Cup Series · 2018 · race 25 of 36

Bojangles' Southern 500

TrackDarlington Raceway
ScheduledSun, Sep 2, 2018 · 6:00 PM ET
Laps367
Cars40
Official winnerBrad Keselowski (#2)
TLS leaderKyle Larson (#42) · 14,564

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	Brad Keselowski (#2)	Kyle Larson (#42)	Kyle Larson (#42)
Finish	P1	P3	P3
TLS points	12,967	14,564	14,564
ARP	5.76	1.43	1.43
Laps led	24	284	284

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

Official winner — Brad Keselowski (#2): where the car was at the checkered flag (P1). Led 24 laps with 5.76 average running position and 12,967 TLS points.

TLS leader — Kyle Larson (#42): most position-weighted points across every scored lap (14,564 points). Finished P3 with 284 laps led and 1.43 ARP. TLS rewards running up front all afternoon, not only the final lap.

Best ARP — same as the TLS leader (1.43). The official winner ran a worse average position (5.76).

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: Brad Keselowski (#2), who ranked 3rd on TLS with 12,967 points.
TLS leader: Kyle Larson (#42) with 14,564 points, finished P3, ARP 1.43.
Most laps led: Kyle Larson, 284 laps.
Luck index ▼ William Byron # ran 14th on TLS but finished P35 (21 spots worse than they ran).
Luck index ▲ Ricky Stenhouse Jr. finished P12 after running 19th on TLS (7 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	3	Brad Keselowski	2	Ford	Team Penske	13	24	5.76	12,967
2	2	Joey Logano	22	Ford	Team Penske	8	18	4.53	13,422
3	1	Kyle Larson	42	Chevrolet	Chip Ganassi Racing	2	284	1.42	14,564
4	5	Kevin Harvick	4	Ford	Stewart-Haas Racing	22	0	6.77	12,595
5	6	Chase Elliott	9	Chevrolet	Hendrick Motorsports	11	0	7.01	12,508
6	8	Kurt Busch	41	Ford	Stewart-Haas Racing	9	0	8.74	11,872
7	9	Kyle Busch	18	Toyota	Joe Gibbs Racing	5	0	8.76	11,864
8	4	Erik Jones	20	Toyota	Joe Gibbs Racing	7	0	6.56	12,674
9	13	Jamie McMurray	1	Chevrolet	Chip Ganassi Racing	31	0	14.22	9,856
10	7	Denny Hamlin	11	Toyota	Joe Gibbs Racing	1	11	8.09	12,111
11	10	Martin Truex Jr.	78	Toyota	Furniture Row Racing	3	30	9.56	11,568
12	19	Ricky Stenhouse Jr.	17	Ford	Roush Fenway Racing	25	0	19.21	8,019
13	12	Chris Buescher	37	Chevrolet	JTG Daugherty Racing	19	0	13.67	10,057
14	16	Aric Almirola	10	Ford	Stewart-Haas Racing	12	0	15.94	9,221
15	17	Ryan Blaney	12	Ford	Team Penske	21	0	18.77	8,181
16	15	Austin Dillon	3	Chevrolet	Richard Childress Racing	18	0	15.74	9,294
17	20	Paul Menard	21	Ford	Wood Brothers Racing	14	0	19.24	7,988
18	21	David Ragan	38	Ford	Front Row Motorsports	23	0	22.78	6,687
19	11	Ryan Newman	31	Chevrolet	Richard Childress Racing	6	0	11.13	10,961
20	25	Michael McDowell	34	Ford	Front Row Motorsports	26	0	24.33	6,099
21	24	Ty Dillon	13	Chevrolet	Germain Racing	28	0	24.12	6,179
22	23	AJ Allmendinger	47	Chevrolet	JTG Daugherty Racing	24	0	23.13	6,541
23	26	Alex Bowman	88	Chevrolet	Hendrick Motorsports	4	0	24.55	6,023
24	27	Kasey Kahne	95	Chevrolet	Leavine Family Racing	29	0	25.36	5,708
25	22	Matt Kenseth	6	Ford	Roush Fenway Racing	15	0	23.06	6,548
26	29	Bubba Wallace #	43	Chevrolet	Richard Petty Motorsports	27	0	28.59	4,517
27	30	Corey LaJoie	72	Chevrolet	TriStar Motorsports	34	0	30.45	3,809
28	–	Ross Chastain(i)	15	Chevrolet	Premium Motorsports	33	0	–	3,415 (i)
29	28	Daniel Suarez	19	Toyota	Joe Gibbs Racing	16	0	26.26	5,291
30	–	Landon Cassill(i)	00	Chevrolet	StarCom Racing	35	0	–	2,660 (i)
31	–	* JJ Yeley(i)	52	Chevrolet	Rick Ware Racing	32	0	–	2,313 (i)
32	–	BJ McLeod(i)	51	Chevrolet	Rick Ware Racing	37	0	–	1,664 (i)
33	34	* Derrike Cope	99	Chevrolet	StarCom Racing	38	0	36.68	1,499
34	31	* Jeffrey Earnhardt	96	Toyota	Gaunt Brothers Racing	40	0	32.65	2,879
35	14	William Byron #	24	Chevrolet	Hendrick Motorsports	10	0	12.58	9,379
36	18	Clint Bowyer	14	Ford	Stewart-Haas Racing	17	0	14.82	8,117
37	–	* Timmy Hill(i)	66	Toyota	Motorsports Business Management	36	0	–	991 (i)
38	32	Matt DiBenedetto	32	Ford	GO FAS Racing	30	0	31.63	2,389
39	33	Jimmie Johnson	48	Chevrolet	Hendrick Motorsports	20	0	30.57	2,378
40	–	Joey Gase(i)	23	Toyota	BK Racing	39	0	–	311 (i)

