2018_NASCAR_Xfinity_Series

2018 NASCAR Xfinity Series

2018 NASCAR Xfinity Series

37th NASCAR Xfinity racing season


The 2018 NASCAR Xfinity Series was the 37th season of the NASCAR Xfinity Series, a stock car racing series sanctioned by NASCAR in the United States. William Byron won the 2017 championship with JR Motorsports, but moved up to the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series. Tyler Reddick, who replaced Byron in the No. 9 JR Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro SS, won the drivers' championship. Stewart-Haas Racing with Biagi-DenBeste won the owners' championship.

Tyler Reddick, the 2018 Xfinity Series champion as well as the Rookie of the Year.
Cole Custer finished second behind Reddick in the championship.
Daniel Hemric finished third in the championship.
Christopher Bell, the defending Truck Series champion, who moved up to the Xfinity Series full-time in 2018, finished fourth in the championship.
Justin Allgaier, the regular season champion, finished seventh in the championship.
Chevy won the manufacturer's championship.

This was the third year that the Xfinity Series (and the Truck Series) had a playoff system. For the first time in the three years of the playoffs at that time, Elliott Sadler and Justin Allgaier were not part of the "championship 4" drivers competing for the title at Homestead. Both drivers did qualify for the postseason but did not advance to the last round of the playoffs as they had done the past two years.

The 2018 season was the first to feature the Regular Season Championship trophy, which is awarded at the final race before the playoffs.[1] Justin Allgaier clinched the NXS Regular Season Championship trophy after the 2018 DC Solar 300 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.[2]

This was the final season of the Toyota Camry in the Xfinity Series, as it was replaced by the Supra in the 2019 season.[3] It was also the final season of Dodge as a manufacturer, as the new flange-fit composite body rules have made the former Team Penske Challengers (nicknamed "Zombie Dodges" due to their lack of factory support since 2013) used by smaller teams ineligible due to their welded steel bodies.[4][5] This was also the last year of 5-time Xfinity Champion Roush Racing in Xfinity. After this season, Roush continued only in the Cup Series.

Teams and drivers

Complete schedule

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Limited schedule

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Notes
  1. Chastain ran the full season split between the Chip Ganassi Racing No. 42 and the JD Motorsports No. 4.
  2. Josh Bilicki was originally scheduled to drive the No. 45 in the O'Reilly Auto Parts 300 but crashed his only car in Practice. So Currey scheduled to drive the No. 55 car, that was renumbered to No. 45 since the No. 45 was better in Owners' Standings and the No. 55 entry withdrew.

Changes

Teams

Drivers

Crew chiefs

Manufacturers

2018 was the final year with Dodge participation. For the season finale, Carl Long placed a tribute decal on his "Zombie Dodge" car.
  • JGL Racing would switch from Toyota to Ford this season. JGL Racing had been running Toyota cars from 2015 to 2017.
  • This was the final season of the Toyota Camry, which was replaced by the Supra in 2019.
  • This was also the final season of Dodge as a manufacturer. In the 2013 season, Dodge stopped factory support after Penske Racing switched to Ford. Because of this, the former Penske Challengers used by smaller teams were nicknamed "Zombie Dodges". The new flange-fit composite body rules have made the welded steel-bodied Challengers ineligible to compete in 2019.[4][5]

Rule changes

  • On July 31, 2017, NASCAR announced that drivers with more than five years of full-time racing on the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup level and registered as Monster Energy NASCAR Cup drivers for the 2018 season for points purposes may drive a maximum of seven Xfinity Series races. In addition, all full-time registered Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series drivers were ineligible to drive in the Dash 4 Cash races as well as the final eight races of the season (the final race before the playoffs and the playoffs). Drivers who have declared eligibility for Xfinity Series points, regardless of Cup experience, can compete in those races.
  • On November 1, 2017, NASCAR announced a series of Xfinity Series rule changes for 2018.
    • The 7/8 inch restrictor plate and aero ducts used at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway for the Lilly Diabetes 250 will also be used at Pocono and Michigan.
    • Teams may use the flange-fit composite body at 30 races—all except Daytona and Talladega.
    • Teams must use a NASCAR-specification flat splitter.
    • Teams must use a specification radiator.
    • Brake cooling hoses and fans will be reduced.
    • Teams must use a single transmission for the entire race meeting, however, this rule does not apply at the road course races. The standard splitter height is four inches.
    • The "black box" will be powered by the vehicle, not separate batteries.
    • As part of an investigation into the 2015 Alert Today Florida 300 Xfinity race crash that injured Kyle Busch, NASCAR imposed new chassis specifications (Enhanced Vehicle Chassis) for safety reasons that will be implemented in two phases.
      • Starting with the conclusion of the 2017 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series season, all new chassis must be certified to the new specification.
      • Currently constructed and certified chassis that had been certified as of the 2017 Ford EcoBoost 300 will have a one-year grace period until they must be certified.
  • Starting from this season, drivers that declared eligibility to the Xfinity Series will have their last name featured in the front windshield of the car, with the Xfinity logo being reduced into two smaller logos in the upper corner area of the front windshield between the driver's name. Those who didn't declared eligibility to the series will only feature the Xfinity logo in the front windshield of their car.

Schedule

The OneMain Financial 200 at Dover International Speedway in May
The Pocono Green 250 at Pocono Raceway in June
The Drive for the Cure 200 at Charlotte Motor Speedway in September
The Bar Harbor 200 at Dover International Speedway in October

The final schedule – comprising 33 races – was released on May 23, 2017.[9] Key changes from 2017 include:

More information No., Race title ...

