The 2015 Sylvania 300 was a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race held on September 27, 2015, at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon, New Hampshire. Contested over 300 laps on the 1.058 mile (2.4 km) speedway, it was the 28th race of the 2015 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season, second race of the Chase and second race of the Challenger Round. Matt Kenseth won the race, his fifth of the season. Denny Hamlin finished second. Joey Logano, Greg Biffle and Carl Edwards rounded out the top-five.
Edwards won the pole for the race and led 19 laps on his way to a fifth–place finish. Kevin Harvick led a race high of 216 laps before running out of gas with three laps to go and finished 21st. The race had 16 lead changes amongst seven different drivers, nine caution flag periods for 41 laps and one red flag period for six minutes and four seconds.
This was the 36th career win for Kenseth, fifth of the season, second at New Hampshire Motor Speedway and eighth at the track for Joe Gibbs Racing. His points lead grew to six over Denny Hamlin. Despite being the winning manufacturer, Toyota left Loudon trailing Chevrolet by 40–points in the manufacturer standings.
The Sylvania 300 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 Performance Racing Network and Sirius XM NASCAR Radio.
Report Background
New Hampshire Motor Speedway is a oval track in Loudon, New Hampshire. Matt Kenseth entered Loudon with a two–point lead over Denny Hamlin. Carl Edwards and Kyle Busch entered tied for third three–points back. Kurt Busch and Joey Logano entered tied for fifth four–points back. Jimmie Johnson entered seventh seven–points back. Ryan Newman entered eighth 12–points back. Brad Keselowski entered ninth 13–points back. Dale Earnhardt Jr. entered 10th 14–points back. Martin Truex Jr. entered 11th 17–points back. Jeff Gordon, the only driver to have started every race at Loudon and made his 42nd and final start at the track, entered 12th 21–points back. Jamie McMurray entered 13th 24–points back. Paul Menard entered 14th 25–points back. Kevin Harvick entered 15th 43–points back. Clint Bowyer entered 16th 52–points back.
New NASCAR record Jeff Gordon, who made his first career start in the 1992 Hooters 500 at what was then Atlanta International Raceway, surpassed Ricky Rudd's record of 788 consecutive starts and became NASCAR's all-time iron man when he made his 789th consecutive start. Although proud of the mark, he said that drivers like Rudd and Terry Labonte "are way tougher than me. I've never had to tape my eyelids open to make the race (referring to how Ricky Rudd famously taped his eyes open to race in the 1984 Daytona 500 after suffering a concussion in the previous week's Busch Clash). When you think of those guys and the conditions of the cars, they didn't have any kind of air conditioning, they dealt with some major injuries and fought through. I've had some injuries along the way that I've had to fight through, so I have a taste of it, but certainly nothing like those guys."
Entry list The entry list for the Sylvania 300 was released on Monday, September 21 at 9:00 a.m. Eastern time. Forty–four cars were entered for the race. All were entered for the previous week's race at Chicagoland. Four driver changes from the previous race took place for this race: Josh Wise drove the No. 26 BK Racing Toyota, Jeffrey Earnhardt drove the No. 32 Go FAS Racing Ford, B. J. McLeod made his first career Sprint Cup Series start in the No. 33 Hillman-Circle Sport LLC Chevrolet, Timmy Hill returned to the seat of the No. 62 Premium Motorsports Chevrolet and Ryan Preece – 2013 NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour champion – made his first career Sprint Cup Series start in the No. 98 Premium 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 22 Joey Logano Team Penske Ford 23 Jeb Burton (R) BK Racing Toyota 24 Jeff Gordon (PC7) Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 26 Josh Wise 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 Jeffrey Earnhardt (i) Go FAS Racing Ford 33 B. J. McLeod (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 Timmy Hill (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 Ryan Preece Premium Motorsports ChevroletOfficial initial entry listOfficial final entry list Key Meaning (R) Rookie (i) Ineligible for points (PC#) Past champions provisional
Practice
First practice Carl Edwards was the fastest in the first practice session with a time of 27.823 and a speed of .
Pos Driver Team Manufacturer Time 1 19 Carl Edwards Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 27.823 136.894 2 48 Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 27.942 136.311 3 2 Brad Keselowski Team Penske Ford 27.974 136.155Official first practice results
Practice (post-qualifying) Second practice Carl Edwards was the fastest in the second practice session with a time of 28.527 and a speed of . Roughly 22 minutes into the session, Jeffrey Earnhardt locked up the brakes and slammed the wall in turn 1.
Pos Driver Team Manufacturer Time 1 19 Carl Edwards Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 28.527 133.516 2 4 Kevin Harvick Stewart–Haas Racing Chevrolet 28.546 133.427 3 2 Brad Keselowski Team Penske Ford 28.552 133.399Official second practice results
Final practice Kevin Harvick was the fastest in the final practice session with a time of 28.302 and a speed of .
