The 2015 Duck Commander 500 was a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race held on April 11, 2015 at Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth, Texas. Contested over 334 laps on the quad-oval track, it was the seventh race of the 2015 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. Jimmie Johnson won the race, his second win of the season and first in the Texas spring race, while Kevin Harvick finished second and Dale Earnhardt Jr. finished third. Joey Logano and Brad Keselowski rounded out the top five.
Kurt Busch won the pole and led 45 laps on his way to a 14th-place finish. Johnson led a race high of 128 laps, with 29 lead changes among nine different drivers, as well as eight caution flag periods for 40 laps.
This was the 72nd career victory for Johnson, his fifth at the track and the seventh for Hendrick Motorsports. This win moved Johnson up to sixth in the points standings, while Harvick left Texas with a 26-point lead over Logano. Chevrolet increased their lead in the manufacturers' championship to 19 points over Ford.
The Duck Commander 500 was by Fox Sports on the broadcast Fox network 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
Texas Motor Speedway is a speedway located in the northernmost portion of the U.S. city of Fort Worth, Texas – the portion located in Denton County, Texas. The track measures around and is banked 24 degrees in the turns, and is of the oval design, where the front straightaway juts outward slightly. The track layout is similar to Atlanta Motor Speedway and Charlotte Motor Speedway, tracks also owned by Speedway Motorsports.
Kevin Harvick entered Texas with a 24-point lead over Joey Logano, while Martin Truex Jr. entered 32 points back in third. Brad Keselowski entered 57 points back in fourth, and Kasey Kahne entered 70 points back in fifth.
Entry list 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 David Ragan 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 31 Ryan Newman Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 32 Mike Bliss (i) Go FAS Racing Ford 33 Brian Scott (i) Hillman–Circle Sport Chevrolet 34 Chris Buescher (i) 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 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 Brett Moffitt (R) Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota 62 Brendan Gaughan (i) 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 FordOfficial initial entry listOfficial updated entry list Key Meaning (R) Rookie (i) Ineligible for points (PC#) Past champions provisional
Practice
First practice Martin Truex Jr. was the fastest in the first practice session with a time of 28.258 and a speed of .
Pos Driver Team Manufacturer Time 1 78 Furniture Row Racing Chevrolet 28.258 191.096 2 5 Kasey Kahne Chevrolet 28.352 190.463 3 4 Kevin Harvick Stewart–Haas Racing Chevrolet 28.455 189.773Official first practice results
Final practice Kasey Kahne was the fastest in the final practice session with a time of 28.276 and a speed of .
Pos Driver Team Manufacturer Time 1 5 Kasey Kahne Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 28.276 190.975 2 48 Jimmie Johnson Chevrolet 28.343 190.523 3 1 Jamie McMurray Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 28.473 189.653Official final practice results
Qualifying
Kurt Busch won the pole with a time of 27.857 and a speed of . After winning the pole, Busch thanked his entire team for the good result, stating that "everyone chipped in". Busch also stated that his second pole of the 2015 season felt good, and that he was looking "to dial it in and get that long-run speed out of the car". Championship leader and team-mate Kevin Harvick joined Busch on the front row, having been out-qualified by 0.018 seconds. Harvick felt that his team "stuck to our plan" and that "everything worked out good". In third place was Team Penske's Brad Keselowski, who stated that he was "being first in class", behind the cars of Busch and Harvick in the grid order. He also stated that "it never helps to have extra runs on the tires, but we made the most of it".
Keselowski's Penske team-mate Joey Logano qualified sixth, believing that his car was more suited to the race and that he "kind of finished as expected for qualifying". Logano also mentioned that his crew chief Todd Gordon had told him that he won from 10th last year, so that he was "improving". Dale Earnhardt Jr. failed to make it out of the first part of the qualifying session, and like Logano, he felt that his car would perform better in the race than in qualifying. In order to improve the car, Earnhardt stated that he and his team "will have to go home and work on it". With 45 entrants, Jeb Burton and Brendan Gaughan both failed to qualify.
