2018 Gander Outdoors 400 Explained

The 2018 Gander Outdoors 400 is a Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race held on July 29, 2018, at Pocono Raceway in Long Pond, Pennsylvania. Contested over 164 laps—extended from 160 laps due to an overtime finish, on the 2.5miles superspeedway, it was the 21st race of the 2018 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series season.

Report

Background

Pocono Raceway is a superspeedway that is located in the Pocono Mountains of Pennsylvania in Long Pond. It is the site of two annual NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races held in early June and late July/early August, one NASCAR Xfinity Series event in early June, one NASCAR Camping World Truck Series event in late July/early August, and two ARCA Racing Series races in early June and late July/early August.

From 1971 to 1989, and again since 2013, the track has also hosted an Indy Car race, currently sanctioned by the IndyCar Series and run in August.

Pocono is one of a very few NASCAR tracks that is not owned by either Speedway Motorsports, Inc. or International Speedway Corporation, the dominant track owners in NASCAR. It is run by the Igdalsky siblings Brandon and Nicholas, both of whom are third-generation members of the family-owned Mattco Inc., started by Joseph II and Rose Mattioli. Mattco also owns South Boston Speedway in South Boston, Virginia.

In addition to NASCAR races, Pocono is used throughout the year by the Sports Car Club of America (SCCA) and motorcycle clubs as well as racing schools.

The triangular oval also has three separate infield sections of racetrack – North Course, East Course and South Course. Each of these infield sections use a separate portion of the tri-oval to complete the track. During regular non-race weekends, multiple clubs can use the track by running on different infield sections. Several of the infield sections can also be run in either direction, or multiple infield sections can be put together, running the North Course and the South Course and using the tri-oval to connect the two.

Entry list

	Driver	Team	Manufacturer
00			Chevrolet
1			Chevrolet
2			Ford
3			Chevrolet
4			Ford
6			Ford
7			Chevrolet
9			Chevrolet
10			Ford
11			Toyota
12			Ford
13			Chevrolet
14			Ford
15	Ross Chastain (i)		Chevrolet
17			Ford
18			Toyota
19			Toyota
20			Toyota
21			Ford
22			Ford
23	J. J. Yeley (i)		Toyota
24	William Byron (R)		Chevrolet
31			Chevrolet
32			Ford
34			Ford
37			Chevrolet
38			Ford
41			Ford
42			Chevrolet
43	Darrell Wallace Jr. (R)		Chevrolet
47			Chevrolet
48			Chevrolet
51	B. J. McLeod (i)		Chevrolet
66	Timmy Hill (i)		Toyota
72			Chevrolet
78			Toyota
88			Chevrolet
95			Chevrolet
96			Toyota
99			Chevrolet
Official entry list

Practice

First practice

Kevin Harvick was the fastest in the first practice session with a time of 51.439 seconds and a speed of 174.965mph.^[11]

Pos		Driver	Team	Manufacturer	Time
1	4				51.439	174.965
2	20				51.449	174.931
3	12				51.605	174.402
Official first practice results

Final practice

Joey Logano was the fastest in the final practice session with a time of 51.029 seconds and a speed of 176.37mph.^[12]

Pos		Driver	Team	Manufacturer	Time
1	22				51.029	176.370
2	4				51.039	176.336
3	78				51.310	175.404
Official final practice results

Qualifying

Daniel Suárez scored the pole for the race with a time of 50.851 and a speed of 176.988mph after Kevin Harvick and Kyle Busch were both disqualified after failing post-qualifying inspection.^[13]

Qualifying results

Pos		Driver	Team	Manufacturer
1	4			Ford	51.087	50.986	50.633
2	18			Toyota	51.688	51.316	50.723
3	19			Toyota	51.477	51.219	50.851
4	42			Chevrolet	51.498	51.207	50.853
5	22			Ford	51.507	51.234	50.969
6	24	William Byron (R)		Chevrolet	51.538	50.971	50.993
7	11			Toyota	51.624	51.312	51.012
8	20			Toyota	51.267	50.942	51.023
9	2			Ford	51.307	51.217	51.050
10	1			Chevrolet	51.579	51.224	51.103
11	9			Chevrolet	51.528	51.271	51.112
12	3			Chevrolet	51.777	51.263	51.184
13	41			Ford	51.193	51.322	—
14	78			Toyota	51.381	51.356	—
15	48			Chevrolet	51.648	51.398	—
16	31			Chevrolet	51.446	51.498	—
17	21			Ford	51.511	51.504	—
18	12			Ford	51.946	51.530	—
19	10			Ford	51.641	51.534	—
20	88			Chevrolet	51.787	51.540	—
21	14			Ford	51.544	51.553	—
22	43	Darrell Wallace Jr. (R)		Chevrolet	51.922	51.595	—
23	6			Ford	51.983	51.654	—
24	95			Chevrolet	51.834	52.168	—
25	37			Chevrolet	51.990	—	—
26	34			Ford	52.023	—	—
27	47			Chevrolet	52.118	—	—
28	13			Chevrolet	52.174	—	—
29	38			Ford	52.241	—	—
30	17			Ford	52.319	—	—
31	32			Ford	52.517	—	—
32	96			Toyota	53.313	—	—
33	23	J. J. Yeley (i)		Toyota	53.323	—	—
34	72			Chevrolet	53.346	—	—
35	15			Chevrolet	53.557	—	—
36	99			Chevrolet	53.767	—	—
37	00			Chevrolet	53.976	—	—
38	7			Chevrolet	54.276	—	—
39	51	B. J. McLeod (i)		Chevrolet	54.286	—	—
40	66	Timmy Hill (i)		Toyota	54.652	—	—
Official qualifying results

