2015 Auto Club 400


The 2015 Auto Club 400 was a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race held on March 22, 2015, at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, California. Contested over 209 laps – extended from 200 laps, due to a green–white–checker finish – on the D-shaped oval, it was the fifth race of the 2015 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season. Brad Keselowski won the race – his 17th career victory – while Kevin Harvick extended his top two finish streak to eight races with a runner-up finish. Kurt Busch, Paul Menard and Ryan Newman rounded out the top five.
Busch won the pole for the race and led a race high of 65 laps; he lost the lead on the final lap and was passed by Keselowski and Harvick. The race had 19 lead changes among nine different drivers, as well as seven caution flag periods for 31 laps. Recording Team Penske's second NASCAR win at the track, Keselowski moved into fifth place in the points standings, which were led by Harvick; he left Fontana with a 28-point lead over Joey Logano. Chevrolet left with a 16-point lead over Ford in the manufacturers' standings.
The Auto Club 400 was carried by Fox Sports on the broadcast Fox network for the American television audience. The radio broadcast of the race was carried by the Motor Racing Network and Sirius XM NASCAR Radio.

Report

Background

Auto Club Speedway was a, low-banked, D-shaped oval superspeedway in Fontana, California which hosted NASCAR racing annually from 1997 to 2023. It was also used for open wheel racing events. The racetrack was located near the former locations of Ontario Motor Speedway and Riverside International Raceway. The track was owned and operated by International Speedway Corporation and was the only track owned by ISC to have its naming rights sold. The speedway was served by the nearby Interstate 10 and Interstate 15 freeways as well as a Metrolink station located behind the backstretch.
Kevin Harvick entered Auto Club with a 22-point lead over Joey Logano following his win the week before at Phoenix. Martin Truex Jr. entered 27 points back in third. Kasey Kahne entered 50 points back in fourth, with A. J. Allmendinger a further 5 points behind, in fifth.

Changes to qualifying

Starting at Auto Club Speedway – and taking effect in all three national touring series – drivers will no longer back out of their pit stalls when qualifying begins. Instead, they will now be parked with the nose of the car facing toward the track.

Entry list

First practice

was the fastest in the first practice session with a time of 38.556 seconds and a speed of. Greg Biffle scraped the wall exiting turn 4 in the opening minutes of the session, causing cosmetic damage to his car. Carl Edwards, however, went to a backup car for the race after crashing his car on the exit of turn 4. Edwards joked that his car "went from a 12-inch to a six-inch sub real quick", referring to the sponsors of his car for the race, fast food franchise Subway. He also stated that he "tried to save it...that was not the right decision". Since the change took place prior to qualifying, Edwards is not mandated to start from the rear on Sunday, provided he does not change engines.

Qualifying

won the pole with a time of 38.889 seconds and a speed of, taking his first pole position since the 2013 Bojangles' Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway. His teammate Kevin Harvick started next to him on the front row. Harvick stated that "hopefully, can keep it up this week", referring to his ongoing seven-race streak of Top 2 finishes, while also stating that he "didn't get to run where wanted to run there were three cars on the apron down there where wanted to be that had finished their lap". Reed Sorenson and Travis Kvapil both failed to qualify for the race. Brett Moffitt went to a backup car following damage sustained in qualifying and as a result, he started from the rear.

Qualifying results

Practice (post-qualifying)

Second practice

was the fastest in the second practice session with a time of 38.479 and a speed of.

Final practice

was the fastest in the final practice session with a time of 38.925 and a speed of, completing a sweep of the weekend's practice sessions and qualifying.

Race

First-half

Start

As the cars were rolling off pit road, Jeff Gordon's crew swapped out something in his car, but rejoined the starting lineup with no issues. The race was scheduled to start at 3:46 p.m., but started six minutes later when Kurt Busch led the field to the green flag. The field spread out to use up about five lanes in the opening laps. Eventually, Kevin Harvick reeled in his teammate to take the lead on lap seven. Early in the race, A. J. Allmendinger began reporting that he was losing the engine of his car, while Martin Truex Jr. did likewise. Harvick was unable to pull away from Busch who began reeling him in until Busch was slowed down by the lapped car of Jeb Burton. The first caution of the race flew on lap 23 when David Ragan got turned by an aerodynamic push from Gordon's car in turn 4. Gordon had been saying on the radio that he would turn Ragan if he had to, stating over his in-car radio to "let him know it's the bumper". Alex Bowman stayed out to lead a lap before pitting and handed the lead to Matt Kenseth.

