2015 Windows 10 400
The 2015 Windows 10 400 was a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race held on August 2, 2015, at Pocono Raceway in Long Pond, Pennsylvania. Contested over 160 laps on the 2.5 mile triangular superspeedway, it was the 21st race of the 2015 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season. Matt Kenseth won the race, his second of the season. Brad Keselowski finished second. Jeff Gordon finished third. Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Greg Biffle rounded out the top five.
Kyle Busch won the pole for the race, led 19 laps, was leading the race before running out of fuel on the final lap and finished 21st. Joey Logano led a race high of 97 laps before running out of fuel with three laps to go and finished 20th. The race had 18 lead changes among 13 different drivers, eight caution flag periods for 32 laps and one red flag period that lasted for 14 minutes and 32 seconds.
This was the 33rd career victory for Matt Kenseth, second of the season, first at Pocono Raceway and tenth at the track for Joe Gibbs Racing. Kenseth left Pocono trailing Kevin Harvick by 118–points in the points standings. Despite being the winning manufacturer, Toyota left Pocono trailing Chevrolet by 75–points in the manufacturer standings. But they pulled to within one–point of Ford for second in the standings.
The Windows 10 400 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
Pocono Raceway, also known as the Tricky Triangle, is a superspeedway located in the Pocono Mountains of Pennsylvania at Long Pond. Kevin Harvick entered Pocono with a 69-point lead over Joey Logano. Dale Earnhardt Jr. entered 100 back, Jimmie Johnson entered 102 back and Martin Truex Jr. entered 109 back.Changes to the track
Following the Axalta "We Paint Winners" 400 in June, a section of the Tunnel Turn – turn 2 – about by was milled, leveled and repaved. This was done to eliminate the bumps that develop when the foundation for the track surface that goes over the tunnel the team haulers use to get in and out of the track settles into the ground.Entry list
The entry list for the Windows 10 400 was released on Monday, July 27 at 11:20 a.m. Eastern time. Forty-three drivers were entered for the race. All were entered in the previous week's race at Indianapolis. There were three driver changes for this race. The No. 33 Hillman-Circle Sport LLC Chevrolet that was driven by Alex Kennedy. The Premium Motorsports duo swapped rides this weekend with Timmy Hill driving the No. 62 Chevrolet and Reed Sorenson driving the No. 98 Ford.Practice
First practice
was the fastest in the first practice session with a time of 50.961 and a speed of.Practice (post-qualifying)
Second practice
was the fastest in the second practice session with a time of 51.191 and a speed of.Final practice
was the fastest in the final practice session with a time of 51.358 and a speed of. Jeb Burton was forced to go to his backup car after wrecking into the inside pit road wall. Because this change took place after qualifying, he started the race from the rear of the field.Qualifying
won the pole with a time of 50.444 and a speed of. “I told you I had a fast car, I just wasn’t sure we could get the balance right,” Busch said after winning the pole. “ Adam Stevens and these guys, they did it again.” “A lot of that lies on me for putting the lap together something I hadn’t done over the last couple of months,” Kevin Harvick said after qualifying second. “I feel like we all did a good job there and made some good adjustments. I feel like I probably gave up a little bit in Turn 1. I got a little bit tight in the center of that corner, but all-in-all it was a good lap and I’m glad we ran our fastest speed in the last round. That is what you have to do.” “Not bad,” Tony Stewart said after qualifying fifth. “ Chad Johnston came over in between the practice session and qualifying and showed me some stuff where I was losing some time. That is what we focused on for qualifying and it worked.” “We were pretty good in that final round but not quite good enough to get the pole there,” said Brad Keselowski after qualifying ninth. “We were missing a little bit in one of the corners, but all-in-all a good effort. We had the fastest car in practice so I feel pretty good about that. It is similar to what we had at the Brickyard and we were really strong there but just needed a little more to win so I am optimistic about it for sure.” “We really struggled for whatever reason in Turn 1 today,” said Martin Truex Jr. after qualifying 13th “Just can’t seem to get the balance right. We were either too tight or too loose no matter what we do. Fought the same thing there, not a big deal though I think we will be okay. We’ve got plenty of time to figure it out tomorrow. We’ve got a few cars to pass, but 13th is not too bad. We did it last week.”Qualifying results
Race
First half
Start
The race was scheduled to start at 1:46 p.m., but started four minutes later when Kyle Busch led the field to the green flag. The first caution of the race flew on the fifth lap when Kasey Kahne got loose on the frontstretch coming out of turn 3, slid down the track and slammed into the inside wall lining pit road. This was in an almost identical manner to what happened to Jeb Burton in final practice the day before. “Well, first of all I couldn’t believe I was clear over here this late in the corner and then all the way to the left heading towards pit wall,” Kahne said. “Then I saw the people and I thought to myself that those guys need to take off running and get out of the way. I didn’t know. I hadn’t done anything like that before so it was kind of crazy the way it all happened.” Kahne was uninjured, and he was released from the infield care center a few minutes later, but his car was damaged beyond repair, resulting in a last-place finish. The race was red-flagged to allow NASCAR to evaluate and repair the wall. After a 14-minute and 43 second delay, the red flag was withdrawn and the field continued under caution.The race restarted on lap 10. The second caution of the race flew on lap 16. This was a scheduled competition caution after a section of the track was washed down following the previous day's ARCA race. A few cars opted not to pit and Kevin Harvick assumed the race lead. A. J. Allmendinger was tagged for an uncontrolled tire and restarted the race from the tail-end of the field.
