Event statistics following the 11th race of the 2018 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series season, the AAA 400 Drive for Autism at Dover International Speedway in Delaware.
Kevin Harvick dominated the race, winning both stages and leading 201 laps for his series-leading fourth race of the season. Teammate Clint Bowyer was second, giving Stewart-Haas Racing its fourth-ever 1-2 finish. Daniel Suarez finished a career-best third, ahead of Martin Truex Jr. and Kurt Busch, in a third Stewart-Haas Racing Ford.
AAA Drive for Autism 400
Dover International Speedway – Dover, Delaware
- Winner (starting position): Kevin Harvick (2nd)
- Top Five: Kevin Harvick, Clint Bowyer, Daniel Suarez, Martin Truex Jr., Kurt Busch
- Full Results: Kevin Harvick, Clint Bowyer, Daniel Suarez, Martin Truex Jr., Kurt Busch, Brad Keselowski, Denny Hamlin, Ryan Blaney, Jimmie Johnson, Kyle Larson, Aric Almirola, Chase Elliott, Joey Logano, William Byron, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Jamie McMurray, Kasey Kahne, Erik Jones, Trevor Bayne, Chris Buescher, A.J. Allmendinger, Michael McDowell, Alex Bowman, Ty Dillon, Darrell Wallace Jr., Austin Dillon, David Ragan, Ross Chastain, Matt DiBenedetto, Gray Gaulding, Landon Cassill, Reed Sorenson, Ryan Newman, Paul Menard, Kyle Busch, Cody Ware, Derrike Cope, Corey LaJoie
- Laps Completed: 400
- Race Leaders: 6
- Laps Led: Kevin Harvick (201), Brad Keselowski (108), Clint Bowyer (40), Alex Bowman (26), Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (24), Joey Logano (1)
- Pole Position: Kyle Larson (158.103 mph; 22.770 seconds)
- Hard Charger: Clint Bowyer (+10; 12th to 2nd)
- Car Count: 38
- Cars Entered: 38
- Cars Running at Finish: 34 (of 38; or 89 percent of the field)
- Drivers to Finish on Lead Lap: 13
- Cautions: 8 for 48 laps
- Lead Changes: 16
- Stage Winners: Kevin Harvick (1), Kevin Harvick (2)
- Manufacturer Breakdown: Chevrolet (18); Ford (13); Toyota (7)
- Weather at Start of Race: 63 degrees Fahrenheit, cloudy, winds NE 5 mph
- Weather at End of Race: 66 degrees Fahrenheit, cloudy, winds ENE 1 mph
Notes of Interest – Race/Weekend Recap
- This was the 97th race at Dover and the 97th Cup Series race in the state of Delaware.
- This is Kevin Harvick’s season-leading fourth Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series victory of the 2018 season and the 41st of his career (now 18th all-time in series wins). Overall, this is Harvick’s 102nd victory in NASCAR’s three national series.
- Harvick is one of six drivers to win at least one Cup Series race this season. In addition to Harvick, Kyle Busch has three victories, while Austin Dillon, Martin Truex Jr., Clint Bowyer and Joey Logano each have one win.
- This is Harvick’s second NASCAR Cup series victory at Dover; he also won the 2015 fall race. It marked Harvick’s first win at Dover in a spring race.
- Harvick is the 22nd driver with two or more Cup Series victories at Dover.
- Harvick has now won four or more Cup Series races in six seasons (2006, 2011, 2013, 2014, 2016 and 2018). Harvick has won at least one race in 15 seasons.
- This is Harvick’s fifth top-three finish of the season, as well as eighth top-five (leads all drivers) and ninth top 10 (tied with Joey Logano to lead all drivers).
- This is Harvick’s 13th victory on a one-mile track. He has nine victories at Phoenix and two each at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon and Dover.
- Harvick started from second, the second time he’s started from second this year and won the race (Las Vegas in March). Overall, Harvick has started second and won the race three times (first time was ISM Raceway in the 2006 fall race). Harvick has started second or third in four of his last five victories.
- Harvick’s win from the second starting position was the second straight and third in the last four races at Dover. Martin Truex Jr. won the 2016 fall race from second and Kyle Busch started second en route to winning the 2017 fall race.
- Harvick won the race by 7.450 seconds over teammate Clint Bowyer. That’s the greatest margin of victory since Martin Truex Jr. won the 2016 fall race by 7.527 seconds over Kyle Busch.
- This is Harvick’s 18th victory with Stewart-Haas Racing. He has now surpassed team owner Tony Stewart with the most team victories. Stewart-Haas Racing now has 44 MENSC wins.
- Harvick led 201 laps, the most a race winner at Dover has led since Harvick won the 2015 fall race.
- Harvick has now led 10 Cup Series races at Dover for a total of 1,156 laps.
