2018 Alpha Energy Solutions 250

Last updated

2018 Alpha Energy Solutions 250
Race details
Race 4 of 23 of the 2018 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series
Alpha Energy Solutions 250 logo.png
Date March 24–26 2018
Official name Alpha Energy Solutions 250
Location Martinsville, Virginia, Martinsville Speedway
Course Permanent racing facility
Course length 0.526 miles (0.847 km)
Distance 250 laps, 131.5 mi (211.628 km)
Scheduled distance 250 laps, 131.5 mi (211.628 km)
Average speed 64.628 miles per hour (104.009 km/h)
Pole position
Driver ThorSport Racing
Time 19.737
Most laps led
Driver Ben Rhodes ThorSport Racing
Laps 134
Winner
No. 8 John Hunter Nemechek NEMCO Motorsports
Television in the United States
Network Fox Sports 1
Announcers Vince Welch, Phil Parsons, Michael Waltrip
Radio in the United States
Radio Motor Racing Network

The 2018 Alpha Energy Solutions 250 was the 4th stock car race of the 2018 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, and the 24th iteration of the event. The race was originally held on Saturday, March 24, 2018 but after 24 laps, rain and snow postponed the race until Monday, March 26, 2018. [1] The race was held in Martinsville, Virginia at Martinsville Speedway. The race took the scheduled 250 laps to complete. John Hunter Nemechek, driving a part-time schedule for NEMCO Motorsports would win the race after holding off Kyle Benjamin on a late-race restart, garnering the 6th win of his career and the first of the season. [2]

Contents

The race was the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series debut for Tyler Matthews, [3] [4] [5] Cory Roper, [6] and Reid Wilson. [7] [8]

Background

The layout of Martinsville Speedway, the venue where the race was held. Martinsville Speedway track map.png
The layout of Martinsville Speedway, the venue where the race was held.

Martinsville Speedway is a NASCAR-owned stock car racing track located in Henry County, in Ridgeway, Virginia, just to the south of Martinsville. At 0.526 miles (0.847 km) in length, it is the shortest track in the NASCAR Cup Series. The track was also one of the first paved oval tracks in NASCAR, being built in 1947 by H. Clay Earles. It is also the only remaining race track that has been on the NASCAR circuit from its beginning in 1948.

Entry list

#DriverTeamMakeSponsor
1 Mike Senica TJL Motorsports Chevrolet Pennsylvania Power Products, Inc.
2 Cody Coughlin GMS Racing Chevrolet Jegs
02 Austin Hill Young's Motorsports Chevrolet United Rentals
3 Jordan Anderson Jordan Anderson Racing Chevrolet Bommarito Automotive Group, Lucas Oil
4 Todd Gilliland Kyle Busch Motorsports Toyota Mobil 1
04 Cory Roper Roper Racing Ford Preferred Industrial Contractors, Inc.
6 Norm Benning Norm Benning Racing Chevrolet Zomongo
8 John Hunter Nemechek NEMCO Motorsports Chevrolet Fleetwing, D. A. B. Constructors, Inc.
10 Jennifer Jo Cobb Jennifer Jo Cobb Racing Chevrolet Driven2Honor.org [ permanent dead link ]
13 Myatt Snider ThorSport Racing Ford Liberty Tax "You Do Life, We Do Taxes"
15 Robby Lyons Premium Motorsports Chevrolet Bubba Bear Sauce Ain't Giving It Up Sauce
16 Brett Moffitt Hattori Racing Enterprises Toyota Aisin
18 Noah Gragson Kyle Busch Motorsports Toyota Safelite Auto Glass
20 Reid Wilson Young's Motorsports Chevrolet OEM2 powered by TruNorth
21 Johnny Sauter GMS Racing Chevrolet Allegiant Air
22 Austin Wayne Self Niece Motorsports Chevrolet Kreuz Market "Shipping Real TX BBQ"
24 Justin Haley GMS Racing Chevrolet Fraternal Order of Eagles
25 Dalton Sargeant GMS Racing Chevrolet Performance Plus Motor Oil
33 Josh Reaume Reaume Brothers Racing Chevrolet Green Heart Partners, R-Coin
35 Travis Kvapil* NextGen Motorsports Chevrolet
41 Ben Rhodes ThorSport Racing Ford Alpha Energy Solutions
45 Justin Fontaine Niece Motorsports Chevrolet ProMatic Automation
49 Wendell Chavous Premium Motorsports Chevrolet SobrietyNation.org Archived 2018-05-31 at the Wayback Machine
50 Dawson Cram Beaver Motorsports Chevrolet Fluidyne, Bojangles
51 Harrison Burton Kyle Busch Motorsports Toyota DEX Imaging
52 Stewart Friesen Halmar Friesen Racing Chevrolet Halmar "We Build America"
54 Kyle Benjamin DGR-Crosley Toyota Crosley Brands
57 Jeff Zillweger* Norm Benning Racing Chevrolet
63 Kevin Donahue Copp Motorsports Chevrolet First Responder Racing
74 Mike Harmon Mike Harmon Racing Chevrolet Horizon Transport
83 Kyle Donahue Copp Motorsports Chevrolet First Responder Racing
87 Joe Nemechek* NEMCO Motorsports Chevrolet
88 Matt Crafton ThorSport Racing Ford Menards, Ideal Door Garage Doors
92 Timothy Peters RBR Enterprises Ford BTS Tire & Wheel Distributors
98 Grant Enfinger ThorSport Racing Ford Champion Power Equipment "Powering Your Life."
99 Tyler Matthews MDM Motorsports Chevrolet Scott & Stringfellow, BB&T, Popeyes
Official entry list

