NASCAR Cup Series: 2018 KC Masterpiece 400 at Kansas results – Kevin Harvick wins
By Asher Fair
Kevin Harvick won his second consecutive NASCAR Cup Series race and his fifth of the 2018 season in the KC Masterpiece 400.
Stewart-Haas Racing’s Kevin Harvick won his fifth race of the 2018 NASCAR Cup Series season in the KC Masterpiece 400 at the four-turn, 1.5-mile Kansas Speedway tri-oval in Kansas City, Kansas after leading 79 of its 267 laps. The win was his second in a row, as he also won at Dover International Speedway last Sunday.
Harvick, who started the race from the pole position, held off the race’s top Toyota finisher, Martin Truex Jr. in his #78 Furniture Row Racing Toyota, by 0.390 seconds after passing him with just over one lap to go for the race lead on fresher tires.
The race’s top Chevrolet finisher was Kyle Larson, who finished in fourth place after starting all the way back in 38th (last). He looked like he was on pace to win the race until the first incident-related caution flag period of the day began on lap 237 to bunch up the field. He led a field-high 101 laps.
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Team Penske’s Ryan Blaney won stage one in his #12 Ford, while Kyle Larson won stage two. The race featured 13 lead changes among seven drivers. Aside of Harvick, six other drivers led at least one lap of the race. As referenced above, Kyle Larson led more laps than anybody else in the field. The other five leaders of the race were Martin Truex Jr., Joey Logano, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Austin Dillon and Ryan Blaney.
The race also featured six caution flag periods for 31 laps. Three of those caution flag periods took place as a result of incidents on the track, as one took place as a competition caution period thanks to the fact that it rained at the track prior to the race and two took place due to stages one and two ending.
The first incident-related caution flag period of the race began on lap 237 after Alex Bowman and Daniel Suarez made contact on the back straightaway. The second incident-related caution flag period of the race began on lap 248 after Ryan Blaney and Kyle Larson made contact in turn one in a battle for third place, sending Blaney into the wall and ending his race after he led 54 laps of it.
The third and final incident-related caution flag period of the race began on lap 253 and led to a red flag period as a result of a seven-car accident in turn four involving William Byron, Clint Bowyer, Ryan Newman, Jamie McMurray, Chris Buescher, Matt Kenseth and Ty Dillon.
Here are the full race results of the 2018 KC Masterpiece 400 at Kansas Speedway.
| Rank | Driver | Car, Team, Manufacturer |
| 1 | Kevin Harvick | #4, Stewart-Haas Racing, Ford |
| 2 | Martin Truex Jr. | #78, Furniture Row Racing, Toyota |
| 3 | Joey Logano | #22, Team Penske, Ford |
| 4 | Kyle Larson | #42, Chip Ganassi Racing, Chevrolet |
| 5 | Denny Hamlin | #11, Joe Gibbs Racing, Toyota |
| 6 | Paul Menard | #21, Wood Brothers Racing, Ford |
| 7 | Erik Jones | #20, Joe Gibbs Racing, Toyota |
| 8 | Kurt Busch | #41, Stewart-Haas Racing, Ford |
| 9 | Aric Almirola | #10, Stewart-Haas Racing, Ford |
| 10 | Kyle Busch | #18, Joe Gibbs Racing, Toyota |
| 11 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | #17, Roush Fenway Racing, Ford |
| 12 | Chase Elliott | #9, Hendrick Motorsports, Chevrolet |
| 13 | David Ragan | #38, Front Row Motorsports, Ford |
| 14 | Brad Keselowski | #2, Team Penske, Ford |
| 15 | Clint Bowyer | #14, Stewart-Haas Racing, Ford |
| 16 | A.J. Allmendinger | #47, JTG Daugherty Racing, Chevrolet |
| 17 | Austin Dillon | #3, Richard Childress Racing, Chevrolet |
| 18 | Alex Bowman | #88, Hendrick Motorsports, Chevrolet |
| 19 | Jimmie Johnson | #48, Hendrick Motorsports, Chevrolet |
| 20 | Michael McDowell | #34, Front Row Motorsports, Ford |
| 21 | Kasey Kahne | #95, Leavine Family Racing, Chevrolet |
| 22 | Matt DiBenedetto | #32, Go Fas Racing, Ford |
| 23 | Darrell Wallace Jr. | #43, Richard Petty Motorsports, Chevrolet |
| 24 | Corey Lajoie | #72, TriStar Motorsports, Chevrolet |
| 25 | Landon Cassill | #00, StarCom Racing, Chevrolet |
| 26 | Ross Chastain | #15, Premium Motorsports, Chevrolet |
| 27 | Reed Sorenson | #55, Premium Motorsports, Chevrolet |
| 28 | Daniel Suarez | #19, Joe Gibbs Racing, Toyota |
| 29 | Gray Gaulding | #23, BK Racing, Toyota |
| 30 | Ryan Newman | #31, Richard Childress Racing, Chevrolet |
| 31 | Jamie McMurray | #1, Chip Ganassi Racing, Chevrolet |
| 32 | Timmy Hill | #66, MBM Motorsports, Toyota |
| 33 | William Byron | #24, Hendrick Motorsports, Chevrolet |
| 34 | Chris Buescher | #37, JTG Daugherty Racing, Chevrolet |
| 35 | B.J. McLeod | #51, Rick Ware Racing, Chevrolet |
| 36 | Matt Kenseth | #6, Roush Fenway Racing, Ford |
| 37 | Ryan Blaney | #12, Team Penske, Ford |
| 38 | Ty Dillon | #13, Germain Racing, Chevrolet |
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Be sure to tune in to Fox Sports 1 at 6:00 p.m. ET this Saturday, May 19 to watch the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series All-Star Open. That race leads into the Monster Energy NASCAR All-Star Race at 8:00 p.m. ET. Both races are set to take place at Charlotte Motor Speedway in Concord, North Carolina. The next points race, the Coca-Cola 600, is also set to be held at the track, and it is scheduled to be broadcast live at 6:00 p.m. ET on Fox on Sunday, May 27.