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	219,277	7.96	1,089	11,864
2	Kevin Harvick	4	211,112	8.60	1,198	12,595
3	Joey Logano	22	208,737	11.27	339	13,422
4	Kurt Busch	41	206,055	10.21	458	11,872
5	Clint Bowyer	14	202,964	10.93	451	8,117
6	Martin Truex Jr.	78	198,203	9.97	706	11,568
7	Brad Keselowski	2	196,588	11.08	347	12,967
8	Kyle Larson	42	194,893	11.84	666	14,564
9	Denny Hamlin	11	193,949	11.83	270	12,111
10	Ryan Blaney	12	189,234	10.69	585	8,181
11	Chase Elliott	9	185,370	12.03	220	12,508
12	Aric Almirola	10	179,030	13.96	115	9,221
13	Erik Jones	20	178,430	13.80	88	12,674
14	Jimmie Johnson	48	162,772	15.94	29	2,378
15	Ryan Newman	31	159,627	16.23	57	10,961
16	Alex Bowman	88	158,923	16.14	67	6,023
17	Ricky Stenhouse Jr.	17	147,646	18.43	121	8,019
18	Daniel Suarez	19	146,617	18.33	35	5,291
19	Jamie McMurray	1	144,411	17.94	3	9,856
20	William Byron #	24	143,028	17.97	53	9,379
21	Paul Menard	21	140,145	18.20	12	7,988
22	Austin Dillon	3	140,038	18.58	23	9,294
23	Chris Buescher	37	117,727	21.72	1	10,057
24	Kasey Kahne	95	112,091	22.59	30	5,708
25	AJ Allmendinger	47	107,508	23.32	9	6,541
26	David Ragan	38	106,430	24.39	0	6,687
27	Darrell Wallace Jr. #	43	105,392	23.58	15	4,517
28	Ty Dillon	13	94,911	25.65	3	6,179
29	Michael McDowell	34	90,962	23.89	31	6,099
30	Trevor Bayne	6	81,701	22.04	0	0
31	Matt DiBenedetto	32	80,464	27.61	6	2,389
32	Landon Cassill(i)	99	38,770	32.17	0	0
33	Matt Kenseth	6	36,836	23.26	0	6,548
34	Gray Gaulding Jr.	99	31,363	32.95	0	0
35	Corey LaJoie	72	28,487	32.43	0	3,809
36	Cole Whitt	72	24,235	29.06	0	0
37	* DJ Kennington	96	19,761	29.39	0	0
38	Jeffrey Earnhardt	96	17,416	31.92	0	2,879
39	Reed Sorenson	7	16,521	33.40	0	0
40	* Brendan Gaughan	62	11,870	19.70	1	0
41	Blake Jones	23	8,230	32.41	0	0
42	Harrison Rhodes	51	7,315	33.33	0	0
43	* Kyle Weatherman	99	3,578	34.60	0	0
44	* Derrike Cope	99	2,197	36.66	0	1,499
45	* Mark Thompson	66	2,020	31.10	0	0
46	Danica Patrick	7	1,533	25.97	0	0
47	Chris Cook	51	839	31.37	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	35.95	0	0