The 2018 AAA Texas 500 was a Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race that was held on November 4, 2018, at Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth, Texas. Contested over 337 laps â extended from 334 laps due to an overtime finish â on the intermediate quad-oval, it was the 34th race of the 2018 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series season, the eighth race of the Playoffs, and the second race of the Round of 8.
Leading 177 laps during the race, StewartâÂÂHaas Racing driver Kevin Harvick took his 8th victory of the season, which was initially thought to advance him to the Championship 4. However, Harvick's car was found to have a non-conforming spoiler during post-race technical checks, and as a result, lost his automatic qualification to the Championship 4.
Texas Motor Speedway is a speedway located in Fort Worth, Texas. The track measures around and is banked 24 degrees in the turns, and is of the oval design, where the front straightaway juts outward slightly. The track layout is similar to Charlotte Motor Speedway. The track is owned by Speedway Motorsports.
Ryan Blaney was the fastest in the first practice session with a time of 27.139 seconds and a speed of .
Ryan Blaney scored the pole for the race with a time of 26.932 and a speed of .
Aric Almirola was the fastest in the second practice session with a time of 27.856 seconds and a speed of .
Ricky Stenhouse Jr. was the fastest in the final practice session with a time of 28.074 seconds and a speed of .
Stage 1 Laps: 85
Stage 2 Laps: 85
Stage 3 Laps: 164
NBC Sports covered the race on the television side. Rick Allen, two-time Texas winner Jeff Burton, Steve Letarte and 2000 Texas winner Dale Earnhardt Jr. called the race from the broadcast booth, while Dave Burns, Marty Snider and Kelli Stavast reported from pit lane.
PRN had the radio call for the race, which was simulcast on SiriusXM's NASCAR Radio channel.