The 2018 NASCAR Xfinity Series is the 37th season of the NASCAR Xfinity Series, a stock car racing series sanctioned by the NASCAR in the United States. William Byron won the 2017 championship with JR Motorsports, but moved up to the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series. Tyler Reddick will drive the JR Motorsports entry left vacant by Byron full-time. Statesville, N.C. (May 21, 2018) — GMS Racing officials announced today that NASCAR Cup Series driver Chase Elliott will drive the No. 23 NASCAR Xfinity Series (NXS) entry this weekend at Charlotte Motor Speedway (CMS) as well as other select races on the 2018 NXS schedule. Hooters, which sponsors Elliott’s No. 9 Cup Series team at Hendrick.
“The good news is we are still here as a team, and we will go racing tomorrow @roushfenway! Lilly Diabetes has been a part of my career for several years now and I thank them for that support support,” Daly continued on Instagram. Two days ago, the that Conor’s father denied being the original source of a racial slur that led to the retirement of longtime Indianapolis Colts radio voice Bob Lamey last weekend. WISH-TV reported that Daly was the source in a story Wednesday. It also led to the station severing its ties with Daly, a freelance racing analyst. In a, the elder Daly said he admitted to using a racial slur for African-Americans during a radio interview in the early 1980s. Derek Daly, who had just moved to the United States then, said the term had a different meaning and connotation in his native Ireland.
He said was 'mortified' when he learned how the term was used in the United States and has never used it since then. 'Finally, I want everyone to know I deeply regret and sincerely apologize for what I said more than three decades ago,' the elder Daly said in a statement. Meanwhile, his son is still slated to make his NASCAR debut at the rural Wisconsin road course with Roush Fenway Racing later today. Fox News’ Gary Gastelu and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
The series champion The 2018 NASCAR Xfinity Series was the 37th season of the, a series sanctioned by in the. Won the 2017 championship with, but moved up to the., who replaced Byron in the No. 9 JR Motorsports, won the drivers' championship. With won the owners' championship.
The 2018 season was the first to feature the Regular Season Championship trophy, which is awarded at the final race before the. Clinched the NXS Regular Season Championship trophy after the 2018 at. This was the final season of the in the Xfinity Series, as it will be replaced by the in the 2019 season. It was also the final season of as a manufacturer, as the new flange-fit composite body rules have made the former (nicknamed 'Zombie Dodges' due to their lack of factory support since 2013) used by smaller teams ineligible due to their welded steel bodies. Contents. Teams and drivers Complete schedule Manufacturer Team No.
was originally scheduled to drive the No. 45 in the O'Reilly Auto Parts 300 but crashed his only car in Practice. So Currey scheduled to drive the No. 55 was renumbered to No. 45 since the No. 45 was better in Owners' Standings and the No.
55 entry withdrew. Changes Teams. On October 23, 2017, it was announced that would end their partnership with and create a new alliance with. The team was then called Stewart-Haas Racing with Biagi-DenBeste Racing. The team fielded 2 teams. Drove the No.
00 full-time for a second consecutive season. 41 team was renumbered as the No.
98 team and ran part-time with, and multiple other drivers. In 2017, Biagi-DenBeste Racing fielded the No. 98 Ford, running part-time with drivers, and. With their switch from Toyota to Ford, it was also announced that would have a technical alliance with. shut down two teams: the No. 33 and the No.
shut down its No. 46 team to move to the. reopened the No.
28 entry for at least 21 races for, after shutting down this car at the end of 2017 because of a lack of sponsorship (with ). They also tried to expand the schedule to the full season. returned to the Xfinity Series full-time, fielding the No. 35 entry with as their driver. This was Go Green's first season in the Xfinity Series since 2013 and their first in NASCAR following their merger with FAS Lane Racing to create on December 2013.
announced a fourth full-time ride, the No. 15 entry initially to be split by veteran drivers including. However, this plan was cancelled because was expected to drive the No. 15 car full-time, except the inaugural Daytona race, which had Nemechek behind the wheel. purchased cars from and announced their intentions to run a full season in the No.
