The 2018 Fitzgerald Glider Kits 300 was the seventh stock car race of the

2018 NASCAR Xfinity Series file:Tyler Reddick Atlanta 2018.jpg, Chevy won the manufacturer's championship. The 2018 NASCAR Xfinity Series was the 37th season of the NASCAR Xfinity Series, a stock car racing series sanctioned by NASCAR in the United States. William By ...

season, and the 36th iteration 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 ...

. The race was held Saturday, April 14, 2018, in

Bristol, Tennessee Bristol is a city in Sullivan County, Tennessee, United States. The population was 27,147 at the 2020 census. It is the twin city of Bristol, Virginia, which lies directly across the state line between Tennessee and Virginia. The boundary be ...

Bristol Motor Speedway Bristol Motor Speedway (formerly known as the Bristol International Raceway from 1978 to 1996 and as the Bristol International Speedway from 1961 to 1978) is a oval Oval track racing#Short track, short track in Bristol, Tennessee. The track ha ...

, a 0.533 miles (0.858 km) permanent oval-shaped racetrack. The race took the scheduled 300 laps to complete. At race's end,

Ryan Preece Ryan Preece (born October 25, 1990) is an American professional stock car racing driver. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 60 Ford Mustang (seventh generation), Ford Mustang Dark Horse for RFK Racing. Preece previous ...

Joe Gibbs Racing Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR) is an American professional stock car racing organization founded by Pro Football Hall of Fame coach Joe Gibbs. His son, J. D. Gibbs, ran the team with him until his death in 2019. Founded in Huntersville, North Carolina, ...

would take the lead on the final restart with 10 laps to go and win his second and to date, final career

NASCAR Xfinity Series The NASCAR Xfinity Series (NXS) is a stock car racing series organized by NASCAR. It is promoted as NASCAR's second-tier circuit to the organization's top level NASCAR Cup Series, Cup Series. NXS events are frequently held as a Undercard, support ...

win and his first and only win of the season. To fill out the podium,

Justin Allgaier Justin Myrl Allgaier (born June 6, 1986) is an American professional stock car racing driver. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, driving the No. 7 Chevrolet Camaro (sixth generation), Chevrolet SS for JR Motorsports and part-time ...

JR Motorsports JR Motorsports (pronounced "Junior Motorsports") is an American professional stock car racing team based in Mooresville, North Carolina, co-owned by Dale Earnhardt Jr., Kelley Earnhardt Miller, L. W. Miller, L.W. Miller, and Rick Hendrick. It c ...

and

Daniel Hemric Daniel Brian Hemric (born January 27, 1991) is an American professional stock car racing driver. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, driving the No. 19 Chevrolet Silverado RST for McAnally-Hilgemann Racing and part-time ...

Richard Childress Racing Richard Childress Racing (RCR) is an American professional stock car racing team that currently competes in the NASCAR Cup Series and the NASCAR Xfinity Series. The team is based in Welcome, North Carolina, and is owned and operated by Richard C ...

would finish second and third, respectively.

Background

The Bristol Motor Speedway, formerly known as Bristol International Raceway and Bristol Raceway, is a

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 ...

short track venue located in

. Constructed in 1960, it held its first NASCAR race on July 30, 1961. Despite its short length, Bristol is among the most popular tracks on the NASCAR schedule because of its distinct features, which include extraordinarily steep banking, an all concrete surface, two pit roads, and

stadium A stadium (: stadiums or stadia) is a place or venue for (mostly) outdoor sports, concerts, or other events and consists of a field or stage completely or partially surrounded by a tiered structure designed to allow spectators to stand or sit ...

-like seating. It has also been named one of the loudest NASCAR tracks.

Entry list

*Driver would change to Dylan Lupton. **The two would swap seats for the race, after Sieg destroyed his primary car in qualifying. Yeley would instead

start and park Start and park is a term used in auto racing, particularly in NASCAR-sanctioned races, to describe the practice of racing teams starting races but pulling the car off the track after just a few laps in order to collect prize money while avoiding e ...

the #39.

Practice

First practice

The first practice session would occur on Friday, April 13, at 1:05 PM EST, and would last for 50 minutes. Brandon Jones of

would set the fastest time in the session, with a time of 15.495 and an average speed of .

Second and final practice

The second and final practice session, sometimes referred to as Happy Hour, would occur on Friday, April 13, at 3:05 PM EST, and would last for 50 minutes.

Cole Custer Cole Matthew Custer (born January 23, 1998) is an American professional stock car racing driver. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 41 Ford Mustang (seventh generation), Ford Mustang Dark Horse for Haas Factory Team. H ...

of Stewart-Haas Racing with Biagi-DenBeste would set the fastest time in the session, with a time of 15.528 and an average speed of .

Qualifying

Qualifying was held on Saturday, April 14, at 9:35 AM EST. Since

is under 2 miles (3.2 km), the qualifying system was a multi-car system that included three rounds. The first round was 15 minutes, where every driver would be able to set a lap within the 15 minutes. Then, the second round would consist of the fastest 24 cars in Round 1, and drivers would have 10 minutes to set a lap. Round 3 consisted of the fastest 12 drivers from Round 2, and the drivers would have 5 minutes to set a time. Whoever was fastest in Round 3 would win the pole.

of Stewart-Haas Racing with Biagi-DenBeste would win the pole, setting a time of 15.090 and an average speed of . One driver would fail to qualify:

Morgan Shepherd Clay Morgan Shepherd (born October 12, 1941) is an American former professional stock car racing driver and current team owner. He last competed part-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, driving the No. 89 Chevrolet Camaro for Shepherd Racing Vent ...

Full qualifying results

Race results

Stage 1 Laps: 85 Stage 2 Laps: 85 Stage 3 Laps: 130

References

{{2018 NASCAR Xfinity Series 2018 NASCAR Xfinity Series NASCAR races at Bristol Motor Speedway April 2018 sports events in the United States 2018 in sports in Tennessee