2018 Consumers Energy 400

2018 Consumers Energy 400

Race details[1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10]
Race 23 of 36 in the 2018 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series
Date	August 12, 2018 (2018-08-12)
Location	Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn, Michigan
Course	Permanent racing facility
Course length	2 miles (3.2 km)
Distance	200 laps, 400 mi (640 km)
Average speed	140.474 miles per hour (226.071 km/h)
Pole position
Driver	Denny Hamlin	Joe Gibbs Racing
Time	35.504
Most laps led
Driver	Kevin Harvick	Stewart-Haas Racing
Laps	108
Winner
No. 4	Kevin Harvick	Stewart-Haas Racing
Television in the United States
Network	NBCSN
Announcers	Rick Allen, Jeff Burton, Steve Letarte and Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Nielsen ratings	1.62 (Overnight)[11]
Radio in the United States
Radio	MRN
Booth announcers	Joe Moore, Jeff Striegle and Rusty Wallace
Turn announcers	Dave Moody (1 & 2) and Kurt Becker (3 & 4)

The 2018 Consumers Energy 400 is a Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race held on August 12, 2018 at Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn, Michigan. Contested over 200 laps on the two-mile (3.2 km) D-shaped oval, it is the 23rd race of the 2018 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series season.

Report

Background

Michigan International Speedway

Michigan International Speedway (MIS) is a two-mile (3.2 km) moderate-banked D-shaped speedway located off U.S. Highway 12 on more than 1,400 acres (5.7 km²) approximately four miles (6.4 km) south of the village of Brooklyn, in the scenic Irish Hills area of southeastern Michigan. The track is used primarily for NASCAR events. It is sometimes known as a "sister track" to Texas World Speedway, and was used as the basis of Auto Club Speedway. The track is owned by International Speedway Corporation (ISC). Michigan International Speedway is recognized as one of motorsports' premier facilities because of its wide racing surface and high banking (by open-wheel standards; the 18-degree banking is modest by stock car standards). Michigan is the fastest track in NASCAR due to its wide, sweeping corners and long straightaways; typical qualifying speeds are in excess of 200 mph (320 km/h) and corner entry speeds are anywhere from 215 to 220 mph (346 to 354 km/h) after the 2012 repaving of the track.

Entry list

No.	Driver	Team	Manufacturer
00	Landon Cassill	StarCom Racing	Chevrolet
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
6	Trevor Bayne	Roush Fenway Racing	Ford
7	Garrett Smithley (i)	Premium Motorsports	Chevrolet
9	Chase Elliott	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet
10	Aric Almirola	Stewart-Haas Racing	Ford
11	Denny Hamlin	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota
12	Ryan Blaney	Team Penske	Ford
13	Ty Dillon	Germain Racing	Chevrolet
14	Clint Bowyer	Stewart-Haas Racing	Ford
15	Ross Chastain (i)	Premium Motorsports	Chevrolet
17	Ricky Stenhouse Jr.	Roush Fenway Racing	Ford
18	Kyle Busch	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota
19	Daniel Suárez	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota
20	Erik Jones	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota
21	Paul Menard	Wood Brothers Racing	Ford
22	Joey Logano	Team Penske	Ford
23	Blake Jones	BK Racing	Toyota
24	William Byron (R)	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet
31	Ryan Newman	Richard Childress Racing	Chevrolet
32	Matt DiBenedetto	Go Fas Racing	Ford
34	Michael McDowell	Front Row Motorsports	Ford
37	Chris Buescher	JTG Daugherty Racing	Chevrolet
38	David Ragan	Front Row Motorsports	Ford
41	Kurt Busch	Stewart-Haas Racing	Ford
42	Kyle Larson	Chip Ganassi Racing	Chevrolet
43	Darrell Wallace Jr. (R)	Richard Petty Motorsports	Chevrolet
47	A. J. Allmendinger	JTG Daugherty Racing	Chevrolet
48	Jimmie Johnson	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet
51	B. J. McLeod (i)	Rick Ware Racing	Ford
66	Timmy Hill (i)	MBM Motorsports	Chevrolet
72	Corey LaJoie	TriStar Motorsports	Chevrolet
78	Martin Truex Jr.	Furniture Row Racing	Toyota
88	Alex Bowman	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet
95	Kasey Kahne	Leavine Family Racing	Chevrolet
96	Jeffrey Earnhardt	Gaunt Brothers Racing	Toyota
99	Gray Gaulding	StarCom Racing	Chevrolet
Official entry list

