The 2015 Quicken Loans 400 was a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race held on June 14, 2015 at Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn, Michigan. Contested over 138 of the scheduled 200 laps on the D-shaped speedway, it was the 15th race of the 2015 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season. Kurt Busch won the race, his second of the season, while Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Martin Truex Jr. finished second and third. Matt Kenseth and Joey Logano rounded out the top five.
Kasey Kahne won the pole for the race and led one lap on his way to a 15th-place finish. Kevin Harvick led a race high of 63 laps before a flat tire and rain relegated him to a 29th-place finish. The race had 17 lead changes among eleven different drivers, as well as five caution flag periods for 38 laps. There were three red flag periods for one hour, 33 minutes and 13 seconds.
This was the 27th career victory for Kurt Busch, third at Michigan International Speedway and first at the track for Stewart–Haas Racing. This win moved Busch to eleventh in the points standings. Chevrolet left Michigan with a 66-point lead over Ford in the manufacturer standings.
The Quicken Loans 400 was carried by Fox Sports on the cable/satellite Fox Sports 1 network for the American television audience. The radio broadcast for the race was carried by the Motor Racing Network and Sirius XM NASCAR Radio.
Report
Background
Michigan International Speedway (MIS) is a moderate-banked D-shaped speedway located off U.S. Freeway 12 on more than approximately south of the village of Brooklyn, in the scenic Irish Hills area of southeastern Michigan. The track is used primarily for NASCAR events. It is sometimes known as a "sister track" to Texas World Speedway, and was used as the basis of Auto Club Speedway. The track is owned by International Speedway Corporation (ISC). Michigan International Speedway is recognized as one of motorsports' premier facilities because of its wide racing surface and high banking (by open-wheel standards; the 18-degree banking is modest by stock car standards). Michigan is the fastest track in NASCAR due to its wide, sweeping corners and long straightaways; typical qualifying speeds are in excess of and corner entry speeds are anywhere from after the 2012 repaving of the track.
Kevin Harvick entered Michigan with a 39-point lead over Martin Truex Jr. following a runner-up finish at Pocono to Truex. Jimmie Johnson entered 78 back, Joey Logano entered 79 back and Dale Earnhardt Jr. entered 94 back.
Entry list The entry list for the Quicken Loans 400 was released on Tuesday, June 9 at 9:09 a.m. Eastern time. Forty-four cars were entered for the race. All but the No. 21 Wood Brothers Racing Ford driven by Ryan Blaney were entered the week before at Pocono. The only driver swap for this race is the No. 32 Go FAS Racing Ford that was driven by Mike Bliss.
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 31 Ryan Newman Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 32 Mike Bliss (i) Go FAS Racing Ford 33 Ty Dillon (i) 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 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 98 Josh Wise Phil Parsons Racing FordOfficial entry list Key Meaning (R) Rookie (i) Ineligible for points (PC#) Past champions provisional
First practice Kevin Harvick was the fastest in the first practice session with a time of 35.557 and a speed of . His teammate Kurt Busch slapped the wall exiting turn 2 with 30 minutes remaining in the session and switched to his backup car. "Went down in there and was a little twitchier when it turned in and then it went full on left," Busch radioed to his team after the hit. "Sorry ... it's pretty much ruined." Because this change took place prior to qualifying, he was not required to start the race from the rear of the field. The session was shortened due to rain.
Pos Driver Team Manufacturer Time 1 4 Kevin Harvick Chevrolet 35.557 202.492 2 22 Joey Logano Team Penske Ford 35.713 201.607 3 78 Martin Truex Jr. Furniture Row Racing Chevrolet 35.793 201.157Official first practice results
Qualifying
Kasey Kahne won the pole with a time of 35.645 and a speed of . “Our Great Clips Chevrolet has had speed all three runs, so I knew we’d have a shot today, so that was cool,” Kahne said. “It’s been a while since we’ve had a pole. It’s going to be really important. The track is going to change a lot, though, come Sunday, with all the racing going on this weekend and then our practices tomorrow. The track will be a lot different Sunday. So, there will be some passing for sure, but it’s not going to be easy. So, track position will play a big role in being there at the end of the race.” "Kasey [Kahne] put up a little better lap than I did, but it was still a solid run," Kevin Harvick said after qualifying second. “It was a good lap,” said Brad Keselowski after qualifying third. “This is one of our weakness tracks here at Michigan International Speedway. We are working on it and trying to get better. I honestly didn’t think we would qualify this well. We came with some new stuff on the car, which seems to be working. I am proud of everyone at Team Penske, Ford and Roush Yates engines for that.” Brendan Gaughan was the lone driver who failed to qualify for the race. Ryan Blaney qualified fifth for the race. “It's really all you can ask for to be better and better in the three rounds,” Blaney said of the team's qualifying effort. “Everyone did a great job. (Crew chief) Jeremy (Bullins) did a great job of getting us better. It was a good effort for us. We needed it. We're excited about Sunday."