The race restarted on lap 20. The third caution of the race flew the same lap when Harvick blew an engine in turn 3. This was his first DNF since the last year's Duck Commander 500 at Texas Motor Speedway. “"Coming off of Turn 2, I knew I had some issues and didn't realize they were going to be that big, but all in all, just really proud of my team," Harvick said. "Car was fast. You'll have days like this."
The race restarted on lap 24. The fourth caution of the race flew on lap 28 when Sam Hornish Jr. cut down a left-front tire in turn 1 and got rear-ended by Ricky Stenhouse Jr., who then slammed the wall. "Everything was happening real fast," said Stenhouse, who walked away uninjured. "I saw the 9 in Turn 3 run up the track and I thought he just got loose and everything was fine, but getting into Turn 1 the car in front of me ducked out at the last minute and there was the 9 sitting and I got on the brakes really hard. I think it got on the splitter, and couldn't go left or right and just ran right into him. It is not a good day for us. I guess the 9 missed a shift or something and I wasn't aware of it until the 35 or one of the other cars pulled out real quick, and there was the 9 sitting there. By the time I reacted, it was just too late and I ran right back into him." "It is one of those days," Hornish said. "I missed a shift on a restart, which wasn't any good, and then we had a tire come apart and then we got hit and then that deal right there. Kurt was trying to hold on to it and I saw that he got it straightened back out, and it is one of those things where everything stops smoking long enough that you think he has it back under control again and then it is just wobbling around on him. Unfortunate for us, for sure.... I love coming to Pocono and I have had some good runs here and led laps and felt like we could win races, but it just hasn't been for us this year. Hopefully that doesn't carry on to Watkins Glen next weekend."
Second quarter
The race restarted on lap 34 with defending Pocono winner Martin Truex Jr. out in front. He made his first stop on lap 39 and gave the lead to Joey Logano. Jimmie Johnson pitted from second on lap 44. Logano ducked onto pit road on lap 52 and handed the lead to Kyle Busch. He surrendered the lead to pit the next lap and handed it to teammate Denny Hamlin. Dale Earnhardt Jr. was tagged for speeding on pit road and was forced to serve a drive-through penalty. Hamlin pitted from the lead on lap 55 and handed it to Brad Keselowski. He pitted on lap 57 and handed the lead to Jeff Gordon. The No. 2 was tagged for an uncontrolled tire after colliding with his tire carrier and was forced to serve a drive-through penalty. Gordon pitted on lap 59 and handed the lead to Danica Patrick. The uncontrolled tire from the No. 2 pit stall brought out the fifth caution of the race on lap 62. She pitted under the caution and the lead cycled back to Joey Logano. Jeb Burton was tagged for speeding on pit road and restarted the race from the tail-end of the field.The race restarted on lap 66. The sixth caution of the race flew the same lap when Kurt Busch got turned by Paul Menard and then t-boned by Sam Hornish Jr.
The race restarted on lap 72. The seventh caution of the race flew the same lap when Dale Earnhardt Jr. made contact with Cole Whitt in turn 1 and went spinning.