The 2015 Goody's Headache Relief Shot 500 was a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race held on November 1, 2015, at Martinsville Speedway in Ridgeway, Virginia. Contested over 500 laps on the .526 mile (.847 km) short track, it was the 33rd race of the 2015 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season, seventh race of the Chase and first race of the Eliminator Round. Jeff Gordon won the race, marking his first win of the season and also the last of his NASCAR career. Jamie McMurray finished second. Denny Hamlin, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Kyle Busch rounded out the top-five.
Joey Logano won the pole for the race and led a race high of 207 laps before being taken out by Matt Kenseth late in the race and finished 37th. The race had 21 lead changes among nine different drivers, 18 caution flag periods for 109 laps and one red flag period for 12 minutes and 46 seconds, caused by the Kenseth-Logano collision, for which Kenseth received a two-race suspension.
This was the 93rd and final career win for Gordon, first of the season, ninth at Martinsville Speedway, 23rd at the track for Hendrick Motorsports and clinched Gordon a spot in the championship Ford EcoBoost 400 race at Homestead-Miami Speedway. He left Martinsville with an eight–point lead in the points standings. Chevrolet left with a 57–point lead over Toyota in the manufacturer standings.
The Goody's Headache Relief Shot 500 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
Martinsville Speedway is a oval short track in Ridgeway, Virginia, United States, a community of Martinsville, Virginia. Eight drivers entered tied for the points lead.
Entry list The entry list for the Goody's Headache Relief Shot 500 was released on Monday, October 26 at 2:56 p.m. Eastern time. Forty-three cars were entered for the race. All were entered for the previous week's race at Talladega. Kyle Fowler made his second career start in the No. 32 Go FAS Racing Ford. Alex Kennedy returned to the seat of the No. 33 Hillman-Circle Sport LLC Chevrolet. Brett Moffitt returned to the seat of the No. 34 Front Row Motorsports Ford. Ryan Preece made his second 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 J. J. Yeley (i) BK Racing Toyota 27 Paul Menard Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 31 Ryan Newman Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 32 Kyle Fowler 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 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 FordOfficial initial entry listOfficial final entry list Key Meaning (R) Rookie (i) Ineligible for points (PC#) Past champions provisional
Practice
First practice Joey Logano was the fastest in the first practice session with a time of 19.161 and a speed of .
Pos Driver Team Manufacturer Time 1 22 Joey Logano Team Penske Ford 19.161 98.826 2 24 Jeff Gordon Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 19.251 98.364 3 2 Brad Keselowski Team Penske Ford 19.256 98.338Official first practice results
Practice (post-qualifying)
Second practice Dale Earnhardt Jr. was the fastest in the second practice session with a time of 19.522 and a speed of . Tony Stewart started from the rear of the field after wrecking his primary car in the session and going to a backup car. PosDriverTeamManufacturerTime188Dale Earnhardt Jr.Hendrick MotorsportsChevrolet19.52296.998278Martin Truex Jr.Furniture Row RacingChevrolet19.54696.879331Ryan NewmanRichard Childress RacingChevrolet19.54796.874Official second practice results
Final practice Jimmie Johnson was the fastest in the final practice session with a time of 19.500 and a speed of . PosDriverTeamManufacturerTime148Jimmie JohnsonHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet19.50097.10824Kevin HarvickStewart–Haas RacingChevrolet19.57896.72132Brad KeselowskiTeam PenskeFord19.57896.721Official final practice results
Qualifying
Joey Logano won the pole with a time of 19.215 and a speed of . He said afterwards that he's amazed at the "run we’re on right now,” Logano said after claiming the pole with a lap of 98.548 mph. “I’m just the lucky guy that gets to drive this thing right now. It’s so much fun and we’re doing everything right. But all that can in a blink of an eye, so we all just have to keep our focus. I don't believe in luck. I believe in hard work, and that's what this team is doing right now." Martin Truex Jr., after qualifying second, said that his team "didn’t know going into qualifying we’d have that good of speed. Definitely a good start to the weekend for us.” After qualifying 14th, Carl Edwards said that he "just wasn’t fast enough the very first run so I put a run on the tires and got us a cycle behind everyone. It’s okay, we’re going to be just fine. I think in my history of qualifying here, this is still about 10–spots better than normal. We have a fast pit crew, the car is a lot better than it was in practice and I think for all these [Xfinity] guys, I think they’re all excited about the race. It’s one of our strong points at JGR and I’m going to have some fun on Sunday.” Kasey Kahne wrecked his car in the first round of qualifying and had to go to a backup car. Because he made a qualifying run, he started from the rear of the field. Speaking on the incident, he said that he "ruined a pretty good car, a really good car, actually. I held it out a little too late, I turned in and kind of broke and lifted off the throttle and got wheel-hopping. I just totally screwed it up myself.”
