The 2015 Hollywood Casino 400 was a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race held on October 18, 2015, at Kansas Speedway in Kansas City, Kansas. Contested over 269 laps – extended from 267 laps with a green-white-checker finish – on the intermediate speedway, it was the 31st race of the 2015 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season, fifth race of the Chase and second race of the Contender Round. Joey Logano won the race, his fifth of the season. Denny Hamlin finished second. Jimmie Johnson, Kasey Kahne and Kyle Busch rounded out the top–five.
Brad Keselowski won the pole for the race and led 28 laps on his way to a ninth–place finish. Matt Kenseth led a race high of 153 laps before being spun out by Logano with five laps remaining and finished 14th. The race had 21 lead changes among nine different drivers, as well as seven caution flag periods for 39 laps.
This was the 13th career victory for Logano, fifth of the season, second at Kansas Speedway and fourth at the track for Team Penske. Logano left Kansas with a 13–point lead over Hamlin. Despite being the winning manufacturer, Ford left Kansas trailing Chevrolet by 47 points in the manufacturer standings.
The Hollywood Casino 400 was carried by NBC Sports on the broadcast NBC 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
Kansas Speedway is a tri-oval race track in Kansas City, Kansas. Joey Logano entered with a six–point lead over Kevin Harvick. Martin Truex Jr. entered third seven points back. Denny Hamlin entered fourth eight points back. Kurt Busch and Carl Edwards entered tied for fifth nine points back. Jeff Gordon entered seventh 11 points back. Brad Keselowski entered eighth 13 points back. Ryan Newman entered ninth 19 points back. Kyle Busch entered 10th 23 points back. Dale Earnhardt Jr. entered 11th 32 points back. Matt Kenseth entered 12th 45 points back.
Entry list The entry list for the Hollywood Casino 400 was released on Monday, October 12 at 10:00 a.m. Eastern time. Forty-four cars were entered for the race. All were entered in the previous week's race at Charlotte. The two driver changes for this weekend's race were Will Kimmel attempting to make his second career start in the No. 32 Go FAS Racing Ford and Brian Scott returning to the seat of the No. 33 Hillman-Circle Sport LLC Chevrolet.
Driver Team Manufacturer 1 Jamie McMurray Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 2 Brad Keselowski (PC2) 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 (PC2) 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 (PC1) Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 21 Ryan Blaney (i) Wood Brothers Racing Ford 22 Joey Logano Team Penske Ford 23 Jeb Burton (R) BK Racing Toyota 24 Jeff Gordon (PC4) Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 26 J. J. Yeley (i) BK Racing Toyota 27 Paul Menard Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 31 Ryan Newman Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 32 Will Kimmel 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 (PC1) 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 (PC5) 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 Reed Sorenson Premium Motorsports FordOfficial entry listOfficial final entry list Key Meaning (R) Rookie (i) Ineligible for points (PC#) Past championships
Practice
First practice Brad Keselowski was the fastest in the first practice session with a time of 27.785 and a speed of .
Pos Driver Team Manufacturer Time 1 2 Brad Keselowski Team Penske Ford 27.785 194.349 2 3 Austin Dillon Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 27.803 194.224 3 20 Matt Kenseth Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 27.814 194.147Official first practice results
Practice (post-qualifying)
Second practice Brad Keselowski was the fastest in the second practice session with a time of 28.427 and a speed of . PosDriverTeamManufacturerTime12Brad KeselowskiTeam PenskeFord28.427189.960220Matt KensethJoe Gibbs RacingToyota28.539189.215322Joey LoganoTeam PenskeFord28.562189.062Official second practice results
Final practice Jimmie Johnson was the fastest in the final practice session with a time of 28.574 and a speed of . PosDriverTeamManufacturerTime148Jimmie JohnsonHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet28.574188.98322Brad KeselowskiTeam PenskeFord28.582188.930311Denny HamlinJoe Gibbs RacingToyota28.607188.765Official final practice results
Qualifying
Brad Keselowski won the pole for the race with a time of 27.621 and a speed of . He said afterwards that he was "still kind of shaking. I’ve always felt like Darlington is the hardest qualifying session of the year, but this is harder. You’re right on the fringe of being wide open.” After qualifying 14th, Dale Earnhardt Jr. said that his car "was tight in the middle of 3 and 4 all day, but we were trying to work on it ... and I just barely missed. I liked some things I saw today, and I think the car has good speed.” Casey Mears went to a backup car after hitting the wall in qualifying. As a result, he started the race from the rear of the field.
