Tyler Reddick, the 2018 Xfinity Series champion as well as the Rookie of the Year.Cole Custer finished second behind Reddick in the championship.Daniel Hemric finished third in the championship.Christopher Bell, the defending Truck Series champion, who moved up to the Xfinity Series full-time in 2018, finished fourth in the championship.Justin Allgaier, the regular season champion, finished seventh in the championship.Chevy won the manufacturer's championship.
This was the third year that the Xfinity Series (and the Truck Series) had a playoff system. For the first time in the three years of the playoffs at that time, Elliott Sadler and Justin Allgaier were not part of the "championship 4" drivers competing for the title at Homestead. Both drivers did qualify for the postseason but did not advance to the last round of the playoffs as they had done the past two years.
The 2018 season was the first to feature the Regular Season Championship trophy, which is awarded at the final race before the playoffs.[1]Justin Allgaier clinched the NXS Regular Season Championship trophy after the 2018 DC Solar 300 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.[2]
This was the final season of the Toyota Camry in the Xfinity Series, as it was replaced by the Supra in the 2019 season.[3] It was also the final season of Dodge as a manufacturer, as the new flange-fit composite body rules have made the former Team PenskeChallengers (nicknamed "Zombie Dodges" due to their lack of factory support since 2013) used by smaller teams ineligible due to their welded steel bodies.[4][5]
This was also the last year of 5-time Xfinity Champion Roush Racing in Xfinity. After this season, Roush continued only in the Cup Series.
Jason Houghtaling 2 David Jones 1 Rob Winfield 1 Chuck Herman 3 Brown Jen 1 Glenn Kania 1 William Whitley 2 Terry Elmore 18 Kase Kallenbach 1 Jerry Hattaway 2 Riley Higgins 1
^Josh Bilicki was originally scheduled to drive the No. 45 in the O'Reilly Auto Parts 300 but crashed his only car in Practice. So Currey scheduled to drive the No. 55 car, that was renumbered to No. 45 since the No. 45 was better in Owners' Standings and the No. 55 entry withdrew.
JGL Racing reopened the No. 28 entry for at least 21 races for Dylan Lupton, after shutting down this car at the end of 2017 because of a lack of sponsorship (with Dakoda Armstrong). They also tried to expand the schedule to the full season.
Go Green Racing returned to the Xfinity Series full-time, fielding the No. 35 entry with Joey Gase as their driver. This was Go Green's first season in the Xfinity Series since 2013 and their first in NASCAR following their merger with FAS Lane Racing to create Go Fas Racing in December 2013.
JD Motorsports announced a fourth full-time ride, the No. 15 entry initially to be split by veteran drivers including Joe Nemechek and Reed Sorenson. However, this plan was cancelled because Matt Mills was expected to drive the No. 15 car full-time, except the inaugural Daytona race, which had Nemechek behind the wheel.
JP Motorsports purchased cars from TriStar Motorsports and announced their intentions to run a full season in the No. 55 Toyota Camry on January 18, 2018. At the time of the announcement, Jason Houghtaling was named as crew chief but other information like drivers and sponsors was not immediately released, however Stephen Leicht was later revealed as the full-time driver.[7] On February 5, it was announced that they had acquired an additional Joe Gibbs Racing chassis and would field another full-time team, the No. 45, with Josh Bilicki as the driver.
B. J. McLeod Motorsports announced that the partnership with SS-Green Light Racing to field the No. 99 full-time was finished. As a consequence, the No. 99 car would likely return to part-time racing.
NextGen Motorsports increased their 2018 schedule as they would fielding for multiple drivers. The car number is TBA, due to JP Motorsports taking their No. 55.
New team NXT Motorsports announced that Gray Gaulding will drive the season-opener at Daytona with a Toyota. The team has acquired cars from Joe Gibbs Racing.
RSS Racing used three cars in the season-opener: The No. 38 for Jeff Green, No. 39 for J. J. Yeley and No. 93 for owner Ryan Sieg without start-and-park for any of them. It looks that the team will use these three cars full-time in 2018. Last year, Sieg drove the No. 39 Chevrolet full-time, while the Nos. 38 and 93 were a part-time start-and-park team, driven by Green, Gray Gaulding and Stephen Leicht.