55 on January 18, 2018. At the time of the announcement, Jason Houghtaling was named as crew chief but other information like drivers and sponsors was not immediately released, however was later revealed as the full-time driver. On February 5, it was announced that they had acquired an additional Joe Gibbs Racing chassis and would field another full-time team, the No.
45, with as the driver. announced that the partnership with to field the No.
99 full-time was finished. As a consequence, the No. 99 car would likely return to part-time racing. increased their 2018 schedule as they would fielding for multiple drivers. The car number is TBA, due to JP Motorsports taking their No.
announced that would drive the full Season in 2018 with a Chevrolet. The car was built by Richard Childress Racing and prepared.
Former driver in will be his crew chief. Was the 2017 champion with the No. New team announced that will drive the season-opener at Daytona with a Toyota.
The team has acquired cars from Joe Gibbs Racing. used three cars in the season-opener: The No. 39 for and No. 93 for owner without start-and-park for any of them. It looks that the team will use these three cars full-time in 2018. Last year, Sieg drove the No.
39 Chevrolet full-time, while the Nos. 38 and 93 were a part-time start-and-park team, driven by Green,. Drivers. On April 25, 2017, it was announced would retire from full-time driving in the (MENCS), but also announced he intends to participate in two races for in the Xfinity Series.
He has confirmed the second Richmond race as one of the two races. Will drive the No. 88 in the season-opener at Daytona. On September 14, 2017, it was announced that would be driving full-time for in 2018, driving the No. He replaces who will be driving the No. 24 Chevrolet in the MENCS.
In 2017, Reddick drove the No. 42 Chevrolet part-time for, sharing the ride with,. On October 5, 2017, it was announced that would be leaving at the end of 2017, and joining in 2018 to drive the No. In 2017, Tifft drove the No.
19 for Joe Gibbs Racing. On October 13, 2017, it was announced that would drive full-time for Joe Gibbs Racing in 2018, driving the No. Bell will also be competing for Rookie of the Year Honors. In 2017, Bell drove the No. 4 full-time for in the, winning the championship in the process, and part-time for Joe Gibbs Racing in the Xfinity Series, driving the No. On October 19, 2017, it was announced that would drive full-time in 2018 for in a renumbered No. 76 car, crew chief Jason Miller and sponsorship from Grunt Style.
In 2017, Boyd ran part-time in SS-Green Light's No. 07 entry and part-time in the for several teams. In October 2017, it was announced that will not return to. Gase will explore more opportunities in the Cup Series. On November 15, 2017, it was announced that would be joining Joe Gibbs Racing to drive the No.
19 Toyota, replacing. In 2017, Jones drove the No.
33 Chevrolet for Richard Childress Racing, as well as the No. On November 15, 2017, it was announced that would be driving the No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota in at least 10 races. Preece will share the ride with drivers,. In 2017, Preece drove in the while also making a few starts for JGR, driving the No. Preece won the July 2017 race at Iowa. On February 17th, it was announced that, who made 4 starts for Gibbs in 2017, would drive the No.
18 at Atlanta and Iowa in July. On April 13, it was announced that, who currently drives the No.
18 for in the, would make his Xfinity Series debut at Richmond in April and will drive the car at Talladega in April and Dover in May. On June 11, it was announced that who drives the No.
18 Toyota in the ARCA Series for Joe Gibbs would make his debut at Iowa in June. On November 17, 2017, it was announced that will drive the No. 24 for in 2018. Grala will also compete for Rookie of the Year Honors. In 2017, Grala drove the No. 33 for in the.
However, due to a lack of sponsorship on May 15, 2018, it was announced that Grala announced he had been released by JGL as the team was shutting down its No. On November 20, 2017, it was announced that would be running the No. 60 Ford full-time in 2018 as a developmental team in cooperation with Ford and., and will all drive the No. Briscoe and Majeski will drive the car for 12 races each and Cindric will drive for 9 races. This will be the first full-time season for the No.