Qualifying results Pos Driver Team Manufacturer 1 5 Kasey Kahne Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 35.909 35.703 35.645 2 4 Kevin Harvick Stewart–Haas Racing Chevrolet 35.748 35.645 35.712 3 2 Brad Keselowski Team Penske Ford 36.205 35.845 35.741 4 19 Carl Edwards Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 36.064 35.812 35.809 5 21 Ryan Blaney (i) Wood Brothers Racing Ford 36.084 35.872 35.811 6 24 Jeff Gordon Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 36.526 35.799 35.823 7 3 Austin Dillon Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 36.213 36.003 35.836 8 48 Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 36.120 35.935 35.882 9 78 Martin Truex Jr. Furniture Row Racing Chevrolet 36.370 35.980 35.896 10 18 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 36.537 35.839 35.916 11 22 Joey Logano Team Penske Ford 36.057 35.850 35.925 12 20 Matt Kenseth Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 36.207 35.929 36.076 13 11 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 35.965 36.012 — 14 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 36.252 36.013 — 15 14 Tony Stewart Stewart–Haas Racing Chevrolet 36.092 36.061 — 16 42 Kyle Larson Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 36.388 36.102 — 17 27 Paul Menard Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 36.343 36.117 — 18 55 David Ragan Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota 36.337 36.184 — 19 10 Danica Patrick Stewart–Haas Racing Chevrolet 36.550 36.279 — 20 6 Trevor Bayne Roush Fenway Racing Ford 36.586 36.294 — 21 16 Greg Biffle Roush Fenway Racing Ford 36.544 36.324 — 22 33 Ty Dillon (i) Hillman-Circle Sport LLC Chevrolet 36.526 36.330 — 23 31 Ryan Newman Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 36.343 36.340 — 24 41 Kurt Busch Stewart–Haas Racing Chevrolet 36.287 36.440 — 25 1 Jamie McMurray Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 36.599 — — 26 43 Aric Almirola Richard Petty Motorsports Ford 36.605 — — 27 13 Casey Mears Germain Racing Ford 36.630 — — 28 7 Alex Bowman Tommy Baldwin Racing Chevrolet 36.657 — — 29 40 Landon Cassill (i) Hillman-Circle Sport LLC Chevrolet 36.660 — — 30 9 Sam Hornish Jr. Richard Petty Motorsports Ford 36.788 — — 31 47 A. J. Allmendinger JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet 36.812 — — 32 15 Clint Bowyer Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota 36.814 — — 33 17 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Roush Fenway Racing Ford 36.814 — — 34 38 David Gilliland Front Row Motorsports Ford 36.831 — — 35 46 Michael Annett HScott Motorsports Chevrolet 36.984 — — 36 51 Justin Allgaier HScott Motorsports Chevrolet 37.104 — — 37 34 Brett Moffitt (R) Front Row Motorsports Ford 37.195 — — 38 26 Jeb Burton (R) BK Racing Toyota 37.202 — — 39 98 Josh Wise Phil Parsons Racing Ford 37.331 — — 40 35 Cole Whitt Front Row Motorsports Ford 37.333 — — 41 23 J. J. Yeley (i) BK Racing Toyota 37.654 — — 42 32 Mike Bliss (i) Go FAS Racing Ford 37.797 — — 43 83 Matt DiBenedetto (R) BK Racing Toyota 37.973 — —Failed to qualify 44 62 Brendan Gaughan (i) Premium Motorsports Chevrolet 38.431 — —Official qualifying results
Practice (post-qualifying)
Second practice Kevin Harvick was the fastest in the second practice session with a time of 35.806 and a speed of .
Pos Driver Team Manufacturer Time 1 4 Kevin Harvick Stewart–Haas Racing Chevrolet 35.806 201.084 2 5 Kasey Kahne Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 35.928 200.401 3 42 Kyle Larson Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 36.002 199.989Official second practice results
Final practice Jeff Gordon was the fastest in the final practice session with a time of 36.253 and a speed of . Halfway through the session, Denny Hamlin spun out on the front stretch and caused minor damage to the front splitter. The team initially decided to roll out the backup car, but chose to fix the primary car rather than starting from the rear of the race.
Pos Driver Team Manufacturer Time 1 24 Jeff Gordon Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 36.253 198.604 2 18 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 36.259 198.571 3 78 Martin Truex Jr. Furniture Row Racing Chevrolet 36.259 198.571Official final practice results
Race
First half
Start and rain delays