2018 World Stock Car Championship

2018 World Stock Car Championship Season
Season
Races	31
Start Date	March 4
End Date	November 18
Awards
Special Event Winners
← Previous: 2017	Next: 2019 →

The 2018 World Stock Car Championship season is planned to be the 66th season of the World Stock Car Championship, a stock car racing championship recognized by the sport's governing body, the WSCA, as the highest class of stock car racing in the world.

Schedule

The 2018 World Stock Car Championship Race Map. Current host nations are marked in blue, while former hosts are marked in grey.

Rd Date Race Circuit Group 1 11 March The Icebreaker Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park, Thompson, Connecticut Special Event 2 18 March Round of Atlanta Road Atlanta, Braselton, Georgia A 3 25 March Round of North Carolina Rockingham Speedway, Rockingham, North Carolina A 4 8 April Round of New Zealand Pukekohe Park, Pukekohe B 5 14 April Round of Australia Calder Park, Keilor B 6 22 April Round of Japan Hamamatsu Grand Prix Course, B 7 29 April Round of the Philippines Clark International Speedway, Mabalacat B 8 12 May Round of Indianapolis Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Speedway, Indiana A 9 26 May Donington Grand Prix Donington Park, Leicestershire Special Event 10 3 June Round of Germany Nürburgring, Nürburg C 11 10 June Round of Finland Karjala Raceway, Larpeenranta C 12 17 June Round of Italy Streets of Pontremoli, Pontremoli C 13 24 June Round of the Czech Republic Brno Circuit, Brno C 14 4 July Daytona 1776 Daytona International Speedway, Daytona Beach, Florida Special Event 15 15 July Round of Colorado Pikes Peak International Raceway, Fountain, Colorado A 16 21 July Round of Washington Pierce County Speedway, Lakewood, Washington D 17 28 July Round of Wisconsin Road America, Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin D 18 5 August Round of Quebec Circuit Trois-Rivières, Trois-Rivières, Quebec D 19 12 August Round of Toronto Munro Hamilton Airport Circuit, Hamilton, Ontario D 20 17 August Detroit Duels Detroit Metropolitan Speedway, Pontiac, Michigan E 21 18 August E 22 1 September Lime Rock Grand Prix Lime Rock Park, Lakeville, Connecticut Special Event 23 8 September Round of South Carolina Darlington Raceway, Darlington, South Carolina E 24 16 September Round of Pennsylvania Lincoln Financial Raceway, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania E 25 23 September Round of Virginia Virginia International Raceway, Alton, Virginia F 26 6 October Round of Abu Dhabi Yas Marina Circuit, Abu Dhabi F 27 14 October Round of Jordan King Abdullah II Amman Motordrome, Amman F 28 21 October Round of China Shanghai International Circuit, Shanghai F 29 28 October Round of California Sonoma Raceway, Sonoma, California G 30 4 November Round of Texas Circuit of the Americas, Houston, Texas G 31 11 November Round of Illinois Shawnee Speedway, Carbondale, Illinois G 32 18 November WSCC Championship Weekend Streets of Manhattan, New York City, New York G

Legend O Oval Course R Road/Street Course S Special Event

Teams and Drivers

Chartered Teams

The following teams and drivers are currently under contract to compete in the 2018 season as chartered teams, guaranteeing them a place in all scheduled races (with the exception of the four special events). Reserve drivers are eligible to enter the four crown jewel events, and are eligible for the promoter's option during all regular race events.

