2015 Quaker State 400

From Infogalactic: the planetary knowledge core
Jump to: navigation, search

<templatestyles src="Module:Infobox/styles.css"></templatestyles>

2015 Quaker State 400
Race details[1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9]
Race 18 of 36 in the 2015 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season
2015 Quaker State 400 logo.jpg
Date July 11, 2015 (2015-07-11)
Location Kentucky Speedway in Sparta, Kentucky
Course Permanent racing facility
1.5 mi (2.4 km)
Distance 267 laps, 400.5 mi (640.8 km)
Weather Mostly clear night skies with a temperature of 80 °F (27 °C); wind out of the northeast at 1 mph (1.6 km/h)
Average speed 129.402 mph (208.252 km/h)
Pole position
Driver
Chip Ganassi Racing
Time 29.583 (Time set by first practice)
Most laps led
Driver Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing
Laps 163
Winner
No. 18 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing
Television in the United States
Network NBCSN
Announcers Rick Allen, Jeff Burton and Steve Letarte
Nielsen Ratings 2.0/3 (Overnight)[10]
2.0/3 (Final)[11]
3.2 Million viewers[11]
Radio in the United States
Radio PRN
Booth Announcers Doug Rice, Mar Garrow and Wendy Venturini
Turn Announcers Rob Albright (1 & 2) and Pat Patterson (3 & 4)

The 2015 Quaker State 400 was a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race held on July 11, 2015 at Kentucky Speedway in Sparta, Kentucky. Contested over 267 laps on the 1.5 mile (4 km) speedway, it was the 18th race of the 2015 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season. Kyle Busch won the race, his second of the season. Joey Logano finished second. Denny Hamlin finished third. Carl Edwards and Matt Kenseth rounded out the top five.

With qualifying canceled for bad weather, Kyle Larson was awarded the first starting spot. He failed to lead a single lap and finished a disappointing 35th after cutting down a tire and crashing out late in the race. Busch led a race high of 163 laps on his way to winning the race. The race had 13 lead changes among eight different drivers, as well as a new track record of eleven caution flag periods for 49 laps.

This was the 31st career victory for Kyle Busch, second at Kentucky Speedway, and third at the track for Joe Gibbs Racing. This win moved Busch up to 35th in the points, 87 points behind Cole Whitt for the 30th place Chase for the Sprint Cup cutoff, and 492 behind points leader Kevin Harvick. Despite being the winning manufacturer, Toyota left Kentucky trailing Chevrolet by 83 points in the manufacturer standings.

The Quaker State 400 was carried by NBC Sports on the cable/satellite NBCSN station for the American television audience. The radio broadcast for the race was carried by the Performance Racing Network and Sirius XM NASCAR Radio.

Report

Background

Kentucky Speedway, the track where the race was held.

Kentucky Speedway is a 1.5-mile (2.4 km) tri-oval speedway in Sparta, Kentucky, which has hosted ARCA, NASCAR and Indy Racing League racing annually since it opened in 2000. The track is currently owned and operated by Speedway Motorsports, Inc. and Jerry Carroll, who, along with four other investors, owned Kentucky Speedway until 2008. The speedway has a grandstand capacity of 117,000.

Construction of the speedway began in 1998 and was completed in mid-2000. The speedway has hosted the Camping World Truck Series, Xfinity Series, IndyCar Series, and the Firestone Indy Lights Series and most recently, the Sprint Cup Series beginning in 2011.

Kevin Harvick entered Kentucky with a 63-point lead over Dale Earnhardt, Jr. Jimmie Johnson entered 67 back, Joey Logano entered 75 back, and Martin Truex, Jr. entered 87 back.

