Cup Series · 2018 · race 31 of 36

1000Bulbs.com 500

TrackTalladega Superspeedway
ScheduledSun, Oct 14, 2018 · 2:00 PM ET
Laps193 of 188 scheduled
Cars41
Official winnerAric Almirola (P) (#10)
TLS leaderKurt Busch (P) (#41) · 7,357

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	Aric Almirola (P) (#10)	Kurt Busch (P) (#41)	Kurt Busch (P) (#41)
Finish	P1	P14	P14
TLS points	7,072	7,357	7,357
ARP	4.54	3.08	3.08
Laps led	1	108	108

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

Official winner — Aric Almirola (P) (#10): where the car was at the checkered flag (P1). Led 1 laps with 4.54 average running position and 7,072 TLS points.

TLS leader — Kurt Busch (P) (#41): most position-weighted points across every scored lap (7,357 points). Finished P14 with 108 laps led and 3.08 ARP. TLS rewards running up front all afternoon, not only the final lap.

Best ARP — same as the TLS leader (3.08). The official winner ran a worse average position (4.54).

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: Aric Almirola (P) (#10), who ranked 4th on TLS with 7,072 points.
TLS leader: Kurt Busch (P) (#41) with 7,357 points, finished P14, ARP 3.08.
Most laps led: Kurt Busch (P), 108 laps.
Luck index ▼ Kevin Harvick (P) ran 3rd on TLS but finished P28 (25 spots worse than they ran).
Luck index ▲ Jimmie Johnson finished P7 after running 26th on TLS (19 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	35	David Starr	97	Toyota	Obaika Racing	N/A	0	40.00	1
1	4	Aric Almirola (P)	10	Ford	Stewart-Haas Racing	4	1	4.54	7,072
2	2	Clint Bowyer (P)	14	Ford	Stewart-Haas Racing	2	0	3.65	7,246
3	15	Ricky Stenhouse Jr.	17	Ford	Roush Fenway Racing	12	0	18.58	4,350
4	8	Denny Hamlin	11	Toyota	Joe Gibbs Racing	10	0	11.82	5,660
5	5	Joey Logano (P)	22	Ford	Team Penske	20	0	7.76	6,449
6	22	AJ Allmendinger	47	Chevrolet	JTG Daugherty Racing	23	1	21.31	3,821
7	26	Jimmie Johnson	48	Chevrolet	Hendrick Motorsports	6	0	23.54	3,387
8	12	Erik Jones	20	Toyota	Joe Gibbs Racing	15	0	15.22	5,001
9	23	Paul Menard	21	Ford	Wood Brothers Racing	30	0	21.72	3,740
10	19	Regan Smith	95	Chevrolet	Leavine Family Racing	25	0	19.92	4,090
11	18	Kyle Larson (P)	42	Chevrolet	Chip Ganassi Racing	34	0	19.34	4,203
12	–	* Brendan Gaughan(i)	62	Chevrolet	Beard Motorsports	28	1	–	3,335 (i)
13	21	Trevor Bayne	6	Ford	Roush Fenway Racing	24	0	21.28	3,825
14	1	Kurt Busch (P)	41	Ford	Stewart-Haas Racing	1	108	3.08	7,357
15	16	Ty Dillon	13	Chevrolet	Germain Racing	29	0	18.69	4,328
16	10	Daniel Suarez	19	Toyota	Joe Gibbs Racing	13	0	12.04	5,619
17	20	Austin Dillon	3	Chevrolet	Richard Childress Racing	21	0	20.37	4,002
18	–	Joey Gase(i)	00	Chevrolet	StarCom Racing	37	0	–	3,254 (i)
19	17	Darrell Wallace Jr. #	43	Chevrolet	Richard Petty Motorsports	17	0	19.31	4,208
20	14	William Byron #	24	Chevrolet	Hendrick Motorsports	8	5	16.06	4,839
21	24	Chris Buescher	37	Chevrolet	JTG Daugherty Racing	26	0	22.23	3,641
22	–	* Landon Cassill(i)	99	Chevrolet	StarCom Racing	38	0	–	2,080 (i)
23	27	Martin Truex Jr. (P)	78	Toyota	Furniture Row Racing	11	0	26.00	2,910
24	–	Ross Chastain(i)	15	Chevrolet	Premium Motorsports	36	1	–	2,042 (i)
25	29	Ryan Newman	31	Chevrolet	Richard Childress Racing	22	0	27.24	2,669
26	13	Kyle Busch (P)	18	Toyota	Joe Gibbs Racing	9	1	15.51	4,944
27	7	Brad Keselowski (P)	2	Ford	Team Penske	18	21	11.64	5,696
28	3	Kevin Harvick (P)	4	Ford	Stewart-Haas Racing	3	46	3.78	7,220
29	6	Ryan Blaney (P)	12	Ford	Team Penske	19	6	9.07	6,195
30	25	Matt DiBenedetto	32	Ford	GO FAS Racing	27	2	23.44	3,389
31	9	Chase Elliott (P)	9	Chevrolet	Hendrick Motorsports	5	0	11.81	5,633
32	30	Corey LaJoie	72	Chevrolet	TriStar Motorsports	40	0	34.26	1,293
33	11	Alex Bowman (P)	88	Chevrolet	Hendrick Motorsports	7	0	11.88	5,592
34	–	* DJ Kennington(i)	7	Chevrolet	Premium Motorsports	33	0	–	1,064 (i)
35	28	Jamie McMurray	1	Chevrolet	Chip Ganassi Racing	31	0	25.49	2,900
36	–	JJ Yeley(i)	23	Ford	BK Racing	32	0	–	2,694 (i)
37	33	* Jeffrey Earnhardt	96	Toyota	Gaunt Brothers Racing	35	0	38.20	521
38	32	Cody Ware	51	Chevrolet	Rick Ware Racing	39	0	36.92	759
39	34	David Ragan	38	Ford	Front Row Motorsports	16	0	39.37	284
40	31	Michael McDowell	34	Ford	Front Row Motorsports	14	0	33.99	1,093