60 team since winning the Championship with in 2015. In 2017, Majeski drove part-time in the while also making a few starts in the No. 60 for Roush, while Cindric and Briscoe drove full-time in the for the now defunct, driving the No.
29 respectively. Briscoe will also drive the No.
98 Ford for with in 5 races at Bristol in April, Talladega in May, Both Charlotte Races, and the fall playoff race at Kansas. On December 11, 2017, it was announced that will drive the No. 42 Chevrolet for part-time in 2018, sharing the ride with. In 2017, Nemechek drove the No. On January 5, 2018, it was announced that will drive a new No.
35 entry for full-time in 2018. Gase last drove for full-time in the Xfinity Series in 2017, as well as for and part-time in the Cup Series. His crew chief will be Patrick Donahue, who worked with Gase at BK Racing.
On January 9, 2018, it was announced that had released and that would replace him in the No. 11 Chevrolet. In 2017, Truex raced full-time in the, driving the No. 16 Toyota Tundra for.
This will be Truex's first full-time season in the Xfinity series after driving part-time for in 2010 and 2011, Joe Gibbs Racing in 2011 and 2012, and in 2015. On January 16, 2018, it was announced that will make his return to the Xfinity Series, in which he had not competed since 2013. He will drive part-time in the No. 42 car for with. On January 24, 2018, it was announced that, and would all drive part-time for Richard Childress Racing in 2018, driving the No. They will share the ride with MENCS drivers. Lee will make his Xfinity series debut at Bristol in April, Burton will make his return at Richmond in April, and Gaughan will drive in the road course races at Mid-Ohio, Road America, and at Charlotte on the new Roval layout.
In 2017, Lee drove full-time in the for, Burton drove a part-time schedule in the Xfinity Series, driving the No. 24 Toyota for, while Gaughan competed full-time in the Xfinity Series, driving the No. 62 Chevrolet for Richard Childress Racing. On February 2, 2018, it was announced that will drive the No. 15 Chevrolet for full-time starting at Atlanta. Mills most recently drove part-time for, and in 2017. However he was released after DNQing at Texas, and again after running Pocono and Michigan.
He would end up running the second races at Richmond and Dover with B.J. Mcleod Motorsports. On February 7, 2018 announced that will drive the No.
52 car full-time. On February 8, 2018, it was revealed that would run a full schedule in the Xfinity Series. Cindric will drive for in either the Nos.
12 or 22 in all races in which he does not drive the No. On May 2, 2018, NASCAR announced that was issued a substance abuse penalty and was suspended indefinitely. He also lost his playoff eligibility with the suspension. This came just a week after Gallagher scored his first NASCAR win at Talladega. Was announced as his replacement for Dover and will drive the car at Charlotte, Pocono, Chicago, Daytona, and Bristol and will drive the car at Michigan., who drives the No.
24 in the for GMS Racing, drove the No. 23 at Iowa in June, and will also a drive a 2nd GMS Car at Daytona in July and Watkins Glen. On July 4, 2018, Gallagher was reinstated and returned to the No. 23 car at Kentucky. On October 19, 2018, Gallagher announced his retirement from racing at the end of the season.
He will take on a more managerial role in GMS racing starting in 2019. On May 7, 2018, it was announced that driver will make his Xfinity Series debut at driving the No. On August 15, 2018, Elliott Sadler announced his retirement at the end of 2018.
His replacement for 2019 onwards is Noah Gragson. Crew chiefs. Brian Wilson will take over the Crew Chief duties for the No. 22 after it was announced that Greg Erwin would be moving up to the to be crew chief at. will move over from the No. 20 MENCS team to the No. 20 Xfinity Series team to be the crew chief for.
Chris Gabehardt, who was the previous crew chief for the No. 20, will move over to the No.
19 team to be Brandon Jones' crew chief, replacing Matt Beckham. Chad Norris will take over as Crew Chief at for the No. Norris was the Crew Chief for in the No. 48 at in 2017.
