This is the first of a five-part series recapping the 2018 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series season.
NASCAR’s 70th season opened at Daytona International Speedway where top pole winners from 2017 and past Daytona winners competed in the annual Advance Auto Parts Clash pre-season exhibition race.
Austin Dillon led the field to the green, but Brad Keselowski found his way to the front and led a crowd of contenders to the checkered flag. The win was Keselowski’s first Cup Series win at “The World Center of Racing.”
Earlier that day, all the Monster Energy Cup Series drivers competed for the top starting spot in the Daytona 500. Alex Bowman, who took over for the retiring Dale Earnhardt Jr., captured the pole for the “Great American Race.”
Denny Hamlin qualified second to set the front row and the rest of the field had to compete for their starting spots in the Can-Am Duel the following Thursday.
Ryan Blaney won the first Duel behind the wheel of the No. 12 Ford for Team Penske. Keselowski, David Gilliland, William Byron, Jimmie Johnson and Aric Almirola crashed and forced them to start near the tail of the field for the 500.
In the second Duel, Chase Elliott was victorious while only Matt DiBenedetto and Kyle Larson crashed out of the race. All 40 drivers who competed in the Duel at Daytona earned starting spots for the 500.
The 60th running of the Daytona 500 kicked off the 2018 points-paying season for the Monster Energy Cup Series in grand fashion.
Defending Daytona 500 winner Kurt Busch took Stage 1 of the race with Can-Am Duel winner Ryan Blaney snatching Stage 2. But as the event wore on, the 500-mile race became a game of survior with three huge crashes that took out some of the strongest cars in the field.
The final accident of the race came in overtime on Lap 207 that opened the door for Austin Dillon as he made contact with leader Aric Almirola in Turn 3. Dillon went on to take the checkered flag an put the No. 3 Chevrolet back to Daytona’s Victory Lane, 20 years after Dale Earnhardt’s monumental win.
“Daytona has a way of just making memories,” Dillon said. “This place makes memory after memory and they are life-changing memories. I was fortunate to be in Victory Lane 20 years ago and I’m here again, but I’m driving. This is awesome.”
Race Story and Results | Photos
In the second race of the season at Atlanta Motor Speedway, the mystique of the No. 3 car returning to Daytona’s Victory Lane hadn’t faded.
Kevin Harvick – who’s first win in Atlanta came just week’s after “The Intimidator’s” death in 2001, and as the driver who replaced Earnhardt, dominated the Folds of Honor QuickTrip 500 and payed tribute to Earnhardt on his victory lap.
“To see that ‘3’ back in Victory Lane and us back in Victory Lane tonight it’s just how it’s meant to be,” Harvick said. “To be able to do that celebration again very similar to what we did in 2001. I have been waiting a long time because 2001 was very confusing. It felt good to pay tribute to that and park it in Victory Lane.”
Race Story and Results | Photos
After starting in the southeast, the “West Coast Swing” began at the 1.5-mile Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
Once more, Kevin Harvick was riding off a dominate win at the Atlanta Motor Speedway and dropped the royal flush on the field. He led 214 of 267 laps to pick up his second straight victory that marked his 39th career win and 100th over in NASCAR National Series competition.
Race Story and Results | Photos
The dominating nature of Harvick’s consecutive victories prompted some race fans to take a closer look at his No. 4 Ford. Post-race photos from Las Vegas showed a mis-shaped roof and rear window. A broken rear-roof brace allowed the rear window to buckle and gave fans the impression Harvick had an aerodynamic edge in Vegas. That ignited a social media storm that resulted in NASCAR officials penalizing Harvick’s team – taking away any championship benefits of the victory. Prior to the race in Phoenix, a defiant Harvick blamed social media.
“You look at golf and the fan officiating and the chaos that it caused,” Harvick said. “That didn’t work in golf. It won’t work here.
“The roof caved in, pulled the back and top of the window down, and that is really the root of the social media outrage that came after the race,” Harvick said. “The car passed all the optical scanning station inspections and everything after the race. The car was built to tolerance. The scary part for me is the fact that we went far enough to find something on the car at the NASCAR R&D Center. They could find something wrong with every car if they took it apart for a whole day at the R&D Center.”
Harvick, who entered Phoenix as the winningest driver at ISM Raceway, kept his faith and went on to win his third straight race.
Race Story and Results | Photos
The final race of “NASCAR Goes West” was at the Auto Club Speedway of Southern California.
Kevin Harvick’s bid to win a fourth straight Cup race ended in a crash on Lap 37. Harvick and Kyle Larson were racing side-by-side coming off the second turn when contact was made between the duo.
“I went down to side-draft, and he (Larson) was coming up and we touched, and it just knocked the thing to the right and spun out,” Harvick said. “I don’t know that it’s his fault.”
Harvick would finish 35th. Up front, Martin Truex Jr. started first, won Stages 1 and 2 and rolled to his first victory of the season.
Race Story and Results | Photos
With the West Coast trio of races complete, the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series teams had one week to make the 2,400-mile trip east to its oldest track – Martinsville Speedway.
A late-March storm dumped 7 inches of snow on Martinsville the night before the race – forcing NASCAR officials to postpone to Monday.
Denny Hamlin earned the Stage 1 victory and Ryan Blaney took Stage 2.
Clint Bowyer led a race-high 215 laps in what turned out to be a dominating performance. Once Bowyer wrestled the lead away from Blaney he led the rest of the way and was easily able to outdistance Kyle Busch at the checkered flag to snap a 190-race winless drought.
“Let me tell you something, Gene Haas, Tony Stewart, to give this old dog a fresh chance and fresh blood with a new opportunity,” Bowyer said. “Finally to get the 14 in Victory Lane is just a weight off the shoulders. It’s been a long time. You start to question if you can get it done or not. To have it come at this place meant a lot.”
