2015 Daytona 500

Daytona International Speedway, where the race was held. The front stretch is at the bottom of the picture.

Daytona International Speedway is a race track in Daytona Beach, Florida, United States. Since opening in 1959, it has been the home of the Daytona 500, the most prestigious race in NASCAR.[10] In addition to NASCAR, the track also hosts races of ARCA, AMA Superbike, USCC, SCCA, and Motocross. The track features multiple layouts including the primary 2.5 mi (4.0 km) high speed tri-oval,[11] a 3.56 mi (5.73 km) sports car course, a 2.95 mi (4.75 km) motorcycle course, and a .25 mi (0.40 km) karting and motorcycle flat-track. The track's 180-acre (73 ha) infield includes the 29-acre (12 ha) Lake Lloyd, which has hosted powerboat racing. The speedway is owned and operated by International Speedway Corporation.

The track was built by NASCAR founder Bill France, Sr. to host racing that was being held at the former Daytona Beach and Road Course and opened with the first Daytona 500 in 1959.[12] The speedway has been renovated three times, with the infield renovated in 2004,[13] and the track repaved in 1978 and 2010.[14]

NASCAR implemented a new camera system to officiate pit road.[15] Forty-five cameras monitor pit road and reduce the number of necessary officials on pit road from 24 to 10.[15] The system was beta tested during the 10 race Chase for the Sprint Cup last season and "allegedly" detected a high number of infractions such as driving through more than three stalls to get into or exit one's pit stall. Eight officials monitor the system from a truck outside the track and have the final say on imposing a penalty.[15] With only 10 officials monitoring pit road now, NASCAR no longer penalizes teams for missing or loose lug nuts. The responsibility for having those lug nuts on the car falls on the teams.[15]

The entry list for the 57th running of the Daytona 500 was released on Thursday, February 12, 2015 at 9:22 a.m. Eastern time. Fifty drivers were entered for the race. Joe Nemechek and his No. 87 team later withdrew before qualifying after the team had problems preparing the car. With the Daytona 500 being the first race of the 2015 season, 13 drivers were entered for the race driving for a different team than they had raced for in the 2014 season. Trevor Bayne made his debut with Roush Fenway Racing after spending the last five seasons driving part-time for Wood Brothers Racing. Alex Bowman, who drove for BK Racing in his 2014 rookie campaign, moved to Tommy Baldwin Racing to drive the No. 7 Chevrolet. Sam Hornish, Jr. returned to full-time in the Sprint Cup Series – his first since 2010 – to drive in the No. 9 Richard Petty Motorsports Ford. He replaced Marcos Ambrose who returned to his native Australia to race in the V8 Supercar Series. Carl Edwards, who drove the last 11 seasons for Roush Fenway Racing, moved to Joe Gibbs Racing to drive the No. 19 Toyota. Ryan Blaney replaced Trevor Bayne in the No. 21 Wood Brothers Racing Ford on a part-time basis. J. J. Yeley moved to the No. 23 BK Racing Toyota that had been driven by Alex Bowman the previous season. Jeb Burton moved up from the Camping World Truck Series to drive the No. 26 BK Racing Toyota. Justin Marks was entered to make his first Sprint Cup Series start in the No. 29 RAB Racing Toyota. Former Camping World Truck Series champion Ron Hornaday, Jr. moved up to attempt to run his first full season in the Sprint Cup Series since 2001 in the No. 30 Chevrolet for The Motorsports Group. The 2000 series champion Bobby Labonte took over the seat of the No. 32 Go FAS Racing Ford for the four restrictor plate races. This was a role previously done by his brother Terry Labonte who made his final career start in October 2014 at Talladega. Cole Whitt, who drove the No. 26 BK Racing Toyota in his 2014 rookie campaign, moved to the No. 35 Front Row Motorsports Ford. Reed Sorenson drove the No. 44 Team XTREME Racing Chevrolet. Michael Annett left Tommy Baldwin Racing after his 2014 rookie campaign and moved to HScott Motorsports to drive the No. 46 Chevrolet. Brian Scott was entered in a one race deal to drive the No. 62 Premium Motorsports Chevrolet.

Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. was the fastest in the first practice session with a time of 44.413 and a speed of 202.643 mph (326.122 km/h).[17]

Michael McDowell was the fastest in the second practice session with a time of 45.153 and a speed of 199.322 mph (320.778 km/h).[19] Ryan Newman was forced to change engines after blowing one half an hour into the session.[20] He had to start from the rear in one of the Duel races.[20] Martin Truex, Jr. also dealt with engine gremlins due to a crack in his car's oil pan, but did not change engines.[20]

Kyle Busch was the fastest in the third practice session with a time of 44.826 and a speed of 200.776 mph (323.118 km/h).[26] During this session, there was a four car wreck on the backstretch that involved Michael Annett, Jeb Burton, Denny Hamlin and Danica Patrick.[27] It started when Hamlin pulled out of line and Patrick tried to follow him, but made contact with the right-front corner of Hamlin's car when she over-corrected and hit the wall. Michael Annett tried to go high around Patrick on the outside when he got turned by Jeb Burton. Patrick, Annett and Burton all switched to backup cars.[27] After the incident, Patrick stated that her car "sort of just started turning toward the right, the back end was coming around and it swapped ends" and that Hamlin was trying to "make a third lane in the middle and it felt like it must have caught my bumper".[27] Hamlin felt that Patrick had intended to block his path, stating that a driver has "to give a little bit of extra room in practice" and that if he "had to guess, she probably saw in her mirror that I was going down there and tried to stay in front of me".[27]

Alex Bowman was the fastest in the fourth practice session with a time of 44.889 and a speed of 200.495 mph (322.665 km/h).[29]

Kyle Larson was the fastest in the fifth practice session with a time of 46.705 and a speed of 192.699 mph (310.119 km/h).[31] This session had only five drivers take part in it doing single car runs.

The first race started at 7:19 p.m. Eastern time when Jeff Gordon led the field to the green. Matt Kenseth took the lead with the bottom lane to lead the first lap. The first caution of the race flew on lap 17 after Casey Mears blew an engine in turn 1. Kenseth and Gordon swapped the lead on pit road, and Gordon exited as the leader for the restart on lap 24. Michael Annett was forced to restart the race from the tail-end of the longest line, as his pit crew went over the wall too soon.[33]

Kenseth used the bottom line and jumped in front of Gordon to take back the lead on lap 26, just ahead of the race's second caution when Johnny Sauter crashed in the tri-oval, following contact with A. J. Allmendinger, while Aric Almirola also picked up some damage to his car.[34]

Sauter stated that he was "just riding along" and that he was "trying to mind my business" before the contact with Allmendinger, with the point of impact being "in the left rear quarter panel". He also stated that it was "a bummer deal" for himself and his BK Racing team.[34] Sauter did, however, make the starting lineup for the race, on his qualifying speeds, while Allmendinger took a provisional. Allmendinger apologised for the contact with Sauter, while stating that his JTG Daugherty Racing car was fast, while also criticizing the racing that was occurring, stating that he "was trying to stay out of trouble and got put in the middle and I was trying to bail out of the middle".[34] Michael McDowell dropped to the end of the longest line, for the restart on lap 33, after his crew was over the wall too soon.[33]

Dale Earnhardt, Jr. used a slight push from the bottom line to take the lead on lap 35. Kenseth drove past Earnhardt on the bottom to take back the lead on lap 39. On lap 43, Earnhardt used a slingshot move to overtake Kenseth for good. The third caution of the race flew on lap 51 when Trevor Bayne got loose, came down on Kyle Larson and hit the wall in turn 1. During this period, Ty Dillon broke his gear shifter. The race restarted with five laps to go and Earnhardt. held off Jeff Gordon to win race one.[35]

Earnhardt praised the work of his spotter T. J. Majors in victory lane, stating that he "gave me the information I needed to make the moves I needed" and that he was "looking forward to getting to Sunday and trying to get another Daytona 500 win".[35] Dillon, finished 16th after the gearshift issues, and was able to make the field. He described the result as "hard to explain" and that he had "been coming here since I was a kid watching my grandfather's cars race".[35] Ron Hornaday, Jr. and Justin Marks failed to make the race.[36]