Shane Wilson will take over as Crew Chief at for the No. Wilson was the Crew Chief for in the No.
62 at in 2017. Jason Houghtaling will move from to to crew chief the startup team's No. Manufacturers. will switch from to this season.
JGL Racing had been running Toyota cars from 2015 to 2017. This is the final season of the, which will be replaced by the in. This is also the final season of as a manufacturer. In the, Dodge stopped factory support after switched to Ford; because of this, the former Penske used by smaller teams were nicknamed 'Zombie Dodges'. The new flange-fit composite body rules have made the welded steel-bodied Challengers ineligible to compete in 2019. Rule changes. On July 31, 2017, NASCAR announced that drivers with more than five years of full-time racing on the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup level and registered as Monster Energy NASCAR Cup drivers for the 2018 season for points purposes may drive a maximum of seven Xfinity Series races.
In addition, all full-time registered Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series drivers were ineligible to drive in the races as well as the final eight races of the season (the final race before the playoffs and the playoffs). Drivers who have declared eligibility for Xfinity Series points, regardless of Cup experience, can compete in those races. On November 1, 2017, NASCAR announced a series of Xfinity Series rule changes for 2018.
The 7/8 inch restrictor plate and aero ducts used at the for the will also be used at Pocono and Michigan. Teams may use the flange-fit composite body at 30 races—all except Daytona and Talladega. Teams must use a NASCAR-specification flat splitter. Teams must use a specification radiator. Brake cooling hoses and fans will be reduced. Teams must use a single transmission for the entire race meeting, however, this rule does not apply at the road course races.
The standard splitter height is four inches. The will be powered by the vehicle, not separate batteries. As part of an investigation into the crash that injured, NASCAR imposed new chassis specifications (Enhanced Vehicle Chassis) for safety reasons that will be implemented in two phases. Starting with the conclusion of the 2017 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series season, all new chassis must be certified to the new specification.
Currently constructed and certified chassis that had been certified as of the 2017 Ford EcoBoost 300 will have a one-year grace period until they must be certified. Starting from this season, drivers that declared eligibility to the Xfinity Series will have their last name featured in the front windshield of the car, with the Xfinity logo being reduced into two smaller logos in the upper corner area of the front windshield between the driver's name. Those who didn't declared eligibility to the series will only feature the Xfinity logo in the front windshield of their car. Schedule. The Bar Harbor 200 at Dover International Speedway in October The final schedule – comprising 33 races – was released on May 23, 2017.
Key changes from 2017 include:. The was held one week earlier. As a result of this, all races from Atlanta until Talladega (spring), moved one week earlier than 2017. The at moved from Saturday afternoon to Friday night due to attendance issues. The moved between Talladega and Charlotte.
Due to Daytona moving a week earlier, Dover was forced to move to May, similar to 2016. The new date that acquired from was moved to the final race of the regular season to replace at which move back to July before the. That means the Coca-Cola Firecracker 250, and will move one week earlier than 2017. The at moved to September between Darlington and Las Vegas. The at moved one week earlier to become the second race of the Round of 12 and will utilize the track's road course layout instead of its quad-oval.
That means the at moved one week later to become the elimination race of the Round of 12. Race title Date Start Time (et) TV 1, February 17 2:30 p.m. 2, February 24 2:00 p.m. 3, March 3 4:00 p.m. 4, March 10 4:00 p.m. 5, March 17 5:00 p.m.
6, April 7 3:00 p.m. 7, April 14 1:00 p.m. 8, April 20 7:00 p.m. 9, April 28 3:15 p.m.
10, May 5 12:30 p.m. 11, May 26 1:00 p.m. 12, June 2 1:00 p.m. 13, June 9 1:30 p.m. 14, June 17 5:00 p.m. 15, June 30 3:30 p.m. 16, July 6 7:30 p.m.
17, July 13 8:00 p.m. 18, July 21 4:00 p.m. 19, July 28 5:30 p.m. 20, August 4 3:30 p.m.