New aero package

On June 16, NASCAR announced that a new aero package would be used for this weekend's race at Kentucky Speedway.[12] The changes included a smaller rear spoiler and other adjustments that significantly reduced aerodynamic downforce.[12] The spoiler was 3.5 in (8.9 cm) tall.[12] There was also a 25 in (64 cm) wide splitter extension.[12] In addition, tires supplied by Goodyear provided drivers with more grip.[12] "We want to see more lead changes on the racetrack," NASCAR Executive Vice-President and Chief Racing Development Officer Steve O’Donnell said in a media teleconference. "We’ll evaluate that and a number of different factors coming out of Kentucky, see what we can learn and implement down the road."[12] Originally, the package was to be used at this year's All-Star Race, but the plan was scrubbed and NASCAR opted to use the package for a points race.[12] "Let me be clear. This is not a test, this is a race," O’Donnell said of the rules package that was in effect for the 18th round of the 2015 Sprint Cup Series. "We’ve had an extensive testing plan with the industry over the last 18 months. We wouldn’t implement this if we didn’t feel confident as an industry to implement it at Kentucky."[12]

Tire allotment

For this weekend's race, teams were given nine sets of Goodyear tires versus the normal allotment of eleven.

Entry list

The entry list for the Quaker State 400 was released on Monday, July 6 at 2:19 p.m. Eastern time. Forty-six drivers were entered for the race. All but the No. 30 Chevrolet of The Motorsports Group were entered for the previous week's Coke Zero 400. The three driver changes for this week were Will Kimmel in the No. 32 Go FAS Racing Ford, Alex Kennedy in the No. 33 Hillman-Circle Sport LLC Chevrolet, and Reed Sorenson in the No. 62 Premium Motorsports Chevrolet.

No. Driver Team Manufacturer
1 Jamie McMurray Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet
2 Brad Keselowski (PC3) Team Penske Ford
3 Austin Dillon Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet
4 Kevin Harvick (PC1) Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet
5 Kasey Kahne Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
6 Trevor Bayne Roush Fenway Racing Ford
7 Alex Bowman Tommy Baldwin Racing Chevrolet
9 Sam Hornish, Jr. Richard Petty Motorsports Ford
10 Danica Patrick Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet
11 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
13 Casey Mears Germain Racing Chevrolet
14 Tony Stewart (PC4) Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet
15 Clint Bowyer Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota
16 Greg Biffle Roush Fenway Racing Ford
17 Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. Roush Fenway Racing Ford
18 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
19 Carl Edwards Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
20 Matt Kenseth (PC6) Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
21 Ryan Blaney (i) Wood Brothers Racing Ford
22 Joey Logano Team Penske Ford
23 J. J. Yeley (i) BK Racing Toyota
24 Jeff Gordon (PC7) Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
26 Jeb Burton (R) BK Racing Toyota
27 Paul Menard Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet
30 Travis Kvapil (i) The Motorsports Group Chevrolet
31 Ryan Newman Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet
32 Will Kimmel Go FAS Racing Ford
33 Alex Kennedy (R) Hillman-Circle Sport LLC Chevrolet
34 Brett Moffitt (R) Front Row Motorsports Ford
35 Cole Whitt Front Row Motorsports Ford
38 David Gilliland Front Row Motorsports Ford
40 Landon Cassill (i) Hillman-Circle Sport LLC Chevrolet
41 Kurt Busch (PC5) Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet
42 Kyle Larson Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet
43 Aric Almirola Richard Petty Motorsports Ford
46 Michael Annett HScott Motorsports Chevrolet
47 A. J. Allmendinger JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet
48 Jimmie Johnson (PC2) Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
51 Justin Allgaier HScott Motorsports Chevrolet
55 David Ragan Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota
62 Reed Sorenson Premium Motorsports Chevrolet
78 Martin Truex, Jr. Furniture Row Racing Chevrolet
83 Matt DiBenedetto (R) BK Racing Toyota
88 Dale Earnhardt, Jr. Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
95 Michael McDowell Leavine Family Racing Ford
98 Josh Wise Phil Parsons Racing Ford
Official initial entry list
Official final entry list
Key Meaning
(R) Rookie
(i) Ineligible for points
(PC#) Past champions provisional

First practice

Kyle Larson was the fastest in the first practice session with a time of 29.583 and a speed of 182.537 mph (293.765 km/h).[13]

Pos No. Driver Team Manufacturer Time Speed
1 42 Kyle Larson Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 29.583 182.537
2 2 Brad Keselowski Team Penske Ford 29.729 181.641
3 24 Jeff Gordon Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 29.938 180.373
Official first practice results

Qualifying

File:Kyle Larson at the Daytona 500.JPG
Kyle Larson, seen here at the 2015 Daytona 500, was awarded the first starting spot as a result of qualifying being canceled.

