The 2018 Bojangles' Southern 500, the 69th running of the

event Event may refer to: Gatherings of people * Ceremony, an event of ritual significance, performed on a special occasion * Convention (meeting), a gathering of individuals engaged in some common interest * Event management, the organization of eve ...

was a

Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series The NASCAR Cup Series is the top racing series of the NASCAR, National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR), the most prestigious stock car racing series in the United States. The series began in 1949 as the Strictly Stock Division, ...

race held on September 2, 2018, at

Darlington Raceway Darlington Raceway is a egg-shaped oval track in Darlington, South Carolina. The track has hosted a variety of racing events since its inaugural season of racing in 1950; primarily races sanctioned by NASCAR. The venue has a capacity of 47,00 ...

Darlington, South Carolina Darlington is a city located in Darlington County, South Carolina, United States. In 2010, its population was 6,289. It is the county seat of Darlington County. It is part of the Florence, South Carolina metropolitan area. Darlington is known f ...

. Contested over 367 laps on the egg-shaped oval, it was the 25th race of the

2018 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series file:William byron (40178678380).jpg, William Byron (racing driver), William Byron the 2018 NASCAR Rookie of the Year file:Joey logano burnout (48070037412).jpg, Ford Motor Company, Ford won the List of NASCAR Manufacturers' champions, Manuf ...

season. This race marked the final career start for

Kasey Kahne Kasey Kenneth Kahne (; born April 10, 1980) is an American professional dirt track racing and stock car racing driver. He competes part-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, driving the No. 33 Chevrolet SS for Richard Childress Racing. Currently, K ...

Report

Background

Darlington Raceway is a

race track A race track (racetrack, racing track or racing circuit) is a facility built for racing of vehicles, athletes, or animals (e.g. horse racing or greyhound racing). A race track also may feature grandstands or concourses. Race tracks are also us ...

built for

NASCAR The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC (NASCAR) is an American auto racing sanctioning and operating company that is best known for stock car racing. It is considered to be one of the top ranked motorsports organizations in ...

racing located near

. 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.

Entry list

Practice

First practice

Denny Hamlin James Dennis Alan Hamlin (born November 18, 1980) is an American professional stock car racing driver and team owner. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 11 Toyota Camry XSE for Joe Gibbs Racing. He also co-owns and op ...

was the fastest in the first practice session with a time of 28.543 seconds and a speed of .

Final practice

Ryan Newman was the fastest in the final practice session with a time of 28.641 seconds and a speed of .

Qualifying

scored the pole for the race with a time of 28.332 and a speed of .

Qualifying results

Race

Stage Results

Stage 1 ''Laps:'' 100 Stage 2 ''Laps:'' 100

Final Stage Results

Stage 3 ''Laps:'' 167

Race statistics

* Lead changes: 5 among different drivers * Cautions/Laps: 6 for 35 * Red flags: 0 * Time of race: 3 hours, 48 minutes and 54 seconds * Average speed:

Media

Television

NBC Sports NBC Sports is an American programming division for NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, that is responsible for sports broadcasts on their broadcast network NBC, the Cable television, cable channels NBC owns, and on Peacock (streaming service) ...

covered the race on the television side.

Steve Letarte Steven Letarte (born May 14, 1979) is an American professional NASCAR crew chief and TV sportscaster who works as a color commentator for ''Amazon Prime'', ''TNT'' and ''NASCAR on NBC''. He also works as a consultant for Spire Motorsports, a ...

, two–time Darlington winner

Jeff Burton Jeffrey Tyler Burton (born June 29, 1967), nicknamed "the Mayor", is an American former professional stock car racing driver and current racing commentator. He is a member of the Burton racing family. He scored 23 career victories in the NASCAR ...

and

Dale Earnhardt Jr. Ralph Dale Earnhardt Jr. (born October 10, 1974) is an American professional stock car racing driver, team owner, and broadcaster. A third-generation driver, he is the son of the late 7-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Dale Earnhardt and relative ...

had the call in the booth for the race. Rick Allen, three-time Darlington winner

Dale Jarrett Dale Arnold Jarrett (born November 26, 1956) is an American former race car driver and current racing commentator for NBC. He is best known for winning the Daytona 500 three times (in 1993, 1996, and 2000) and winning the NASCAR Winston Cup Series ...

and

Kyle Petty Kyle Eugene Petty (born June 2, 1960) is an American former stock car racing driver and current racing commentator. He is the son of racer Richard Petty, grandson of racer Lee Petty, and father of racer Adam Petty, who was killed in a crash duri ...

called from the NBC Peacock Pit Box on pit road. Jarrett and Petty also join Earnhardt in the booth for a portion of the race. Dave Burns,

Parker Kligerman Parker Lindsley Kligerman (born August 8, 1990) is an American professional stock car racing driver, color commentator for ''NASCAR on The CW'', studio talent for ''NASCAR on TNT Sports'', and pit reporter for ''NASCAR on NBC''. He competes part-t ...

, Marty Snider and

Kelli Stavast Kelli L. Stavast is an American sportscaster who formerly worked for NBC Sports as a pit reporter for both their NASCAR (in both the Cup and Xfinity Series) and IndyCar Series coverage. She has reported for numerous other forms of motorspor ...

reported from pit lane during the race.

Radio

The

Motor Racing Network Motor Racing Network (MRN) is an American radio network that syndicates broadcasts of auto racing events, particularly NASCAR. MRN was founded in 1970 by NASCAR founder Bill France, Sr. and broadcaster Ken Squier, and is a wholly owned subsidiary ...

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

Standings after the race

;Drivers' Championship standings ;Manufacturers' Championship 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.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bojangles' Southern 500, 2018 2018 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Historically themed events NASCAR races at Darlington Raceway September 2018 sports events in the United States 2018 in sports in South Carolina