The 2015 Daytona 500, the 57th running of the event, was a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race which was held on February 22, 2015 at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida. Contested over 203 laps – extended from 200 laps due to a green–white–checker finish – on the asphalt superspeedway, it was the first race of the 2015 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season. Joey Logano won the race, recording the second Daytona 500 win for Team Penske, and his ninth career Sprint Cup victory. Kevin Harvick finished second while Dale Earnhardt Jr., Denny Hamlin and Jimmie Johnson rounded out the top–five.
Jeff Gordon won the pole for his 23rd and final career start in the Daytona 500. Hendrick Motorsports swept the Budweiser Duel races with Earnhardt Jr. winning the first Duel race and fourth career qualifying race and Johnson winning the second Duel race and second career qualifying race. Gordon led a race-high 87 laps and ran up front for most of the race. He was caught up in the backstretch multi-car wreck on the final lap of the race and finished 33rd. Logano took the lead with 10 laps to go in the scheduled 200 lap distance and was ahead of Kevin Harvick before the last caution flag ended the race in his favor. The race had 27 lead changes among 12 different drivers, as well as 7 caution flag periods for 26 laps. There was also a single red flag period that lasted for 6 minutes and 42 seconds.
Logano left Daytona with a five-point lead over Harvick in the points standings, while Ford left Daytona with a five-point lead over Chevrolet in the manufacturer standings.
The 57th Daytona 500 was carried by Fox Sports on the broadcast Fox network for the American television audience. The radio broadcast for the race was carried by the Motor Racing Network and Sirius XM NASCAR Radio.
Brothers Kurt Busch and Kyle Busch, mainstays in the Cup Series for over a decade, both missed the race for different reasons, making this event the first race without one of the two since the 2001 NAPA 500. Kurt missed the race after being suspended during a trial for domestic violence, while Kyle suffered a broken right leg and a fractured left foot in a violent crash in the Alert Today Florida 300 the day prior.
This marks the final Daytona 500 starts for Sam Hornish Jr., Tony Stewart, and Johnny Sauter and the only for then two-time NASCAR Truck Series champion Matt Crafton.
Report
Background
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. 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 high speed tri-oval, a sports car course, a motorcycle course, and a karting and motorcycle flat-track. The track's infield includes the Lake Lloyd, which has hosted powerboat racing. The speedway is owned and operated by International Speedway Corporation.
The track was built to host racing that was being held by NASCAR founder Bill France Sr. at the former Daytona Beach and Road Course and opened with the first Daytona 500 in 1959. The speedway has been renovated three times, with the infield renovated in 2004, and the track repaved in 1978 and 2010.
New rules NASCAR implemented a new camera system to officiate pit road. Forty-five cameras monitor pit road and reduce the number of necessary officials on pit road from 24 to 10. 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. 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.
Entry list
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.
Driver Team Manufacturer 1 Jamie McMurray (W) Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 12 1st 2 Brad Keselowski Team Penske Ford 5 3rd 3 Austin Dillon Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 2 9th 4 Kevin Harvick (W) Stewart–Haas Racing Chevrolet 13 1st 5 Kasey Kahne Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 11 7th 6 Trevor Bayne (W) Roush Fenway Racing Ford 4 1st 7 Alex Bowman Tommy Baldwin Racing Chevrolet 1 23rd 9 Sam Hornish Jr. Richard Petty Motorsports Ford 3 15th 10 Danica Patrick Stewart–Haas Racing Chevrolet 3 8th 11 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 9 2nd 13 Casey Mears Germain Racing Chevrolet 10 2nd 14 Tony Stewart Stewart–Haas Racing Chevrolet 16 2nd 15 Clint Bowyer Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota 9 4th 16 Greg Biffle Roush Fenway Racing Ford 12 3rd 17 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Roush Fenway Racing Ford 3 7th 18 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 10 4th 19 Carl Edwards Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 10 2nd 20 Matt Kenseth (W) Joe Gibbs Racing Ford 15 1st 21 Ryan Blaney Wood