The 2015 Quaker State 400 was a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race held on July 11, 2015, at Kentucky Speedway in Sparta, Kentucky. Contested over 267 laps on the speedway, it was the 18th race of the 2015 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season. Kyle Busch won the race, his second of the season. Joey Logano finished second. Denny Hamlin finished third. Carl Edwards and Matt Kenseth rounded out the top five.
With qualifying canceled for bad weather, Kyle Larson was awarded the first starting spot. He failed to lead a single lap and finished a disappointing 35th after cutting down a tire and crashing out late in the race. Busch led a race high of 163 laps on his way to winning the race. The race had 13 lead changes among eight different drivers, as well as a new track record of eleven caution flag periods for 49 laps.
This was the 31st career victory for Kyle Busch, second at Kentucky Speedway, and third at the track for Joe Gibbs Racing. This win moved Busch up to 35th in the points, 87 points behind Cole Whitt for the 30th place Chase for the Sprint Cup cutoff, and 492 behind points leader Kevin Harvick. Despite being the winning manufacturer, Toyota left Kentucky trailing Chevrolet by 83 points in the manufacturer standings.
The Quaker State 400 was carried by NBC Sports on the cable/satellite NBCSN station 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
Kentucky Speedway is a tri-oval speedway in Sparta, Kentucky.
Kevin Harvick entered Kentucky with a 63-point lead over Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jimmie Johnson entered 67 back, Joey Logano entered 75 back, and Martin Truex Jr. entered 87 back.
New aero package On June 16, NASCAR announced that a new aero package would be used for this weekend's race at Kentucky Speedway. The changes included a smaller rear spoiler and other adjustments that significantly reduced aerodynamic downforce. The spoiler was tall. There was also a wide splitter extension. In addition, tires supplied by Goodyear provided drivers with more grip. "We want to see more lead changes on the racetrack," NASCAR Executive Vice-president and Chief Racing Development Officer Steve O'Donnell said in a media teleconference. "We'll evaluate that and a number of different factors coming out of Kentucky, see what we can learn and implement down the road." Originally, the package was to be used at this year's All-Star Race, but the plan was scrubbed and NASCAR opted to use the package for a points race. "Let me be clear. This is not a test, this is a race," O'Donnell said of the rules package that was in effect for the 18th round of the 2015 Sprint Cup Series. "We've had an extensive testing plan with the industry over the last 18 months. We wouldn't implement this if we didn't feel confident as an industry to implement it at Kentucky."
Tire allotment For this weekend's race, teams were given nine sets of Goodyear tires versus the normal allotment of eleven.
Entry list The entry list for the Quaker State 400 was released on Monday, July 6 at 2:19 p.m. Eastern time. Forty-six drivers were entered for the race. All but the No. 30 Chevrolet of The Motorsports Group were entered for the previous week's Coke Zero 400. The three driver changes for this week were Will Kimmel in the No. 32 Go FAS Racing Ford, Alex Kennedy in the No. 33 Hillman-Circle Sport LLC Chevrolet, and Reed Sorenson in the No. 62 Premium Motorsports Chevrolet.
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 30 Travis Kvapil (i) The Motorsports Group Chevrolet 31 Ryan Newman Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 32 Will Kimmel Go FAS Racing Ford 33 Alex Kennedy (R) 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 Reed Sorenson 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
First practice Kyle Larson was the fastest in the first practice session with a time of 29.583 and a speed of .
Pos Driver Team Manufacturer Time 1 42 Kyle Larson Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 29.583 182.537 2 2 Brad Keselowski Team Penske Ford 29.729 181.641 3 24 Jeff Gordon Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 29.938 180.373Official first practice results
Qualifying
Three rounds of knockout qualifying were to take place at 5:45 p.m., but the threat of rain forced NASCAR to cancel qualifying. The field was set by first practice speeds. As a result, Kyle Larson earned the first starting spot. "I was glad we got a little track time there," Larson said. "I was quick off of the truck, which I was proud of the team for...I was able to lay down a real fast lap, went back to race trim and was fast there, too." Along with Travis Kvapil and Michael McDowell, Ryan Blaney and the Wood Brothers Racing team failed to qualify for the second week in a row. "We've gone a long time and not missed a race with weather," said co-owner Eddie Wood. "Now, the numbers seem to be leveling out. If you're slow and you miss a race because you're not fast enough, it's a bad deal. That kills your soul, but you can't do anything about the weather. We're gonna run next week at Loudon (N.H.), so we'll head up that way and hope we don't get rained out. I'm going to stop looking at weather apps, I can tell you that."