Before the start, Josh Wise stalled at the entrance of pit road and took his car to the garage. This ultimately eliminated him from racing in the Daytona 500. The second race started 18 minutes late at 9:19 p.m. with Jimmie Johnson leading the field to the green flag. Kyle Busch took the lead on the first lap. The first caution of the race flew on lap 19 for a spin by David Ragan, exiting turn 4. Ragan had cut across the nose of Justin Allgaier and got turned down onto the apron, making contact with the inside wall. Kyle Busch was first off pit road, but he was caught speeding on pit road and was forced to drop to the end of the line, allowing Johnson to retake the lead for the restart, on lap 25. Allgaier was also sent to the rear, as his pit crew came across the wall too soon.[33]

The second caution of the race flew on lap 37 for a multi-car wreck in the tri-oval. It started exiting turn 4 when Jeb Burton turned down into Sam Hornish, Jr. who turned into Alex Bowman. Austin Dillon destroyed his splitter driving through the grass trying to avoid the wreck, which caused the race to be red flagged for five minutes. The race restarted with 20 laps to go. With 14 laps to go, Kurt Busch was given a drive-through penalty for passing below the double yellow line. The third caution of the race flew with three laps to go for a four car wreck in turn 3. Denny Hamlin gave Danica Patrick a push which turned her around and collected Brian Scott and Bobby Labonte.[33]

In a green–white–checker finish, Johnson held off a last lap charge by Kyle Busch and Carl Edwards to win the race.[38] Johnson defined the Speedweeks at Daytona as "awesome" for his Hendrick Motorsports team, sweeping the Duels and the front row for the Daytona 500. Johnson also called his car as "mad fast".[38]

Patrick confronted Hamlin on pit road after the race.[38] After the confrontation, Patrick told reporters that she had "no explanation for that", while also stating Hamlin was in the wrong by believing "that he's taking the air and getting it off the spoiler, and he's not squared up either".[38] Michael Annett, Ryan Blaney, Landon Cassill, Ty Dillon, Michael McDowell, Reed Sorenson, Mike Wallace, Cole Whitt and J. J. Yeley raced their way into the Daytona 500.[39] Bobby Labonte also made the race, via the provisional for past series champions. Alex Bowman, Burton, Ron Hornaday, Jr., Justin Marks, Scott and Wise all failed to make the race.[33]

Jeff Gordon was the fastest in the sixth practice session with a time of 46.613 and a speed of 193.079 mph (310.731 km/h).[44]

Dale Earnhardt, Jr. was the fastest in the seventh practice session with a time of 46.295 and a speed of 194.405 mph (312.865 km/h).[46]

Denny Hamlin was the fastest in the final practice session with a time of 44.531 and a speed of 202.106 mph (325.258 km/h).[48]

Daytona International Speedway on the day of the 2015 Daytona 500.

Ronnie Barton of the First Baptist Church of South Daytona began the pre-race festivities with the invocation. Singer/songwriter Phillip Phillips performed the United States National Anthem. The flyover was performed by the United States Air Force Thunderbirds. Vince Vaughn gave the command for the drivers to start their engines, while Paralympics bronze medalist Amy Purdy was the honorary pace car driver for the pre-race pace laps.

The green flag flies on a new season of NASCAR.

With members of the United States women's national soccer team waving the green flag, pole sitter Jeff Gordon led the field to the start of the 2015 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season under clear skies at 1:31 p.m. Eastern time. He led the first lap in his final Daytona 500, but was quickly passed by his teammate Jimmie Johnson on the second lap. Johnson then maintained control of the lead until lap 14 when he was shuffled up to the outside lane and Gordon took back the lead. The first caution flag of the race flew on lap 19 when Landon Cassill blew an engine exiting turn 2. Michael Annett, J. J. Yeley and Casey Mears all stayed out to lead a lap when Gordon and the others pitted. Cole Whitt was forced to restart the race from the rear of the field, as he was serviced by too many members at his pit stop.[51]

A Delta Air Lines plane lands as the field races by on the 27th lap.