Drivers
On April 25, 2017, it was announced Dale Earnhardt Jr. would retire from full-time driving in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series (MENCS), but also announced he intends to participate in two races for JR Motorsports in the Xfinity Series. He has confirmed the second Richmond race as one of the two races. Chase Elliott will drive the No. 88 in the season-opener at Daytona.
On October 5, 2017, it was announced that Matt Tifft would be leaving Joe Gibbs Racing at the end of 2017, and joining Richard Childress Racing in 2018 to drive the No. 2 Chevrolet. In 2017, Tifft drove the No. 19 Toyota Camry for Joe Gibbs Racing.
On October 13, 2017, it was announced that Christopher Bell would drive full-time for Joe Gibbs Racing in 2018, driving the No. 20 Toyota. Bell will also be competing for Rookie of the Year Honors. In 2017, Bell drove the No. 4 Toyota Tundra full-time for Kyle Busch Motorsports in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, winning the championship in the process, and part-time for Joe Gibbs Racing in the Xfinity Series, driving the No. 18 & No. 20 Toyotas.
On October 19, 2017, it was announced that Spencer Boyd would drive full-time in 2018 for SS-Green Light Racing in a renumbered No. 76 car, crew chief Jason Miller and sponsorship from Grunt Style. In 2017, Boyd ran part-time in SS-Green Light's No. 07 entry and part-time in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series for several teams.
In October 2017, it was announced that Joey Gase will not return to Jimmy Means Racing. Gase will explore more opportunities in the Cup Series.
On November 15, 2017, it was announced that Ryan Preece would be driving the No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota in at least 10 races. Preece will share the ride with Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series drivers Kyle Busch, Denny Hamlin, Erik Jones, and Daniel Suarez. In 2017, Preece drove in the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour while also making a few starts for JGR, driving the No. 18 & No. 20 Toyotas. Preece won the July 2017 race at Iowa. On February 17, it was announced that Kyle Benjamin, who made 4 starts for Gibbs in 2017, would drive the No. 18 at Atlanta and Iowa in July. On April 13, it was announced that Noah Gragson, who currently drives the No. 18 Toyota Tundra for Kyle Busch Motorsports in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, would make his Xfinity Series debut at Richmond in April and will drive the car at Talladega in April and Dover in May. On June 11, it was announced that Riley Herbst who drives the No. 18 Toyota in the ARCA Series for Joe Gibbs would make his debut at Iowa in June.
On November 17, 2017, it was announced that Kaz Grala will drive the No. 24 Ford Mustang GT for JGL Racing in 2018. Grala will also compete for Rookie of the Year Honors. In 2017, Grala drove the No. 33 Chevrolet Silverado for GMS Racing in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. However, due to a lack of sponsorship on May 15, 2018, it was announced that Grala announced he had been released by JGL as the team was shutting down its No. 24 car.
On November 20, 2017, it was announced that Roush Fenway Racing would be running the No. 60 Ford full-time in 2018 as a developmental team in cooperation with Ford and Team Penske. Ty Majeski, Chase Briscoe, and Austin Cindric will all drive the No. 60. Briscoe and Majeski will drive the car for 12 races each and Cindric will drive for 9 races. This will be the first full-time season for the No. 60 team since winning the Championship with Chris Buescher in 2015. In 2017, Majeski drove part-time in the ARCA Racing Series while also making a few starts in the No. 60 for Roush, while Cindric and Briscoe drove full-time in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series for the now defunct Brad Keselowski Racing, driving the No. 19 and No. 29 Ford F-150 respectively. Briscoe will also drive the No. 98 Ford for Stewart-Haas Racing with Biagi-DenBeste Racing in 5 races at Bristol in April, Talladega in May, Both Charlotte Races, and the fall playoff race at Kansas.
On January 5, 2018, it was announced that Joey Gase will drive a new No. 35 entry for Go Green Racing full-time in 2018. Gase last drove for Means Racing full-time in the Xfinity Series in 2017, as well as for Premium Motorsports and BK Racing part-time in the Cup Series. His crew chief will be Patrick Donahue, who worked with Gase at BK Racing.
