Cup Series · 2018 · race 5 of 36

Auto Club 400

TrackAuto Club Speedway
ScheduledSun, Mar 18, 2018 · 3:30 PM ET
Laps200
Cars37
Official winnerMartin Truex Jr. (#78)
TLS leaderMartin Truex Jr. (#78) · 7,326

2018–2019 Methodology Note · ARP-Derived How 2018 TrueLapScore standings differ from 2020–present

NASCAR's lap-by-lap lap-times.json feed begins in 2020. For 2018 and 2019, TrueLapScore points are reconstructed from NASCAR's official post-race timing feed (live_feed.json / Loop Data Average Running Position and Laps Completed) using the mathematical identity TLS Points = round((Laps Completed + 1) × (Cars in Field + 1 − ARP)).

Because NASCAR's Loop Data samples running position across multiple track timing loops each lap rather than solely at the start/finish line, 2018–2019 race totals can vary by ~0.1%–0.3% (typically 1–15 points per race) from start/finish-only lap scoring, and lap-by-lap Top-5/Top-10 lap counts are not available. Full methodology details →

Three ways to measure this race

	Official winner	TLS leader	Best ARP
Driver	Martin Truex Jr. (#78)	Martin Truex Jr. (#78)	Martin Truex Jr. (#78)
Finish	P1	P1	P1
TLS points	7,326	7,326	7,326
ARP	1.55	1.55	1.55
Laps led	125	125	125

This race lined up on all three measures: Martin Truex Jr. (#78) won the race, led TLS points (7,326), and posted the best average running position (1.55).

Race Notes auto-generated

Official winner: Martin Truex Jr. (#78), who also led TrueLapScore with 7,326 points (ARP 1.55).
Most laps led: Martin Truex Jr., 125 laps.
Luck index ▼ Chris Buescher ran 22nd on TLS but finished P30 (8 spots worse than they ran).
Luck index ▲ Ryan Blaney finished P8 after running 18th on TLS (10 spots better than they ran).

Auto-generated stats from TrueLapScore lap data. Not a written story.

Race results

Fin	TLS rank	Driver	Car	Make	Team	Start	Laps led	ARP	TLS points
1	1	Martin Truex Jr.	78	Toyota	Furniture Row Racing	1	125	1.55	7,326
2	5	Kyle Larson	42	Chevrolet	Chip Ganassi Racing	3	0	6.08	6,416
3	2	Kyle Busch	18	Toyota	Joe Gibbs Racing	2	62	2.04	7,228
4	4	Brad Keselowski	2	Ford	Team Penske	11	0	4.83	6,667
5	3	Joey Logano	22	Ford	Team Penske	6	9	4.64	6,704
6	7	Denny Hamlin	11	Toyota	Joe Gibbs Racing	25	1	9.65	5,697
7	6	Erik Jones	20	Toyota	Joe Gibbs Racing	4	0	6.52	6,327
8	18	Ryan Blaney	12	Ford	Team Penske	8	0	16.75	4,271
9	9	Jimmie Johnson	48	Chevrolet	Hendrick Motorsports	33	0	10.88	5,451
10	11	Austin Dillon	3	Chevrolet	Richard Childress Racing	5	0	13.70	4,884
11	10	Clint Bowyer	14	Ford	Stewart-Haas Racing	26	0	12.06	5,188
12	13	Aric Almirola	10	Ford	Stewart-Haas Racing	27	0	13.81	4,839
13	17	Alex Bowman	88	Chevrolet	Hendrick Motorsports	28	0	16.50	4,299
14	8	Kurt Busch	41	Ford	Stewart-Haas Racing	7	0	10.57	5,485
15	15	William Byron #	24	Chevrolet	Hendrick Motorsports	29	1	16.03	4,394
16	14	Chase Elliott	9	Chevrolet	Hendrick Motorsports	31	0	15.47	4,506
17	12	Jamie McMurray	1	Chevrolet	Chip Ganassi Racing	15	1	13.67	4,866
18	21	Ricky Stenhouse Jr.	17	Ford	Roush Fenway Racing	16	0	20.08	3,583
19	16	Paul Menard	21	Ford	Wood Brothers Racing	14	0	16.50	4,300
20	24	Darrell Wallace Jr. #	43	Chevrolet	Richard Petty Motorsports	19	0	23.45	2,909
21	19	Ryan Newman	31	Chevrolet	Richard Childress Racing	9	0	18.33	3,935
22	25	AJ Allmendinger	47	Chevrolet	JTG Daugherty Racing	32	0	24.20	2,760
23	20	Daniel Suarez	19	Toyota	Joe Gibbs Racing	30	0	19.59	3,681
24	23	Kasey Kahne	95	Chevrolet	Leavine Family Racing	34	1	22.96	3,008
25	26	David Ragan	38	Ford	Front Row Motorsports	21	0	24.61	2,677
26	27	Michael McDowell	34	Ford	Front Row Motorsports	22	0	26.25	2,351
27	28	Ty Dillon	13	Chevrolet	Germain Racing	17	0	28.58	1,876
28	30	Cole Whitt	72	Chevrolet	TriStar Motorsports	37	0	30.16	1,561
29	–	Ross Chastain(i)	15	Chevrolet	Premium Motorsports	36	0	–	1,868 (i)
30	22	Chris Buescher	37	Chevrolet	JTG Daugherty Racing	12	0	22.36	3,096
31	29	Matt DiBenedetto	32	Ford	GO FAS Racing	18	0	28.98	1,777
32	33	Gray Gaulding	23	Toyota	BK Racing	20	0	32.75	1,024
33	–	Timmy Hill(i)	51	Toyota	Rick Ware Racing	35	0	–	675 (i)
34	34	* Reed Sorenson	55	Chevrolet	Premium Motorsports	24	0	33.65	844
35	31	Kevin Harvick	4	Ford	Stewart-Haas Racing	10	0	30.35	1,468
36	35	Jeffrey Earnhardt	00	Chevrolet	StarCom Racing	23	0	35.97	385
37	32	Trevor Bayne	6	Ford	Roush Fenway Racing	13	0	26.83	1,217