Schedule changes

In 2015, NASCAR and 24 Xfinity Series tracks agreed on a five-year contract that guarantees each track would continue to host races through 2020.[17] Despite the agreement, Speedway Motorsports decided to transfer one of its Xfinity Series races at Kentucky Speedway to Las Vegas Motor Speedway to form a race weekend involving each of the three national series in the fall.[18] With the official release of the schedule, NASCAR announced that the race Las Vegas Motor Speedway acquired from Kentucky Speedway will become the final race before the Xfinity Series playoffs, while the Go Bowling 250 at Richmond Raceway will be held as the first race of the playoffs. Furthermore, the Lilly Diabetes 250 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway will move from July to September. Chicagoland Speedway's race, the Overton's 300, will move from September to June to become the 15th race of the season instead of the 26th.[9][19]

A few other minor schedule changes were also announced with the release of the schedule. Unlike the 2017 season, the OneMain Financial 200 at Dover International Speedway will precede the Alsco 300 at Charlotte Motor Speedway, while the Bar Harbor 200, also at Dover International Speedway, will move one week later to follow the Drive for the Cure 200 at Charlotte Motor Speedway. The Drive for the Cure 200 will also utilize Charlotte Motor Speedway's 2.28-mile (3.67 km) road course instead of its oval. Road America will also move back to a Saturday afternoon.[9][19]

On August 25, NASCAR announced the tracks that will compose the Dash 4 Cash incentive program: The four Dash 4 Cash races will be run consecutively on the overall series schedule, starting at Bristol Motor Speedway on April 14. From there, the bonus program rolls on to Richmond Raceway (April 20) and Talladega (April 28) before concluding at Dover International Speedway on May 5. Drivers eligible for driver championship points in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series are ineligible to participate in either Dash 4 Cash, the second Las Vegas race, or the playoff races. Drivers such as Elliott Sadler (13 years) and Dale Earnhardt Jr. (18 years), who are expected to register as Xfinity drivers, will be eligible since they are registering as Xfinity drivers.

Results and standings

Race results

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Drivers' Championship

(key) Bold – Pole position awarded by time. Italics – Pole position set by final practice results or owner's points. * – Most laps led. 1 – Stage 1 winner. 2 – Stage 2 winner. 1–10 – Regular season top 10 finishers.
. – Eliminated after Round of 12 . – Eliminated after Round of 8

More information Pos, Driver ...

Owners' championship (Top 15)

(key) Bold - Pole position awarded by time. Italics - Pole position set by final practice results or rainout. * – Most laps led. 1 – Stage 1 winner. 2 – Stage 2 winner. 1–10 – Owners' regular season top 10 finishers.
. – Eliminated after Round of 12 . – Eliminated after Round of 8

More information Pos., No. ...

Manufacturers' Championship

More information Pos, Manufacturer ...

See also


References

  1. "NASCAR unveils Regular Season Championship trophies". NASCAR. August 14, 2018. Retrieved September 11, 2018.
  2. "Justin Allgaier locks up Regular Season Championship run". NASCAR. September 15, 2018. Retrieved September 16, 2018.
  3. Albert, Zack (July 5, 2018). "Revival of the Fittest: Toyota Supra Coming to NASCAR Xfinity Series". NASCAR.com. Digital Media LLC. Retrieved November 23, 2018.
  4. Nguyen, Justin (November 16, 2018). "NASCAR Bids Farewell to Dodge after 2018". www.thecheckeredflag.co.uk. Retrieved November 20, 2018.
  5. King, Alanis (November 15, 2018). "The Era of NASCAR's Zombie Dodge Ends This Weekend". Jalopnik. Gizmodo Media Group. Retrieved November 24, 2018.
  6. "Precision Performance Motorsports Shuts Down XFINITY Series Program". www.frontstretch.com. 18 January 2018. Retrieved 2018-01-18.
  7. DeCola, Pat (October 19, 2018). "Spencer Gallagher to retire from NASCAR competition". NASCAR.com. NASCAR Digital Media LLC. Retrieved October 21, 2018.
  8. "Playoff makeover headlines 2018 NASCAR schedules". NASCAR.com. Daytona Beach, Florida: NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. May 23, 2017. Retrieved May 24, 2017.
  9. "Alsco Makes History as Entitlement Sponsor for the Alsco 300 NASCAR XFINITY Series Race on May 26". www.charlottemotorspeedway.com. Archived from the original on 8 July 2018. Retrieved 8 July 2018.
  10. "LTi Printing 250 – Michigan International Speedway". www.mispeedway.com. Archived from the original on 8 July 2018. Retrieved 8 July 2018.
  11. Adams, Sabrina (September 8, 2018). "Xfinity race postponed to Monday, Brickyard 400 moved up to 1 p.m. Sunday". FOX59. Retrieved September 8, 2018.
  12. "Home". lvms.com. Retrieved 8 July 2018.
  13. Scott, David (October 26, 2015). "NASCAR signs 5-year deals with tracks". The Charlotte Observer. Retrieved May 18, 2017.
  14. Long, Dustin (March 8, 2017). "Las Vegas gets second Cup date in 2018; New Hampshire loses a Cup date". NASCAR Talk. NBC Sports. Retrieved May 18, 2017.
  15. Cain, Holly (May 23, 2017). "Playoff makeover, Daytona's return to history highlight 2018 NASCAR schedule". NASCAR.com. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved May 24, 2017.

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