Brothers Racing Ford 0 — 22 Joey Logano Team Penske Ford 6 9th 23 J. J. Yeley BK Racing Toyota 5 10th 24 Jeff Gordon (W) Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 22 1st 26 Jeb Burton (R) BK Racing Toyota 0 — 27 Paul Menard Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 7 6th 29 Justin Marks RAB Racing Toyota 0 — 30 Ron Hornaday Jr. The Motorsports Group Chevrolet 1 17th 31 Ryan Newman (W) Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 13 1st 32 Bobby Labonte Go FAS Racing Ford 22 2nd 33 Ty Dillon Hillman–Circle Sport Chevrolet 0 — 34 David Ragan Front Row Motorsports Ford 8 5th 35 Cole Whitt Front Row Motorsports Ford 1 28th 38 David Gilliland Front Row Motorsports Ford 5 3rd 40 Landon Cassill Hillman–Circle Sport Chevrolet 2 12th 41 Kurt Busch Stewart–Haas Racing Chevrolet 14 2nd 42 Kyle Larson Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 1 38th 43 Aric Almirola Richard Petty Motorsports Ford 4 13th 44 Reed Sorenson Team XTREME Racing Chevrolet 5 5th 46 Michael Annett HScott Motorsports Chevrolet 1 37th 47 A. J. Allmendinger JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet 5 3rd 48 Jimmie Johnson (W) Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 13 1st 51 Justin Allgaier HScott Motorsports Chevrolet 1 27th 55 Michael Waltrip (W) Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota aa 1st 62 Brian Scott Premium Motorsports Chevrolet 1 25th 66 Mike Wallace Premium Motorsports Chevrolet 10 4th 78 Martin Truex Jr. Furniture Row Racing Chevrolet 10 6th 83 Johnny Sauter BK Racing Toyota 2 16th 87 Joe Nemechek NEMCO Motorsports Chevrolet 20 6th 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. (W) Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 15 1st 95 Michael McDowell Leavine Family Racing Ford 4 9th 98 Josh Wise Phil Parsons Racing Ford 2 24thSource: Key Meaning (R) Rookie (W) Past winner
Practice
First practice (February 14) Ricky Stenhouse Jr. was the fastest in the first practice session with a time of 44.413 and a speed of .
Pos Driver Team Manufacturer Time 1 17 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Roush Fenway Racing Ford 44.413 202.643 2 9 Sam Hornish Jr. Richard Petty Motorsports Ford 44.512 202.193 3 6 Trevor Bayne (W) Roush Fenway Racing Ford 44.512 202.193Source: *It was announced that the 87 of Joe Nemechek had withdrawn before practice
Second practice (February 14) Michael McDowell was the fastest in the second practice session with a time of 45.153 and a speed of . Ryan Newman was forced to change engines after blowing one half an hour into the session. He had to start from the rear in one of the Duel races. Martin Truex Jr. also dealt with engine gremlins due to a crack in his car's oil pan, but did not change engines.
Pos Driver Team Manufacturer Time 1 95 Michael McDowell Leavine Family Racing Ford 45.153 199.322 2 48 Jimmie Johnson (W) Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 45.155 199.314 3 33 Ty Dillon Hillman–Circle Sport Chevrolet 45.158 199.300Source:
Qualifying
The pole qualifying took place at 1:35 p.m. Eastern time on Sunday, February 15, a week prior to the Daytona 500 race itself. After the 2014 Daytona 500, NASCAR eliminated the traditional single car qualifying format for the pole qualifying and introduced a knockout qualifying format commonly used in many series at Phoenix the following week. The restrictor plate track rules, first implemented at the fall Talladega race, were used.
NASCAR randomly split the field into two groups for session 1 (one group had 25 cars, the other had 24). Each group had its own five minutes of track time. The fastest 24 cars overall from either group advanced to session 2. After a 10–minute break, these 24 cars got five minutes of track time for session 2. The qualifying times from session 1 were reset prior to the start of session 2. The fastest twelve cars in session 2 advanced to session 3. Following a seven–minute break, these 12 cars competed for the top two guaranteed spots in the final five–minute session. Again, the qualifying times from session 2 were reset prior to the start of session 3. The top two times in the final qualifying session were locked in the front row of the Daytona 500 starting grid, while the other 41 starting spots were determined by the two Budweiser Duel races the following Thursday. If a driver failed to make the Top 15 in the Duels, the time that was used to calculate the four drivers that would qualify based on time – and to grid the seven drivers that took provisional starting positions was based solely on the fastest time they set – regardless of qualifying session.