The 2015 myAFibRisk.com 400 was a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race held on September 20, 2015, at Chicagoland Speedway in Joliet, Illinois. Contested over 267 laps on the 1.5 mile (2.4 km) intermediate speedway, it was the 27th race of the 2015 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season, the first race of the Chase and the first race of the Challenger Round. Denny Hamlin won the race, his second of the season. Carl Edwards finished second. Kurt Busch, Ryan Newman and Matt Kenseth rounded out the top–five.
Due to qualifying being rained-out, Kevin Harvick was given the first starting spot of the race. He led 10 laps before wrecking out halfway through the race and finished 42nd. Kyle Busch led a race high of 121 laps on his way to a ninth–place finish. There were 17 lead changes among 10 different drivers, as well as six caution flag periods for 28 laps.
This was Denny Hamlin's 26th career win, second of the season, first at Chicagoland Speedway and fifth at the track for Joe Gibbs Racing. The win moved Hamlin up to second in the points trailing teammate Matt Kenseth by two. Despite being the winning manufacturer, Toyota left Chicagoland trailing Chevrolet by 49–points in the manufacturer standings.
The myAFibRisk.com 400 was carried by NBC Sports on the cable/satellite NBCSN 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
Chicagoland Speedway is a tri-oval intermediate speedway in Joliet, Illinois. Jimmie Johnson entered Chicagoland tied with Kyle Busch and Matt Kenseth for the points lead at 2,012–points. Joey Logano entered three–points back. Kevin Harvick, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Kurt Busch and Carl Edwards entered tied for fifth six–points back. Brad Keselowski, Martin Truex Jr. and Denny Hamlin entered tied for ninth nine–points back. Jamie McMurray, Jeff Gordon, Ryan Newman, Paul Menard and Clint Bowyer entered tied for 12th 12–points back.
Change to restart officiating Following complaints of Matt Kenseth jumping the final restart at Richmond, NASCAR decided to add a camera feed and official with the sole purpose of monitoring the restart zone.
NASCAR record When the green flag flies on Sunday, Jeff Gordon – who made his first career Sprint Cup Series start in the 1992 Hooters 500 at what was then Atlanta International Raceway (now Atlanta Motor Speedway) – tied Ricky Rudd's record for most consecutive starts at 788. The 23–year veteran of the sport will break the tie next weekend at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. "I’ve got to get through this weekend first," he said. "That’s one of those things where I feel a little strange talking about it because I do appreciate and respect the safety of this sport. (That) side can be taken away from you at any time. I want to break that record. I think it’s a huge accomplishment because it’s not easy to do. It’s easier today because the sport is safer. I look at Ricky Rudd and what he went through to make it. That is pretty extraordinary. I can’t quite compare that."
Entry list The entry list for the myAFibRisk.com 400 was released on Sunday, September 13 at 11:49 a.m. Eastern time. Forty-six cars were entered for the race. All but Ryan Blaney in the No. 21 Wood Brothers Racing Ford were entered for the previous week's race at Richmond. The two driver changes for this weekend's race were Travis Kvapil returning to the No. 30 Chevrolet for The Motorsports Group and Josh Wise returning to the No. 32 Go FAS Racing 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 David Ragan (R) BK Racing Toyota 24 Jeff Gordon (PC7) Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 26 J. J. Yeley (i) 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 Josh Wise 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 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 Timmy Hill (i) Premium Motorsports FordOfficial initial entry listOfficial final entry list Key Meaning (R) Rookie (i) Ineligible for points (PC#) Past champions provisional
Practice
First practice Kevin Harvick was the fastest in the first practice session with a time of 28.675 and a speed of .
Pos Driver Team Manufacturer Time 1 4 Kevin Harvick Stewart–Haas Racing Chevrolet 28.675 188.317 2 22 Joey Logano Team Penske Ford 28.737 187.911 3 2 Brad Keselowski Team Penske Ford 28.750 187.826Official first practice results
Practice (post-qualifying)
Second practice Martin Truex Jr. was the fastest in the second practice session with a time of 29.458 and a speed of .
Pos Driver Team Manufacturer Time 1 78 Martin Truex Jr. Furniture Row Racing Chevrolet 29.458 183.312 2 11 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 29.607 182.389 3 24 Jeff Gordon Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 29.698 181.830Official second practice results
Final practice Martin Truex Jr. was the fastest in the final practice session with a time of 29.213 and a speed of .