official winner TLS leader · (i) ineligible for series points (lap points shown for reference, not counted) · legend

Season standings through this race

Rank	Driver	Car	Season points	ARP	Laps led	This race
1	Martin Truex Jr.	78	42,508	5.84	139	7,326
2	Kyle Busch	18	39,673	8.96	209	7,228
3	Joey Logano	22	38,809	8.55	38	6,704
4	Denny Hamlin	11	37,171	10.40	82	5,697
5	Kyle Larson	42	36,925	10.36	54	6,416
6	Brad Keselowski	2	36,661	9.22	50	6,667
7	Ryan Blaney	12	36,096	10.53	119	4,271
8	Kevin Harvick	4	35,573	11.37	433	1,468
9	Kurt Busch	41	34,403	10.52	74	5,485
10	Clint Bowyer	14	34,190	12.86	0	5,188
11	Aric Almirola	10	32,982	13.23	1	4,839
12	Austin Dillon	3	30,023	15.39	1	4,884
13	Alex Bowman	88	29,705	15.09	13	4,299
14	Erik Jones	20	29,325	14.41	11	6,327
15	Chase Elliott	9	28,234	14.59	4	4,506
16	Ryan Newman	31	28,091	16.56	40	3,935
17	Paul Menard	21	27,546	15.59	1	4,300
18	Ricky Stenhouse Jr.	17	26,788	17.55	11	3,583
19	Daniel Suarez	19	25,192	18.59	0	3,681
20	Jamie McMurray	1	24,306	18.75	1	4,866
21	William Byron #	24	23,739	19.99	16	4,394
22	Jimmie Johnson	48	22,472	20.03	0	5,451
23	Darrell Wallace Jr. #	43	20,187	22.00	0	2,909
24	Trevor Bayne	6	18,998	22.38	0	1,217
25	Chris Buescher	37	18,347	23.58	0	3,096
26	Kasey Kahne	95	18,276	23.25	1	3,008
27	AJ Allmendinger	47	17,950	24.15	1	2,760
28	David Ragan	38	15,423	24.85	0	2,677
29	Michael McDowell	34	15,051	25.13	11	2,351
30	Matt DiBenedetto	32	14,226	26.74	0	1,777
31	Ty Dillon	13	13,266	27.35	0	1,876
32	Jeffrey Earnhardt	00	6,609	32.55	0	385
33	Gray Gaulding Jr.	23	6,440	32.22	0	1,024
34	Cole Whitt	72	5,755	30.21	0	1,561
35	* Brendan Gaughan	62	4,359	19.10	0	0
36	* DJ Kennington	96	4,347	30.61	0	0
37	* Mark Thompson	66	2,020	31.10	0	0
38	Danica Patrick	7	1,533	25.97	0	0
39	Harrison Rhodes	51	951	33.94	0	0
40	* Reed Sorenson	55	844	33.65	0	844
41	Corey LaJoie	72	74	37.09	0	0