On January 24, 2018, it was announced that Shane Lee, Jeb Burton, and Brendan Gaughan would all drive part-time for Richard Childress Racing in 2018, driving the No. 3 Chevrolet. They will share the ride with MENCS drivers Austin Dillon and Ty Dillon. Lee will make his Xfinity series debut at Bristol in April, Burton will make his return at Richmond in April, and Gaughan will drive in the road course races at Mid-Ohio, Road America, and at Charlotte on the new Roval layout. In 2017, Lee drove full-time in the ARCA Racing Series for Cunningham Motorsports, Burton drove a part-time schedule in the Xfinity Series, driving the No. 24 Toyota for JGL Racing, while Gaughan competed full-time in the Xfinity Series, driving the No. 62 Chevrolet for Richard Childress Racing.
On February 2, 2018, it was announced that Matt Mills will drive the No. 15 Chevrolet for JD Motorsports full-time starting at Atlanta. Mills most recently drove part-time for B. J. McLeod Motorsports, NextGen Motorsports, and Martins Motorsports in 2017. However he was released after DNQing at Texas, and again after running Pocono and Michigan. He would end up running the second races at Richmond and Dover with B.J. Mcleod Motorsports.
On February 8, 2018, it was revealed that Austin Cindric would run a full schedule in the Xfinity Series. Cindric will drive for Penske Racing in either the Nos. 12 or 22 in all races in which he does not drive the No. 60 car for Roush Fenway Racing.
On May 2, 2018, NASCAR announced that Spencer Gallagher was issued a substance abuse penalty and was suspended indefinitely. He also lost his playoff eligibility with the suspension. This came just a week after Gallagher scored his first NASCAR win at Talladega. Johnny Sauter was announced as his replacement for Dover and Chase Elliott will drive the car at Charlotte, Pocono, Chicago, Daytona, and Bristol and Alex Bowman will drive the car at Michigan . Justin Haley, who drives the No. 24 Chevrolet Silverado in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series for GMS Racing, drove the No. 23 at Iowa in June, and will also a drive a 2nd GMS Car at Daytona in July and Watkins Glen. On July 4, 2018, Gallagher was reinstated and returned to the No. 23 car at Kentucky. On October 19, 2018, Gallagher announced his retirement from racing at the end of the season. He will take on a more managerial role in GMS racing starting in 2019.[8]
Jason Ratcliff will move over from the No. 20 MENCS team to the No. 20 Xfinity Series team to be the crew chief for Christopher Bell. Chris Gabehardt, who was the previous crew chief for the No. 20, will move over to the No. 19 team to be Brandon Jones' crew chief, replacing Matt Beckham.
2018 was the final year with Dodge participation. For the season finale, Carl Long placed a tribute decal on his "Zombie Dodge" car.
JGL Racing would switch from Toyota to Ford this season. JGL Racing had been running Toyota cars from 2015 to 2017.
This was the final season of the Toyota Camry, which was replaced by the Supra in 2019.
This was also the final season of Dodge as a manufacturer. In the 2013 season, Dodge stopped factory support after Penske Racing switched to Ford. Because of this, the former Penske Challengers used by smaller teams were nicknamed "Zombie Dodges". The new flange-fit composite body rules have made the welded steel-bodied Challengers ineligible to compete in 2019.[4][5]
Rule changes
On July 31, 2017, NASCAR announced that drivers with more than five years of full-time racing on the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup level and registered as Monster Energy NASCAR Cup drivers for the 2018 season for points purposes may drive a maximum of seven Xfinity Series races. In addition, all full-time registered Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series drivers were ineligible to drive in the Dash 4 Cash races as well as the final eight races of the season (the final race before the playoffs and the playoffs). Drivers who have declared eligibility for Xfinity Series points, regardless of Cup experience, can compete in those races.
On November 1, 2017, NASCAR announced a series of Xfinity Series rule changes for 2018.
Teams may use the flange-fit composite body at 30 races—all except Daytona and Talladega.
Teams must use a NASCAR-specification flat splitter.
Teams must use a specification radiator.
Brake cooling hoses and fans will be reduced.
Teams must use a single transmission for the entire race meeting, however, this rule does not apply at the road course races. The standard splitter height is four inches.