- Harvick has now led at least 100 laps in a race 42 times, and a total of 252 races.
- Harvick now has an average finish this season of 8.45, the third-best average finish of a driver (behind Joey Logano and Kyle Busch).
- This is Stewart-Haas Racing’s series-leading fifth victory of 2018. The team only recorded three victories in 2017.
- This is Ford’s series-leading sixth victory of the 2018 season, and Ford’s first win at Dover since Matt Kenseth won the 2011 spring race.
- Clint Bowyer finished second, his third top-five finish of the season. Bowyer’s runner-up finish gave Stewart-Haas Racing its fourth-ever 1-2 finish. SHR drivers have finished second in each of the last two Cup Series races (Kurt Busch was second at Talladega Superspeedway).
- Bowyer’s second-place finish also gave Ford its second consecutive 1-2 finish, with Joey Logano and Kurt Busch taking first and second at Talladega Superspeedway.
- Bowyer was one of two drivers to advance 10 positions from start to finish, but the highest finisher of the two.
- Bowyer now has seven top 10s, the fourth most of all drivers this season (behind Kevin Harvick, Joey Logano and Kyle Busch).
- Daniel Suarez tied his career-best of third, with his third straight top-10 finish. It did mark Suarez’s best finish on an oval.
- Suarez drove the top-finishing Toyota, one of three Toyotas in the top seven.
- Martin Truex Jr. finished fourth, his first top-10 finish in the last five races (best finish in previous four races was 14th). He now has six top fives and six top 10s on the year.
- Kurt Busch finished fifth, giving Stewart-Haas Racing three cars in the top five for the first time in team history. After finishing a season-best seventh in the first nine races, Busch has finished in the top five in each of the last two races.
- Stewart-Haas Racing has now placed two or more drivers in the top five in a race on four occasions this season.
- Brad Keselowski finished sixth, in the top Team Penske entry. Keselowski led 108 laps, the most laps he’s led in a Cup Series race since leading 108 laps in the 2017 fall race at Martinsville Speedway.
- Denny Hamlin was seventh. Hamlin failed to lead a lap, breaking a streak of seven straight races with a lap led. Hamlin was the second Joe Gibbs Racing driver in the top seven. Hamlin is now one top 10 away from 225 in his career.
- Ryan Blaney was eighth, his first top-10 finish since Texas Motor Speedway.
- Eleven-time Dover winner Jimmie Johnson was ninth, the highest-finishing Chevrolet driver. Johnson advanced 10 positions.
- Johnson is now five top 10s away from 350 (345) and 10 races away from 600 (590).
- Johnson remains one of five drivers to compete in every race this season and not lead a lap (others are David Ragan, Ty Dillon, Gray Gaulding and Trevor Bayne). Johnson has now gone 14 straight races without leading a lap (has only led two of the last 30 races).
- Polesitter Kyle Larson finished 10th, after moving to the back of the field prior to the start due to unapproved changes on the car. Larson now has six top 10s.
- The pole was Larson’s first of the season, first at Dover, first on a one-mile track and fifth of his career. Larson now has poles at five different tracks.
- Aric Almirola finished 11th, the fourth Stewart-Haas Racing driver in the top 11.
- Joey Logano finished 13th, the final driver on the lead lap. It broke a streak of six straight races of finishing in the top 10. Logano has now completed all but one of the 3,635 laps this season, the most laps completed by a driver this season.
- Logano has now only finished outside the top 10 twice this season, but maintained an average finish of 7.27, the best among all Cup Series drivers this season. He is the only driver to finish 19th or better in all 11 races.
- Kasey Kahne finished 17th for the third time in the last five races (including second straight race), matching his season-best. He and Suarez were the only drivers to record season-best finishes after having already competed in a race this season.
- Paul Menard was the final driver running at the finish, completing 354 laps en route to taking 34th. Only four drivers failed to finish the race.
- Kyle Busch finished 35th, his first DNF of the season (drivetrain) and worst finish since a 35th-place result in the 2017 spring race at Bristol Motor Speedway. It marks the first time he’s finished outside the top 10 in back-to-back races since last year’s playoff races at Charlotte Motor Speedway and Talladega Superspeedway). Busch remains one race away from 250 top 10s.
- Toyota failed to lead a lap for the first time since the 2017 race at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
- This is the second consecutive Dover race in which the scheduled 400-lap distance was contested without being abbreviated or going into overtime.
- A total of eight drivers led the race.
- A total of 13 drivers finished on the lead lap.
- A total of 24 drivers improved on their starting position in the race.
- A total of 34 cars finished the race.
- The next Cup Series race will be Saturday, May 12, with the KC Masterpiece 400 at Kansas Speedway in Kansas City, Kansas.
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