Entrant	Manufacturer	Tires	Race Drivers				Daytona 1776 Entries		Reserve Drivers
			No.	Driver	Sponsor		Co-Drivers		No.	Driver	Sponsor	Co-Drivers
Metzger Racing GmbH	BMW	B	2	Sergey Kuznetsov	New Yorker		TBA		18	Sean Hyde	Aldi	TBA
			6	Luca Bauer	STP		TBA
Scuderia Benedetti	Ferrari	B	3	Daniel Lang	Shell V-Power		TBA		35	Patrick Talbot	Shell V-Power	Carmine Mazzi
			5	Mathias Moore	Shell V-Power		TBA
Monster Energy Mercedes Motorsports	Mercedes	M	4	Frank Stafford	Monster Energy		TBA		28	TBA	Monster Energy	TBA
			8	Yusuf Mardin	Monster Energy		TBA
7-11 Motorsports	Nissan	B	7	TBA	7-Eleven		TBA		711	TBA	7-Eleven	TBA
			11	TBA	7-Eleven		TBA
Sun Racing	Audi	B	9	Markus Hertz	DHL		TBA		90	Ben Jacobs	Audi	TBA
			10	Martin Dubois	Microsoft		TBA
Target TMO Racing	Buick	B	12	TBA	Target		TBA		13	TBA	Target	TBA
			14	Ben Clark, Jr.	Target		TBA
Hasegawa Autosport	Toyota	M	15	Akira Nakano	Verizon Wireless		Piper Benjamin		17	TBA	ToyotaCare	TBA
			16	Ari Kapanan	McDonald's		TBA
Red Bull Everton Racing	Honda	M	20	Jack Pearson	Red Bull		Morgan Ingram		41	Pétur Andrésson	Red Bull	TBA
			21	Amalia Moretti	Red Bull		TBA
Chevrolet Team LSR	Chevrolet	B	22	Billy Savage	Amazon.com		TBA		46	Liz Tennent	Wendy's	TBA
			23	Jay Orlov	National MS Society (March/Special Events) Coca Cola Zero Sugar		Carlo Fernandes
Parsonsport	Lotus	M	24	Antonio Camara	Eni		TBA		26	Jon Colbert	Eni	TBA
			25	Marco Tarelli	Eni		TBA
SGM Cadillac Racing	Cadillac	B	30	Taylor Dawson	NAMI (US Races) Sennheiser (International Races)		Derrek Townsend		29	Júlia Zsinka	Cadillac/Kenneth Cole	TBA
			33	Ethan Galvin	GoDaddy		TBA
HK Team Genesis	Hyundai	B	32	TBA	Valvoline (Day Races) Zerex (Special Events/Night Races)		TBA		36	Park Do-hyun	Hyundai	TBA
			34	Felipe Azevedo	AXA Insurance		TBA
McLellan Race Team	Ford	M	37	Tom McLellan, Jr.	Axalta		TBA		39	TBA	Ford	TBA
			38	TBA	Intel		TBA
Polestar VP Racing Team	Volvo	M	42	TBA			TBA		50	TBA		TBA
			43	Nathanel Calvillo (R)	Enterprise Rent-a-Car		TBA
Mazda JD Motorsports	Mazda	M	47	Amy Wood	Rockstar Energy		TBA		49	TBA	TBA	TBA
			48	Trevor Richmond	Fed-Ex		TBA
Thompson Brothers Racing	Dodge	B	62	J. J. Patterson	Miller Lite		TBA		64	TBA	Mopar	TBA
			63	Greg Bush	T-Mobile		TBA
Team Renault NHM	Renault	M	73	TBA	Total		TBA		72	Nate Hubbard	Hangar1 Vodka	TBA
			74	Walther de Coninck	Total		TBA
Lexus Black Hawk Racing	Lexus	M	78	Sander Heiberg (R)	Pertek		TBA		77	TBA	Cathay Pacific	TBA
			79	Cyril Jonas	Fitbit		TBA

Independent's Teams

The following teams are entered in the 2018 Independent's Trophy competition. These teams are divided into groups, comprised of four races each. Independent's Trophy teams are eligible for the promoter's option during all non-special events, but will not be eligible for Independent's Trophy Points in those races.

Entrant	Manufacturer	Tires	Race Driver(s)				Daytona 1776 Entries
			No.	Driver	Sponsor		Co-Drivers
Group A
Brad Parker Motorsports	Lincoln	G	45	Brad Parker	Pepsi		TBA
Bedford Motorsports	Volkswagen		56	John Bedford	Barbasol		TBA
Stevenson-Brewer Motorsports	Subaru		60	Marcus Stevenson	Desktop Metal		TBA
Hansen Motorsports	Kia		63	Thomas Drennan	Menard's		TBA
Group B
Team Citroën Australia	Citroën	G	06	Jake Blackett	Qantas		TBA
Red Bull Junior Team	Acura		40	Michael Baier	Red Bull Zero Sugar		Fausto Zapata
Tata Racing	Tata		85	Jai Kishore	Flipkart		TBA
Dragon Race Team	Subaru		92	TBA	TBA		TBA
Group C
Couet Autosport	Peugeot	G	51	Claude Chassé	Peugeot		TBA
Mireles Motorsports	Dacia		57	Emmanuel Medrano	Valeo		TBA
SEAT Sport	SEAT		84	Rodrigo Silva	Repsol		Cameron Segura
Škoda Team Todorov	Škoda		99	Andrei Todorov	Semtex		TBA
Group D
Brad Parker Motorsports	Lincoln	G	55	Karol Scivert	Shoppers Drug Mart		TBA
Hansen Motorsports	Kia		61	Charlie Hansen	Interstate Batteries		Kaitlynn Headley
Stevenson-Brewer Motorsports	Subaru		70	David Brewer	A&W Restaurants		TBA
Turbosport	Kia		94	Selena Wayne	Rooms to Go		TBA
Group E
Red Bull Junior Team	Acura	G	44	TBA	Red Bull Sugarfree		TBA
Arthur Fox Motorsports	Volkswagen		80	Arthur Fox	Best Buy/Geek Squad		TBA
KM Racing	Subaru		91	Emerson Michaels	TD Bank		TBA
Couet Autosport	Peugeot		98	Felix Klein	PUMA		TBA
Group F
TEAM Hamdan	Kia	G	59	Rebecca Bennett	Royal Jordanian Airlines		TBA
Nordsport	Citroën		75	Sebastian Thorsen	Maersk		TBA
Wolf Racing	Roewe		82	Tommy Zhou			TBA
Kulikovski Autopsort	Lada		88	Simon Maslov	LUKOil		Emelyan Levkin
Group G
Alfa Romeo LMR	Alfa Romeo	G	0	Nichole Baker	Aperture Science		TBA
Aston Martin SRT	Aston Martin		007	Tony Martin	Martini		TBA
Balderas Racing	Lincoln		87	Ezra Molina	TelMex		TBA
KM Racing	Subaru		95	Alex Kennedy	Jersey Mike's		TBA

