The 2018 PowerShares QQQ 300 was the 1st 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 37th 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 on Saturday, February 17, 2018 in

Daytona Beach, Florida Daytona Beach is a coastal Resort town, resort city in Volusia County, Florida, United States. Located on the East Coast of the United States, its population was 72,647 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. It is part of the Deltona� ...

Daytona International Speedway Daytona International Speedway is a race track in Daytona Beach, Florida, Daytona Beach, Florida, United States, about north of Orlando, Florida, Orlando. Since opening in 1959, it has been the home of the Daytona 500, the most prestigious race ...

, a 2.5 miles (4.0 km) permanent triangular-shaped superspeedway. The race was extended from the scheduled 120 laps to 143 laps due to five

NASCAR overtime 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 ...

attempts. At race's end,

Tyler Reddick Tyler George Reddick (born January 11, 1996) is an American professional stock car racing driver. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 45 Toyota Camry (XV80), Toyota Camry XSE for 23XI Racing. He is a two-time champion i ...

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 ...

would best out teammate

Elliott Sadler Elliott William Barnes Sadler (born April 30, 1975) is an American former professional stock car racing driver. He last competed part-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, driving the No. 10 Chevrolet Camaro for Kaulig Racing. Sadler is one of 36 dr ...

in the closest finish in

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 ...

history, beating Sadler out by only 0.0004 seconds. To fill out the podium,

Ryan Reed Ryan Austin Payton Reed (born August 12, 1993) is an American professional stock car racing driver and driver coach. He last competed part-time in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, driving the No. 91 Chevrolet Silverado for McAnally-Hilgemann Ra ...

Roush Fenway Racing Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing, doing business as RFK Racing, is an American professional stock car organization that currently competes in the NASCAR Cup Series. One of NASCAR's largest racing teams in the 2000s and early 2010s, Roush formerly ...

would finish 3rd.

Background

is one of three

superspeedway Oval track racing is a form of motorsport that is contested on an oval-shaped race track. An oval track differs from a road course in that the layout resembles an oval with turns in only one direction, and the direction of traffic is almost uni ...

s to hold

races, the other two being

Indianapolis Motor Speedway The Indianapolis Motor Speedway is a motor racing circuit located in Speedway, Indiana, United States, an enclave suburb of Indianapolis, Indiana. It is the home of the Indianapolis 500 and the Brickyard 400, and and formerly the home of the U ...

and

Talladega Superspeedway Talladega Superspeedway (Alabama International Motor Speedway from 1969 to 1989) is a tri-oval superspeedway in Lincoln, Alabama. Built in 1969, the track has hosted a variety of racing events, primarily races sanctioned by NASCAR. The track is ...

. The standard track at Daytona International Speedway is a four-turn superspeedway that is 2.5 miles (4.0 km) long. The track's turns are banked at 31

degrees Degree may refer to: As a unit of measurement * Degree (angle), a unit of angle measurement ** Degree of geographical latitude ** Degree of geographical longitude * Degree symbol (°), a notation used in science, engineering, and mathematics ...

, while the front stretch, the location of the finish line, is banked at 18 degrees.

Entry list

Practice

First practice

First practice was held on Friday, February 16, at 12:05 PM EST.

would set the fastest lap, with a 45.874 and an average speed of .

Second practice

The second and final practice was held on Friday, February 16, at 2:05 PM EST.

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 set the fastest lap, with a 47.041 and an average speed of .

Qualifying

Qualifying would take place on Saturday, February 17, at 9:35 AM EST. Since

is at least , 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 13-40. Then, the fastest 12 qualifiers would move on to the second round to determine positions 1-12.

would advance from Round 1 and set the fastest lap in Round 2, with a time of 47.541 and an average speed of , winning the pole for the race. The drivers that would fail to qualify would consist of: Ray Black Jr.,

Chris Cockrum Christopher R. Cockrum (born December 24, 1986) is an American professional stock car racing driver. He last competed part-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, driving the No. 25 Chevrolet Camaro for ACG Motorsports. Racing career Cockrum began hi ...

Timmy Hill Timothy Grant Hill (born February 25, 1993) is an American professional stock car racing driver and team owner. He competes part-time in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, driving the No. 56 Toyota Tundra for his team, Hill Motorsports, and part- ...

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 ...

Josh Bilicki Joshua Michael Bilicki (born June 3, 1995) is an American professional stock car racing driver. He competes part-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, driving the No. 91 Chevrolet Camaro (sixth generation), Chevrolet SS for DGM Racing with Jesse Iwuj ...

, and Mike Harmon. Originally, Timmy Hill was slated to qualify for the race after qualifying on owner's points, supposed to be starting in 36th. However, the times of

Matt Tifft Matthew Kenneth Tifft (born June 26, 1996) is an American professional stock car racing driver and former team owner. He currently competes part-time in the Super Late Models, driving the No. 36 Chevrolet SS for Dan Fredricksonn Racing. In 2020, ...

and Josh Williams were both disallowed after they both failed post-qualifying inspection. This would allow

Gray Gaulding Dwayne Gray Gaulding Jr. (born February 10, 1998) is an American former professional stock car racing driver. He last competed part-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, driving the No. 08 Chevrolet Camaro and Ford Mustang for SS-Green Light Racing a ...

, previously a non-qualifier, to make the race and bump Hill out of the race.

Full starting lineup

*Times disallowed after Tifft and Williams both failed post-qualifying inspection.

Race results

Stage 1 Laps: 30 Stage 2 Laps: 30 Stage 3 Laps: 83

References

{{2018 NASCAR Xfinity Series 2018 NASCAR Xfinity Series NASCAR races at Daytona International Speedway

PowerShares QQQ 300 The Daytona 300, currently known for sponsorship reasons as the United Rentals 300, is the first race of the NASCAR Xfinity Series season, held at Daytona International Speedway. It is held the day before the Daytona 500, and is considered the ...