2018 Coke Zero Sugar 400

The 2018 Coke Zero Sugar 400 was a Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race held on July 7, 2018 at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida. Contested over 168 laps -- extended from 160 laps due to an overtime finish with two attempts for the first time since 2011, on the 2.5 mi superspeedway, it was the 18th race of the 2018 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series season. Erik Jones scored his first career win in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series and for the first time in a decade, Toyota and Joe Gibbs Racing had won a July race at Daytona. It was the first race in NASCAR Cup Series history to have two female pit members.

Background
The race was held at Daytona International Speedway, a race track located in Daytona Beach, Florida, United States. Since opening in 1959, the track is the home of the Daytona 500, the most prestigious race in NASCAR. In addition to NASCAR, the track also hosts races of ARCA, AMA Superbike, USCC, SCCA, and Motocross. It features multiple layouts including the primary 2.5 mi high speed tri-oval, a 3.56 mi sports car course, a 2.95 mi motorcycle course, and a .25 mi karting and motorcycle flat-track. The track's 180 acre infield includes the 29 acre Lake Lloyd, which has hosted powerboat racing. The speedway is owned and operated by International Speedway Corporation.

The track was built in 1959 by NASCAR founder William "Bill" France, Sr. to host racing held at the former Daytona Beach Road Course. His banked design permitted higher speeds and gave fans a better view of the cars. Lights were installed around the track in 1998 and today, it is the third-largest single lit outdoor sports facility. The speedway has been renovated three times, with the infield renovated in 2004 and the track repaved twice — in 1978 and in 2010.

On January 22, 2013, the track unveiled artist depictions of a renovated speedway. On July 5 of that year, ground was broken for a project that would remove the backstretch seating and completely redevelop the frontstretch seating. The renovation to the speedway is being worked on by Rossetti Architects. The project, named "Daytona Rising", was completed in January 2016, and it cost US $400 million, placing emphasis on improving fan experience with five expanded and redesigned fan entrances (called "injectors") as well as wider and more comfortable seating with more restrooms and concession stands. After the renovations, the track's grandstands include 101,000 permanent seats with the ability to increase permanent seating to 125,000. The project was completed before the start of Speedweeks 2016.

First practice
Clint Bowyer was the fastest in the first practice session with a time of 44.821 seconds and a speed of 200.799 mph.

Final practice
Final practice session for Thursday was cancelled due to rain.

Qualifying
Chase Elliott scored the pole for the race with a time of 46.381 and a speed of 194.045 mph.

Race
Pole sitter Chase Elliott led the first lap of the race. On lap 11, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. took the lead from Elliott. Elliott took it back on lap 12 but Stenhouse got it back on lap 13. Stenhouse would lead all the way up to the end of stage 1 on lap 40 which he would win. Brad Keselowski won the race off of pit road and he led the field to the restart on lap 47. On lap 49, the second caution would fly and would be the first for incident when Paul Menard got turned by Jimmie Johnson on the backstretch and Menard got hit in the left rear by David Ragan which would make Menard's rear of the car jump in the air and blowing off the hood in the process. The race would restart on lap 53 and rookie William Byron took the lead from Keselowski.

Keselowski tried to get his lead back with help from Ricky Stenhouse Jr. but was not able to do it. On lap 54, Stenhouse bumped Keselowski at the wrong angle and turned Keselowski around right infront of the pack in turn 3 and triggered the big one that took out a massive number of cars and contenders in the process. The wreck collected a total of 26 cars. The cars involved were Brad Keselowski, Austin Dillon, Kevin Harvick, Chase Elliott, Aric Almirola, Denny Hamlin, Ryan Blaney, Ty Dillon, Clint Bowyer, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Daniel Suárez, Paul Menard, Joey Logano, Kurt Busch, Kyle Larson, Bubba Wallace, Jimmie Johnson, Alex Bowman, Kasey Kahne, Corey LaJoie, Martin Truex Jr., Jamie McMurray, Jeffrey Earnhardt, Ross Chastain, Matt DiBenedetto, and Michael McDowell. The race would restart on lap 63 of the race with William Byron still leading. Byron was looking for his first Cup Series victory in his 18th start. Unfourtunetly for Byron, that would never happen. On lap 65, Kyle Busch tried to pass Byron on the outside with Ricky Stenhouse Jr. behind Byron. But Stenhouse went up the track in turns 3 and 4 and ended up clipping Kyle Busch in the left rear causing a chain reaction where Busch spun down into Byron's right rear and both went up the track triggering the second big one out of turn 4 that collected 7 cars including Jamie McMurray, Trevor Bayne, Erik Jones, and Corey LaJoie. Stenhouse was the new race leader after he caused the last two incidents and the race would restart on lap 70. On the restart, Ryan Newman battled Stenhouse for the lead and led that lap before Stenhouse got infront of him the next lap. Eventually, Stenhouse would end up winning stage 2. During pitstops, Ricky Stenhouse Jr's crew decided to work on the right front fender after he caused the crash involving Kyle Busch and William Byron and they would lose the lead and fall back to 14th on the restart.

