The 2018 Stratosphere 200 was the third stock car race of the 2018 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series season, and the 22nd iteration of the event. The race was held on Friday, March 2 in North Las Vegas, Nevada at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, a 1.5 miles (2.4 km) permanent D-shaped oval racetrack. The race took the scheduled 134 laps to complete. In a late race restart, Kyle Busch of Kyle Busch Motorsports was able to hold off a charging Sauter and Moffitt for the last 11 laps to win the race, the 50th NASCAR Camping World Truck Series win of his career and the first of the season.[1] To fill out the rest of the podium, Johnny Sauter of GMS Racing and Brett Moffitt of Hattori Racing Enterprises finished 2nd and 3rd, respectively.
| Race details | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Race 3 of 23 of the 2018 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series | |||
 | |||
| Date | March 2, 2018 | ||
| Official name | Stratosphere 200 | ||
| Location | North Las Vegas, Nevada, Las Vegas Motor Speedway | ||
| Course |
Permanent racing facility 1.5 mi (2.41 km) | ||
| Distance | 134 laps, 201 mi (323.478 km) | ||
| Scheduled Distance | 134 laps, 201 mi (323.478 km) | ||
| Average speed | 122.665 miles per hour (197.410 km/h) | ||
| Pole position | |||
| Driver | Kyle Busch Motorsports | ||
| Time | 30.575 | ||
| Most laps led | |||
| Driver | Kyle Busch | Kyle Busch Motorsports | |
| Laps | 55 | ||
| Winner | |||
| No. 51 | Kyle Busch | Kyle Busch Motorsports | |
| Television in the United States | |||
| Network | Fox Sports 1 | ||
| Announcers | Vince Welch, Phil Parsons, Michael Waltrip | ||
| Radio in the United States | |||
| Radio | Motor Racing Network | ||
Background
edit
Las Vegas Motor Speedway, located in Clark County, Nevada outside the Las Vegas city limits and about 15 miles northeast of the Las Vegas Strip, is a 1,200-acre (490 ha) complex of multiple tracks for motorsports racing. The complex is owned by Speedway Motorsports, Inc., which is headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina.
Entry list
editPractice
editFirst practice
editThe first practice was held on Thursday, March 1 at 5:05 PM EST. Justin Marks of DGR-Crosley would set the fastest time of the session with a 30.313 and an average speed of 178.141 miles per hour (286.690 km/h).[2]
| Pos. | # | Driver | Team | Make | Time | Speed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 54 | Justin Marks | DGR-Crosley | Toyota | 30.313 | 178.141 |
| 2 | 16 | Brett Moffitt | Hattori Racing Enterprises | Toyota | 30.317 | 178.118 |
| 3 | 18 | Noah Gragson | Kyle Busch Motorsports | Toyota | 30.345 | 177.954 |
| Full first practice results | ||||||
Second and final practice
editThe second and final practice was held on Thursday, March 1 at 7:05 PM EST. Johnny Sauter of GMS Racing would set the fastest time with a 30.114 and an average speed of 179.319 miles per hour (288.586 km/h).[2]
| Pos. | # | Driver | Team | Make | Time | Speed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 21 | Johnny Sauter | GMS Racing | Chevrolet | 30.114 | 179.319 |
| 2 | 16 | Brett Moffitt | Hattori Racing Enterprises | Toyota | 30.154 | 179.081 |
| 3 | 18 | Noah Gragson | Kyle Busch Motorsports | Toyota | 30.184 | 178.903 |
| Full final practice results | ||||||
Qualifying
editQualifying was held on Friday, March 2, at 6:05 PM EST. The qualifying system was a single car, single lap, two round system where in the first round, everyone would set a time to determine positions 13-32. Then, the fastest 12 qualifiers would move on to the second round to determine positions 1-12.[3]
Starting lineup
editRace results
editStage 1 Laps: 40
| Pos. | # | Driver | Team | Make | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 18 | Noah Gragson | Kyle Busch Motorsports | Toyota | 10 |
| 2 | 4 | Spencer Davis | Kyle Busch Motorsports | Toyota | 9 |
| 3 | 51 | Kyle Busch | Kyle Busch Motorsports | Toyota | 0 |
| 4 | 52 | Stewart Friesen | Halmar Friesen Racing | Chevrolet | 7 |
| 5 | 13 | Myatt Snider | ThorSport Racing | Ford | 6 |
| 6 | 41 | Ben Rhodes | ThorSport Racing | Ford | 5 |
| 7 | 21 | Johnny Sauter | GMS Racing | Chevrolet | 4 |
| 8 | 16 | Brett Moffitt | Hattori Racing Enterprises | Toyota | 3 |
| 9 | 2 | Cody Coughlin | GMS Racing | Chevrolet | 2 |
| 10 | 88 | Matt Crafton | ThorSport Racing | Ford | 1 |
Stage 2 Laps: 40
| Pos. | # | Driver | Team | Make | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 52 | Stewart Friesen | Halmar Friesen Racing | Chevrolet | 10 |
| 2 | 13 | Myatt Snider | ThorSport Racing | Ford | 9 |
| 3 | 51 | Kyle Busch | Kyle Busch Motorsports | Toyota | 0 |
| 4 | 41 | Ben Rhodes | ThorSport Racing | Ford | 7 |
| 5 | 16 | Brett Moffitt | Hattori Racing Enterprises | Toyota | 6 |
| 6 | 18 | Noah Gragson | Kyle Busch Motorsports | Toyota | 5 |
| 7 | 24 | Justin Haley | GMS Racing | Chevrolet | 4 |
| 8 | 21 | Johnny Sauter | GMS Racing | Chevrolet | 3 |
| 9 | 98 | Grant Enfinger | ThorSport Racing | Ford | 2 |
| 10 | 4 | Spencer Davis | Kyle Busch Motorsports | Toyota | 1 |
Stage 3 Laps: 54
References
edit- ^ "Kyle Busch starts Las Vegas weekend with 50th Truck Series win". Las Vegas Review-Journal. 2018-03-03. Retrieved 2021-10-04.
- ^ a b "Truck Series practice report from Las Vegas Motor Speedway". NASCAR Talk | NBC Sports. 2018-03-01. Retrieved 2021-10-04.
- ^ "NASCAR Qualifying Rules". ESPN.com. 2018-02-07. Retrieved 2021-10-04.
- ^ "2018 Stratosphere 200 - The Third Turn". www.thethirdturn.com. Retrieved 2021-10-04.