2015 Daytona 500

2015 Daytona 500
Race details[1][2][3][4][5]
Race 1 of 36 in the 2015 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series
Date February 22, 2015 (2015-02-22)
Location Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida
Course Permanent racing facility
2.5 mi (4 km)
Distance 203 laps, 507.5 mi (812 km)
Scheduled Distance 200 laps, 500 mi (800 km)
Weather Sunny skies with a temperature of 79 °F (26 °C); wind out of the south/southeast at 9.2 mph (14.8 km/h)[6]
Average speed 161.938 mph (260.614 km/h)
Pole position
Driver
Hendrick Motorsports
Time 44.711
Qualifying race winners
Duel 1 Winner Dale Earnhardt Jr. (W) Hendrick Motorsports
Duel 2 Winner Jimmie Johnson (W) Hendrick Motorsports
Most laps led
Driver Jeff Gordon (W) Hendrick Motorsports
Laps 87
Winner
No. 22 Joey Logano Team Penske
Television in the United States
Network Fox
Announcers Mike Joy, Larry McReynolds and Darrell Waltrip
Nielsen Ratings 7.3/16 (Overnight)[7]
7.7/17 (Final)[8]
13.4 Million viewers[8]
Radio in the United States
Radio MRN
Booth Announcers Joe Moore, Jeff Striegle and Rusty Wallace
Turn Announcers Dave Moody (1 & 2), Mike Bagley (Backstretch) and Kyle Rickey (3 & 4)

The 2015 Daytona 500, the 57th running of the event, was a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race which was held on February 22, 2015 at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida. Contested over 203 laps – extended from 200 laps due to a green–white–checker finish – on the 2.5 mi (4.0 km) asphalt superspeedway, it was the first race of the 2015 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season. Joey Logano won the race, recording the second Daytona 500 win for Team Penske, and his ninth career Sprint Cup victory. Kevin Harvick finished second while Dale Earnhardt Jr., Denny Hamlin and Jimmie Johnson rounded out the top–five.

Jeff Gordon won the pole for his 23rd and final career start in the Daytona 500. Hendrick Motorsports swept the Budweiser Duel races with Earnhardt Jr. winning the first Duel race and fourth career qualifying race and Johnson winning the second Duel race and second career qualifying race. Gordon led a race-high 87 laps and ran up front for most of the race. He was caught up in the backstretch multi-car wreck on the final lap of the race and finished 33rd. Logano took the lead with 10 laps to go in the scheduled 200 lap distance and was ahead of Kevin Harvick before the last caution flag ended the race in his favor. The race had 27 lead changes among 12 different drivers, as well as 7 caution flag periods for 26 laps. There was also a single red flag period that lasted for 6 minutes and 42 seconds.

Logano left Daytona with a five-point lead over Harvick in the points standings, while Ford left Daytona with a five-point lead over Chevrolet in the manufacturer standings.

The 57th Daytona 500 was carried by Fox Sports on the broadcast Fox network for the American television audience. The radio broadcast for the race was carried by the Motor Racing Network and Sirius XM NASCAR Radio.

Brothers Kurt Busch and Kyle Busch, mainstays in the Cup Series for over a decade, both missed the race for different reasons, making this event the first race without one of the two since the 2001 NAPA 500.[9] Kurt missed the race after being suspended during a trial for domestic violence, while Kyle suffered a broken right leg and a fractured left foot in a violent crash in the Alert Today Florida 300 the day prior.

This marks the final Daytona 500 starts for Sam Hornish Jr., Tony Stewart, Justin Allgaier, and Johnny Sauter.

  1. ^ "2015 NASCAR Schedule" (PDF). NASCAR.com. NASCAR Media Group, LLC. August 26, 2014. Archived from the original (PDF) on April 4, 2015. Retrieved November 18, 2014.
  2. ^ "Daytona International Speedway". NASCAR.com. NASCAR Media Group, LLC. January 3, 2013. Archived from the original on April 27, 2015. Retrieved November 18, 2014.
  3. ^ "Daytona 500 Results". MRN.com. Motor Racing Network. February 22, 2015. Archived from the original on February 23, 2015. Retrieved February 22, 2015.
  4. ^ "Points standings" (PDF). jayski.com. NASCAR Statistics. February 22, 2015. Archived from the original (PDF) on February 24, 2015. Retrieved February 23, 2015.
  5. ^ "Manufacturer standings" (PDF). jayski.com. NASCAR Integrated Marketing Communications. February 23, 2015. Archived from the original (PDF) on February 24, 2015. Retrieved February 24, 2015.
  6. ^ "Raceday weather". wunderground.com. The Weather Channel, LLC. February 22, 2015. Retrieved September 23, 2015.
  7. ^ Paulsen (February 23, 2015). "Daytona 500 Overnights Up, But Still Low". SportsMediaWatch.com. Sports Media Watch. Retrieved February 23, 2015.
  8. ^ a b Paulsen (February 26, 2015). "Daytona 500 Up Big, But Ties Second-Worst Rating Since '91". SportsMediaWatch.com. Sports Media Watch. Retrieved February 27, 2015.
  9. ^ "Race Results".