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 (P)	18	266,470	8.45	1,231	4,944
2	Kevin Harvick (P)	4	260,376	8.50	1,606	7,220
3	Joey Logano (P)	22	258,209	10.93	391	6,449
4	Kurt Busch (P)	41	257,631	9.66	592	7,357
5	Clint Bowyer (P)	14	250,892	10.54	489	7,246
6	Brad Keselowski (P)	2	248,629	10.60	556	5,696
7	Martin Truex Jr. (P)	78	242,734	10.76	970	2,910
8	Kyle Larson (P)	42	240,639	11.64	737	4,203
9	Denny Hamlin (P)	11	237,697	11.89	308	5,660
10	Ryan Blaney (P)	12	234,426	10.77	608	6,195
11	Chase Elliott (P)	9	232,365	11.57	265	5,633
12	Aric Almirola (P)	10	228,335	13.36	181	7,072
13	Erik Jones (P)	20	215,265	14.32	88	5,001
14	Alex Bowman (P)	88	200,602	15.88	68	5,592
15	Ryan Newman	31	196,058	16.61	57	2,669
16	Jimmie Johnson (P)	48	194,575	16.34	29	3,387
17	Daniel Suarez	19	184,092	18.01	35	5,619
18	Ricky Stenhouse Jr.	17	180,109	18.62	132	4,350
19	Austin Dillon (P)	3	179,015	18.28	23	4,002
20	Jamie McMurray	1	177,815	17.74	9	2,900
21	Paul Menard	21	175,306	17.99	14	3,740
22	William Byron #	24	173,591	18.16	61	4,839
23	Chris Buescher	37	141,774	22.18	1	3,641
24	AJ Allmendinger	47	131,491	23.30	10	3,821
25	David Ragan	38	127,410	25.02	0	284
26	Darrell Wallace Jr. #	43	123,866	24.36	15	4,208
27	Ty Dillon	13	115,723	25.65	3	4,328
28	Michael McDowell	34	113,369	24.16	31	1,093
29	Kasey Kahne	95	112,091	22.59	30	0
30	Matt DiBenedetto	32	98,517	27.63	8	3,389
31	Trevor Bayne	6	93,012	21.95	0	3,825
32	Matt Kenseth	6	56,100	22.25	5	0
33	Corey LaJoie	72	41,441	32.23	0	1,293
34	Landon Cassill(i)	99	38,770	32.32	0	0
35	Gray Gaulding Jr.	99	31,813	33.27	0	0
36	Jeffrey Earnhardt	96	28,363	32.42	0	521
37	Cole Whitt	72	25,328	29.25	0	0
38	Regan Smith	95	24,367	24.77	10	4,090
39	* DJ Kennington(i)	96	19,761	30.14	0	0
40	Reed Sorenson	7	19,098	33.51	0	0
41	* Brendan Gaughan(i)	62	11,870	20.73	2	0
42	Harrison Rhodes	52	8,277	33.92	0	0
43	Blake Jones	23	8,230	32.41	0	0
44	* Kyle Weatherman	99	5,417	34.50	0	0
45	* Derrike Cope	99	2,197	36.66	0	0
46	* Mark Thompson	66	2,020	31.10	0	0
47	Danica Patrick	7	1,533	25.97	0	0
48	Alon Day	23	1,026	38.33	0	0
49	Cody Ware(i)	52	877	35.84	0	759
50	Chris Cook	51	839	31.37	0	0
51	Tomy Drissi	00	660	32.94	0	0
52	Stanton Barrett	51	23	39.08	0	0
53	* Timothy Peters(i)	92	1	34.74	0	0
53	BJ McLeod(i)	52	1	35.61	0	0
53	David Starr(i)	97	1	38.92	0	1