*Withdrew.

Practice

First practice

First practice was held on Friday, March 23, at 11:05 AM EST. Justin Haley of GMS Racing would set the fastest time with a 20.118 and an average speed of 94.125 miles per hour (151.480 km/h). [9]

Pos.#DriverTeamMakeTimeSpeed
124 Justin Haley GMS Racing Chevrolet 20.11894.125
218 Noah Gragson Kyle Busch Motorsports Toyota 20.16893.891
388 Matt Crafton ThorSport Racing Ford 20.20193.738
Full first practice results

Second practice

Second practice was held on Friday, March 23, at 1:05 PM EST. Matt Crafton of ThorSport Racing would set the fastest time with a 20.023 and an average speed of 94.571 miles per hour (152.197 km/h). [9]

Pos.#DriverTeamMakeTimeSpeed
188 Matt Crafton ThorSport Racing Ford 20.02394.571
216 Brett Moffitt Hattori Racing Enterprises Toyota 20.02694.557
32 Cody Coughlin GMS Racing Chevrolet 20.03294.529
Full second practice results

Third and final practice

Third and final practice was held on Friday, March 23, at 3:05 PM EST. Grant Enfinger of ThorSport Racing would set the fastest time with a 19.921 and an average speed of 95.056 miles per hour (152.978 km/h). [9]

Pos.#DriverTeamMakeTimeSpeed
198 Grant Enfinger ThorSport Racing Ford 19.92195.056
288 Matt Crafton ThorSport Racing Ford 19.92495.041
354 Kyle Benjamin DGR-Crosley Toyota 19.95994.874
Full final practice results

Qualifying

Qualifying was held on Saturday, March 24, at 11:05 AM EST. Since Martinsville Speedway is a short track, the qualifying system was a multi-car system that included three rounds. The first round was 15 minutes, where every driver would be able to set a lap within the 15 minutes. Then, the second round would consist of the fastest 24 cars in Round 1, and drivers would have 10 minutes to set a lap. Round 3 consisted of the fastest 12 drivers from Round 2, and the drivers would have 5 minutes to set a time. Whoever was fastest in Round 3 would win the pole. [10]

Ben Rhodes of ThorSport Racing would set the fastest time in Round 3, with a 19.737 and an average speed of 95.942 miles per hour (154.404 km/h), thus winning the pole. [11]

While Mike Harmon would not set the slowest time (Mike Senica would set the slowest, being a over a second slower than Harmon), Harmon would not have enough owner points to qualify, making Harmon the only driver to fail to qualify for the race.