Restart from caution 1 and green flag stops

The race restarted on lap 28. Kenseth held the lead for five laps before yielding to teammate Denny Hamlin on lap 33. A cycle of green flag stops began on lap 60. Hamlin pitted on lap 62 and handed the lead to Jeff Gordon. He pitted on lap 63 and the lead cycled back to Hamlin. Ragan and Matt DiBenedetto served drive-through penalties for uncontrolled tires on pit road, while Alex Bowman also served a drive-through for speeding.
By lap 83, more than half the field were at least one lap down, before the second caution of the race flew on lap 86 for debris in turn 3. After the culmination of the next round of stops, Kenseth exited pit road with the lead.

Second-half

Caution at halfway

The race restarted on lap 93. Going beneath Kenseth in turn 4, Busch took back the lead on lap 96. Two laps later, the third caution of the race flew when Sam Hornish Jr. moved up the track exiting turn 2 and got turned into the wall by Trevor Bayne. Martin Truex Jr. exited pit road with the lead by taking two tires.
The race restarted on lap 105. Truex did not hold the lead for long as Kurt Busch took the lead back in turn 1. Busch, Harvick and a mess of cars hit pit road on lap 138. Paul Menard briefly took the lead, but did not lead a lap through it while Carl Edwards did and the lead cycled back to Kurt Busch following a brief drag race down the back stretch with teammate Kevin Harvick. Michael Annett served a drive-through penalty for an uncontrolled tire.
Harvick took the lead back with 56 laps to go, putting Busch in 2nd. The fourth caution of the race flew with 47 laps to go for debris on the front stretch. Matt Kenseth exited pit road with the lead. Joey Logano was forced to drop to the tail end of the line for an uncontrolled tire.

Restart from caution 4 and 5th caution

The race restarted with 42 laps to go, with Matt Kenseth still out in front. Debris in turn 1 brought out the fifth caution of the race with 16 laps to go. Kurt Busch took the lead on pit road from Matt Kenseth who was pitted behind the start/finish line and exited with the lead. Kenseth broke an axle exiting his pit stall, while Denny Hamlin was forced to drop to the tail end of the line for an uncontrolled tire.

Fifth restart and 6th caution

The race restarted with eleven laps to go and Harvick lost the lead to Kurt Busch. The two of them fought it out for the last few laps. The sixth caution of the race flew with two laps to go for debris in turn 4. Jeff Gordon stayed out to take the lead along with Tony Stewart and Greg Biffle.

Green–white–checker finish

On the first attempt at a green–white–checker finish, Kyle Larson slid into the wall exiting turn 2 and lost his rear bumper, causing another caution flag, the seventh of the race. On the second attempt, Kurt Busch led the field to the green. As the white flag was waving, Greg Biffle wrecked on the front stretch. Brad Keselowski took the lead in turn 2 and powered to the checkered flag. Keselowski praised the work of his team to beat Kevin Harvick and Kurt Busch, who Keselowski stated "had great cars the whole weekend and probably had the field covered on speed". Harvick, who recorded his eighth consecutive top-two finish, explained that he had "fought through a day of track position" but "that's what this team is made of". Busch, who completed the top three, bemoaned the latter cautions, expressing that his car "just got hung out" and that he "just didn't get the job done". All 43 cars were running at the race's conclusion, for the first time since the 2013 Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Race results

Race statistics

  • 19 lead changes among 9 different drivers
  • 7 cautions for 31 laps
  • Time of race: 2 hours, 58 minutes, 18 seconds
  • Average speed:
  • Brad Keselowski took home $357,871 in winnings

    Race awards

  • Coors Light Pole Award: Kurt Busch
  • 3M Lap Leader: Kurt Busch
  • American Ethanol Green Flag Restart Award: Kurt Busch
  • Duralast Brakes "Bake In The Race" Award: Kevin Harvick
  • Freescale "Wide Open": Kurt Busch
  • Ingersoll Rand Power Move: Justin Allgaier, 5 positions
  • MAHLE Clevite Engine Builder of the Race: Hendrick Engines, #41
  • Mobil 1 Driver of the Race: Kurt Busch
  • Moog Steering and Suspension Problem Solver of The Race: Paul Menard
  • NASCAR Sprint Cup Leader Bonus: No winner: rolls over to $20,000 at next event
  • Sherwin-Williams Fastest Lap: David Ragan
  • Sunoco Rookie of The Race: Brett Moffitt