The race restarted on lap 25 with Gordon in the lead. The second caution of the race flew on lap 41 when Tony Stewart and Matt Kenseth got into the wall exiting turn 4; Stewart's car was loose exiting the turn and got turned by Ryan Blaney into the wall. Kenseth, braking to avoid contact with Blaney, got turned into the wall by Michael Waltrip. Kenseth pitted and lost two laps, while Stewart was forced to go to the garage.[52] Stewart took responsibility for the incident, stating that "when it got three-wide that particular lap, it got away from me", and that when he had decelerated, he "couldn't even get the front end caught up".[53]

Joey Logano took the lead for the first time on the 47th lap.

The race restarted on lap 46 and Joey Logano used the high line to overtake Gordon for the lead on lap 47 with Johnson and Earnhardt Jr. close behind. On lap 53, Gordon took back the lead from Logano. Gordon, Earnhardt., Martin Truex, Jr. and Kasey Kahne broke away from the pack single file, remaining that way for the next 15 laps. Thereafter, the field became largely a single-file train running up next to the wall. Nearing the end of the fuel run, the field began to bunch up and two lines of cars formed up behind Gordon. Earnhardt, Jr., Kahne and Truex. moved side-by-side behind Gordon, allowing the pack to catch up to the leaders again. Gordon continued to maintain the lead until the next green flag pit-stop sequence that began on lap 85; he surrendered the lead on lap 87 to make his stop and Carl Edwards assumed the lead. Denny Hamlin took the lead after driving past teammate Edwards on pit road the next lap. Johnson was forced to serve a drive-through penalty for his crew being over the wall too soon. Edwards, Bobby Labonte, Kyle Larson, Truex. and Mike Wallace all served drive-through penalties for speeding. After stops were complete, Gordon reassumed the lead on lap 90.[51]

The green flag flies again at Daytona.

Debris in the tri-oval brought out the third caution of the race on lap 105, as a hose-piece was seen near the start-finish line. After pit stops, Gordon continued to lead over Hamlin, Casey Mears and Kahne. A. J. Allmendinger stayed out to lead a lap before pitting. Justin Allgaier dropped to the rear for an uncontrolled tire and Aric Almirola dropped to the rear for too many men over the wall.

Dale Earnhardt, Jr. took the lead with 85 laps remaining.

The race restarted with 90 laps to go with Gordon leading. Hamlin took the lead from Gordon with 88 laps to go, but he was passed one lap later by Logano who drove under him on the inside line. Three laps later, Dale Earnhardt, Jr. took the lead and remained at the head of the train until Logano drove under him for the lead with 55 laps to go. Green flag stops began with 49 laps to go, and Logano surrendered the lead to pit with 47 laps to go and Greg Biffle assumed the lead. Larson locked up his brakes entering pit road and plowed some of the infield grass getting down to pit road speed. After the pit stop sequence, Logano reassumed the lead, as Yeley was caught speeding on pit road and was forced to serve a drive-through penalty.[51]

Jimmie Johnson leads the field racing three-wide multiple rows back with 32 laps remaining.

Jimmie Johnson took back the lead with 42 laps to go. Brad Keselowski's engine expired with 40 laps to go, causing Jamie McMurray and Ryan Newman to collide, and this brought out the fourth caution of the race.[54] Keselowski told reporters that the blown engine was caused by "something in the oil pan, broke something important", while stating that he was "starting to get position," ahead of the final 100 miles of the race.[54] Roughly half of the field pitted for fuel under the caution, with the other half staying out for track position, but without assurance that they had enough fuel to make it to the end of the race. Reed Sorenson was caught speeding on pit road and was forced to restart the race from the rear of the field.[51]

The race restarted with 35 laps to go. Johnson had the lead, but was quickly passed by Edwards. Two laps later, Johnson retook the lead from Edwards on the outside. With 32 laps to go, the field was racing three-wide multiple rows back. The fifth caution of the race flew with 25 laps to go when Blaney's car blew an engine on the back straight. A number of the drivers who did not pit under the previous caution pitted under this caution.[51]

Denny Hamlin led with 11 laps remaining.