Pos.#DriverTeamMakeTime (R1)Speed (R1)Time (R2)Speed (R2)Time (R3)Speed (R3)
141 Ben Rhodes ThorSport Racing Ford 19.73795.942
288 Matt Crafton ThorSport Racing Ford 19.78695.704
398 Grant Enfinger ThorSport Racing Ford 19.81095.588
454 Kyle Benjamin DGR-Crosley Toyota 19.83095.492
552 Stewart Friesen Halmar Friesen Racing Chevrolet 19.83195.487
621 Johnny Sauter GMS Racing Chevrolet 19.83295.482
716 Brett Moffitt Hattori Racing Enterprises Toyota 19.850 95.395
88 John Hunter Nemechek NEMCO Motorsports Chevrolet 19.85195.391
913 Myatt Snider ThorSport Racing Ford 19.88995.208
102 Cody Coughlin GMS Racing Chevrolet 19.90295.146
1118 Noah Gragson Kyle Busch Motorsports Toyota 19.96594.846
1224 Justin Haley GMS Racing Chevrolet 20.05094.444
Eliminated in Round 2
1351 Harrison Burton Kyle Busch Motorsports Toyota 19.98194.770
1499 Tyler Matthews MDM Motorsports Chevrolet 20.01194.628
1502 Austin Hill Young's Motorsports Chevrolet 20.04794.458
1692 Timothy Peters RBR Enterprises Ford 20.09794.223
1704 Cory Roper Roper Racing Ford 20.13394.055
1825 Dalton Sargeant GMS Racing Chevrolet 20.17693.854
1945 Justin Fontaine Niece Motorsports Chevrolet 20.22793.617
2020 Reid Wilson Young's Motorsports Chevrolet 20.24893.520
2122 Austin Wayne Self Niece Motorsports Chevrolet 20.26293.456
2283 Kyle Donahue Copp Motorsports Chevrolet 20.40692.796
234 Todd Gilliland Kyle Busch Motorsports Toyota 19.88895.213
2415 Robby Lyons Premium Motorsports Chevrolet 20.24893.520
Eliminated in Round 1
253 Jordan Anderson Jordan Anderson Racing Chevrolet 20.41492.760
2633 Josh Reaume Reaume Brothers Racing Chevrolet 20.45892.560
2763 Kevin Donahue Copp Motorsports Chevrolet 20.47492.488
Qualified by owner's points
2850 Dawson Cram Beaver Motorsports Chevrolet 20.53292.227
2949 Wendell Chavous Premium Motorsports Chevrolet 20.78391.113
306 Norm Benning Norm Benning Racing Chevrolet 20.998 90.180
3110 Jennifer Jo Cobb Jennifer Jo Cobb Racing Chevrolet 21.66987.388
321 Mike Senica TJL Motorsports Chevrolet 23.00182.327
Failed to qualify or withdrew
3374 Mike Harmon Mike Harmon Racing Chevrolet 21.62187.582
WD35 Travis Kvapil NextGen Motorsports Chevrolet
WD57 Jeff Zillweger Norm Benning Racing Chevrolet
WD87 Joe Nemechek NEMCO Motorsports Chevrolet
Official starting lineup

Race results

Stage 1 Laps: 70

Fin#DriverTeamMakePts
141 Ben Rhodes ThorSport Racing Ford 10
288 Matt Crafton ThorSport Racing Ford 9
398 Grant Enfinger ThorSport Racing Ford 8
421 Johnny Sauter GMS Racing Chevrolet 7
554 Kyle Benjamin DGR-Crosley Toyota 0
68 John Hunter Nemechek NEMCO Motorsports Chevrolet 0
752 Stewart Friesen Halmar Friesen Racing Chevrolet 4
818 Noah Gragson Kyle Busch Motorsports Toyota 3
916 Brett Moffitt Hattori Racing Enterprises Toyota 2
1013 Myatt Snider ThorSport Racing Ford 1

Stage 2 Laps: 70

Fin#DriverTeamMakePts
141 Ben Rhodes ThorSport Racing Ford 10
24 Todd Gilliland Kyle Busch Motorsports Toyota 9
321 Johnny Sauter GMS Racing Chevrolet 8
488 Matt Crafton ThorSport Racing Ford 7
58 John Hunter Nemechek NEMCO Motorsports Chevrolet 0
618 Noah Gragson Kyle Busch Motorsports Toyota 5
716 Brett Moffitt Hattori Racing Enterprises Toyota 4
898 Grant Enfinger ThorSport Racing Ford 3
913 Myatt Snider ThorSport Racing Ford 2
1051 Harrison Burton Kyle Busch Motorsports Toyota 1

