NASCAR Cup Series: Kyle Busch wins 2018 Federated Auto Parts 400

Kyle Busch earned his seventh victory of the 2018 NASCAR Cup Series season in the Federated Auto Parts 400 at Richmond Raceway.

In the April race at Richmond Raceway, Joe Gibbs Racing’s Kyle Busch started in 32nd place, but  he was able to work his way to the front of the field to secure what was his third victory of the 2018 NASCAR Cup Series season.

Busch qualified his #18 Toyota in 12th place for the Federated Auto Parts 400, the second of three races in the round of 16 and the second of 10 races in the playoffs, at Richmond Raceway, but he was forced to start back in 39th as a result of unapproved adjustments.

Busch worked his way to the front of the field once again and won the 400-lap race around the four-turn, 0.75-mile (1.207-kilometer) Richmond Raceway in Richmond, Virginia. He won the race by 0.777 over Stewart-Haas Racing’s Kevin Harvick, who finished in second place in his #4 Ford. The win is his seventh of the season, and it locks him into the second round of the four-round playoffs, the round of 12.

More from NASCAR Cup Series

• NASCAR Cup Series: New team set to compete in 2024
• NASCAR: Surprising name continuously linked to new seat
• NASCAR driver at risk of missing the Daytona 500?
• NASCAR set for rare appearance last seen 13 years ago
• NASCAR team adds third car, names driver for 2024 Daytona 500

Furniture Row Racing’s Martin Truex Jr. finished the race in third place in his #78 Toyota. Hendrick Motorsports’ Chase Elliott was the highest finishing Chevrolet driver of the race. He finished in fourth in his #9 Chevrolet. Stewart-Haas Racing’s Aric Almirola rounded out the top five in his #10 Ford.

Richard Childress Racing’s Austin Dillon, Chip Ganassi Racing’s Kyle Larson, Hendrick Motorsports’ Jimmie Johnson, Team Penske’s Brad Keselowski and Stewart-Haas Racing’s Clint Bowyer rounded out the top 10. They finished in sixth, seventh, eighth, ninth and 10th place in their #3 Chevrolet, #42 Chevrolet, #48 Chevrolet, #2 Ford and #14 Ford, respectively.

All 16 of the playoff drivers finished the race in the top 19. The 12 drivers who finished in the top 12 are all playoff drivers.

The race featured a total of 16 lead changes among eight drivers. Aside of Busch, who led 92 laps, seven other drivers led at least one lap of the race. Those drivers were Harvick, Truex Jr., Elliott, Almirola, Keselowski, Alex Bowman and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Truex Jr. led more laps than anybody else in the field with 163 laps led. He won both stages one and two.

The race also featured a total of three caution flag periods, which spanned 23 laps. Just one of those three caution flag periods took place as a result of an on-track incident, and this caution flag period did not take place until lap 326. The other two caution flag periods were the usual caution flag periods that took place as a result of the endings of stages one and two.

All but one of the 40 drivers who started the race finished it, and the only driver who failed to finish it, Gray Gaulding, failed to finish it as a result of brake issues, not as a result of a wreck. Of the 39 drivers who finished the race, 13 finished it on the lead lap, of whom just one, 13th place finisher Ricky Stenhouse Jr., is not a playoff driver.

Here are the full race results of the 2018 Federated Auto Parts 400 at Richmond Raceway.

The third and final race of the opening round of the 2018 NASCAR Cup Series playoffs is scheduled to take place on Sunday, September 30. This race, the Bank of America Roval 400, is set to be broadcast live on NBC from the Charlotte Motor Speedway roval in Concord, North Carolina beginning at 2:00 p.m. ET.