NASCAR: 2018 O’Reilly Auto Parts 500 at Texas results – Kyle Busch wins
By Asher Fair
Kyle Busch won his first race of the 2018 NASCAR Cup Series season in the O’Reilly Auto Parts 500 at Texas Motor Speedway.
After finishing in the top three in each of the last four NASCAR Cup Series races without actually winning one, Kyle Busch finally won his first race of the 2018 season by winning the O’Reilly Auto Parts 500 at Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth, Texas.
Busch, who has now won 44 career Cup Series races, won the 334-lap race around the four-turn, 1.5-mile D-shaped oval in his #18 Toyota for Joe Gibbs Racing after leading 116 of its laps, which was the highest laps led total among all drivers in the field. He held off the hard-charging Kevin Harvick in his #4 Ford for Stewart-Haas Racing in the closing laps of the race, causing Harvick to settle for 2nd place.
The race featured a total of 16 lead changes among eight different drivers. Aside of Busch, Harvick, Erik Jones, polesitter Kurt Busch, William Byron, Chase Elliott, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Denny Hamlin all led at least one lap throughout the race.
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The race also featured a total of eight caution flag periods. Of course, two caution flag periods took place as a result of stage one and two coming to a close, which would normally mean that six caution flag periods took place as a result of on-track incidents throughout the race.
However, the caution flag period that took place during the end of stage one actually came as a result of an incident that took place before the stage ended, meaning that seven caution flag periods took place as a result of on-track incidents throughout the race.
The first incident-related caution flag of the race came out on lap three when Austin Dillon, Daniel Suarez, Paul Menard and Alex Bowman were involved in an accident in turn four. The second incident-related caution flag of the race came out on lap 81 when Martin Truex Jr. slammed the turn four wall, and it stayed out until stage two began.
The third incident-related caution flag of the race came out on lap 127 when Kyle Larson slammed the turn two wall. The fourth incident-related caution flag of the race came out on lap 178 when Dillon, Hamlin, Brad Keselowski, Trevor Bayne, Aric Almirola, David Ragan and Jimmie Johnson were involved in accident in turn four.
The fifth incident-related caution flag of the race came out on lap 235 when Paul Menard slammed the turn two well. The sixth incident-related caution flag of the race came out on lap 250 when Bayne and Kasey Kahne were involved in an accident in turn four. The seventh and final incident-related caution flag of the race came out on lap 304 when Ryan Newman slammed the turn one wall.
Here are the full race results from the 2018 O’Reilly Auto Parts 500 at Texas Motor Speedway.
| Rank | Driver | Car, Team, Manufacturer |
| 1 | Kyle Busch | #18, Joe Gibbs Racing, Toyota |
| 2 | Kevin Harvick | #4, Stewart-Haas Racing, Ford |
| 3 | Jamie McMurray | #1, Chip Ganassi Racing, Chevrolet |
| 4 | Erik Jones | #20, Joe Gibbs Racing, Toyota |
| 5 | Ryan Blaney | #12, Team Penske, Ford |
| 6 | Joey Logano | #22, Team Penske, Ford |
| 7 | Kurt Busch | #41, Stewart-Haas Racing, Ford |
| 8 | Darrell Wallace Jr. | #43, Richard Petty Motorsports, Chevrolet |
| 9 | Clint Bowyer | #14, Stewart-Haas Racing, Ford |
| 10 | William Byron | #24, Hendrick Motorsports, Chevrolet |
| 11 | Chase Elliott | #9, Hendrick Motorsports, Chevrolet |
| 12 | Trevor Bayne | #6, Roush Fenway Racing, Ford |
| 13 | Ty Dillon | #13, Germain Racing, Chevrolet |
| 14 | Michael McDowell | #34, Front Row Motorsports, Ford |
| 15 | Chris Buescher | #37, JTG Daugherty Racing, Chevrolet |
| 16 | Matt DiBenedetto | #32, Go Fas Racing, Ford |
| 17 | Kasey Kahne | #95, Leavine Family Racing, Chevrolet |
| 18 | Ross Chastain | #15, Premium Motorsports, Chevrolet |
| 19 | Cole Whitt | #72, TriStar Motorsports, Chevrolet |
| 20 | Gray Gaulding | #23, BK Racing, Toyota |
| 21 | Landon Cassill | #00, StarCom Racing, Chevrolet |
| 22 | Harrison Rhodes | #51, Rick Ware Racing, Chevrolet |
| 23 | David Ragan | #38, Front Row Motorsports, Ford |
| 24 | A.J. Allmendinger | #47, JTG Daugherty Racing, Chevrolet |
| 25 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | #17, Roush Fenway Racing, Ford |
| 26 | Austin Dillon | #3, Richard Childress Racing, Chevrolet |
| 27 | Ryan Newman | #31, Richard Childress Racing, Chevrolet |
| 28 | Alex Bowman | #88, Hendrick Motorsports, Chevrolet |
| 29 | Daniel Suarez | #19, Joe Gibbs Racing, Toyota |
| 30 | Paul Menard | #21, Wood Brothers Racing, Ford |
| 31 | Reed Sorenson | #55, Premium Motorsports, Chevrolet |
| 32 | Aric Almirola | #10, Stewart-Haas Racing, Ford |
| 33 | Brad Keselowski | #2, Team Penske, Ford |
| 34 | Denny Hamlin | #11, Joe Gibbs Racing, Toyota |
| 35 | Jimmie Johnson | #48, Hendrick Motorsports, Chevrolet |
| 36 | Kyle Larson | #42, Chip Ganassi Racing, Chevrolet |
| 37 | Martin Truex Jr. | #78, Furniture Row Racing, Toyota |
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Be sure to tune into next week’s NASCAR Cup Series race. That race, which is the Food City 500, is set to be broadcast live from Bristol Motor Speedway in Bristol, Tennessee next Sunday, April 15th starting at 2:00 pm ET on Fox.