• Kevin Harvick and Kyle Busch will start from the rear after both cars failed post-qualifying inspection, leaving Daniel Suárez as the polesitter.^[14] Kyle Larson, Joey Logano, William Byron, Austin Dillon, Jimmie Johnson, Paul Menard, Ryan Blaney, Aric Almirola, Clint Bowyer, Darrell Wallace Jr. and Kasey Kahne also failed post-qualifying inspection. All 13 cars that failed the post-qualifying inspection will start at the rear and they lined up based on owner points.
• Gray Gaulding practiced and qualified the No. 15 for Ross Chastain who was in Iowa for the Xfinity Series race. Chastain will start at the rear due to Driver Change.

Race

Stage Results

Stage 1Laps: 50

Pos		Driver	Team	Manufacturer	Points
1	9	Chase Elliott	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	10
2	4	Kevin Harvick	Stewart-Haas Racing	Ford	9
3	11	Denny Hamlin	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	8
4	18	Kyle Busch	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	7
5	19	Daniel Suárez	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	6
6	14	Clint Bowyer	Stewart-Haas Racing	Ford	5
7	2	Brad Keselowski	Team Penske	Ford	4
8	41	Kurt Busch	Stewart-Haas Racing	Ford	3
9	88	Alex Bowman	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	2
10	12	Ryan Blaney	Team Penske	Ford	1
Official stage one results

Stage 2Laps: 50

Pos		Driver	Team	Manufacturer	Points
1	4	Kevin Harvick	Stewart-Haas Racing	Ford	10
2	9	Chase Elliott	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	9
3	14	Clint Bowyer	Stewart-Haas Racing	Ford	8
4	88	Alex Bowman	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	7
5	42	Kyle Larson	Chip Ganassi Racing	Chevrolet	6
6	48	Jimmie Johnson	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	5
7	2	Brad Keselowski	Team Penske	Ford	4
8	1	Jamie McMurray	Chip Ganassi Racing	Chevrolet	3
9	12	Ryan Blaney	Team Penske	Ford	2
10	24	William Byron (R)	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	1
Official stage two results

Final Stage Results

Stage 3Laps: 60

Pos	Grid		Driver	Team	Manufacturer	Laps	Points
1	2	18	Kyle Busch	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	164	47
2	3	19	Daniel Suárez	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	164	41
3	20	88	Alex Bowman	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	164	43
4	1	4	Kevin Harvick	Stewart-Haas Racing	Ford	164	52
5	8	20	Erik Jones	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	164	32
6	6	24	William Byron (R)	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	164	32
7	11	9	Chase Elliott	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	164	49
8	16	31	Ryan Newman	Richard Childress Racing	Chevrolet	164	29
9	13	41	Kurt Busch	Stewart-Haas Racing	Ford	164	31
10	7	11	Denny Hamlin	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	164	35
11	21	14	Clint Bowyer	Stewart-Haas Racing	Ford	164	39
12	18	12	Ryan Blaney	Team Penske	Ford	164	28
13	12	3	Austin Dillon	Richard Childress Racing	Chevrolet	164	24
14	27	47	A. J. Allmendinger	JTG Daugherty Racing	Chevrolet	164	23
15	14	78	Martin Truex Jr.	Furniture Row Racing	Toyota	164	22
16	26	34	Michael McDowell	Front Row Motorsports	Ford	164	21
17	15	48	Jimmie Johnson	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	164	25
18	23	6	Matt Kenseth	Roush Fenway Racing	Ford	164	19
19	29	38	David Ragan	Front Row Motorsports	Ford	164	18
20	10	1	Jamie McMurray	Chip Ganassi Racing	Chevrolet	164	25
21	17	21	Paul Menard	Wood Brothers Racing	Ford	164	16
22	30	17	Ricky Stenhouse Jr.	Roush Fenway Racing	Ford	164	15
23	4	42	Kyle Larson	Chip Ganassi Racing	Chevrolet	164	20
24	28	13	Ty Dillon	Germain Racing	Chevrolet	164	13
25	19	10	Aric Almirola	Stewart-Haas Racing	Ford	164	12
26	5	22	Joey Logano	Team Penske	Ford	164	11
27	31	32	Matt DiBenedetto	Go Fas Racing	Ford	164	10
28	33	23	J. J. Yeley (i)	BK Racing	Toyota	164	0
29	32	96	Jeffrey Earnhardt	Gaunt Brothers Racing	Toyota	163	8
30	24	95	Kasey Kahne	Leavine Family Racing	Chevrolet	162	7
31	36	99	Kyle Weatherman	StarCom Racing	Chevrolet	161	6
32	38	7	Reed Sorenson	Premium Motorsports	Chevrolet	161	5
33	22	43	Darrell Wallace Jr. (R)	Richard Petty Motorsports	Chevrolet	153	4
34	37	00	Landon Cassill	StarCom Racing	Chevrolet	148	3
35	35	15	Ross Chastain (i)	Premium Motorsports	Chevrolet	146	0
36	40	66	Timmy Hill (i)	MBM Motorsports	Toyota	142	0
37	25	37	Chris Buescher	JTG Daugherty Racing	Chevrolet	123	1
38	9	2	Brad Keselowski	Team Penske	Ford	121	9
39	34	72	Corey LaJoie	TriStar Motorsports	Chevrolet	95	1
40	39	51	B. J. McLeod (i)	Rick Ware Racing	Chevrolet	77	0
Official race results

