The 2015 Coke Zero 400 powered by Coca-Cola was a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race that was held between July 5 and 6, 2015 at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida. Contested over 161 laps – extended from the scheduled 160 laps – on the superspeedway, it was the 17th race of the 2015 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season. Dale Earnhardt Jr. won the race, his second win of the season. His teammate Jimmie Johnson finished second while Denny Hamlin, Kevin Harvick, and Kurt Busch rounded out the top five.
With qualifying rained out, the field was set by first practice speeds and Earnhardt Jr. was given the first starting spot as a result. Further rain delays pushed the race's green flag back to 11:42 p.m., with the race concluding at 2:40 a.m. ET the following morning. Earnhardt Jr. led a race high of 96 laps on his way to winning the race. The race had 22 lead changes among twelve different drivers, as well as nine caution flag periods for 43 laps. The race was marred by a violent crash at the finish, most notably featuring Austin Dillon's car flipping into the outside catch fence.
It was Earnhardt Jr.'s 25th career victory, tenth career restrictor plate race win (in points competition), fourth at Daytona, and 14th at the track for Hendrick Motorsports. The win moved him up to second in the points standings. Chevrolet left Daytona with an 83-point lead over Ford in the manufacturer standings.
The event was also the first NASCAR Sprint Cup Series event to air on NBC since 2006 as part of a ten-year deal signed in 2013 in which NBCUniversal and its networks would broadcast the final half of the NASCAR Sprint Cup and Xfinity Series season.
Report
Background Kevin Harvick entered Daytona with a 53-point lead over Martin Truex Jr., Joey Logano entered 57 back, Jimmie Johnson entered 70 back, and Dale Earnhardt Jr. entered 71 back.
Changes During the Xfinity Series' Alert Today Florida 300 earlier in the year, a crash occurred in which Kyle Busch slammed into a concrete wall just past the exit to pit road, breaking his leg and sidelining him for the first eleven races of the Sprint Cup season. In response to the accident, the entire outer wall of the race track was fitted with SAFER barriers. The grass near the entrance of turn 1 and towards the exit of the tri-oval, where Busch's accident occurred, were paved over.
At the request of the race's broadcaster, NBC, the 2015 Coke Zero 400 was moved from its traditional Saturday night scheduling to Sunday night. Track president Joie Chitwood III explained that NBC wanted to treat the race as a special event to launch its revived coverage, similarly to NBC's Sunday Night Football. The move also removed a potential conflict with NBC's annual Macy's 4th of July Fireworks Spectacular special.
Entry list The entry list for the Coke Zero 400 was released on Monday, June 29 at 11:41 a.m. EDT. Forty-five cars were entered for the race. All but the No. 21 Wood Brothers Racing Ford driven by Ryan Blaney were entered for the previous race at Sonoma Raceway. Driver changes for this race include Bobby Labonte in the No. 32 Go FAS Racing Ford normally driven by Mike Bliss, Brian Scott in the No. 33 Hillman-Circle Sport LLC Chevrolet normally driven by Alex Kennedy, and Brett Moffitt returning to the No. 34 Front Row Motorsports Ford.
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 Bobby Labonte (PC8) Go FAS Racing Ford 33 Brian Scott (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 95 Michael McDowell Leavine Family Racing Ford 98 Josh Wise Phil Parsons Racing FordOfficial initial entry listOfficial final entry list Key Meaning (R) Rookie (i) Ineligible for points (PC#) Past champions provisional
Practice
First practice Dale Earnhardt Jr. was the fastest in the first practice session with a time of 44.492 and a speed of . Ten minutes into the session, Brad Keselowski made contact with Kyle Busch and sent him spinning in the middle of the pack. Michael Annett, Trevor Bayne, Greg Biffle, Carl Edwards, Denny Hamlin, Sam Hornish Jr., Jamie McMurray, Ryan Newman and Martin Truex Jr. were all collected in the wreck. “The 2 car got on my back rear and just spun us around,” Busch said. “There’s room to lift and sometimes you don’t.” “A couple of guys got in front of me right there,” Truex said. “They started checking up in front of me and the 18 went sideways, a lot of damage. We’re going to a backup car.”
Pos Driver Team Manufacturer Time 1 88 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 44.492 202.284 2 3 Austin Dillon Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 44.540 202.066 3 15 Clint Bowyer Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota 44.556 201.993Official first practice results
Final practice Danica Patrick was the fastest in the final practice session with a time of 45.424 and a speed of .