Stage 3 Laps: 110

Fin [12] St#DriverTeamMakeLapsLedStatusPts
188 John Hunter Nemechek NEMCO Motorsports Chevrolet 25031running0
2454 Kyle Benjamin DGR-Crosley Toyota 25074running0
3716 Brett Moffitt Hattori Racing Enterprises Toyota 2500running41
4398 Grant Enfinger ThorSport Racing Ford 2500running44
51118 Noah Gragson Kyle Busch Motorsports Toyota 2500running39
6913 Myatt Snider ThorSport Racing Ford 2500running34
71692 Timothy Peters RBR Enterprises Ford 2500running30
81351 Harrison Burton Kyle Busch Motorsports Toyota 2500running30
91502 Austin Hill Young's Motorsports Chevrolet 2500running28
101224 Justin Haley GMS Racing Chevrolet 2500running27
111825 Dalton Sargeant GMS Racing Chevrolet 2500running26
12141 Ben Rhodes ThorSport Racing Ford 250134running45
131704 Cory Roper Roper Racing Ford 2500running24
14234 Todd Gilliland Kyle Busch Motorsports Toyota 2501running32
15288 Matt Crafton ThorSport Racing Ford 2504running38
162020 Reid Wilson Young's Motorsports Chevrolet 2500running21
172850 Dawson Cram Beaver Motorsports Chevrolet 2500running20
182949 Wendell Chavous Premium Motorsports Chevrolet 2500running19
19621 Johnny Sauter GMS Racing Chevrolet 2490running33
20552 Stewart Friesen Halmar Friesen Racing Chevrolet 2486running21
211499 Tyler Matthews MDM Motorsports Chevrolet 2480running16
22253 Jordan Anderson Jordan Anderson Racing Chevrolet 2480running15
232283 Kyle Donahue Copp Motorsports Chevrolet 2340electrical14
242415 Robby Lyons Premium Motorsports Chevrolet 2270engine13
252633 Josh Reaume Reaume Brothers Racing Chevrolet 2270running12
26102 Cody Coughlin GMS Racing Chevrolet 2250running11
272122 Austin Wayne Self Niece Motorsports Chevrolet 1640electrical10
281945 Justin Fontaine Niece Motorsports Chevrolet 1580crash9
293110 Jennifer Jo Cobb Jennifer Jo Cobb Racing Chevrolet 550electrical8
302763 Kevin Donahue Copp Motorsports Chevrolet 490brakes7
31306 Norm Benning Norm Benning Racing Chevrolet 350too slow6
32321 Mike Senica TJL Motorsports Chevrolet 80parked5
Failed to qualify or withdrew
3374 Mike Harmon Mike Harmon Racing Chevrolet
WD35 Travis Kvapil NextGen Motorsports Chevrolet
WD57 Jeff Zillweger Norm Benning Racing Chevrolet
WD87 Joe Nemechek NEMCO Motorsports Chevrolet

References

  1. "NASCAR Truck race halted and postponed after just 24 laps". March 25, 2018. Archived from the original on March 25, 2018. Retrieved October 5, 2021.
  2. McFadin, Daniel (March 26, 2018). "John Hunter Nemechek wins postponed Truck race at Martinsville". NASCAR Talk | NBC Sports. Retrieved October 5, 2021.
  3. "Tyler Matthews Set to Make 2018 Truck Series Debut with MDM Motorsports at Martinsville". The Weekly Racer. January 20, 2018. Retrieved October 5, 2021.
  4. "Tyler Matthews joins MDM Motorsports". ESPN.com. January 27, 2018. Retrieved October 5, 2021.
  5. Miller, Chris. "Matthews to race in NASCAR Truck Series". The Daily News. Archived from the original on October 5, 2021. Retrieved October 5, 2021.
  6. Massie, Michael (June 12, 2018). "Cory Roper, The Definition Of Grassroots Racing". www.frontstretch.com. Retrieved October 5, 2021.
  7. "Reid Wilson to make NASCAR Truck debut at Martinsville". www.motorsport.com. Retrieved October 5, 2021.
  8. Eggert, Seth. "Reid Wilson to Make Truck Series Debut with Young's Motorsports". Motorsports Tribune. Retrieved October 5, 2021.
  9. 1 2 3 Koelle, Christian (March 23, 2018). "Justin Haley, Matt Crafton, Grant Enfinger Lead Martinsville Truck Practices". www.frontstretch.com. Retrieved October 5, 2021.
  10. "NASCAR Qualifying Rules". ESPN.com. February 7, 2018. Retrieved October 5, 2021.
  11. Catanzareti, Zach (March 24, 2018). "Ben Rhodes Scores Martinsville Pole In Truck Series". www.frontstretch.com. Retrieved October 5, 2021.
  12. "2018 Alpha Energy Solutions 250 - The Third Turn". www.thethirdturn.com. Retrieved October 5, 2021.
Previous race:
2018 Stratosphere 200
NASCAR Camping World Truck Series
2018 season
Next race:
2018 JEGS 200