<templatestyles src="Template:Quote_box/styles.css" />

“Under all the circumstances we were faced with (at Kentucky) … the desire from the majority of the garage to get some more time on the track prior to the race became our priority at that point. And then the challenges we had drying the track. We didn’t know if we’d even get to a point where we could get cars on the track, so we elected to go early and have everybody focus on setting up for the race. One of the challenges for the teams is it’s a three-hour transition going to qualifying trim vs. going back. It also helped the teams that were there to really prepare everything for the race vs. qualifying. Certainly, we can be challenged for that, but it was something that that race and the circumstances dictated for us, and, ultimately, the decision we made wanting to put the best possible race on Saturday night.’’

NASCAR Executive Vice-President Steve O'Donnell speaking on Sirius XM NASCAR Radio.[14]

Three rounds of knockout qualifying were to take place at 5:45 p.m., but the threat of rain forced NASCAR to cancel qualifying.[15] The field was set by first practice speeds.[15] As a result, Kyle Larson earned the first starting spot.[15] "I was glad we got a little track time there," Larson said. "I was quick off of the truck, which I was proud of the team for...I was able to lay down a real fast lap, went back to race trim and was fast there, too."[15] Along with Travis Kvapil and Michael McDowell, Ryan Blaney and the Wood Brothers Racing team failed to qualify for the second week in a row.[16] "We’ve gone a long time and not missed a race with weather," said co-owner Eddie Wood. "Now, the numbers seem to be leveling out. If you’re slow and you miss a race because you’re not fast enough, it's a bad deal. That kills your soul, but you can’t do anything about the weather. We're gonna run next week at Loudon (N.H.), so we’ll head up that way and hope we don’t get rained out. I'm going to stop looking at weather apps, I can tell you that."[16]

In his weekly appearance on the Sirius XM NASCAR Radio program The Morning Drive the Monday after the race, NASCAR Executive Vice-President and Chief Racing Officer Steve O'Donnell explained to Mike Bagley and Pete Pistone NASCAR's decision to cancel qualifying despite the final practice session being held at the time qualifying was scheduled to be held.[14] He told them that NASCAR "could probably have done a better job of explaining it."[14]