First practice

Denny Hamlin was the fastest in the first practice session with a time of 35.603 seconds and a speed of 202.230 mph (325.458 km/h).^[12]

Pos	No.	Driver	Team	Manufacturer	Time	Speed
1	11	Denny Hamlin	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	35.603	202.230
2	41	Kurt Busch	Stewart-Haas Racing	Ford	35.661	201.901
3	19	Daniel Suárez	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	35.670	201.850
Official first practice results

Qualifying

Denny Hamlin in 2017

Denny Hamlin scored the pole for the race with a time of 35.504 and a speed of 202.794 mph (326.365 km/h).^[13]

Qualifying results

Pos	No.	Driver	Team	Manufacturer	R1	R2	R3
1	11	Denny Hamlin	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	35.716	35.604	35.504
2	18	Kyle Busch	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	36.107	35.682	35.515
3	4	Kevin Harvick	Stewart-Haas Racing	Ford	36.218	35.662	35.626
4	20	Erik Jones	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	35.945	35.750	35.678
5	3	Austin Dillon	Richard Childress Racing	Chevrolet	36.198	35.812	35.688
6	31	Ryan Newman	Richard Childress Racing	Chevrolet	36.055	35.784	35.704
7	78	Martin Truex Jr.	Furniture Row Racing	Toyota	36.025	35.707	35.746
8	12	Ryan Blaney	Team Penske	Ford	35.932	35.836	35.766
9	22	Joey Logano	Team Penske	Ford	35.830	35.762	35.780
10	88	Alex Bowman	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	35.827	35.715	35.788
11	10	Aric Almirola	Stewart-Haas Racing	Ford	35.829	35.798	35.906
12	41	Kurt Busch	Stewart-Haas Racing	Ford	35.784	35.698	35.994
13	17	Ricky Stenhouse Jr.	Roush Fenway Racing	Ford	36.145	35.849	—
14	21	Paul Menard	Wood Brothers Racing	Ford	35.871	35.854	—
15	1	Jamie McMurray	Chip Ganassi Racing	Chevrolet	36.206	35.897	—
16	14	Clint Bowyer	Stewart-Haas Racing	Ford	35.844	35.952	—
17	42	Kyle Larson	Chip Ganassi Racing	Chevrolet	36.159	35.987	—
18	2	Brad Keselowski	Team Penske	Ford	35.908	36.074	—
19	48	Jimmie Johnson	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	36.324	36.091	—
20	24	William Byron (R)	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	36.361	36.139	—
21	9	Chase Elliott	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	36.142	36.167	—
22	43	Darrell Wallace Jr. (R)	Richard Petty Motorsports	Chevrolet	36.444	36.415	—
23	37	Chris Buescher	JTG Daugherty Racing	Chevrolet	36.268	36.438	—
24	38	David Ragan	Front Row Motorsports	Ford	36.457	36.467	—
25	47	A. J. Allmendinger	JTG Daugherty Racing	Chevrolet	36.483	—	—
26	6	Trevor Bayne	Roush Fenway Racing	Ford	36.493	—	—
27	13	Ty Dillon	Germain Racing	Chevrolet	36.493	—	—
28	95	Kasey Kahne	Leavine Family Racing	Chevrolet	36.495	—	—
29	34	Michael McDowell	Front Row Motorsports	Ford	36.639	—	—
30	32	Matt DiBenedetto	Go Fas Racing	Ford	36.663	—	—
31	00	Landon Cassill	StarCom Racing	Chevrolet	36.816	—	—
32	72	Corey LaJoie	TriStar Motorsports	Chevrolet	37.203	—	—
33	51	B. J. McLeod (i)	Rick Ware Racing	Ford	37.550	—	—
34	99	Gray Gaulding	StarCom Racing	Chevrolet	37.806	—	—
35	15	Reed Sorenson	Premium Motorsports	Chevrolet	37.962	—	—
36	7	Garrett Smithley (i)	Premium Motorsports	Chevrolet	38.228	—	—
37	66	Timmy Hill (i)	MBM Motorsports	Chevrolet	38.783	—	—
38	96	Jeffrey Earnhardt	Gaunt Brothers Racing	Toyota	39.119	—	—
39	23	Blake Jones	BK Racing	Toyota	39.492	—	—
40	19	Daniel Suárez	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	0.000	—	—
Official qualifying results