Final laps
The race would restart on lap 87 with Ty Dillon as the race leader. On the restart, Clint Bowyer took the lead from Dillon. On lap 89, Michael McDowell made his way from 3rd up to the lead. On lap 108, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. took the lead from McDowell. On lap 109. Jimmie Johnson took the lead from Stenhouse. With 48 laps to go, McDowell took the lead. With 47 to go, Johnson took the lead. With 41 laps to go, green flag pitstops began. On that same lap, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. took the lead when Johnson went in to pit. With 38 to go, Stenhouse went in to pit and gave the lead to Kevin Harvick. After everything cycled through with 37 to go, Jimmie Johnson was the new leader. Unfourtunetly for Johnson, he got a penalty for pitting outside the box which gave the lead to the car behind him Martin Truex Jr. On the same lap, the 6th caution flew when Kyle Larson blew a right rear tire in turn 3 and collected Ricky Stenhouse Jr., who just pitted. The race restarted with 32 laps to go with Truex as the leader. With 28 laps to go, the 7th caution flew when D. J. Kennington spun out of turn 2. The race would restart with 23 laps to go. Kasey Kahne would take the lead from Martin Truex Jr. on the restart. Kahne was looking for his first win since the 2017 Brickyard 400 34 races ago and the first win for owner Bob Leavine in the Cup Series. But, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. had a left rear tire rub for the last few laps after contact with Aric Almirola and with 11 to go, the tire blew and Stenhouse spun bringing out the 8th caution of the race. The race would restart with 6 laps to go. Kevin Harvick would take the lead from Kahne on the restart. But with 5 laps to go, the 9th caution would fly for a four car crash after Joey Gase got loose and came up and collected Michael McDowell and Aric Almirola into the outside wall while Jimmie Johnson spun to avoid the wreck. The caution would set up overtime. On the restart, Martin Truex Jr. took the lead from Harvick with help from Erik Jones. Truex was looking for his first ever restrictor plate win in his Cup Series career. Truex was about to take the white flag when Clint Bowyer got hooked by Bubba Wallace triggering the third big one collecting 10 cars and bringing out the 10th and final caution just before they reached the white flag. The cars involved were Kevin Harvick, Clint Bowyer, Ryan Newman, Bubba Wallace, Jimmie Johnson, Ross Chastain, Trevor Bayne, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Brendan Gaughan, and Alex Bowman. The wreck would produce a short red flag and would also set up another attempt of overtime. On the restart, Martin Truex Jr. took the lead from Jones. But Kasey Kahne would challenge Truex for the lead down the backstretch. Jones pulled to the outside of Kahne and Truex and made it three wide for the lead. Kahne would fall behind Truex which left Truex and Jones to battle for the lead. On the last lap, Jones got a push by Chris Buescher down the backstretch and it would get Jones to the lead. Jones would hold off Truex to take home his first ever Cup Series victory in his 57th start. Martin Truex Jr., A. J. Allmendinger, Kasey Kahne (who scored his last top ten and top five in his career), and Chris Buescher rounded out the top 5 while Ty Dillon, Matt DiBenedetto, Ryan Newman, Austin Dillon, and Alex Bowman rounded out the top 10.

Stage Results
Stage 1 Laps: 40

Stage 2 Laps: 40

Final Stage Results
Stage 3 Laps: 80

Race statistics

 * Lead changes: 16 among different drivers
 * Cautions/Laps: 10 for 46
 * Red flags: 1 for 5 minutes and 1 second
 * Time of race: 3 hours, 13 minutes and 12 seconds
 * Average speed: 130.435 mph

Television
NBC Sports covered the race on the television side. Rick Allen, 2000 Coke Zero 400 winner Jeff Burton and two-time Coke Zero 400 winner Dale Earnhardt Jr. called in the booth for the race. Mike Tirico and Steve Letarte called from the NBC Peacock Pit Box on pit road. Dave Burns, Parker Kligerman, Marty Snider and Kelli Stavast reported from pit lane during the race.

Radio
MRN had the radio call for the race which was also simulcast on Sirius XM NASCAR Radio.

Standings after the race

 * Drivers' Championship standings


 * Manufacturers' Championship standings


 * Note: Only the first 16 positions are included for the driver standings.
 * . – Driver has clinched a position in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series playoffs.