Starting lineup

Pos No. Driver Team Manufacturer Time Speed
1 42 Kyle Larson Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 29.583 182.537
2 2 Brad Keselowski Team Penske Ford 29.729 181.641
3 24 Jeff Gordon Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 29.938 180.373
4 22 Joey Logano Team Penske Ford 29.983 180.102
5 78 Martin Truex, Jr. Furniture Row Racing Chevrolet 30.007 179.958
6 48 Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 30.035 179.790
7 1 Jamie McMurray Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 30.044 179.736
8 11 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 30.073 179.563
9 18 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 30.075 179.551
10 88 Dale Earnhardt, Jr. Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 30.097 179.420
11 3 Austin Dillon Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 30.143 179.146
12 43 Aric Almirola Richard Petty Motorsports Ford 30.167 179.004
13 41 Kurt Busch Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet 30.173 178.968
14 27 Paul Menard Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 30.226 178.654
15 4 Kevin Harvick Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet 30.234 178.607
16 20 Matt Kenseth Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 30.404 177.608
17 17 Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. Roush Fenway Racing Ford 30.483 177.148
18 9 Sam Hornish, Jr. Richard Petty Motorsports Ford 30.524 176.910
19 5 Kasey Kahne Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 30.530 176.875
20 19 Carl Edwards Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 30.554 176.736
21 13 Casey Mears Germain Racing Chevrolet 30.584 176.563
22 14 Tony Stewart Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet 30.655 176.154
23 10 Danica Patrick Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet 30.668 176.079
24 47 A. J. Allmendinger JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet 30.679 176.016
25 55 David Ragan Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota 30.772 175.484
26 31 Ryan Newman Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 30.777 175.456
27 16 Greg Biffle Roush Fenway Racing Ford 30.840 175.097
28 6 Trevor Bayne Roush Fenway Racing Ford 30.872 174.916
29 46 Michael Annett HScott Motorsports Chevrolet 30.908 174.712
30 15 Clint Bowyer Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota 30.921 174.639
31 7 Alex Bowman Tommy Baldwin Racing Chevrolet 30.921 174.639
32 51 Justin Allgaier HScott Motorsports Chevrolet 30.950 174.475
33 35 Cole Whitt Front Row Motorsports Ford 31.043 173.952
34 38 David Gilliland Front Row Motorsports Ford 31.139 173.416
35 26 Jeb Burton (R) BK Racing Toyota 31.142 173.399
36 40 Landon Cassill (i) Hillman-Circle Sport LLC Chevrolet 31.187 173.149
37 98 Josh Wise Phil Parsons Racing Ford 31.372 172.128
38 34 Brett Moffitt (R) Front Row Motorsports Ford 31.427 171.827
39 83 Matt DiBenedetto (R) BK Racing Toyota 31.450 171.701
40 32 Will Kimmel Go FAS Racing Ford 31.536 171.233
41 23 J. J. Yeley (i) BK Racing Toyota 31.711 170.288
42 62 Reed Sorenson Premium Motorsports Chevrolet 31.791 169.589
43 33 Alex Kennedy (R) Hillman-Circle Sport LLC Chevrolet 32.133 168.052
Failed to qualify
44 21 Ryan Blaney (i) Wood Brothers Racing Ford 30.352 177.912
45 95 Michael McDowell Leavine Family Racing Ford 31.046 173.935
46 30 Travis Kvapil (i) The Motorsports Group Chevrolet 31.462 171.636
Official first practice results
Official starting lineup

Final practice

Kyle Larson was the fastest in the final practice session with a time of 30.267 and a speed of 178.412 mph (287.126 km/h).[17]

Pos No. Driver Team Manufacturer Time Speed
1 42 Kyle Larson Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 30.267 178.412
2 2 Brad Keselowski Team Penske Ford 30.316 178.124
3 22 Joey Logano Team Penske Ford 30.330 178.042
Official final practice results

Race

First half

Start

The race was scheduled to start at 7:45 p.m. EDT but started two minutes later when Kyle Larson led the field to the green flag. He lost the lead to Brad Keselowski, who would lead the first lap. This would drop him to third place. The first caution of the race flew on lap 19 when J. J. Yeley, running on the outside, got loose and made contact with Josh Wise in turn 3, sending him into the wall. None of the leaders would pit under this caution, as they all stayed out.[18]

The race restarted on lap 24. The second caution of the race flew on lap 31 as a scheduled competition caution. Kyle Busch exited pit road with the lead after taking both right-side tires while Keselowski took four.[18]

The race restarted on lap 36. After 26 laps, Keselowski, who restarted in eleventh, drove his way up to second. Denny Hamlin was running eighth when he made an unscheduled stop on lap 72. The reason for this was a flat right-front tire. To add insult to injury, he was tagged for speeding on pit road and was forced to serve a drive-through penalty. He rejoined the race in 40th two laps down. Debris in turn 4 brought out the third caution of the race on lap 80.[18]

Second quarter

The race restarted on lap 89. Keselowski put pressure on Kyle Busch on lap 93. Busch just edged him out for the lead by eight one-thousandths of a second. Finally, Keselowski passed him in turn 3 and took back the lead on lap 96. The fourth caution of the race flew on lap 99 for a single car spin on the front stretch. Exiting turn 4, Kurt Busch got loose and spun down the track, through the grass, and came to a stop a few yards from the start/finish line.[18]