• Reed Sorenson practiced and qualified the No. 15 for Ross Chastain who was in Ohio for the Xfinity Series race.

Practice (post-qualifying)

Second practice

Erik Jones was the fastest in the second practice session with a time of 35.973 seconds and a speed of 200.150 mph (322.110 km/h).^[14]

Pos	No.	Driver	Team	Manufacturer	Time	Speed
1	20	Erik Jones	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	35.973	200.150
2	24	William Byron (R)	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	36.058	199.678
3	2	Brad Keselowski	Team Penske	Ford	36.116	199.358
Official second practice results

Final practice

Joey Logano was the fastest in the final practice session with a time of 36.441 seconds and a speed of 197.580 mph (317.974 km/h).^[15]

Pos	No.	Driver	Team	Manufacturer	Time	Speed
1	22	Joey Logano	Team Penske	Ford	36.441	197.580
2	18	Kyle Busch	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	36.452	197.520
3	88	Alex Bowman	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	36.489	197.320
Official final practice results

Race

Stage Results

Kevin Harvick swept all 3 stages in this race.

Stage 1 Laps: 60

Pos	No	Driver	Team	Manufacturer	Points
1	4	Kevin Harvick	Stewart-Haas Racing	Ford	10
2	18	Kyle Busch	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	9
3	12	Ryan Blaney	Team Penske	Ford	8
4	41	Kurt Busch	Stewart-Haas Racing	Ford	7
5	78	Martin Truex Jr.	Furniture Row Racing	Toyota	6
6	11	Denny Hamlin	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	5
7	10	Aric Almirola	Stewart-Haas Racing	Ford	4
8	31	Ryan Newman	Richard Childress Racing	Chevrolet	3
9	2	Brad Keselowski	Team Penske	Ford	2
10	88	Alex Bowman	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	1
Official stage one results

Stage 2 Laps: 60

Pos	No	Driver	Team	Manufacturer	Points
1	4	Kevin Harvick	Stewart-Haas Racing	Ford	10
2	18	Kyle Busch	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	9
3	12	Ryan Blaney	Team Penske	Ford	8
4	41	Kurt Busch	Stewart-Haas Racing	Ford	7
5	3	Austin Dillon	Richard Childress Racing	Chevrolet	6
6	22	Joey Logano	Team Penske	Ford	5
7	14	Clint Bowyer	Stewart-Haas Racing	Ford	4
8	10	Aric Almirola	Stewart-Haas Racing	Ford	3
9	2	Brad Keselowski	Team Penske	Ford	2
10	42	Kyle Larson	Chip Ganassi Racing	Chevrolet	1
Official stage two results

