2018 Bojangles' Southern 500

2018 Bojangles' Southern 500

Race details
Race 25 of 36 in the 2018 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series
Date	September 2, 2018 (2018-09-02)
Location	Darlington Raceway in Darlington, South Carolina
Course	Permanent racing facility
Course length	1.366 miles (2.198 km)
Distance	367 laps, 501.322 mi (806.666 km)
Television in the United States
Network	NBCSN
Announcers	Rick Allen, Jeff Burton, Steve Letarte and Dale Earnhardt Jr. Ken Squier, Ned Jarrett, and Dale Jarrett
Radio in the United States
Radio	MRN
Booth announcers	Joe Moore, Jeff Striegle and Rusty Wallace
Turn announcers	Dave Moody (1 & 2) and Mike Bagley (3 & 4)

The 2018 Bojangles' Southern 500, the 69th running of the event is a Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race held on September 2, 2018 at Darlington Raceway in Darlington, South Carolina. Contested over 367 laps on the 1.366-mile (2.198 km) egg-shaped oval, it was the 25th race of the 2018 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series season.

Report

Background

Layout of Darlington Raceway, the track where the race is held.

Darlington Raceway is a race track built for NASCAR racing located near Darlington, South Carolina. It is nicknamed "The Lady in Black" and "The Track Too Tough to Tame" by many NASCAR fans and drivers and advertised as "A NASCAR Tradition." It is of a unique, somewhat egg-shaped design, an oval with the ends of very different configurations, a condition which supposedly arose from the proximity of one end of the track to a minnow pond the owner refused to relocate. This situation makes it very challenging for the crews to set up their cars' handling in a way that is effective at both ends.

Practice

First practice

Pos	No.	Driver	Team	Manufacturer	Time	Speed
1
2
3

Final practice

Pos	No.	Driver	Team	Manufacturer	Time	Speed
1
2
3

Qualifying

Qualifying results

Pos	No.	Driver	Team	Manufacturer	R1	R2	R3
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13							—
14							—
15							—
16							—
17							—
18							—
19							—
20							—
21							—
22							—
23							—
24							—
25						—	—
26						—	—
27						—	—
28						—	—
29						—	—
30						—	—
31						—	—
32						—	—
33						—	—
34						—	—
35						—	—
36						—	—
37						—	—
38						—	—
39						—	—
40						—	—

Race

Stage Results

Stage 1 Laps: 100

Pos	No	Driver	Team	Manufacturer	Points
1					10
2					9
3					8
4					7
5					6
6					5
7					4
8					3
9					2
10					1

Stage 2 Laps: 100

Pos	No	Driver	Team	Manufacturer	Points
1					10
2					9
3					8
4					7
5					6
6					5
7					4
8					3
9					2
10					1

Final Stage Results

Stage 3 Laps: 167

Pos	Grid	No	Driver	Team	Manufacturer	Laps	Points
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40

Media

Television

[NASCAR on NBC|NBC Sports]] covered the race on the television side. Rick Allen, two–time Darlington winner Jeff Burton, Steve Letarte and Dale Earnhardt Jr. had the call in the booth for the race. As part of the throwback weekend, Ken Squier, Ned Jarrett and Dale Jarrett also called a portion of 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 and Ken Squier Color-commentator: Jeff Burton and Ned Jarrett Color-commentator: Steve Letarte and Dale Jarrett Color-commentator: Dale Earnhardt Jr.	Dave Burns Marty Snider Kelli Stavast

Radio

The Motor Racing Network had the radio call for the race, which was simulcast on Sirius XM NASCAR Radio. Dave Moody called the race from a Billboard outside of turn when the field raced through turns 1 and 2, and Mike Bagley had the call of the race atop of the Darlington Raceway Club outside of turn 3 when the field raced through turns 3 and 4

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: Mike Bagley	Alex Hayden Winston Kelley Steve Post

Standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings

	Pos	Driver	Points
	1
	2
	3
	4
	5
	6
	7
	8
	9
	10
	11
	12
	13
	14
	15
	16

Manufacturers' Championship standings

	Pos	Manufacturer	Points
	1
	2
	3

• 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.