Cup Series · 2018 · race 24 of 36

Bass Pro Shops NRA Night Race

TrackBristol Motor Speedway
ScheduledSat, Aug 18, 2018 · 6:30 PM ET
Laps500
Cars41
Official winnerKurt Busch (#41)
TLS leaderChase Elliott (#9) · 18,899

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	Kurt Busch (#41)	Chase Elliott (#9)	Chase Elliott (#9)
Finish	P1	P3	P3
TLS points	16,993	18,899	18,899
ARP	7.08	3.28	3.28
Laps led	24	112	112

Three different ways to measure a race — and they often point to different drivers.

Official winner — Kurt Busch (#41): where the car was at the checkered flag (P1). Led 24 laps with 7.08 average running position and 16,993 TLS points.

TLS leader — Chase Elliott (#9): most position-weighted points across every scored lap (18,899 points). Finished P3 with 112 laps led and 3.28 ARP. TLS rewards running up front all afternoon, not only the final lap.

Best ARP — same as the TLS leader (3.28). The official winner ran a worse average position (7.08).

The checkered flag reflects who survived the final seconds. TLS reflects where drivers ran across the whole race. ARP tells you the typical running spot — but not who banked the most valuable laps.

Race Notes auto-generated

Official winner: Kurt Busch (#41), who ranked 7th on TLS with 16,993 points.
TLS leader: Chase Elliott (#9) with 18,899 points, finished P3, ARP 3.28.
Most laps led: Ryan Blaney, 121 laps.
Luck index ▼ Aric Almirola ran 17th on TLS but finished P31 (14 spots worse than they ran).
Luck index ▲ Kurt Busch finished P1 after running 7th on TLS (6 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
0	37	BJ McLeod	52	Ford	Rick Ware Racing	N/A	0	40.00	1
1	7	Kurt Busch	41	Ford	Stewart-Haas Racing	9	24	7.08	16,993
2	5	Kyle Larson	42	Chevrolet	Chip Ganassi Racing	1	17	6.60	17,233
3	1	Chase Elliott	9	Chevrolet	Hendrick Motorsports	2	112	3.28	18,899
4	4	Joey Logano	22	Ford	Team Penske	19	95	6.40	17,334
5	6	Erik Jones	20	Toyota	Joe Gibbs Racing	14	0	6.78	17,143
6	2	Clint Bowyer	14	Ford	Stewart-Haas Racing	16	120	4.58	18,248
7	3	Ryan Blaney	12	Ford	Team Penske	10	121	6.32	17,374
8	14	Alex Bowman	88	Chevrolet	Hendrick Motorsports	22	0	14.19	13,430
9	8	Jimmie Johnson	48	Chevrolet	Hendrick Motorsports	13	0	9.65	15,708
10	9	Kevin Harvick	4	Ford	Stewart-Haas Racing	6	8	12.43	14,312
11	10	Trevor Bayne	6	Ford	Roush Fenway Racing	23	0	12.53	14,265
12	16	Ryan Newman	31	Chevrolet	Richard Childress Racing	24	1	16.32	12,364
13	11	Austin Dillon	3	Chevrolet	Richard Childress Racing	18	0	13.39	13,835
14	15	Denny Hamlin	11	Toyota	Joe Gibbs Racing	7	0	14.60	13,227
15	19	Kasey Kahne	95	Chevrolet	Leavine Family Racing	26	0	18.85	11,097
16	13	Brad Keselowski	2	Ford	Team Penske	11	0	14.02	13,491
17	22	David Ragan	38	Ford	Front Row Motorsports	15	0	19.47	10,763
18	20	Daniel Suarez	19	Toyota	Joe Gibbs Racing	21	0	19.06	10,972
19	12	Chris Buescher	37	Chevrolet	JTG Daugherty Racing	28	0	13.57	13,713
20	21	Kyle Busch	18	Toyota	Joe Gibbs Racing	3	0	19.25	10,833
21	25	Ty Dillon	13	Chevrolet	Germain Racing	32	0	23.77	8,565
22	26	Matt DiBenedetto	32	Ford	GO FAS Racing	29	0	25.29	7,809
23	24	William Byron #	24	Chevrolet	Hendrick Motorsports	5	0	21.75	9,569
24	23	Ricky Stenhouse Jr.	17	Ford	Roush Fenway Racing	12	0	20.83	10,002
25	27	Landon Cassill	00	Chevrolet	StarCom Racing	39	0	26.54	7,142
26	–	Ross Chastain(i)	15	Chevrolet	Premium Motorsports	35	0	–	6,667 (i)
27	28	Blake Jones	23	Toyota	BK Racing	40	0	29.20	5,735
28	–	* Timmy Hill(i)	66	Toyota	Motorsports Business Management	37	0	–	4,993 (i)
29	29	Jamie McMurray	1	Chevrolet	Chip Ganassi Racing	20	0	30.22	4,698
30	18	Martin Truex Jr.	78	Toyota	Furniture Row Racing	17	0	15.24	11,126
31	17	Aric Almirola	10	Ford	Stewart-Haas Racing	8	2	13.49	11,800
32	–	* JJ Yeley(i)	7	Chevrolet	Premium Motorsports	34	0	–	5,412 (i)
33	30	Reed Sorenson	51	Chevrolet	Rick Ware Racing	36	0	31.14	3,344
34	31	Corey LaJoie	72	Chevrolet	TriStar Motorsports	30	0	33.43	1,780
35	–	* Jesse Little(i)	96	Toyota	Gaunt Brothers Racing	33	0	–	427 (i)
36	32	Paul Menard	21	Ford	Wood Brothers Racing	4	0	33.32	223
37	33	Michael McDowell	34	Ford	Front Row Motorsports	31	0	35.96	55
38	34	Bubba Wallace #	43	Chevrolet	Richard Petty Motorsports	27	0	36.92	16
39	36	AJ Allmendinger	47	Chevrolet	JTG Daugherty Racing	25	0	38.96	4
40	35	* Gray Gaulding	99	Chevrolet	StarCom Racing	38	0	37.98	6