Qualifying results Pos Driver Team Manufacturer 1 2 Brad Keselowski Team Penske Ford 27.678 27.720 27.621 2 19 Carl Edwards Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 27.764 27.691 27.628 3 18 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 27.939 27.746 27.717 4 4 Kevin Harvick Stewart–Haas Racing Chevrolet 27.757 27.792 27.727 5 11 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 27.806 27.705 27.730 6 24 Jeff Gordon Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 27.997 27.800 27.746 7 78 Martin Truex Jr. Furniture Row Racing Chevrolet 28.009 27.771 27.782 8 21 Ryan Blaney (i) Wood Brothers Racing Ford 27.934 27.669 27.783 9 41 Kurt Busch Stewart–Haas Racing Chevrolet 27.830 27.757 27.787 10 31 Ryan Newman Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 27.908 27.819 27.792 11 20 Matt Kenseth Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 27.892 27.782 27.812 12 16 Greg Biffle Roush Fenway Racing Ford 27.997 27.818 27.855 13 27 Paul Menard Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 27.801 27.827 — 14 22 Joey Logano Team Penske Ford 27.992 27.830 — 15 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 27.880 27.835 — 16 33 Brian Scott (i) Hillman-Circle Sport LLC Chevrolet 27.954 27.836 — 17 14 Tony Stewart Stewart–Haas Racing Chevrolet 28.024 27.859 — 18 17 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Roush Fenway Racing Ford 28.020 27.872 — 19 6 Trevor Bayne Roush Fenway Racing Ford 27.996 27.876 — 20 42 Kyle Larson Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 27.971 27.909 — 21 48 Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 27.947 27.930 — 22 55 David Ragan Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota 27.966 27.934 — 23 43 Aric Almirola Richard Petty Motorsports Ford 28.049 27.974 — 24 5 Kasey Kahne Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 28.037 27.974 — 25 3 Austin Dillon Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 28.075 — — 26 15 Clint Bowyer Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota 28.155 — — 27 47 A. J. Allmendinger JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet 28.167 — — 28 1 Jamie McMurray Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 28.168 — — 29 10 Danica Patrick Stewart–Haas Racing Chevrolet 28.208 — — 30 51 Justin Allgaier HScott Motorsports Chevrolet 28.273 — — 31 9 Sam Hornish Jr. Richard Petty Motorsports Ford 28.307 — — 32 7 Alex Bowman Tommy Baldwin Racing Chevrolet 28.333 — — 33 38 David Gilliland Front Row Motorsports Ford 28.415 — — 34 83 Matt DiBenedetto (R) BK Racing Toyota 28.492 — — 35 34 Brett Moffitt (R) Front Row Motorsports Ford 28.498 — — 36 26 J. J. Yeley (i) BK Racing Toyota 28.523 — — 37 46 Michael Annett HScott Motorsports Chevrolet 28.549 — — 38 13 Casey Mears Germain Racing Chevrolet 28.572 — — 39 35 Cole Whitt Front Row Motorsports Ford 28.748 — — 40 23 Jeb Burton (R) BK Racing Toyota 28.935 — — 41 40 Landon Cassill (i) Hillman-Circle Sport LLC Chevrolet 29.092 — — 42 98 Reed Sorenson Premium Motorsports Ford 29.142 — — 43 32 Will Kimmel Go FAS Racing Ford 29.147 — —Failed to qualify 44 62 Timmy Hill (i) Premium Motorsports Chevrolet 29.156 — —Official qualifying results
Race First half Start Under clear blue Kansas skies, Brad Keselowski led the field to the green flag at 2:34 p.m. He began pulling away from the field after the first five laps. After 15 laps, Kevin Harvick cued his radio to say he thought there was a vibration in the car and that "it's going to blow up." Despite this, he passed Keselowski for the lead in turn 4 on lap 29. The first caution of the race flew on lap 30 for a single-car wreck in turn 2. J. J. Yeley suffered a right-front tire blowout and slammed the wall. After making his stop, crew chief Rodney Childers told Harvick that the cause of the vibration was a loose right-rear wheel weight. This caution period was longer than normal as drivers were radioing into NASCAR race control that the oil hadn't been thoroughly cleaned up.
The race restarted on lap 40. Joey Logano passed Harvick on the outside in turn 4 to take the lead on lap 51. The second caution of the race flew on lap 64 for a single-car spin on the backstretch. Exiting turn 4, Tony Stewart got loose and spun out. Carl Edwards exited pit road with the race lead after taking just right-side tires.
Second quarter The race restarted on lap 70. Matt Kenseth passed his teammate on the outside in turn 2 to take the lead on lap 73. The third caution of the race flew on lap 109 for a single-car spin on the backstretch. Exiting turn 2, Kyle Larson got loose and spun out. Kenseth and Logano swapped the lead on pit road, but Kenseth left pit road with it.
The race restarted on lap 115. The fourth caution of the race flew on lap 155 for a single-car wreck in turn 1. Austin Dillon suffered a right-front tire blowout and slammed the wall. Matt Kenseth and Joey Logano swapped the lead on pit road, but Kenseth exited pit road with it.
Second half Halfway