Credit: 356492Matt Sullivan/Getty Images Kyle Busch, driver of the #18 Skittles Red White & Blue Toyota, takes the checkered flag to win the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Overton’s 400 at Chicagoland Speedway on July 1, 2018 in Joliet, Illinois.
Starting from 16th place Car 18 Kyle Busch Skittles Red White & Blue Toyota won the 18th Annual Overton’s 400, his 48th win in 479 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series races. This is his 5th win & 14th Top 10 finish in 2018. This is his 2nd win & 8th Top 10 finish in 14 races at Chicagoland Speedway. With Kyle Busch winning his fifth victory this season, 2018 is just the fourth season in series
history to have two drivers with five or more wins in the first 17 races? 2018 Harvick, Busch; 2010 Hamlin, Johnson; 1977 and 1974 Petty, Yarborough. 2nd Place Car 42 Kyle Larson Credit One Bank Chevrolet, started from 18th place posted his 4th Top 10 finish in 5 races at Chicagoland Speedway. It is his 10th Top 10 finish in 2018. 3rd Place Car 4 Kevin Harvick Jimmy John’s Kickin’ Ranch
Ford, started from 11th place posted his 11th Top 10 finish in 18 races at Chicagoland Speedway. William Byron (20th) was the highest finishing rookie. Kyle Busch leads the point standings by 62 points over Kevin Harvick.
Credit: 356498Jared C. Tilton JOLIET, IL – JULY 01: Kyle Busch, driver of the #18 Skittles Red White & Blue Toyota, celebrates after winning the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Overton’s 400 at Chicagoland Speedway on July 1, 2018 in Joliet, Illinois.
4th Place Car 78 Martin Truex Jr. 5-hour ENERGY/Bass Pro Shops Toyota, started from 36th place followed by 5th place Car 14 Clint Bowyer WIX Filters Ford, started from 5th place. 6th Place Car 20 Erik Jones DeWalt Toyota, started from 9th place followed by 7th place Car 11 Denny Hamlin FedEx Ground Toyota, started from 37th place. 8th Place Car 22 Joey Logano Shell Pennzoil Ford, started
from 12th place followed by 9th place Car 2 Brad Keselowski Stars Stripes and Lites Ford, started from 7th place. Lastly in the Top 10 was Car 88 Alex Bowman Axalta Chevrolet, started from 15th place. William Byron (20th) was the highest finishing rookie. Kyle Busch leads the point standings by 62 points over Kevin Harvick.
Credit: 356490Matt Sullivan/Getty Images Paul Menard, driver of the #21 Menards/Sylvania Ford, and Ryan Blaney, driver of the #12 PPG Ford, lead the field to the green flag to start the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Overton’s 400 at Chicagoland Speedway on July 1, 2018 in Joliet, Illinois.
The race had 5 Cautions for 23 Laps: 1st Caution on lap 82 for Stage 1 Conclusion. 2nd Caution on lap 129 for Debris in Turn 2. 3rd Caution on lap 162 for Stage 2 Conclusion. 4th Caution on lap 178 for #11 Spin Turn 2. 5th Caution on lap 209 for #72 Crash Turn 2.
The race had 24 Lead Changes among 10 drivers. Lap Leaders: 0; R. Blaney 1-16; C. Bowyer 17; R. Blaney 18; C. Bowyer 19-38; B. Keselowski 39-46; A. Dillon 47-59; A. Almirola 60-86; K. Harvick 87; A. Almirola 88-122; K. Harvick 123-128; A. Almirola 129; R. Newman 130-132; R. Blaney 133-134; A. Almirola 135-141; Kurt Busch 142-159; K. Harvick 160-162; K. Larson 163; K. Harvick 164-167; Kurt Busch 168-169; K. Larson 170-175; K. Harvick 176-177; B. Keselowski 178-185; K. Harvick 186-208; Kyle Busch 209-267. Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Lead, Laps Led): A. Almirola 4 times for 70 laps; Kyle Busch 1 time for 59 laps; K. Harvick 6 times for 39 laps; C. Bowyer 2 times for 21 laps; Kurt Busch 2 times for 20 laps; R. Blaney 3 times for 19 laps; B. Keselowski 2 times for 16 laps; A. Dillon 1 time for 13 laps; K. Larson 2 times for 7 laps; R. Newman 1 time for 3 laps.
Credit: 356497 Matt Sullivan/Getty Images Kyle Busch, driver of the #18 Skittles Red White & Blue Toyota, leads a pack of cars during the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Overton’s 400 at Chicagoland Speedway on July 1, 2018 in Joliet, Illinois.
Stages:
Stage #1 Top Ten: 10,42,78,41,4,2,12,22,9,20
Stage #2 Top Ten: 4,41,42,78,12,2,9,14,11,22
Credit: 356495Matt Sullivan/Getty Images Kyle Larson, driver of the #42 Credit One Bank Chevrolet, races during the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Overton’s 400 at Chicagoland Speedway on July 1, 2018 in Joliet, Illinois.
Car 18 Kyle Busch Skittles Red White & Blue Toyota won the race with a Margin of Victory of 1.875 Seconds over Car 42 Kyle Larson Credit One Bank Chevrolet. The exciting part of the race is the last lap when Kyle Larson hit Kyle Busch & then took the position, Kyle Busch bumped him back & retook the position.
Kyle Busch said “I got really boxed in and got really slow, I tried to get all of it on those last couple of laps. Larson tried to pull a slider but didn’t quite complete it. He slid up into me and used me, and then I kind of used him a little bit in Turn 3 to come back for the victory. Great win for the Skittles Camry and all of these guys. We were horrible today. Absolutely horrendous. We just never gave up. It’s always good to make the most of the days and get to where we needed at the end. I was able to lead all of those laps. And get through the rest of the traffic. If you don’t like that kind of racing, don’t even watch.”