The race restarted on lap 105. The fifth caution of the race flew on lap 122 for a single car wreck in turn 4.[19] Riding the high line, Yeley made contact with the wall.[19] Kyle Busch exited pit road with the lead after taking right-side tires. Keselowski exited tenth after about hitting one of his tire carriers who tripped carrying one of his old tires.[18]

The race restarted on lap 129. Justin Allgaier was tagged for passing before crossing the start/finish line and was forced to serve a drive-through penalty. The sixth caution of the race flew for a single car wreck in turn 3. Going into the turn, Dale Earnhardt, Jr. blew out his left-front tire and rode the wall through 3 and 4.[18]

Second half

Halfway

The race restarted on lap 141. The seventh caution of the race flew on lap 143 for a three car wreck in turn 2. While trying to avoid Tony Stewart going into turn 1, Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. got loose, tapped Jeb Burton, and sent him spinning.[20] Stenhouse also made contact with the wall.[20]

The race restarted on lap 147. Debris in turn 4 brought out the eighth caution of the race. Keselowski gave up second to pit under caution.[18]

The race restarted on lap 157. Debris in turn 2 brought out the ninth caution of the race on lap 187. Ryan Newman opted not to put under the caution and assumed the lead. Keselowski lost time on pit road following a malfunction with one of his crew's airguns.[21] “Yeah. It’s easy to play the Saturday evening quarterback, but it just didn’t come together for us,” Keselowski said. “There are certainly some things I could have done better and we didn’t have the best day on pit road. It’s something to build off of, but I thought Kyle and I both had pretty good cars and we just didn’t put it all together when it counted. We’ll keep working on it.”[21]

The race restarted on lap 192. On old tires, Newman stood little chance and lost the lead to Kyle Busch on lap 193. The tenth caution of the race flew with 61 laps to go for a single car spin in turn 3. Going into 3, Earnhardt, Jr. bumped into the rear of Danica Patrick and sent her into the wall.[22] She retaliated by cursing him on the radio and ramming him on pit road.[22] He was perplexed at the situation.[22] "I mean, what am I supposed to say other than the truth?" Earnhardt said. "We didn't have any brakes going into the corner. I know better than to run into her because it gets so much attention. There wasn't nothing I could do. I mean, as hard as I hit her, what the hell did she think I was doing? Trying to wreck her? We ain't got no problem. It's not like we were having a problem out on the racetrack with her. It's not like I just drew her name out of a hat and decided she was the one I was going to run into tonight."[22] Denny Hamlin exited pit road with the lead.[18]

Fourth quarter

Kyle Busch, seen here at Sonoma Raceway, scored his 31st career victory at Kentucky Speedway.

The race restarted with 55 laps to go. Carl Edwards went three wide underneath his teammate to take the lead with 54 laps to go. He got loose in turn 1 and Hamlin took back the lead with 53 laps to go. Kyle Larson made an unscheduled stop for a tire rub with 51 laps to go. Kyle Busch took back the lead with 50 laps to go. The left-rear tire rub on Kyle Larson's car wasn't fixed. It went flat and sent the car into the wall in turn 1. This brought out the eleventh caution of the race with 48 laps to go. This also set a new track record for cautions in a Sprint Cup Series race.[18]

The race restarted with 43 laps to go. Joey Logano shot past Hamlin on the restart and took the lead with 42 laps to go. After stalking and swapping positions for a few laps, Kyle Busch finally took the lead back from Logano with 18 laps to go. He drove away from Logano to score his 31st career victory.[23]

Post-race

Driver comments

“That right there is what we've got to do," Busch said. "Just to score as many points as we possibly can. To score those wins, that's what's going to get us to where we need to be. We led the most laps and we won the race, so that's all you can score. We'll just continue to push on and thrive."[24] "Second just hurts, you know?" Logano said. "When you're that close to winning them, but we're still proud of what we did today. We had a fast car, we've improved our speed."[24]