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	Kyle Busch	18	207,413	7.92	1,089	10,833
2	Kevin Harvick	4	198,517	8.67	1,198	14,312
3	Joey Logano	22	195,315	11.55	321	17,334
4	Clint Bowyer	14	194,847	10.76	451	18,248
5	Kurt Busch	41	194,183	10.27	458	16,993
6	Martin Truex Jr.	78	186,635	9.98	676	11,126
7	Brad Keselowski	2	183,621	11.31	323	13,491
8	Denny Hamlin	11	181,838	11.99	259	13,227
9	Ryan Blaney	12	181,053	10.35	585	17,374
10	Kyle Larson	42	180,329	12.28	382	17,233
11	Chase Elliott	9	172,862	12.24	220	18,899
12	Aric Almirola	10	169,809	13.87	115	11,800
13	Erik Jones	20	165,756	14.11	88	17,143
14	Jimmie Johnson	48	160,394	15.33	29	15,708
15	Alex Bowman	88	152,900	15.79	67	13,430
16	Ryan Newman	31	148,666	16.44	57	12,364
17	Daniel Suarez	19	141,326	18.00	35	10,972
18	Ricky Stenhouse Jr.	17	139,627	18.40	121	10,002
19	Jamie McMurray	1	134,555	18.09	3	4,698
20	William Byron #	24	133,649	18.19	53	9,569
21	Paul Menard	21	132,157	18.16	12	223
22	Austin Dillon	3	130,744	18.69	23	13,835
23	Chris Buescher	37	107,670	22.05	1	13,713
24	Kasey Kahne	95	106,383	22.48	30	11,097
25	AJ Allmendinger	47	100,967	23.33	9	4
26	Darrell Wallace Jr. #	43	100,875	23.37	15	16
27	David Ragan	38	99,743	24.46	0	10,763
28	Ty Dillon	13	88,732	25.71	3	8,565
29	Michael McDowell	34	84,863	23.88	31	55
30	Trevor Bayne	6	81,701	22.04	0	14,265
31	Matt DiBenedetto	32	78,075	27.44	6	7,809
32	Landon Cassill	99	38,770	32.09	0	7,142
33	Gray Gaulding Jr.	99	31,363	32.95	0	6
34	Matt Kenseth	6	30,288	23.28	0	0
35	Corey LaJoie	72	24,678	32.57	0	1,780
36	Cole Whitt	72	24,235	29.06	0	0
37	* DJ Kennington	96	19,761	29.39	0	0
38	Reed Sorenson	7	16,521	33.40	0	3,344
39	Jeffrey Earnhardt	96	14,537	31.84	0	0
40	* Brendan Gaughan	62	11,870	19.70	1	0
41	Blake Jones	23	8,230	32.41	0	5,735
42	Harrison Rhodes	51	7,315	33.33	0	0
43	* Kyle Weatherman	99	3,578	34.60	0	0
44	* Mark Thompson	66	2,020	31.10	0	0
45	Danica Patrick	7	1,533	25.97	0	0
46	Chris Cook	51	839	31.37	0	0
47	* Derrike Cope	99	698	36.64	0	0
48	Tomy Drissi	00	660	32.94	0	0
49	Cody Ware(i)	52	118	35.30	0	0
50	* Timothy Peters(i)	92	1	34.74	0	0
50	BJ McLeod(i)	52	1	35.92	0	1