Kyle Larson said “Yeah, I was fighting hard to catch him and had a really good car especially on the long runs. We were able to get the top going and finally run him down. Yeah, the lappers bottled him up pretty bad there, and I was able to get a run on him. He changed his line up there for a couple of laps in a row, and I got a big run and went to throw the slider on him and got really tight. My plan was pretty much to run into the side of him to try and slow his momentum down and was able to do that and get clear of him. I didn’t really want to be clear of him in (Turn) 3, though, because I knew he would get to my back bumper and move me out of the way, which he did. So, I mean, I know some fans probably already don’t like Kyle Busch, but that was just kind of hard racing there, I thought.”
Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Race Number 17
Unofficial Race Results for the 18Th Annual Overton’s 400 – Sunday, July 1, 2018
Chicagoland Speedway – Joliet, IL – 1.5 Mile Paved Total Race Length – 267 Laps – 400.5 Miles
Finish Start Car Driver Team Laps Status
1. 16. Car 18 Kyle Busch Skittles Red White & Blue Toyota 267 Running
2. 18. Car 42 Kyle Larson Credit One Bank Chevrolet 267 Running
3. 11. Car 4 Kevin Harvick Jimmy John’s Kickin’ Ranch Ford 267 Running
4. 36. Car 78 Martin Truex Jr. 5-hour ENERGY/Bass Pro Shops Toyota 267 Running
5. 5. Car 14 Clint Bowyer WIX Filters Ford 267Running
6. 9. Car 20 Erik Jones DeWalt Toyota 267 Running
7. 37. Car 11 Denny Hamlin FedEx Ground Toyota 267 Running
8. 12. Car 22 Joey Logano Shell Pennzoil Ford 267 Running
9. 7. Car 2 Brad Keselowski Stars Stripes and Lites Ford 267 Running
10. 15. Car 88 Alex Bowman Axalta Chevrolet 267 Running
11. 10. Car 19 Daniel Suarez PEAK Toyota 267 Running
12. 13. Car 1 Jamie McMurray McDonald’s/Cessna Chevrolet 267 Running
13. 1. Car 21 Paul Menard Menards/Sylvania Ford 267 Running
14. 38. Car 48 Jimmie Johnson Lowe’s for Pros Chevrolet 267 Running
15. 17. Car 31 Ryan Newman Okuma Chevrolet 267 Running
16. 20. Car 17 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Fastenal Ford 266 Running
17. 4. Car 41 Kurt Busch Haas Automation Ford 266 Running
18. 2. Car 12 Ryan Blaney PPG Ford 266 Running
19. 3. Car 9 Chase Elliott NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet 266 Running
20. 8. Car 24 William Byron # Unifirst Chevrolet 266 Running
21. 26. Car 34 Michael McDowell Love’s Travel Stops Ford 266 Running
22. 39. Car 37 Chris Buescher Kleenex Wet Wipes Chevrolet 266 Running
23. 22. Car 43 Bubba Wallace # Jewel-Osco Chevrolet 266 Running
24. 19. Car 47 AJ Allmendinger Kroger ClickList Chevrolet 266 Running
25. 6. Car 10 Aric Almirola Smithfield Ford 266 Running
26. 21. Car 6 Trevor Bayne AdvoCare Rehydrate Ford 265 Running
27. 24. Car 95 Kasey Kahne Thorne Wellness Chevrolet 264 Running
28. 25. Car 13 Ty Dillon GEICO Chevrolet 264 Running
29. 28. Car 32 Matt DiBenedetto Anest Iwata Ford 262 Running
30. 27. Car 15 Ross Chastain(i) Low T Centers Chevrolet 261 Running
31. 29. Car 23 Gray Gaulding BK Racing Toyota 260 Running
32. 34. Car 7 * Reed Sorenson Chevrolet 259 Running
33. 30. Car 99 * Kyle Weatherman St. Charles Glass & Glazing Chevrolet 255 Running
34. 32. Car 72 Corey LaJoie TriStar Motorsports Chevrolet 233 Running
35. 33. Car 51 BJ McLeod(i) Prefund Capital Chevrolet 227 Running
36. 31. Car 00 Landon Cassill StarCom Fiber Chevrolet 224 Running
37. 14. Car 3 Austin Dillon Dow Intellifresh Chevrolet 189 Wheel Hub
38. 23. Car 38 David Ragan Connor Co. Ford 189 Running
39. 35. Car 66 * Timmy Hill(i) CrashClaimsR.US Toyota 185 Oil Cooler
Race Comments: Prior to the start of the race, the following cars dropped to the rear of the field under penalty for the reasons indicated: Nos. 7, 17, 66, 19 (unapproved adjustments). Failed to Qualify: N/A. Caution Flags: 5 for 23 laps. Lead Changes: 24 among 10 drivers.
American Ethanol Green Flag Restart Award: Kevin Harvick, #4. Busch Pole Award: Paul Menard, #21 180.012 mph. Fastest Lap: Kyle Busch, #18 Lap 214, 176.016 MPH. Mahle Clevite Engine Builder of the Race: Toyota Racing Development (TRD), #18. Moog Go the Extra Mile: Kyle Busch, #18 0.595 seconds. Sunoco Rookie of the Race: William Byron, #24. (i) Ineligible for driver points in this series
Next Race: Jul. 7, 2018 – Daytona International Speedway
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