A number of drivers gave their thoughts on the success of the aero package.[25] "They're close. The tire definitely could be a little softer. I wore one out just grinding on it, abusing it too much," said Denny Hamlin, who rallied from two laps down to finish third. "That's on me, but when you abuse a tire, you should not get rewarded for it. We've made our tires so dummy-proof over the last 10 years that anyone can just abuse them and abuse them with no consequence. I abused mine and I wore it out. That's what racing's all about. The drivers, our hands are uncuffed with this package. We're able to manhandle the cars and really be aggressive with it."[25] Jeff Gordon, following his seventh-place finish in his final start at Kentucky Speedway, said that the tires aren't soft enough.[25] "This is not the right tire," Gordon said. "It is still way too hard. It doesn't have near enough grip at the beginning of a run. It doesn't really fall off. The only way you can make a low-downforce package work is to have the proper tire on there. I'm glad we tried it, did a little more work, I'm looking forward to trying it again."[25] "When the sun was out early when everybody's cars weren't dialed in yet, I mean that's the best racing we've had for a while, in my opinion," Carl Edwards said after finishing fourth. "It was when I started in this 10 or 12 years ago and it was really, really fun. Towards the end of the night, everybody got their cars working, the speeds picked up a little bit and you still got some of that spread-out, really hard to pass, but I'm telling you, this is the way we need to go. You let Goodyear, give them some time to build a tire for this, cut about half that spoiler off again, you're going to have some awesome racing."[25]

Media reaction

<templatestyles src="Template:Quote_box/styles.css" />

“The first race with a new aerodynamic package featuring less down force provided plenty of reason for optimism. There appeared to be more passing for position mid-pack and drivers applauded the opportunity to race side-by-side and improve position. The battle between Kyle Busch and Joey Logano for the race lead and eventual win was as entertaining as anything seen all year. However, it’s important to keep in mind this was simply the first step in creating an overall package for intermediate tracks. Goodyear will now have some time to produce a softer tire than what was used at Kentucky for the same rules package in place at Darlington on Labor Day weekend. While there was a race record 22 green flag passes for the lead once the lead car got in front many times they were able to check out. There’s more work to be done but Saturday night was as good a first step as could be expected.’’

Motor Racing Network lead writer and co-host of The Morning Drive on Sirius XM NASCAR Radio Pete Pistone giving his thoughts on the new aero package.[26]

Members of the NASCAR media gave their thoughts on the first race with the new aero package. Pete Pistone, lead writer for the Motor Racing Network and co-host of the Sirius XM NASCAR Radio weekday program The Morning Drive, described the package as having "provided plenty of reason for optimism," that he saw "more passing for position mid-pack," and that the battle for the win between Kyle Busch and Joey Logano "was as entertaining as anything seen all year."[26]

Jeff Gluck of USA Today said that "by every measurable category – including the eye test – the debut of NASCAR's low downforce rules package Saturday night at Kentucky Speedway was a whopping success,"[27] and that the package "sure kicked ass..."[28]

Lee Spencer of Motorsport.com said that "while it's too early to grade the new low downforce Sprint Cup package, Saturday night’s Quaker State 400 was one of the best shows NASCAR has put on at an intermediate track in a long, long time."[29]

Nate Ryan of NBC Sports described it as "the best Sprint Cup race of a 2015 season lacking for the sort of indelible moments that ran on a continuous loop Saturday night at Kentucky Speedway," and that "there was enough compelling evidence for a strong case the package should get another shot beyond the Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway."[30]