Final Stage Results

Stage 3 Laps: 80

Pos	Grid	No	Driver	Team	Manufacturer	Laps	Points
1	3	4	Kevin Harvick	Stewart-Haas Racing	Ford	200	60
2	18	2	Brad Keselowski	Team Penske	Ford	200	39
3	2	18	Kyle Busch	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	200	52
4	5	3	Austin Dillon	Richard Childress Racing	Chevrolet	200	39
5	8	12	Ryan Blaney	Team Penske	Ford	200	48
6	12	41	Kurt Busch	Stewart-Haas Racing	Ford	200	45
7	11	10	Aric Almirola	Stewart-Haas Racing	Ford	200	37
8	1	11	Denny Hamlin	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	200	34
9	21	9	Chase Elliott	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	200	28
10	9	22	Joey Logano	Team Penske	Ford	200	32
11	40	19	Daniel Suárez	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	200	26
12	16	14	Clint Bowyer	Stewart-Haas Racing	Ford	200	29
13	4	20	Erik Jones	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	200	24
14	7	78	Martin Truex Jr.	Furniture Row Racing	Toyota	200	29
15	6	31	Ryan Newman	Richard Childress Racing	Chevrolet	200	25
16	14	21	Paul Menard	Wood Brothers Racing	Ford	200	21
17	17	42	Kyle Larson	Chip Ganassi Racing	Chevrolet	200	21
18	13	17	Ricky Stenhouse Jr.	Roush Fenway Racing	Ford	200	19
19	10	88	Alex Bowman	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	200	19
20	23	37	Chris Buescher	JTG Daugherty Racing	Chevrolet	200	17
21	15	1	Jamie McMurray	Chip Ganassi Racing	Chevrolet	200	16
22	25	47	A. J. Allmendinger	JTG Daugherty Racing	Chevrolet	199	15
23	22	43	Darrell Wallace Jr. (R)	Richard Petty Motorsports	Chevrolet	199	14
24	30	32	Matt DiBenedetto	Go Fas Racing	Ford	199	13
25	29	34	Michael McDowell	Front Row Motorsports	Ford	199	12
26	28	95	Kasey Kahne	Leavine Family Racing	Chevrolet	199	11
27	24	38	David Ragan	Front Row Motorsports	Ford	199	10
28	19	48	Jimmie Johnson	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	198	9
29	31	00	Landon Cassill	StarCom Racing	Chevrolet	197	8
30	39	23	Blake Jones	BK Racing	Toyota	194	7
31	33	51	B. J. McLeod (i)	Rick Ware Racing	Ford	194	0
32	36	7	Garrett Smithley (i)	Premium Motorsports	Chevrolet	193	0
33	34	99	Gray Gaulding	StarCom Racing	Chevrolet	191	4
34	26	6	Trevor Bayne	Roush Fenway Racing	Ford	189	3
35	35	15	Ross Chastain (i)	Premium Motorsports	Chevrolet	187	0
36	20	24	William Byron (R)	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	187	1
37	37	66	Timmy Hill (i)	MBM Motorsports	Chevrolet	138	0
38	27	13	Ty Dillon	Germain Racing	Chevrolet	131	1
39	38	96	Jeffrey Earnhardt	Gaunt Brothers Racing	Toyota	102	1
40	32	72	Corey LaJoie	TriStar Motorsports	Chevrolet	37	1
Official race results

Race statistics

• Lead changes: 9 among different drivers
• Cautions/Laps: 8 for 37
• Red flags: 0
• Time of race: 2 hours, 50 minutes and 51 seconds
• Average speed: 140.474 miles per hour (226.071 km/h)

Media

Television

NBC Sports covered the race on the television side. Rick Allen, Jeff Burton, Steve Letarte and two-time Michigan winner, Dale Earnhardt Jr. had the call in the booth for the race. Dave Burns, Marty Snider and Kelli Stavast reported from pit lane during the race.

NBCSN
Booth announcers	Pit reporters
Lap-by-lap: Rick Allen Color-commentator: Jeff Burton Color-commentator: Steve Letarte Color-commentator: Dale Earnhardt Jr.	Dave Burns Marty Snider Kelli Stavast

Radio

Motor Racing Network had the radio call for the race, which was simulcast on Sirius XM NASCAR Radio.

