The 2015 Toyota/Save Mart 350 was a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race held on June 28, 2015, at Sonoma Raceway in Sonoma, California. Contested over 110 laps on the 1.99 mile (3.2 km) road course, it was the 16th race of the 2015 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season. Kyle Busch won the race, first of the season and first since the 2014 Auto Club 400. Brother Kurt Busch finished runner-up and Clint Bowyer finished third. Kevin Harvick and Joey Logano rounded out the top five.
A. J. Allmendinger won the pole for the race and led one lap before engine issues took him out of contention and finished 37th. Jimmie Johnson led a race high of 45 laps before getting passed for the lead with a few laps to go and finished sixth. The race had nine lead changes among five different drivers, as well as five caution flag periods for 21 laps. There was one red flag period for ten minutes and 30 seconds.
This was the 30th career victory for Kyle Busch, second at Sonoma Raceway and fourth at the track for Joe Gibbs Racing. This win moved Busch up to 37th in the points standings. Despite being the winning manufacturer, Toyota left Sonoma trailing Chevrolet by 94 points in the manufacturer standings.
The Toyota/Save Mart 350 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 Performance Racing Network and Sirius XM NASCAR Radio.
Report
Background
Sonoma Raceway, is a road course and drag strip located on the landform known as Sears Point in the southern Sonoma Mountains in Sonoma, California, USA. The road course features 12 turns on a hilly course with of total elevation change.
Kevin Harvick entered Sonoma with a 15-point lead over Martin Truex Jr. Joey Logano entered 56 back. Dale Earnhardt Jr. entered 68 back. Jimmie Johnson entered 70 back.
New pit road policy Following a miscommunication in the Xfinity race at Chicagoland Speedway that resulted in 19 cars pitting before pit road was officially opened, NASCAR announced that the indicator light at the entrance of pit road would be controlled by the officials in race control instead of an official at pit entrance.
Entry list
The entry list for the Toyota/Save Mart 350 was released on Friday, June 19 at 2:32 p.m. Eastern time. Forty-four cars were entered for the race. All but the No. 95 Leavine Family Racing Ford driven by Michael McDowell were entered for the previous race at Michigan. Three driver changes took place for this weekend. Boris Said drove the No. 32 Go FAS Racing Ford in place of Mike Bliss. Alex Kennedy drove the No. 33 Hillman-Circle Sport LLC Chevrolet for Ty Dillon. Justin Marks attempted to make his first start of the season in the No. 34 Front Row Motorsports Ford for Brett Moffitt. The No. 98 Phil Parsons Racing entry, driven by Josh Wise, switched from Ford to Chevrolet for this race. Jeff Gordon, the all-time winningest driver at Sonoma Raceway, made his 23rd and final start at the track.
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 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 Boris Said (i) Go FAS Racing Ford 33 Alex Kennedy (R) Hillman-Circle Sport LLC Chevrolet 34 Justin Marks (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 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 95 Michael McDowell Leavine Family Racing Ford 98 Josh Wise Phil Parsons Racing ChevroletOfficial initial entry listOfficial final entry list Key Meaning (R) Rookie (i) Ineligible for points (PC#) Past champions provisional
Practice
First practice Clint Bowyer was the fastest in the first practice session with a time of 74.979 and a speed of .
Pos Driver Team Manufacturer Time 1 15 Clint Bowyer Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota 74.979 95.547 2 47 A. J. Allmendinger JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet 75.159 95.318 3 9 Sam Hornish Jr. Richard Petty Motorsports Ford 75.338 95.092Official first practice results
Final practice Kyle Busch was the fastest in the final practice session with a time of 74.489 and a speed of .
Pos Driver Team Manufacturer Time 1 18 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 74.489 96.175 2 19 Carl Edwards Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 74.602 96.030 3 41 Kurt Busch Chevrolet 74.631 95.992Official final practice results
Qualifying
A. J. Allmendinger won the pole with a time of 74.385 and a speed of . "I’ve really got to thank all my guys that are here and especially back at the shop," Allmendinger said. "They’ve worked on this car so much to do everything that we need to get as much speed out of it as possible. So, it’s a good day, but we’ve got to focus on tomorrow.” “It has a nice balance all the way through, the braking and transmission gears, and the overall corner speed," Kurt Busch said after qualifying second. "It’s a nice package that (crew chief) Tony Gibson gave me, and all the guys back at the shop." “Yeah, we kind of overachieved today," Matt Kenseth said after qualifying third. "We were really bad yesterday, we were really bad the first round. I’m pleasantly surprised and kind of confused as far as we’ve been off, but we’ll take that.” "I think the car was capable of being at least first or second," Jeff Gordon said after qualifying fifth. "I missed one corner there on that last run and I don’t know how much that cost me, but overall it was a really solid effort." Brendan Gaughan was the lone driver that failed to make the race.
