Bowman, Suarez, Allmendinger Win Open Stages

AJ Allmendinger won the final stage to move to the All-Star

Bowman, Suarez Advance, Allmendinger Wins Open
(CONCORD, NC – MAY 19, 2018 – RIS) Alex Bowman won the first stage of this afternoon’s Monster Energy Open to advance to the Monster Energy All-Star race. Daniel Suarez won the second stage and AJ Allmendinger, in the No. 47 Kroger ClickList Chevy, won the final stage and the Open by just under a third of a second ahead of Erik Jones. In fan voting, Chase Elliott earned the most votes to advance to the All-Star, joining the field of previous winners in the race for a million dollars to the winner.

Unofficial Race Results for The Monster Energy Open - Saturday, May 19, 2018 - Charlotte Motor Speedway - Concord, NC

Fin, Str, Driver, Car, Laps, Status, Tms Led, Laps Led
1) 9, AJ Allmendinger, No. 47 Kroger ClickList Chevrolet, 50, Running, 1, 2
2) 2, Erik Jones, No. 20 Sport Clips Toyota, 50, Running, , 
3) 4, Chase Elliott, No. 9 SunEnergy1 Chevrolet, 50, Running, 2, 3
4) 5, Paul Menard, No. 21 Menards/Knauf Ford, 50, Running, , 
5) 11, Chris Buescher, No. 37 Clorox Chevrolet, 50, Running, , 
6) 1, Aric Almirola, No. 10 Smithfield/Waffle House Ford, 50, Running, 1, 11
7) 6, William Byron #, No. 24 Hertz Chevrolet, 50, Running, , 
8) 14, Ty Dillon, No. 13 GEICO Military Chevrolet, 50, Running, , 
9) 10, David Ragan, No. 38 MDS Trucking Ford, 50, Running, , 
10) 12, Michael McDowell, No. 34 Dockside Logistics Ford, 50, Running, , 
11) 8, Darrell Wallace Jr. #, No. 43 World Wide Technology Chevrolet, 50, Running, 1, 7
12) 13, Matt DiBenedetto, No. 32 Zynga Poker Ford, 50, Running, , 
13) 17, Landon Cassill, No. 00 Dairi-O Chevrolet, 50, Running, , 
14) 18, Gray Gaulding, No. 23  Toyota, 50, Running, , 
15) 15, Corey LaJoie, No. 72  Chevrolet, 50, Running, , 
16) 19, BJ McLeod(i), No. 51 Prefund Capital Chevrolet, 50, Running, , 
17) 16, Ross Chastain(i), No. 15 Internetwork Engineering Chevrolet, 50, Running, , 
18) 21, Timmy Hill(i), No. 66 Sentinel One Toyota, 50, Running, , 
19) 20, Reed Sorenson, No. 55  Chevrolet, 50, Running, , 
20) 7, Daniel Suarez, No. 19 ARRIS Toyota, 40, Stage 2 , 2, 18
21) 3, Alex Bowman, No. 88 Axalta Chevrolet, 20, Stage 1 , 1, 9
(i) Ineligible for driver points in this series

Time of Race: 0 Hrs, 45 Mins, 35 Secs.
Average Speed: 98.720 MPH
Margin of Victory: 0.327 Seconds
Race Comments: AJ Allmendinger won the Monster Energyy Open at Charlotte Motor Speedway. his first victory in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series non-points event. Prior to the start of the race, no cars dropped to the rear of the field. Stage 1 Winner: Alex Bowman; Stage 2 Winner: Daniel Suarez.
Total Race Length - 50 Laps - 75 Miles Caution Flags: 2 for 2 laps: Laps: 20-20 (Stage 1 Conclusion [None]); 40-40 (Stage 2 Conclusion [None]).
Lead Changes: 7 among 6 drivers: A. Almirola 1-11; A. Bowman 12-20; D. Suarez 21-32; C. Elliott 33-34; D. Suarez 35-40; D. Wallace Jr. # 41-47; C. Elliott 48; A. Allmendinger 49-50.
Fastest Lap: Darrell Wallace Jr, No. 43

John Davison

Long-time RIS staffer, beginning in the mid-80s. Charlotte, NC area local contact.

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Volume 2018, Issue 5, Posted 8:00 PM, 05.19.2018