NASCAR Cup Series: 2018 Big Machine Vodka 400 at the Brickyard entry list
By Asher Fair
The final race of the 2018 NASCAR Cup Series regular season is scheduled to take place this Sunday. Here is the entry list for that race, the Big Machine Vodka 400 at the Brickyard.
The 26th and final race of the 2018 NASCAR Cup Series season is scheduled to take place this Sunday. Upon its conclusion, only the 10 playoff races will remain on the schedule before the 2018 champion is crowned at Homestead-Miami Speedway in mid-November.
This Sunday’s race, the Big Machina Vodka 400 at the Brickyard, also known as the Brickyard 400, is scheduled to be a 160-lap race around the four-turn, 2.5-mile (4.023-kilometer) Indianapolis Motor Speedway oval in Speedway, Indiana.
This race has been on the Cup Series calendar since the 1994 season. From the 1994 season through the 2006 season, it was held at the beginning of August. From the 2007 season through last season, it was held at the end of July.
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Until this season, which is the first season during which the race is scheduled to be held in September, the race had never been held later than August 8. It was held on Sunday, August 8 back in 2004.
Last year, the race was held on Sunday, July 23, which is the earliest date on which it has ever been held.
After just five of the 2018 season’s first 22 races featured full fields of 40 drivers, each of the next three races has featured a full field of 40 drivers. This trend is set to continue for the fourth consecutive race, as 41 drivers are set to attempt to qualify for the Big Machine Vodka 400 at the Brickyard, making it the ninth race with a full field of 40 drivers this year.
All 30 of the drivers who have driven in each of the 25 races that have been contested so far this season are set to compete in this race. In addition to these 30 full-time drivers, 11 part-time drivers are set to attempt to qualify for the race as well.
Of the 11 part-time drivers who are set to attempt to qualify for the race, all 11 have driven in at last one Cup Series race before and 10 have driven in at least one Cup Series race so far in 2018. Of these 11 drivers, the one who hasn’t driven in a Cup Series race yet this year is veteran David Starr.
Here is a list of the 11 part-time drivers who are set to attempt to qualify for the Big Machine Vodka 400 at the Brickyard at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Sunday, September 9.
| Rank | Driver | Car, Team, Manufacturer |
| 1 | Landon Cassill | #00, StarCom Racing, Chevrolet |
| 2 | Matt Kenseth | #6, Roush Fenway Racing, Ford |
| 3 | Reed Sorenson | #7, Premium Motorsports, Chevrolet |
| 4 | Ross Chastain | #15, Premium Motorsports, Chevrolet |
| 5 | J.J. Yeley | #23, BK Racing, Toyota |
| 6 | David Starr | #51, Rick Ware Racing, Chevrolet |
| 7 | B.J. McLeod | #52, Rick Ware Racing, Chevrolet |
| 8 | Timmy Hill | #66, MBM Motorsports, Toyota |
| 9 | Corey Lajoie | #72, TriStar Motorsports, Chevrolet |
| 10 | Jeffrey Earnhardt | #96, Gaunt Brothers Racing, Toyota |
| 11 | Gray Gaulding | #99, StarCom Racing, Chevrolet |
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Be sure not to miss the live broadcast of the Big Machine Vodka 400 at the Brickyard, as it is the final race of the 2018 NASCAR Cup Series regular season. The live broadcast of it is scheduled to begin at 2:00 p.m. ET on NBC Sports Network on Sunday, September 9.