Race statistics

• Lead changes: 10 among different drivers
• Cautions/Laps: 7 for 29
• Red flags: 1 for 10 minutes and 10 seconds
• Time of race: 3 hours, 5 minutes and 43 seconds
• Average speed: 132.46mph

Media

Television

NBC Sports covered the race on the television side. Rick Allen, Jeff Burton, Steve Letarte and two-time Pocono 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.

Radio

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

Standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings

	Pos	Driver	Points
	1	Kyle Busch	891
	2	Kevin Harvick	843 (–48)
	3	Martin Truex Jr.	762 (–129)
	4	Joey Logano	690 (–201)
1	5	Clint Bowyer	677 (–214)
1	6	Kurt Busch	677 (–214)
	7	Brad Keselowski	644 (–247)
	8	Kyle Larson	626 (–265)
1	9	Denny Hamlin	618 (–273)
1	10	Ryan Blaney	612 (–279)
	11	Aric Almirola	587 (–304)
1	12	Chase Elliott	569 (–322)
1	13	Jimmie Johnson	547 (–344)
	14	Erik Jones	533 (–358)
	15	Alex Bowman	496 (–395)
	16	Ricky Stenhouse Jr.	440 (–451)
Official driver's standings

Manufacturers' Championship standings

	Pos	Manufacturer	Points
	1	Toyota	775
	2	Ford	752 (–23)
	3	Chevrolet	675 (–100)
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.

Notes and References

1. Web site: 2018 schedule. Jayski.com. Jayski's Silly Season Site. June 14, 2018. May 5, 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20171224004109/http://www.jayski.com/news/pages/story/_/page/2018-NASCAR-Cup-Schedule. December 24, 2017. dead.
2. Web site: Pocono Raceway. NASCAR.com. NASCAR Media Group, LLC.. June 14, 2018. January 3, 2013. April 29, 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20170429055158/http://www.nascar.com/en_us/nascar-tracks/pocono-raceway.html. dead.
3. Web site: Entry List. MRN.com. Motor Racing Network. July 23, 2018. July 23, 2018.
4. Web site: First Practice Results. MRN.com. Motor Racing Network. July 28, 2018. July 28, 2018.
5. Web site: Final Practice Results. MRN.com. Motor Racing Network. July 28, 2018. July 28, 2018.
6. Web site: Qualifying Results. MRN.com. Motor Racing Network. July 28, 2018. July 28, 2018.
7. Web site: Gander Outdoors 400 Results. MRN.com. Motor Racing Network. July 29, 2018. July 29, 2018.
8. Web site: Points standings. Jayski.com. Jayski's Silly Season Site. July 30, 2018. July 30, 2018.
9. Web site: Manufacturer standings. Jayski.com. Jayski's Silly Season Site. July 30, 2018. July 30, 2018.
10. Web site: Pocono final TV ratings . . 3 August 2018 . . 2 October 2018.
11. Web site: Utter. Jim. Kevin Harvick tops Erik Jones in Saturday's first practice at Pocono. Motorsport.com. Motorsport Network. July 28, 2018. Long Pond, Pennsylvania. July 28, 2018.
12. Web site: Utter. Jim. Joey Logano tops Harvick in final practice at Pocono. Motorsport.com. Motorsport Network. July 28, 2018. Long Pond, Pennsylvania. July 28, 2018.
13. News: Gelston. Dan. Harvick goes for 1st career Pocono Raceway win from the pole. July 28, 2018. Associated Press. Associated Press. AP Sports. July 28, 2018. Long Pond, Pennsylvania. https://web.archive.org/web/20180729014823/https://racing.ap.org/article/harvick-goes-1st-career-pocono-raceway-win-pole. July 29, 2018. dead.
14. Web site: Daniel Suarez elevated to Pocono pole after Nos. 4 and 18 fail inspection . July 28, 2018 . July 28, 2018.