MRN
Booth announcers	Turn announcers	Pit reporters
Lead announcer: Joe Moore Announcer: Jeff Striegle Announcer: Rusty Wallace	Turns 1 & 2: Dave Moody Turns 3 & 4: Kyle Rickey	Alex Hayden Woody Cain Kim Coon Glenn Jarrett

Standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings Pos Driver Points 1 Kyle Busch 986 2 Kevin Harvick 924 (–62) 3 Martin Truex Jr. 842 (–144) 4 Kurt Busch 750 (–236) 5 Clint Bowyer 732 (–254) 6 Joey Logano 723 (–263) 7 Brad Keselowski 709 (–277) 2 8 Ryan Blaney 687 (–299) 9 Denny Hamlin 684 (–302) 2 10 Kyle Larson 681 (–305) 11 Chase Elliott 647 (–339) 12 Aric Almirola 639 (–347) 13 Erik Jones 596 (–390) 14 Jimmie Johnson 572 (–414) 15 Alex Bowman 542 (–444) 16 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. 480 (–506) Official driver's standings

Manufacturers' Championship standings Pos Manufacturer Points 1 Toyota 844 2 Ford 815 (–29) 3 Chevrolet 748 (–96) 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.

References

1. "2018 schedule". Jayski.com. Jayski's Silly Season Site. May 5, 2017. Archived from the original on December 24, 2017. Retrieved July 2, 2018.
2. "Michigan International Speedway". NASCAR.com. NASCAR Media Group, LLC. January 3, 2013. Archived from the original on April 7, 2017. Retrieved July 2, 2018.
3. "Entry List". MRN.com. Motor Racing Network. August 7, 2018. Retrieved August 7, 2018.
4. "First Practice Results". MRN.com. Motor Racing Network. August 10, 2018. Retrieved August 10, 2018.
5. "Starting Lineup". MRN.com. Motor Racing Network. August 10, 2018. Retrieved August 10, 2018.
6. "Second Practice Results". MRN.com. Motor Racing Network. August 11, 2018. Retrieved August 11, 2018.
7. "Final Practice Results". MRN.com. Motor Racing Network. August 11, 2018. Retrieved August 11, 2018.
8. "Consumers Energy 400 Results". MRN.com. Motor Racing Network. August 12, 2018. Retrieved August 12, 2018.
9. "Points standings" (PDF). Jayski.com. Jayski's Silly Season Site. August 13, 2018. Archived from the original (PDF) on August 27, 2018. Retrieved August 13, 2018.
10. "Manufacturer standings" (PDF). Jayski.com. Jayski's Silly Season Site. August 13, 2018. Archived from the original (PDF) on August 27, 2018. Retrieved August 13, 2018.
11. "Michigan TV ratings". Jayski's Silly Season Site. ESPN. Retrieved October 4, 2018.
12. Utter, Jim (August 10, 2018). "Denny Hamlin tops Michigan Cup practice at over 202 mph". Motorsport.com. Brooklyn, Michigan: Motorsport Network. Retrieved August 10, 2018.
13. "Denny Hamlin and Kyle Busch go 1-2 for Gibbs at Michigan". Associated Press. Brooklyn, Michigan: AP Sports. Associated Press. August 10, 2018. Archived from the original on August 11, 2018. Retrieved August 10, 2018.
14. Utter, Jim (August 11, 2018). "Erik Jones fastest in Saturday's abbreviated first Cup practice". Motorsport.com. Brooklyn, Michigan: Motorsport Network. Retrieved August 11, 2018.
15. Utter, Jim (August 11, 2018). "Joey Logano tops Kyle Busch in final Cup practice at Michigan". Motorsport.com. Brooklyn, Michigan: Motorsport Network. Retrieved August 11, 2018.

Previous race: 2018 Go Bowling at The Glen

Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series 2018 season

Next race: 2018 Bass Pro Shops NRA Night Race