The race restarted with 19 laps to go. Two laps later, the field was racing three-wide multiple rows from the lead to the tail. Denny Hamlin drove underneath Jimmie Johnson for the lead, but was immediately passed by Truex. Hamlin took the lead with 11 laps to go, using the middle lane. Logano took the lead on the following lap, leading the next seven laps until Allgaier and Ty Dillon wrecked in the tri-oval, which brought out the sixth caution and forced a green–white–checker finish. The red flag was displayed for 6 minutes and 42 seconds, as Allgaier's car had spilled a large amount of oil on the race track.[51]

Joey Logano celebrates winning the Daytona 500.

The race restarted with two laps to go with Logano leading. On the final lap, a huge pileup occurred on the back straight involving Jeff Gordon, Kyle Larson, Ricky Stenhouse, Jr., A. J. Allmendinger, Trevor Bayne and Reed Sorenson. As the leaders entered turn 3, the caution was displayed. Logano coasted across the finish line to score his first Daytona 500 victory and the second for car owner Roger Penske. At the age of 24, Logano was the second youngest winner of the Daytona 500, with only Bayne – aged 20, in the 2011 race – winning at a younger age.[56]

• 27 lead changes among 12 different drivers
• 7 cautions for 26 laps; 1 red flag for 6 minutes 42 seconds
• Time of race: 3 hours, 8 minutes, 2 seconds
• Average speed: 161.938 mph (260.614 km/h)
• Joey Logano took home $1,586,503 in winnings

• Coors Light Pole Award: Jeff Gordon (44.711 secs., 201.293 mph (323.950 km/h))
• 3M Lap Leader: Jeff Gordon (87 Laps)
• American Ethanol Green Flag Restart Award: Sam Hornish, Jr.
• Duralast Brakes "Brake in The Race" Award: Jeff Gordon
• Freescale "Wide Open": Joey Logano
• Ingersoll Rand Power Move: Michael Annett (16 positions)
• MAHLE Clevite Engine Builder of The Race: Roush-Yates Engines (#22)
• Mobil 1 Driver of The Race: Joey Logano (driver rating of 125.3)
• Moog Steering and Suspension Problem Solver of The Race: Casey Mears (crew chief Robert "Bootie" Barker, 0.112 seconds)
• NASCAR Sprint Cup Leader Bonus: No winner: rolls over to $20,000 at next event
• Sherwin-Williams Fastest Lap Award: Carl Edwards (Lap 133, 44.399, 202.707 mph (326.225 km/h))

Since 2001 – with the exception of 2002, 2004 and 2006 – the Daytona 500 has been carried by Fox in the United States. The booth crew of longtime NASCAR lap-by-lap announcer Mike Joy, two-time Daytona 500 winning crew chief Larry McReynolds and 1989 race winner Darrell Waltrip has remained the same since the 2001 race. Pit road was manned by Jamie Little, Chris Neville, Vince Welch and Matt Yocum.

The race was broadcast on radio by the Motor Racing Network and simulcasted on Sirius XM NASCAR Radio. MRN Radio has covered the Daytona 500 since 1970. Joe Moore, Jeff Striegle and Rusty Wallace covered the race from the booth. Longtime turn announcer – and prodigy of MRN co-founder Ken Squier – Dave Moody was the lead turn announcer. He called the Daytona 500 from atop the Sunoco tower outside the exit of turn 2 when the field was racing through turns 1 and 2. Mike Bagley worked the backstretch for the Daytona 500 from a spotter's stand on the inside of the track. Kyle Rickey called the Daytona 500 when the field was racing through turns 3 and 4 from the Sunoco tower outside the exit of turn 4. On pit road, MRN was manned by lead pit reporter and NASCAR Hall of Fame executive director Winston Kelley. He was joined on pit road by Steve Post and Alex Hayden.