1 3 Clint Bowyer 329 (–86) 1 4 Kevin Harvick 324 (–91) 5 Brad Keselowski 303 (–112) 2 6 Denny Hamlin 286 (–129) 7 Martin Truex Jr. 284 (–131) 2 8 Ryan Blaney 282 (–133) 1 9 Kurt Busch 282 (–133) 1 10 Kyle Larson 279 (–136) 11 Aric Almirola 248 (–167) 12 Erik Jones 233 (–182) 13 Alex Bowman 209 (–206) 14 Austin Dillon 208 (–207) 2 15 Jimmie Johnson 200 (–215) 3 16 William Byron 192 (–223) Official driver's standings

Manufacturers' Championship standings Pos Manufacturer Points 1 Toyota 332 2 Ford 319 (–13) 3 Chevrolet 297 (–35) Official manufacturers' standings Note: Only the first 16 positions are included for the driver standings. . – Driver has clinched a position in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series playoffs.