The "black box" will be powered by the vehicle, not separate batteries.
As part of an investigation into the 2015 Alert Today Florida 300Xfinity race crash that injured Kyle Busch, NASCAR imposed new chassis specifications (Enhanced Vehicle Chassis) for safety reasons that will be implemented in two phases.
Starting with the conclusion of the 2017 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series season, all new chassis must be certified to the new specification.
Currently constructed and certified chassis that had been certified as of the 2017 Ford EcoBoost 300 will have a one-year grace period until they must be certified.
Starting from this season, drivers that declared eligibility to the Xfinity Series will have their last name featured in the front windshield of the car, with the Xfinity logo being reduced into two smaller logos in the upper corner area of the front windshield between the driver's name. Those who didn't declared eligibility to the series will only feature the Xfinity logo in the front windshield of their car.
Schedule
The OneMain Financial 200 at Dover International Speedway in MayThe Pocono Green 250 at Pocono Raceway in JuneThe Drive for the Cure 200 at Charlotte Motor Speedway in SeptemberThe Bar Harbor 200 at Dover International Speedway in October
The final schedule – comprising 33 races – was released on May 23, 2017.[9] Key changes from 2017 include:
The PowerShares QQQ 300 was held one week earlier. As a result of this, all races from Atlanta until Talladega (spring), moved one week earlier than 2017.
The OneMain Financial 200 moved between Talladega and Charlotte. Due to Daytona moving a week earlier, Dover was forced to move to May, similar to 2016.
In 2015, NASCAR and 24 Xfinity Series tracks agreed on a five-year contract that guarantees each track would continue to host races through 2020.[17] Despite the agreement, Speedway Motorsports decided to transfer one of its Xfinity Series races at Kentucky Speedway to Las Vegas Motor Speedway to form a race weekend involving each of the three national series in the fall.[18] With the official release of the schedule, NASCAR announced that the race Las Vegas Motor Speedway acquired from Kentucky Speedway will become the final race before the Xfinity Series playoffs, while the Go Bowling 250 at Richmond Raceway will be held as the first race of the playoffs. Furthermore, the Lilly Diabetes 250 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway will move from July to September. Chicagoland Speedway's race, the Overton's 300, will move from September to June to become the 15th race of the season instead of the 26th.[9][19]
A few other minor schedule changes were also announced with the release of the schedule. Unlike the 2017 season, the OneMain Financial 200 at Dover International Speedway will precede the Alsco 300 at Charlotte Motor Speedway, while the Bar Harbor 200, also at Dover International Speedway, will move one week later to follow the Drive for the Cure 200 at Charlotte Motor Speedway. The Drive for the Cure 200 will also utilize Charlotte Motor Speedway's 2.28-mile (3.67 km) road course instead of its oval. Road America will also move back to a Saturday afternoon.[9][19]
On August 25, NASCAR announced the tracks that will compose the Dash 4 Cash incentive program: The four Dash 4 Cash races will be run consecutively on the overall series schedule, starting at Bristol Motor Speedway on April 14. From there, the bonus program rolls on to Richmond Raceway (April 20) and Talladega (April 28) before concluding at Dover International Speedway on May 5. Drivers eligible for driver championship points in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series are ineligible to participate in either Dash 4 Cash, the second Las Vegas race, or the playoff races. Drivers such as Elliott Sadler (13 years) and Dale Earnhardt Jr. (18 years), who are expected to register as Xfinity drivers, will be eligible since they are registering as Xfinity drivers.
(key) Bold – Pole position awarded by time. Italics – Pole position set by final practice results or owner's points. * – Most laps led. 1 – Stage 1 winner. 2 – Stage 2 winner. 1–10 – Regular season top 10 finishers. . – Eliminated after Round of 12
. – Eliminated after Round of 8
† – Max Tullman started receiving points at Las Vegas 2.
Owners' championship (Top 15)
(key) Bold - Pole position awarded by time. Italics - Pole position set by final practice results or rainout. * – Most laps led. 1 – Stage 1 winner. 2 – Stage 2 winner. 1–10 – Owners' regular season top 10 finishers. . – Eliminated after Round of 12
. – Eliminated after Round of 8
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