Qualifying results Pos Driver Team Manufacturer 1 22 Joey Logano Team Penske Ford 19.299 19.166 19.215 2 78 Martin Truex Jr. Furniture Row Racing Chevrolet 19.322 19.241 19.227 3 47 A. J. Allmendinger JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet 19.301 19.302 19.309 4 1 Jamie McMurray Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 19.205 19.253 19.321 5 24 Jeff Gordon Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 19.321 19.240 19.343 6 18 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 19.337 19.329 19.352 7 31 Ryan Newman Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 19.356 19.338 19.377 8 43 Aric Almirola Richard Petty Motorsports Ford 19.347 19.337 19.385 9 42 Kyle Larson Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 19.351 19.330 19.398 10 11 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 19.380 19.297 19.421 11 2 Brad Keselowski Team Penske Ford 19.377 19.340 19.432 12 4 Kevin Harvick Stewart–Haas Racing Chevrolet 19.294 19.231 19.452 13 14 Tony Stewart Stewart–Haas Racing Chevrolet 19.336 19.344 — 14 19 Carl Edwards Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 19.264 19.355 — 15 41 Kurt Busch Stewart–Haas Racing Chevrolet 19.366 19.362 — 16 10 Danica Patrick Stewart–Haas Racing Chevrolet 19.350 19.375 — 17 15 Clint Bowyer Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota 19.262 19.379 — 18 20 Matt Kenseth Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 19.321 19.434 — 19 13 Casey Mears Germain Racing Chevrolet 19.354 19.449 — 20 9 Sam Hornish Jr. Richard Petty Motorsports Ford 19.384 19.473 — 21 48 Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 19.373 19.499 — 22 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 19.336 19.505 — 23 51 Justin Allgaier HScott Motorsports Chevrolet 19.377 19.562 — 24 5 Kasey Kahne Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 19.384 0.000 — 25 16 Greg Biffle Roush Fenway Racing Ford 19.395 — — 26 27 Paul Menard Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 19.403 — — 27 40 Landon Cassill (i) Hillman-Circle Sport LLC Chevrolet 19.436 — — 28 55 David Ragan Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota 19.443 — — 29 17 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Roush Fenway Racing Ford 19.454 — — 30 3 Austin Dillon Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 19.506 — — 31 35 Cole Whitt Front Row Motorsports Ford 19.519 — — 32 6 Trevor Bayne Roush Fenway Racing Ford 19.530 — — 33 38 David Gilliland Front Row Motorsports Ford 19.537 — — 34 34 Brett Moffitt (R) Front Row Motorsports Ford 19.576 — — 35 23 Jeb Burton (R) BK Racing Toyota 19.580 — — 36 83 Matt DiBenedetto (R) BK Racing Toyota 19.600 — — 37 98 Ryan Preece Premium Motorsports Ford 19.616 — — 38 46 Michael Annett HScott Motorsports Chevrolet 19.636 — — 39 26 J. J. Yeley (i) BK Racing Toyota 19.649 — — 40 32 Kyle Fowler Go FAS Racing Ford 19.675 — — 41 7 Alex Bowman Tommy Baldwin Racing Chevrolet 19.715 — — 42 62 Timmy Hill (i) Premium Motorsports Chevrolet 19.861 — — 43 33 Alex Kennedy (R) Hillman-Circle Sport LLC Chevrolet 19.899 — —Official qualifying results
Race
First half
Start Being on the first Sunday of Standard Time, with a 5:23 pm sunset and no lights at the track, after rain earlier in the day, pit lane was still being dried when the race began under the safety car, counting laps under caution condition at 1:24 p.m. NASCAR decided that they were satisfied with the track's condition and under cloudy Virginia skies, Joey Logano led the field to the green flag on lap 8. Martin Truex Jr. got around Logano exiting turn 4 and took the lead on lap 10. A. J. Allmendinger began pressuring Truex for the lead on lap 20. With the small size of Martinsville, it only took to lap 26 for the leader to catch the end of the field. The lapped traffic allowed Truex to pull away from Allmendinger. He got passed by Logano and Jeff Gordon and fell back to fifth. Logano got under Truex going into turn 1 to retake the lead on lap 37. Gordon drove under Logano in turn 1 to take the lead on lap 45. The second caution of the race flew on lap 51. This was a scheduled competition caution due to overnight rain. Thanks to the first pit stall, Logano exited pit road with the lead. Denny Hamlin was tagged for speeding on pit road and restarted the race from the tail-end of the field.
The race restarted on lap 57. Kurt Busch got under Joey Logano going into turn 1 to take the lead on lap 61. He was unable to pull away from Logano after 20 laps and he eventually lost the lead to him on lap 83. The third caution of the race flew on lap 102 for a single-car spin in turn 1. It appeared that Michael Annett got turned by Matt DiBenedetto. Austin Dillon was tagged for having too many crew members over the wall and restarted the race from the tail-end of the field.