Qualifying results Pos Driver Team Manufacturer 1 47 A. J. Allmendinger JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet 74.220 74.385 2 41 Kurt Busch Stewart–Haas Racing Chevrolet 74.672 74.551 3 20 Matt Kenseth Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 74.661 74.624 4 42 Kyle Larson Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 74.186 74.678 5 24 Jeff Gordon Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 74.501 74.699 6 15 Clint Bowyer Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota 74.679 74.715 7 14 Tony Stewart Stewart–Haas Racing Chevrolet 74.326 74.888 8 13 Casey Mears Germain Racing Chevrolet 74.624 74.966 9 55 David Ragan Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota 74.797 75.018 10 2 Brad Keselowski Team Penske Ford 74.598 75.175 11 18 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 74.598 75.179 12 78 Martin Truex Jr. Furniture Row Racing Chevrolet 74.701 75.270 13 48 Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 74.815 — 14 19 Carl Edwards Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 74.833 — 15 11 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 74.973 — 16 31 Ryan Newman Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 74.991 — 17 4 Kevin Harvick Stewart–Haas Racing Chevrolet 75.034 — 18 1 Jamie McMurray Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 75.066 — 19 22 Joey Logano Team Penske Ford 75.081 — 20 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 75.102 — 21 10 Danica Patrick Stewart–Haas Racing Chevrolet 75.121 — 22 16 Greg Biffle Roush Fenway Racing Ford 75.138 — 23 95 Michael McDowell Leavine Family Racing Ford 75.145 — 24 9 Sam Hornish Jr. Richard Petty Motorsports Ford 75.246 — 25 43 Aric Almirola Richard Petty Motorsports Ford 75.344 — 26 5 Kasey Kahne Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 75.406 — 27 51 Justin Allgaier HScott Motorsports Chevrolet 75.474 — 28 38 David Gilliland Front Row Motorsports Ford 75.537 — 29 35 Cole Whitt Front Row Motorsports Ford 75.566 — 30 83 Matt DiBenedetto (R) BK Racing Toyota 75.638 — 31 6 Trevor Bayne Roush Fenway Racing Ford 75.782 — 32 27 Paul Menard Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 75.788 — 33 32 Boris Said (i) Go FAS Racing Ford 75.828 — 34 23 J. J. Yeley (i) BK Racing Toyota 75.857 — 35 34 Justin Marks (i) Front Row Motorsports Ford 75.954 — 36 33 Alex Kennedy (R) Hillman-Circle Sport LLC Chevrolet 76.106 — 37 3 Austin Dillon Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 76.174 — 38 98 Josh Wise Phil Parsons Racing Chevrolet 76.216 — 39 40 Landon Cassill (i) Hillman-Circle Sport LLC Chevrolet 77.057 — 40 17 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Roush Fenway Racing Ford 77.067 — 41 7 Alex Bowman Tommy Baldwin Racing Chevrolet 77.128 — 42 46 Michael Annett HScott Motorsports Chevrolet 77.551 — 43 26 Jeb Burton (R) BK Racing Toyota 77.658 —Failed to qualify 44 62 Brendan Gaughan (i) Premium Motorsports Chevrolet 77.931 —Official qualifying results
Race
First half
Start
The race was scheduled to start at 3:19 p.m. but started three minutes later when A. J. Allmendinger led the field to the green flag. Kurt Busch jumped ahead of Allmendinger in turn 2 and led the first lap. The field settled into a single file rhythm. Jamie McMurray made an unscheduled pit stop on lap 10 for a flat right side tire. Denny Hamlin also made an unscheduled pit stop on that lap for a loose right-rear tire. The first caution of the race flew on lap 22 when David Gilliland slid off the track and slammed into the tire barrier in turn 10 due to a flat left-front tire. “That was a bad deal," Gilliland said. "I just passed Sam Hornish Jr. up in seven and went through the esses and I just told Donnie (crew chief Wingo), ‘I think I’ve got a left-front going down. It’s soft.’ We were gonna come in and pit that lap and I eased up a little bit going through 10, but it never turned and once you get off in the dirt there that's a bad place to get off. "It was a big hit, but I’m OK. I’m just bummed out for the situation. This is a great race track. We really love racing out here and I’ve had some great finishes here, but we’ll have to wait until next year to try again.” Under caution, Clint Bowyer opted not to pit and assumed the lead.
Second quarter