Pos Driver Team Manufacturer Time 1 10 Danica Patrick Chevrolet 45.424 198.133 2 41 Kurt Busch Stewart–Haas Racing Chevrolet 45.466 197.950 3 4 Stewart–Haas Racing Chevrolet 45.467 197.946Official final practice results
Qualifying
Two rounds of single-car qualifying were scheduled to take place on Saturday at 4:35 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time, but were cancelled due to rain. The lineup was set by first practice results. So Dale Earnhardt Jr. was declared as the polesitter per the NASCAR rulebook. “I asked Greg (Ives, crew chief) before we went out to practice what we were trying to accomplish in that first practice and that was the first thing he mentioned was to go out that first run and try to put a lap down because the weather wasn’t looking real good for today," Earnhardt said. "That was his decision. It ended up working out for us.” "This track has been very special to me, we know how important is to the sport," said Jeff Gordon, who'll start 23rd in his 46th and final career race at Daytona. "I'm kind of bummed out that it was rained out." Despite posting the 22nd fastest lap in first practice, Ryan Blaney failed to make the race. When qualifying is rained out, NASCAR's rules state that the number of attempts a race team has made determines the starting lineup before practice times. As a result, the No. 21 Wood Brothers Racing Ford failed to qualify for the first time in seven years. “I really hate this for Motorcraft/Quick Lane and all of our guests,” team co-owner Eddie Wood said in a release. “We’ve been lucky. This is the first time this has happened since we started part-time in 2009. We’ve dodged a lot of bullets, including last time in Michigan. This one got us, but if it has to happen, I’d rather it be for something we can’t control instead of for a lack of performance on our part.”
Starting lineup Pos Driver Team Manufacturer 1 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 44.492 202.284 2 3 Austin Dillon Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 44.540 202.066 3 15 Clint Bowyer Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota 44.556 201.993 4 27 Paul Menard Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 44.561 201.970 5 6 Trevor Bayne Roush Fenway Racing Ford 44.582 201.875 6 38 David Gilliland Front Row Motorsports Ford 44.597 201.807 7 47 A. J. Allmendinger JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet 44.612 201.739 8 55 David Ragan Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota 44.676 201.450 9 1 Jamie McMurray Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 44.818 200.812 10 5 Kasey Kahne Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 44.822 200.794 11 9 Sam Hornish Jr. Richard Petty Motorsports Ford 44.857 200.638 12 48 Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 44.866 200.597 13 18 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 44.873 200.566 14 34 Brett Moffitt (R) Front Row Motorsports Ford 44.969 200.138 15 13 Casey Mears Germain Racing Chevrolet 45.021 199.907 16 42 Kyle Larson Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 45.027 199.880 17 31 Ryan Newman Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 45.043 199.809 18 46 Michael Annett HScott Motorsports Chevrolet 45.057 199.747 19 20 Matt Kenseth Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 45.063 199.720 20 78 Martin Truex Jr. Furniture Row Racing Chevrolet 45.063 199.720 21 51 Justin Allgaier HScott Motorsports Chevrolet 45.088 199.610 22 40 Landon Cassill (i) Hillman-Circle Sport LLC Chevrolet 45.135 199.402 23 24 Jeff Gordon Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 45.199 199.119 24 19 Carl Edwards Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 45.238 198.948 25 16 Greg Biffle Roush Fenway Racing Ford 45.242 198.930 26 33 Brian Scott (i) Hillman-Circle Sport LLC Chevrolet 45.255 198.873 27 10 Danica Patrick Stewart–Haas Racing Chevrolet 45.264 198.834 28 41 Kurt Busch Stewart–Haas Racing Chevrolet 45.271 198.803 29 35 Cole Whitt Front Row Motorsports Ford 45.292 198.711 30 17 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Roush Fenway Racing Ford 45.349 198.461 31 14 Tony Stewart Stewart–Haas Racing Chevrolet 45.353 198.443 32 2 Brad Keselowski Team Penske Ford 45.360 198.413 33 22 Joey Logano Team Penske Ford 45.389 198.286 34 4 Kevin Harvick Stewart–Haas Racing Chevrolet 45.467 198.111 35 11 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 45.477 197.902 36 43 Aric Almirola Richard Petty Motorsports Ford 45.024 195.550 37 7 Alex Bowman Tommy Baldwin Racing Chevrolet 47.428 189.761 38 32 Bobby Labonte Go FAS Racing Ford 47.572 189.187 39 23 J. J. Yeley (i) BK Racing Toyota 47.707 188.652 40 26 Jeb Burton (R) BK Racing Toyota 47.939 187.739 41 83 Matt DiBenedetto (R) BK Racing Toyota 48.039 187.348 42 98 Josh Wise Phil Parsons Racing Ford 0.000 0.000 43 62 Brendan Gaughan (i) Premium Motorsports Chevrolet 0.000 0.000Failed to qualify 44 21 Ryan Blaney (i) Wood Brothers Racing Ford 45.117 199.481 45 95 Michael McDowell Leavine Family Racing Ford 46.937 191.746First practice resultsOfficial starting lineup
Race The race was scheduled to begin at 8:04 p.m. EDT on Sunday, but was delayed by rain that had been falling all afternoon. The green flag eventually fell at 11:42 p.m, marking the longest start delay of the race since the 2005 race. Race finished at 2:40 am EDT on Monday
First half
Start