Promoter's Option Teams

The following teams raced using the promoter's option, which allows the race promoter to add one driver to the grid. The promoter's option can not be granted during special events.

Entrant	Manufacturer	Tires	Race Drivers
			No.	Driver Name	Races

Special Event Teams

The following teams attempted to enter the special events only.

Icebreaker Entries

Entrant	Manufacturer	Tires	Race Driver(s)
			No.	Driver	Sponsor
Mager Autosport	Subaru	G	76	Willow Marshall	Mobil 1
Henderson Engineering	Lincoln	G	115	Roland Clark	Caterpillar
			116	Kevin Brooks	Burger King
Lucky Hornick Enterprises	Aston Martin	M	777	TBA	TBA
			999	TBA	TBA

Team Changes

• 77 Race Engineering withdraws from the Independent's Trophy following the exit of Holden.
• Autosport Couet rebrands as PSA Couet Motorsport.
• Black Hawk Motorsports secures a full-time charter, making 2018 the first season the team will run full-time. Black Hawk enters with factory backing from Lexus, and rebrand to Lexus Black Hawk Race Team.
• E.C. Mireles switches to Infiniti and rebrands to Infiniti Mireles Motorsport.
• Henderson Engineering returns to the series for the first time after departing in 2008 for the American Stock Car Tour. Henderson plans to attempt the three special events.
• Renault secures a full-time charter for a factory-backed team.
• Opel Race Team withdraws from competition following the sale of Opel to Groupe PSA.
• Stover Race Team switches numbers from 74 to 007, following a switch to Aston Martin and a rebrand to Aston Martin SRT.
• Wolf Racing enters the series as an Independent's effort with backing from Roewe.

Driver Changes

• Alain Roberts retires from full-time racing, remaining with McLellan Race Team as a technical advisor.
• On November 12, 2016, Derrek Townsend announced his retirement from full-time racing after the 2017 season. Taylor Dawson was announced as his full-time replacement at SGE in 2018.
• Tommy Zhou returns to racing after taking a sabbatical to deal with concussion-related illness. He signs with Wolf Racing as the lead driver for the Roewe effort.

Manufacturer Changes

• Alfa Romeo enters the series backing Leo McRae Motorsports, who rebrand to Alfa Romeo LMR.
• Aston Martin returns to the series after a three-year absence. Stover Racing leaves Renault to run an Independent's Trophy effort as the flagship team.
• Citroën enters the series for the first time.
• Chrysler officially withdraws factory support from WSCC competition after twelve years.
• Dacia enters the series, providing support to both Independent's entries and customer teams.
• Holden withdraws from the World Stock Car Championship after ten years.
• Jaguar returns to the series after withdrawing support in 2017. Jaguar returns as an official supplier for one-off entrants to the Donington Grand Prix.
• MG enters the series, providing support to one-off entrants to the Donington Grand Prix.
• Opel remains in the series but withdraws factory support, reducing representation only to customer teams.
• Roewe enters the series, making them the first Chinese manufacturer to race on the world stage.
• Heller Motorsports switches from Holden to Citroën following Holden's exit; Heller rebrands from Qantas Racing Team to Team Citroën Australia and expands to a two-car effort.
• Nordsport switches from Subaru to Citroën
• Škoda enters the series for the first time supporting Czech entrant Team Todorov, who rebrand to Škoda Team Todorov.
• Stover Race Team switches manufacturers from Renault to Aston Martin, becoming a fully-backed Aston Martin team and rebranding as Aston Martin SRT.

Offseason Changes

Technical Regulations

• Kinetic Energy Recovery Systems, regenerative braking devices intended to capture some of the vehicle's kinetic energy normally dissipated as heat during braking, will be introduced for the 2018 season. The captured energy is stored in a battery for use of new hybrid fuel systems. These systems will allow teams to run on battery power under caution periods and enable greater variation in fuel strategy. The KERS battery can be charged during pit stops, but for safety purposes can not be charged during fueling.

Sporting Regulations

• Qualifying will be held the morning before the race for all non-special events.