2018 NASCAR Cup Series Season Recap

Originally published on May 14, 2020

By Zane Miller

On Sunday, November 18th, 2018, the 2018 NASCAR Cup Series season concluded with Joey Logano defeating Martin Truex Jr. by 5 points to win the 70th championship in Cup Series history. It was the first (and, as of this writing, only) Cup Series championship for Logano. Kyle Busch claimed the regular season championship.

The 2018 Daytona 500 was won by Austin Dillon, while Ryan Blaney led the most laps with 118. Dillon spun race leader Aric Almirola coming to the finish, resulting in Dillon leading his only lap on the final lap, much like 2017 winner Kurt Busch had done the year prior.

2018 playoff results

Out in Round 1

#48 Jimmie Johnson

#3 Austin Dillon

#11 Denny Hamlin

#20 Erik Jones

Out in Round 2

#12 Ryan Blaney

#42 Kyle Larson

#2 Brad Keselowski

#88 Alex Bowman

Out in Round 3

#9 Chase Elliott

#41 Kurt Busch

#10 Aric Almirola

#14 Clint Bowyer

Final Four

4. #18 Kyle Busch (-7 points, Finished 4th in final race)

Busch claimed fourth with eight wins, 22 top-fives and 28 top-10s, taking an average finish of 8.3 while leading the most laps in five races.

3. #4 Kevin Harvick (-6, Finished 3rd in final race)

Harvick finished third as he had eight wins, 23 top-fives and 29 top-10s for an average finish of 8.8 while leading the most laps in eight starts.

2. #78 Martin Truex Jr. (-5, Finished 2nd in final race)

Truex scored second in points with four victories, 20 top-fives and 21 top-10s for an average finish of 10.7. Truex also led the most laps in six races.

1. #22 Joey Logano (Won final race)

Logano took the championship as he took three wins, 13 top-fives and 26 top-10s, claiming an average finish of 10.7 while leading the most laps in four races.

Race Winners (left) & Lap Leaders (right)

 

Link to stats database: https://www.racing-reference.info/yeardet/2018/W