21, August 11 3:00 p.m. 22, August 17 7:30 p.m.
23, August 25 3:00 p.m. 24, September 1 3:30 p.m. 25, September 10 10:00 a.m. 26, September 15 5:00 p.m. Round of 12 27, September 21 7:30 p.m.
28, September 29 3:00 p.m. 29, October 6 3:00 p.m. Round of 8 30, October 20 3:00 p.m. 31, November 3 3:30 p.m. 32, November 10 3:30 p.m. Championship 4 33, November 17 3:30 p.m.
Schedule changes In 2015, NASCAR and 24 agreed on a five-year contract that guarantees each track would continue to host races through 2020. Despite the agreement, decided to transfer one of its Xfinity Series races at to to form a race weekend involving each of the three national series in the fall. With the official release of the schedule, NASCAR announced that the race Las Vegas Motor Speedway acquired from Kentucky Speedway will become the final race before the Xfinity Series playoffs, while the at will be held as the first race of the playoffs. Furthermore, the at will move from July to September. 's race, the, will move from September to June to become the 15th race of the season instead of the 26th.
A few other minor schedule changes were also announced with the release of the schedule. Unlike the 2017 season, the at will precede the at, while the, also at Dover International Speedway, will move one week later to follow the at Charlotte Motor Speedway. The Drive for the Cure 200 will also utilize Charlotte Motor Speedway's 2.28-mile (3.67 km) road course instead of its oval. Road America will also move back to a Saturday afternoon. On August 25, NASCAR announced the tracks that will compose the Dash 4 Cash incentive program: The four Dash 4 Cash races will be run consecutively on the overall series schedule, starting at Bristol Motor Speedway on April 14. From there, the bonus program rolls on to Richmond Raceway (April 20) and Talladega (April 28) before concluding at Dover International Speedway on May 5. Drivers eligible for driver championship points in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series are ineligible to participate in either Dash 4 Cash, the second Las Vegas race, or the playoff races.
Drivers such as (13 years) and (18 years), who are expected to register as Xfinity drivers, will be eligible since they are registering as Xfinity drivers. Results and standings Race results No. Race Most laps led Winning driver Manufacturer No. Winning team 1 9 2 98 with 3 42 4 22 5 22 6 22 7 18 8 20 9 23 10 7 11 22 12 18 13 3 14 7 15 42 16 42 17 20 18 20 19 20 20 22 21 7 22 42 23 7 24 22 25 7 26 42 NASCAR Xfinity Series Playoffs Round of 12 27 20 28 98 with 29 20 Round of 8 30 42 31 00 with 32 20 Championship 4 33 9 Drivers' Championship Bold – Pole position awarded by time. Italics – Pole position set by final practice results or 2017 Owner's points. – Most laps led.
1 – Stage 1 winner. 2 – Stage 2 winner. 1-10 – Regular season top 10 finishers. – Eliminated after Round of 12. – Eliminated after Round of 8 Pos Driver Pts. Stage Bonus 1 (R) 1 19 8 10 7 23 7 11 8 5 23 9 7 8 33 1 31 6 25 22 11 31 9 34 3 2 28 7 9 14 5 2.
6 1 4040 – 15 7 2 14 39 9 8 6 4 8 6 9 13 2 5 3 4 3 25 5 9 9. 1 6 7 4 4 2 29 3 15 7 2 26 1 2 8 2. 1 2 4035 – 13 2 3 26 11 6 6 5 3 3 29 1 23.
1 3 7 3 2 3 5 8 2 11 11 16 3 24 3 2 11 5 2 29 3 1 10 1 7 2 2. 1 10 1 2 4 4033 – 13 5 4 (R) 39 3 2 1 4 21 2 29 1 1. 12 4 3 36 11 2 12 3 1 1. 1 1 2 9 11 2 23 34 9 4 1 5 2 1. 1 37 32 1. 11 4026 – 44 3 cut-off Pos Driver Pts. August 14, 2018.
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