NASCAR Cup Series: Aric Almirola wins 2018 1000Bulbs.com 500

Aric Almirola led just one lap of the 1000Bulbs.com 500 at Talladega Superspeedway, but that was enough for him to earn his first victory of the 2018 NASCAR Cup Series season.

Stewart-Haas Racing’s Aric Almirola rarely ran outside of the top four in a top four Stewart-Haas Racing sweep throughout the 1000Bulbs.com 500, the second of three races in the round of 8, which is the second of four rounds in the 2018 NASCAR Cup Series playoffs, at Talladega Superspeedway.

However, the driver of the #10 Ford led none of the first 192 laps of the 193-lap race around the four-turn, 2.66-mile (4.281-kilometer) Talladega Superspeedway oval in Lincoln, Alabama, which was scheduled to be a 188-lap race but went into overtime as a result of a late caution flag period.

Almirola took the lead coming out of turn four on the race’s 193rd and final lap after teammate and race leader Kurt Busch, who started the race from the pole position, ran out of fuel, and he went on to take the checkered flag. Busch fell back to 14th place after dominating the race in his #41 Ford.

Here is a video of the end of the race.

Almirola, who started the race in fourth place behind his three teammates, led a top two Stewart-Haas Racing sweep and a top three Ford sweep, as Clint Bowyer finished 0.105 seconds behind Almirola in second in his #14 Ford and Roush Fenway Racing’s Ricky Stenhouse Jr. finished in third in his #17 Ford.

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

The win is Almirola’s first win of the season and the second of his Cup Series career. His first victory came in the July race at Daytona International Speedway in the 2014 season.

Joe Gibbs Racing’s Denny Hamlin was the highest finishing Toyota driver of the race. He finished in fourth place in his #11 Toyota. Team Penske’s Joey Logano rounded out the top five by finishing in fifth in his #22 Ford.

JTG Daugherty Racing’s A.J. Allmendinger and Hendrick Motorsports’ Jimmie Johnson were the highest finishing Chevrolet drivers of the race. They finished in sixth and seventh place in their #47 Chevrolet and #48 Chevrolet, respectively.

Joe Gibbs Racing’s Erik Jones, Wood Brothers Racing’s Paul Menard and Leavine Family Racing’s Regan Smith rounded out the top 10 by finishing in eighth, ninth and 10th place, in their #20 Toyota, #21 Ford and #95 Chevrolet, respectively.

Chip Ganassi Racing’s Kyle Larson, Beard Motorsports’ Brendan Gaughan and Roush Fenway Racing’s Trevor Bayne rounded out the top 13 by finishing in 11th, 12th and 13th place in their #42 Chevrolet, #62 Chevrolet and #6 Ford, respectively.

Why is this significant? It is because of the fact that the top 13 drivers combined to lead just three of the race’s 193 laps. Aside of Almirola, only two drivers who finished in the top 13 led one lap of the race. Those drivers were Allmendinger and Gaughan. Of this year’s four restrictor plate races, three were won by drivers who led only one lap.

The race featured a total of 15 lead changes among 11 lead changes. Aside of Almirola, Allmendinger and Gaughan, eight drivers led at least one lap of the race. Those drivers were Kurt Busch, William Byron, Ross Chastain, Kyle Busch, Brad Keselowski, Kevin Harvick, Ryan Blaney and Matt DiBenedetto.

Busch led more laps than anybody else in the field with 108 laps led. He won stage one. Harvick, who led the second highest number of laps among all drivers in the field with 46 laps led, won stage two. Harvick, however, had to come into the pits for fuel before the final restart and ended up finishing in 28th place after spending the majority of the race in the top four.

The race also featured a total of eight caution flag periods for 32 laps. Of those eight caution flag periods, two took place as a result of the endings of stages one and two like usual and six took place as a result of on-track incidents.

Of the 40 drivers who started the race, 39 finished it, which is an incredibly high total for a race at Talladega Superspeedway. Of those 39 drivers, 29 finished it on the lead lap. There were not as many wrecks in this race as there usually are in races at this particular track, which is a huge reason why so many drivers finished the race and so many did so on the lead lap.

Here are the full race results of the 2018 1000Bulbs.com 500 at Talladega Superspeedway.

Race Results
1st – Aric Almirola
2nd – Clint Bowyer
3rd – Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
4th – Denny Hamlin
5th – Joey Logano
6th – A.J. Allmendinger
7th – Jimmie Johnson
8th – Erik Jones
9th – Paul Menard
10th – Regan Smith
11th – Kyle Larson
12th – Brendan Gaughan
13th – Trevor Bayne
14th – Kurt Busch
15th – Ty Dillon
16th – Daniel Suarez
17th – Austin Dillon
18th – Joey Gase
19th – Darrell Wallace Jr.
20th – William Byron
21st – Chris Buescher
22nd – Landon Cassill
23rd – Martin Truex Jr.
24th – Ross Chastain
25th – Ryan Newman
26th – Kyle Busch
27th – Brad Keselowski
28th – Kevin Harvick
29th – Ryan Blaney
30th – Matt DiBenedetto
31st – Chase Elliott
32nd – Corey Lajoie
33rd – Alex Bowman
34th – D.J. Kennington
35th – Jamie McMurray
36th – J.J. Yeley
37th – Jeffrey Earnhardt
38th – Cody Ware
39th – David Ragan
40th – Michael McDowell

The third and final race of the round of 8 is the Hollywood Casino 400, which is scheduled to take place at Kansas Speedway in Kansas City, Kansas on Sunday, October 21. It is set to be broadcast live on NBC beginning at 2:00 p.m. ET. After this race, only four races will remain on the 2018 NASCAR Cup Series playoff schedule.