Race results

Pos Grid No. Driver Team Manufacturer Laps Points
1 9 18 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 267 48
2 4 22 Joey Logano Team Penske Ford 267 43
3 8 11 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 267 42
4 20 19 Carl Edwards Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 267 41
5 16 20 Matt Kenseth Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 267 39
6 2 2 Brad Keselowski Team Penske Ford 267 39
7 3 24 Jeff Gordon Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 267 37
8 15 4 Kevin Harvick Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet 267 36
9 6 48 Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 267 35
10 13 41 Kurt Busch Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet 267 34
11 17 17 Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. Roush Fenway Racing Ford 267 33
12 12 43 Aric Almirola Richard Petty Motorsports Ford 267 32
13 28 6 Trevor Bayne Roush Fenway Racing Ford 267 31
14 7 1 Jamie McMurray Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 267 30
15 14 27 Paul Menard Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 267 29
16 27 16 Greg Biffle Roush Fenway Racing Ford 267 28
17 5 78 Martin Truex, Jr. Furniture Row Racing Chevrolet 267 27
18 25 55 David Ragan Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota 267 26
19 30 15 Clint Bowyer Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota 267 25
20 26 31 Ryan Newman Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 267 25
21 10 88 Dale Earnhardt, Jr. Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 267 23
22 18 9 Sam Hornish, Jr. Richard Petty Motorsports Ford 267 22
23 21 13 Casey Mears Germain Racing Chevrolet 267 21
24 32 51 Justin Allgaier HScott Motorsports Chevrolet 267 20
25 11 3 Austin Dillon Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 267 19
26 24 47 A. J. Allmendinger JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet 267 18
27 19 5 Kasey Kahne Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 266 17
28 36 40 Landon Cassill (i) Hillman-Circle Sport LLC Chevrolet 266 0
29 34 38 David Gilliland Front Row Motorsports Ford 266 15
30 29 46 Michael Annett HScott Motorsports Chevrolet 266 14
31 31 7 Alex Bowman Tommy Baldwin Racing Chevrolet 266 14
32 38 34 Brett Moffitt (R) Front Row Motorsports Ford 266 12
33 22 14 Tony Stewart Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet 265 11
34 23 10 Danica Patrick Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet 265 10
35 1 42 Kyle Larson Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 265 9
36 42 62 Reed Sorenson Premium Motorsports Chevrolet 264 9
37 33 35 Cole Whitt Front Row Motorsports Ford 264 7
38 40 32 Will Kimmel Go FAS Racing Ford 263 6
39 41 23 J. J. Yeley (i) BK Racing Toyota 260 0
40 43 33 Alex Kennedy (R) Hillman-Circle Sport LLC Chevrolet 247 4
41 35 26 Jeb Burton (R) BK Racing Toyota 175 3
42 39 83 Matt DiBenedetto (R) BK Racing Toyota 145 2
43 37 98 Josh Wise Phil Parsons Racing Ford 17 1
Official Quaker State 400 results

Race statistics

  • 13 lead changes among 8 different drivers
  • 11 cautions for 49 laps
  • Time of race: 3 hours, 5 minutes, 42 seconds
  • Average speed: 129.402 mph (208.252 km/h)
  • Kyle Busch took home $214,316 in winnings
Lap Leaders
Laps Leader
1-32 Brad Keselowski
33 Reed Sorenson
34-94 Kyle Busch
95-124 Brad Keselowski
125-188 Kyle Busch
189-190 Ryan Newman
191-208 Kyle Busch
209-210 Alex Bowman
211-212 Denny Hamlin
213 Carl Edwards
214-224 Denny Hamlin
225-247 Joey Logano
248-267 Kyle Busch
Total laps led
Leader Laps
Kyle Busch 163
Brad Keselowski 62
Joey Logano 23
Denny Hamlin 13
Ryan Newman 2
Alex Bowman 2
Carl Edwards 1
Reed Sorenson 1

Race awards

Media

Television

NBC Sports had the television call for the race. Rick Allen, Jeff Burton, and Steve Letarte had the call in the booth for the race. Dave Burns, Mike Massaro, Marty Snider, and Kelli Stavast handled pit road for the television side.