Pos Driver Team Manufacturer Time 1 4 Kevin Harvick Stewart–Haas Racing Chevrolet 28.302 134.577 2 18 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 28.392 134.150 3 2 Brad Keselowski Team Penske Ford 28.417 134.032Official final practice results
Qualifying
Carl Edwards won the pole with a time of 27.604 and a speed of . Edwards stated that Loudon is "a tough place to decide where to be aggressive. This place is simple, so it’s pretty straight forward, but one little mistake here or there can cost you a lot. I really had to step it up. We got a great start to the Chase and we're keeping it rolling. We knew qualifying was important so we worked on it a lot today.” Kevin Harvick, after qualifying second, said that he "left it down in one and two down there, I just wasn’t too aggressive." Brad Keselowski – after qualifying fourth – said that for his team, they "just need to have a good, solid day. If we can win, that would be great. That’s what we want to do. That’s what we’re here to do, but a solid day would almost guarantee us advancing to the next round. The most important thing is to win Homestead and we want to be there when it counts.” Travis Kvapil failed to make the race.
Qualifying results Pos Driver Team Manufacturer 1 19 Carl Edwards Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 27.840 27.792 27.604 2 4 Kevin Harvick Stewart–Haas Racing Chevrolet 27.843 27.664 27.631 3 41 Kurt Busch Stewart–Haas Racing Chevrolet 27.661 27.752 27.640 4 2 Brad Keselowski Team Penske Ford 27.760 27.734 27.666 5 48 Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 27.938 27.640 27.676 6 42 Kyle Larson Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 27.741 27.641 27.697 7 11 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 28.035 27.748 27.709 8 22 Joey Logano Team Penske Ford 27.955 27.758 27.725 9 31 Ryan Newman Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 27.943 27.777 27.797 10 24 Jeff Gordon Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 27.844 27.741 27.887 11 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 27.967 27.812 27.891 12 5 Kasey Kahne Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 27.847 27.723 27.931 13 20 Matt Kenseth Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 27.828 27.813 — 14 17 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Roush Fenway Racing Ford 27.868 27.837 — 15 43 Aric Almirola Richard Petty Motorsports Ford 27.869 27.863 — 16 3 Austin Dillon Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 27.903 27.900 — 17 18 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 28.037 27.922 — 18 55 David Ragan Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota 27.896 27.932 — 19 13 Casey Mears Germain Racing Chevrolet 28.025 27.943 — 20 27 Paul Menard Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 27.957 27.989 — 21 78 Martin Truex Jr. Furniture Row Racing Chevrolet 28.003 27.996 — 22 10 Danica Patrick Stewart–Haas Racing Chevrolet 27.884 28.016 — 23 1 Jamie McMurray Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 28.032 28.106 — 24 51 Justin Allgaier HScott Motorsports Chevrolet 27.939 28.144 — 25 16 Greg Biffle Roush Fenway Racing Ford 28.048 — — 26 15 Clint Bowyer Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota 28.053 — — 27 14 Tony Stewart Stewart–Haas Racing Chevrolet 28.078 — — 28 35 Cole Whitt Front Row Motorsports Ford 28.087 — — 29 9 Sam Hornish Jr. Richard Petty Motorsports Ford 28.098 — — 30 47 A. J. Allmendinger JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet 28.120 — — 31 34 Brett Moffitt (R) Front Row Motorsports Ford 28.144 — — 32 40 Landon Cassill (i) Hillman-Circle Sport LLC Chevrolet 28.188 — — 33 6 Trevor Bayne Roush-Fenway Racing Ford 28.209 — — 34 38 David Gilliland Front Row Motorsports Ford 28.293 — — 35 83 Matt DiBenedetto (R) BK Racing Toyota 28.337 — — 36 7 Alex Bowman Tommy Baldwin Racing Chevrolet 28.362 — — 37 98 Ryan Preece Premium Motorsports Chevrolet 28.399 — — 38 46 Michael Annett HScott Motorsports Chevrolet 28.519 — — 39 33 B. J. McLeod (i) Hillman-Circle Sport LLC Chevrolet 28.740 — — 40 26 Josh Wise BK Racing Toyota 28.808 — — 41 23 Jeb Burton (R) BK Racing Toyota 28.816 — — 42 32 Jeffrey Earnhardt (i) Go FAS Racing Ford 28.866 — — 43 62 Timmy Hill (i) Premium Motorsports Chevrolet 29.326 — —Failed to qualify 44 30 Travis Kvapil (i) The Motorsports Group Chevrolet 28.724 — —Official qualifying results
Race First half Start Under clear blue New England skies, Carl Edwards led the field to the green flag at 2:19 p.m. Kevin Harvick kept the second position for the first 10 laps. He got under Edwards in turn 1 on lap 18, but couldn't get the run off the turn and remained in second. Edwards got high exiting turn 1 and lost the lead to Harvick on lap 21. Lapped traffic allowed him to pull away to a one-second lead by lap 25. The first caution of the race flew on lap 37 when Aric Almirola got the car turning on entry, but then shot up the track and slammed the wall. He finished a disappointing 43rd. Harvick swapped the lead on pit road with Brad Keselowski, but exited with that position. Austin Dillon was tagged for speeding on pit road and restarted the race from the tail-end of the field.