In his weekly appearance on the Sirius XM NASCAR Radio program The Morning Drive the Monday after the race, NASCAR Executive Vice-president and Chief Racing Officer Steve O'Donnell explained to Mike Bagley and Pete Pistone NASCAR's decision to cancel qualifying despite the final practice session being held at the time qualifying was scheduled to be held. He told them that NASCAR "could probably have done a better job of explaining it."
Starting lineup Pos Driver Team Manufacturer 1 42 Kyle Larson Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 29.583 182.537 2 2 Brad Keselowski Team Penske Ford 29.729 181.641 3 24 Jeff Gordon Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 29.938 180.373 4 22 Joey Logano Team Penske Ford 29.983 180.102 5 78 Martin Truex Jr. Furniture Row Racing Chevrolet 30.007 179.958 6 48 Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 30.035 179.790 7 1 Jamie McMurray Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 30.044 179.736 8 11 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 30.073 179.563 9 18 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 30.075 179.551 10 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 30.097 179.420 11 3 Austin Dillon Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 30.143 179.146 12 43 Aric Almirola Richard Petty Motorsports Ford 30.167 179.004 13 41 Kurt Busch Stewart–Haas Racing Chevrolet 30.173 178.968 14 27 Paul Menard Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 30.226 178.654 15 4 Kevin Harvick Stewart–Haas Racing Chevrolet 30.234 178.607 16 20 Matt Kenseth Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 30.404 177.608 17 17 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Roush Fenway Racing Ford 30.483 177.148 18 9 Sam Hornish Jr. Richard Petty Motorsports Ford 30.524 176.910 19 5 Kasey Kahne Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 30.530 176.875 20 19 Carl Edwards Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 30.554 176.736 21 13 Casey Mears Germain Racing Chevrolet 30.584 176.563 22 14 Tony Stewart Stewart–Haas Racing Chevrolet 30.655 176.154 23 10 Danica Patrick Stewart–Haas Racing Chevrolet 30.668 176.079 24 47 A. J. Allmendinger JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet 30.679 176.016 25 55 David Ragan Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota 30.772 175.484 26 31 Ryan Newman Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 30.777 175.456 27 16 Greg Biffle Roush Fenway Racing Ford 30.840 175.097 28 6 Trevor Bayne Roush Fenway Racing Ford 30.872 174.916 29 46 Michael Annett HScott Motorsports Chevrolet 30.908 174.712 30 15 Clint Bowyer Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota 30.921 174.639 31 7 Alex Bowman Tommy Baldwin Racing Chevrolet 30.921 174.639 32 51 Justin Allgaier HScott Motorsports Chevrolet 30.950 174.475 33 35 Cole Whitt Front Row Motorsports Ford 31.043 173.952 34 38 David Gilliland Front Row Motorsports Ford 31.139 173.416 35 26 Jeb Burton (R) BK Racing Toyota 31.142 173.399 36 40 Landon Cassill (i) Hillman-Circle Sport LLC Chevrolet 31.187 173.149 37 98 Josh Wise Phil Parsons Racing Ford 31.372 172.128 38 34 Brett Moffitt (R) Front Row Motorsports Ford 31.427 171.827 39 83 Matt DiBenedetto (R) BK Racing Toyota 31.450 171.701 40 32 Will Kimmel Go FAS Racing Ford 31.536 171.233 41 23 J. J. Yeley (i) BK Racing Toyota 31.711 170.288 42 62 Reed Sorenson Premium Motorsports Chevrolet 31.791 169.589 43 33 Alex Kennedy (R) Hillman-Circle Sport LLC Chevrolet 32.133 168.052Failed to qualify 44 21 Ryan Blaney (i) Wood Brothers Racing Ford 30.352 177.912 45 95 Michael McDowell Leavine Family Racing Ford 31.046 173.935 46 30 Travis Kvapil (i) The Motorsports Group Chevrolet 31.462 171.636Official first practice resultsOfficial starting lineup
Final practice Kyle Larson was the fastest in the final practice session with a time of 30.267 and a speed of .
Pos Driver Team Manufacturer Time 1 42 Kyle Larson Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 30.267 178.412 2 2 Brad Keselowski Team Penske Ford 30.316 178.124 3 22 Joey Logano Team Penske Ford 30.330 178.042Official final practice results
Race
First half
Start The race was scheduled to start at 7:45 p.m. EDT but started two minutes later when Kyle Larson led the field to the green flag. He lost the lead to Brad Keselowski, who would lead the first lap. This would drop him to third place. The first caution of the race flew on lap 19 when J. J. Yeley, running on the outside, got loose and made contact with Josh Wise in turn 3, sending him into the wall. None of the leaders would pit under this caution, as they all stayed out.
The race restarted on lap 24. The second caution of the race flew on lap 31 as a scheduled competition caution. Kyle Busch exited pit road with the lead after taking both right-side tires while Keselowski took four.