Pos Driver Team Manufacturer Time 1 78 Martin Truex Jr. Furniture Row Racing Chevrolet 29.213 184.849 2 2 Brad Keselowski Team Penske Ford 29.350 183.986 3 20 Matt Kenseth Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 29.356 183.949Official final practice results
Qualifying
Three rounds of knockout qualifying took place at 6:45 p.m., but heavy rain forced the session to be cancelled and the starting lineup was set by first practice times according to the NASCAR rulebook. As a result, Kevin Harvick was awarded the first starting spot for the race. He was joined on the front row by Joey Logano. "We haven’t been in race trim yet," Logano said. "We stayed in qualifying trim all day today and I felt like it was qualifying during practice. We were really trying to top the charts. We really felt like that was where we would be starting at the end of practice. Obviously this storm is huge and we didn’t have a shot in hell of making qualifying happen.” “It is a lot better than last year when we started 25th," Brad Keselowski – who started third – said. "We will take that and move on. The car has been pretty good so far so I feel good about that." Ryan Blaney, Travis Kvapil and Michael McDowell failed to qualify for the race.
Qualifying results Pos Driver Team Manufacturer Speed 1 4 Kevin Harvick Stewart–Haas Racing Chevrolet 28.675 188.317 2 22 Joey Logano Team Penske Ford 28.737 187.911 3 2 Brad Keselowski Team Penske Ford 28.750 187.826 4 78 Martin Truex Jr. Furniture Row Racing Chevrolet 28.754 187.800 5 3 Austin Dillon Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 28.760 187.761 6 31 Ryan Newman Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 28.813 187.415 7 18 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 28.893 186.896 8 5 Kasey Kahne Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 28.922 186.709 9 41 Kurt Busch Stewart–Haas Racing Chevrolet 28.958 186.477 10 24 Jeff Gordon Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 28.959 186.471 11 48 Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 28.961 186.458 12 20 Matt Kenseth Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 28.967 186.419 13 1 Jamie McMurray Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 29.017 186.098 14 19 Carl Edwards Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 29.018 186.091 15 47 A. J. Allmendinger JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet 29.027 186.034 16 27 Paul Menard Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 29.028 186.027 17 16 Greg Biffle Roush Fenway Racing Ford 29.033 185.995 18 42 Kyle Larson Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 29.051 185.880 19 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 29.055 185.854 20 43 Aric Almirola Richard Petty Motorsports Ford 29.055 185.854 21 33 Brian Scott (i) Hillman-Circle Sport LLC Chevrolet 29.061 185.816 22 9 Sam Hornish Jr. Richard Petty Motorsports Ford 29.067 185.778 23 14 Tony Stewart Stewart–Haas Racing Chevrolet 29.085 185.663 24 13 Casey Mears Germain Racing Chevrolet 29.159 185.192 25 10 Danica Patrick Stewart–Haas Racing Chevrolet 29.160 185.185 26 15 Clint Bowyer Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota 29.183 185.039 27 17 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Roush Fenway Racing Ford 29.227 184.761 28 55 David Ragan Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota 29.246 184.641 29 11 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 29.275 184.458 30 6 Trevor Bayne Roush Fenway Racing Ford 29.457 183.318 31 51 Justin Allgaier HScott Motorsports Chevrolet 29.467 183.256 32 7 Alex Bowman Tommy Baldwin Racing Chevrolet 29.599 182.439 33 35 Cole Whitt Front Row Motorsports Ford 29.645 182.156 34 26 J. J. Yeley (i) BK Racing Toyota 29.644 182.149 35 38 David Gilliland Front Row Motorsports Ford 29.666 182.027 36 40 Landon Cassill (i) Hillman-Circle Sport LLC Chevrolet 29.686 181.904 37 46 Michael Annett HScott Motorsports Chevrolet 29.725 181.665 38 34 Brett Moffitt (R) Front Row Motorsports Ford 29.733 181.616 39 83 Matt DiBenedetto (R) BK Racing Toyota 29.747 181.531 40 32 Josh Wise Go FAS Racing Ford 29.770 181.391 41 23 Jeb Burton (R) BK Racing Toyota 29.851 180.898 42 98 Reed Sorenson Premium Motorsports Ford 30.052 179.689 43 62 Timmy Hill (i) Premium Motorsports Chevrolet 30.767 175.513Failed to qualify 44 21 Ryan Blaney (i) Wood Brothers Racing Ford 28.951 186.522 45 95 Michael McDowell Leavine Family Racing Ford 30.070 179.581 46 30 Travis Kvapil (i) The Motorsports Group Chevrolet 30.223 178.672Official first practice resultsOfficial starting lineup
Race
First half
Start Under clear blue Illinois skies, Kevin Harvick led the field to the green flag at 3:18 p.m. He edged out Joey Logano to lead the first lap. The first caution of the race flew on the second lap when A. J. Allmendinger came down across the nose of Denny Hamlin and went spinning in turn 3. Trying to avoid ramming the No. 47 car, Hamlin got loose on the high-side, spun out and slid down the race track. He didn't suffer any damage and he continued on racing.