The 2018 World of Westgate 200 was the 18th stock car race of the 2018 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series season, the second race of the Round of 8, and the inaugural running of the event. Despite an agreement, Speedway Motorsports would cancel one New Hampshire Motor Speedway weekend and add one race of each national series to Las Vegas Motor Speedway.[1] The race was held on Friday, September 14, 2018 in North Las Vegas, Nevada at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, a 1.5 miles (2.4 km) permanent D-shaped oval racetrack. The race was extended from its scheduled 134 laps to 144 laps due to numerous NASCAR overtime attempts. At race's end, Grant Enfinger would pull away from an ailing Brett Moffitt on the restart and pull away to win his 2nd career NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race and the first and only win of the season.[2] To fill out then podium, Johnny Sauter and Justin Haley, both driving for GMS Racing would finish second and third, respectively.
| Race details | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Race 18 of 23 of the 2018 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series | |||
| Date | September 14, 2018 | ||
| Official name | World of Westgate 200 | ||
| Location | North Las Vegas, Nevada, Las Vegas Motor Speedway | ||
| Course |
Permanent racing facility 1.5 mi (2.41 km) | ||
| Distance | 144 laps, 216 mi (347.618 km) | ||
| Scheduled Distance | 134 laps, 201 mi (323.477 km) | ||
| Average speed | 101.647 miles per hour (163.585 km/h) | ||
| Pole position | |||
| Driver | Kyle Busch Motorsports | ||
| Time | 30.331 | ||
| Most laps led | |||
| Driver | Grant Enfinger | ThorSport Racing | |
| Laps | 40 | ||
| Winner | |||
| No. 98 | Grant Enfinger | ThorSport Racing | |
| 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
edit*Withdrew.[3]
Practice
editFirst practice
editFirst practice was held on Thursday, September 13 at 2:05 PST. Johnny Sauter of GMS Racing would set the fastest lap in practice with a time with a 30.731 and an average speed of 175.718 miles per hour (282.791 km/h).[4]
| Pos. | # | Driver | Team | Make | Time | Speed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 21 | Johnny Sauter | GMS Racing | Chevrolet | 30.731 | 175.718 |
| 2 | 13 | Myatt Snider | ThorSport Racing | Ford | 30.802 | 175.131 |
| 3 | 52 | Stewart Friesen | Halmar Friesen Racing | Chevrolet | 30.826 | 175.177 |
| Full first practice results | ||||||
Second and final practice
editThe second and final practice would take place on Thursday, September 13 at 4:05 PST. Riley Herbst of Kyle Busch Motorsports would set the fastest lap in practice with a time of 30.589 and an average speed of 176.534 miles per hour (284.104 km/h).[4]
| Pos. | # | Driver | Team | Make | Time | Speed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 46 | Riley Herbst | Kyle Busch Motorsports | Toyota | 30.589 | 176.534 |
| 2 | 24 | Justin Haley | GMS Racing | Chevrolet | 30.661 | 176.074 |
| 3 | 88 | Matt Crafton | ThorSport Racing | Ford | 30.681 | 176.005 |
| Full final practice results | ||||||
Qualifying
editQualifying would take place on Friday, September 14 at 3:05 PST. Since Las Vegas Motor Speedway is at least 1.5 miles (2.4 km), 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.[5]
Noah Gragson would proceed to set the fastest time in both rounds, achieving a lap in the second round of a 30.331 and an average speed of 178.036 miles per hour (286.521 km/h).[6] Three drivers would fail to qualify: Tate Fogleman, J. J. Yeley, and Norm Benning.
Full qualifying results
editRace results
editStage 1 Laps: 30
| Fin | # | Driver | Team | Make | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 18 | Noah Gragson | Kyle Busch Motorsports | Toyota | 10 |
| 2 | 8 | John Hunter Nemechek | NEMCO Motorsports | Chevrolet | 0 |
| 3 | 52 | Stewart Friesen | Halmar Friesen Racing | Chevrolet | 8 |
| 4 | 4 | Todd Gilliland | Kyle Busch Motorsports | Toyota | 7 |
| 5 | 51 | Brandon Jones | Kyle Busch Motorsports | Toyota | 0 |
| 6 | 21 | Johnny Sauter | GMS Racing | Chevrolet | 5 |
| 7 | 98 | Grant Enfinger | ThorSport Racing | Ford | 4 |
| 8 | 88 | Matt Crafton | ThorSport Racing | Ford | 3 |
| 9 | 24 | Justin Haley | GMS Racing | Chevrolet | 2 |
| 10 | 41 | Ben Rhodes | ThorSport Racing | Ford | 1 |
Stage 2 Laps: 30
| Fin | # | Driver | Team | Make | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 98 | Grant Enfinger | ThorSport Racing | Ford | 10 |
| 2 | 88 | Matt Crafton | ThorSport Racing | Ford | 9 |
| 3 | 18 | Noah Gragson | Kyle Busch Motorsports | Toyota | 8 |
| 4 | 8 | John Hunter Nemechek | NEMCO Motorsports | Chevrolet | 0 |
| 5 | 52 | Stewart Friesen | Halmar Friesen Racing | Chevrolet | 6 |
| 6 | 97 | Jesse Little | JJL Motorsports | Ford | 5 |
| 7 | 41 | Ben Rhodes | ThorSport Racing | Ford | 4 |
| 8 | 21 | Johnny Sauter | GMS Racing | Chevrolet | 3 |
| 9 | 51 | Brandon Jones | Kyle Busch Motorsports | Toyota | 0 |
| 10 | 16 | Brett Moffitt | Hattori Racing Enterprises | Toyota | 1 |
Stage 3 Laps: 84
References
edit- ^ Long, Dustin (2017-03-08). "Las Vegas gets second Cup date in 2018; New Hampshire loses a Cup date". NASCAR Talk | NBC Sports. Retrieved 2021-10-29.
- ^ "Grant Enfinger wins crashed-filled Las Vegas Truck Series race". Las Vegas Review-Journal. 2018-09-15. Retrieved 2021-10-29.
- ^ Beard, Brock. "PREVIEW: A triple-header on tap in Vegas, and a LASTCAR title bout in Sonoma". Retrieved 2021-10-28.
- ^ a b McFadin, Daniel (2018-09-13). "Truck Series practice report from Las Vegas Motor Speedway". NASCAR Talk | NBC Sports. Retrieved 2021-10-29.
- ^ "NASCAR Qualifying Rules". ESPN.com. 2018-02-07. Retrieved 2021-10-29.
- ^ Beaver, Dan (2018-09-14). "Noah Gragson wins truck pole at Las Vegas". NASCAR Talk | NBC Sports. Retrieved 2021-10-29.
- ^ "2018 World of Westgate 200 - The Third Turn". www.thethirdturn.com. Retrieved 2021-10-28.