NBCSN
Booth announcers Pit reporters
Lap-by-lap: Rick Allen
Color-commentator: Jeff Burton
Color-commentator: Steve Letarte		 Dave Burns
Mike Massaro
Marty Snider
Kelli Stavast

Radio

PRN had the radio call for the race, which was simulcast on Sirius XM NASCAR Radio. Doug Rice, Mark Garrow, and Wendy Venturini called the race from the booth when the field went racing through the tri-oval. Rob Albright called the race from a billboard outside turn 1 when the field went racing through turns 1 & 2. Pat Patterson called the race from a billboard outside turn 4 when the field went racing through turns 3 & 4. Brad Gillie, Brett McMillan, Jim Noble, and Steve Richards worked pit road for the radio side.

PRN
Booth announcers Turn announcers Pit reporters
Lead announcer: Doug Rice[31]
Announcer: Mark Garrow[31]
Announcer: Wendy Venturini[31]		 Turns 1 & 2: Rob Albright[31]
Turns 3 & 4: Pat Patterson[31]		 Brad Gillie[32]
Brett McMillan[32]
Jim Noble[32]
Steve Richards[32]

Standings after the race

Kevin Harvick left Kentucky with a 68-point lead over Jimmie Johnson.
Drivers' Championship standings
Pos Driver Points
1rightarrow blue.svg 1 Kevin Harvick 792
1uparrow green.svg 1 2 Jimmie Johnson 724 (–68)
1uparrow green.svg 1 3 Joey Logano 724 (–68)
1downarrow red.svg 2 4 Dale Earnhardt, Jr. 716 (–76)
1rightarrow blue.svg 5 Martin Truex, Jr. 696 (–96)
1uparrow green.svg 1 6 Brad Keselowski 599 (–133)
1downarrow red.svg 1 7 Jamie McMurray 596 (–136)
1rightarrow blue.svg 8 Kurt Busch 542 (–150)
1rightarrow blue.svg 9 Matt Kenseth 540 (–152)
1rightarrow blue.svg 10 Jeff Gordon 537 (–155)
1uparrow green.svg 1 11 Denny Hamlin 522 (–170)
1downarrow red.svg 1 12 Kasey Kahne 513 (–179)
1rightarrow blue.svg 13 Paul Menard 509 (–183)
1rightarrow blue.svg 14 Ryan Newman 497 (–195)
1rightarrow blue.svg 15 Clint Bowyer 490 (–202)
1rightarrow blue.svg 16 Aric Almirola 473 (–219)
Manufacturers' Championship standings
Pos Manufacturer Points
1rightarrow blue.svg 1 Chevrolet 811
1rightarrow blue.svg 2 Ford 734 (–77)
1rightarrow blue.svg 3 Toyota 722 (–83)
  • Note: Only the first sixteen positions are included for the driver standings.

References

  1. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  2. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  3. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  4. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  5. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  6. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  7. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  8. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  9. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  10. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 12.2 12.3 12.4 12.5 12.6 12.7 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  13. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 14.2 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  15. ↑ 15.0 15.1 15.2 15.3 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  16. ↑ 16.0 16.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  17. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  18. ↑ 18.0 18.1 18.2 18.3 18.4 18.5 18.6 18.7 18.8 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  19. ↑ 19.0 19.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  20. ↑ 20.0 20.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  21. ↑ 21.0 21.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  22. ↑ 22.0 22.1 22.2 22.3 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  23. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  24. ↑ 24.0 24.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  25. ↑ 25.0 25.1 25.2 25.3 25.4 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  26. ↑ 26.0 26.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  27. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  28. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  29. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  30. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  31. ↑ 31.0 31.1 31.2 31.3 31.4 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  32. ↑ 32.0 32.1 32.2 32.3 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.


Previous race:
2015 Coke Zero 400		 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series
2015 season		 Next race:
2015 5-hour Energy 301
Retrieved from "https://infogalactic.com/w/index.php?title=2015_Quaker_State_400&oldid=709025650"