Qualifying results Pos Driver Team Manufacturer 1 41 Kurt Busch Stewart–Haas Racing Chevrolet 27.879 27.885 27.857 2 4 Kevin Harvick Stewart–Haas Racing Chevrolet 27.752 27.832 27.875 3 2 Brad Keselowski Team Penske Ford 28.051 27.974 27.951 4 5 Kasey Kahne Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 28.005 28.024 27.989 5 48 Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 28.099 28.071 28.063 6 22 Joey Logano Team Penske Ford 28.037 28.024 28.071 7 31 Ryan Newman Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 28.079 28.007 28.088 8 27 Paul Menard Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 27.914 27.963 28.109 9 42 Kyle Larson Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 27.837 27.924 28.118 10 1 Jamie McMurray Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 28.033 28.002 28.166 11 14 Tony Stewart Stewart–Haas Racing Chevrolet 27.906 28.072 28.200 12 24 Jeff Gordon Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 27.695 28.052 28.489 13 21 Ryan Blaney (i) Wood Brothers Racing Ford 28.030 28.085 — 14 3 Austin Dillon Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 28.100 28.086 — 15 78 Martin Truex Jr. Furniture Row Racing Chevrolet 28.042 28.091 — 16 19 Carl Edwards Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 28.060 28.129 — 17 20 Matt Kenseth Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 28.102 28.137 — 18 11 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 28.018 28.142 — 19 16 Greg Biffle Roush Fenway Racing Ford 28.002 28.159 — 20 13 Casey Mears Germain Racing Chevrolet 27.967 28.210 — 21 10 Danica Patrick Stewart–Haas Racing Chevrolet 28.049 28.258 — 22 17 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Roush Fenway Racing Ford 28.054 28.290 — 23 6 Trevor Bayne Roush Fenway Racing Ford 28.012 28.343 — 24 51 Justin Allgaier HScott Motorsports Chevrolet 28.099 28.349 — 25 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 28.115 — — 26 47 A. J. Allmendinger JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet 28.130 — — 27 15 Clint Bowyer Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota 28.178 — — 28 46 Michael Annett HScott Motorsports Chevrolet 28.194 — — 29 9 Sam Hornish Jr. Richard Petty Motorsports Ford 28.201 — — 30 18 David Ragan Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 28.205 — — 31 35 Cole Whitt Front Row Motorsports Ford 28.218 — — 32 43 Aric Almirola Richard Petty Motorsports Ford 28.222 — — 33 40 Landon Cassill (i) Hillman–Circle Sport Chevrolet 28.222 — — 34 7 Alex Bowman Tommy Baldwin Racing Chevrolet 28.236 — — 35 98 Josh Wise Phil Parsons Racing Ford 28.275 — — 36 55 Brett Moffitt (R) Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota 28.288 — — 37 32 Mike Bliss (i) Go FAS Racing Ford 28.367 — — 38 38 David Gilliland Front Row Motorsports Ford 28.378 — — 39 95 Michael McDowell Leavine Family Racing Ford 28.383 — — 40 34 Chris Buescher (i) Front Row Motorsports Ford 28.517 — — 41 23 J. J. Yeley (i) BK Racing Toyota 28.621 — — 42 83 Matt DiBenedetto (R) BK Racing Toyota 28.758 — — 43 33 Alex Kennedy (R) Hillman–Circle Sport Chevrolet 29.072 — —Failed to qualify 44 62 Brendan Gaughan (i) Premium Motorsports Chevrolet 28.417 — — 45 26 Jeb Burton (R) BK Racing Toyota 28.495 — —Official qualifying results
Race
First-half
Start The race was scheduled to start at 7:46 p.m., but started a couple of minutes later when Kurt Busch led the field to the green flag. He would not maintain the lead, however, as his teammate Kevin Harvick passed him exiting turn 4 on the opening lap. Engine issues were prevalent in the opening stages of the race, as J. J. Yeley took his car to the garage on lap 13 because of engine issues, and Ryan Blaney also reported that his engine was sputtering. The first caution of the race flew on lap 32 when Alex Kennedy spun out in turn 4 after he got loose in turn 3. Kurt Busch exited pit road ahead of Harvick to take the lead, while Justin Allgaier was forced to restart from the tail end for a commitment line violation. Dale Earnhardt Jr. made a second stop under the caution to add lug nuts to the left-rear of his car – instead of the normal five, the tire had only two.
The race restarted on lap 37 with Busch out front. Harvick took the lead by the end of the lap, before Busch was able to get back to the front. Brad Keselowski, running fourth at the time, made an unscheduled stop on lap 67 and dropped to 30th. Blaney retired from the race on lap 71, as his engine issues continued. Kyle Larson kicked off a wave of green flag pit stops on lap 79. Busch surrendered the lead on lap 81 to make his stop and Jeff Gordon assumed the lead. Gordon pitted the next lap and the lead cycled to Keselowski, following his unscheduled pit stop. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. was forced to serve a drive-through penalty for speeding on pit road. Jimmie Johnson took the lead on lap 109, just as debris in turn 3 brought out the second caution of the race. Johnson and Harvick swapped the lead on pit road with Johnson maintaining the lead on exit. Denny Hamlin was forced to drop to the tail end of the field for driving through too many pit boxes exiting pit road.
Green flag run The race restarted on lap 114 with Johnson in the lead. Kevin Harvick took back the lead on lap 125, and led the next portion of the race before Johnson took back the lead on lap 156, just as cars began hitting pit road for green flag pit stops. Johnson and Harvick swapped the lead over the next few laps, before Harvick ceded his position for a stop and Kasey Kahne assumed the position. Kahne spent two laps at the front of the race, before Johnson cycled back to the head of the field on lap 160. Landon Cassill made an unscheduled stop on lap 167 for a flat tire, almost hitting the wall in turn 4.
Second-half
Halfway