page_title: 2015 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series
section_title: Race reports
hierarchical_section_title: 2015 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series / Season summary / Race reports
caption_attribution_description: English: Joey Logano celebrates his win at Talladega.
context_page_description: The 2015 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series was the 67th season of professional stock car racing in the United States and the 44th modern-era Cup season. The season began at Daytona International Speedway with the Sprint Unlimited exhibition race, the Budweiser Duels, and the Daytona 500. The season ended with the Ford EcoBoost 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Kyle Busch won the championship, despite missing the first third of the season due to severe leg injuries suffered in an Xfinity Series race at Daytona. Busch also became the first Toyota driver to win a Cup championship. Despite not running the full season, Brett Moffitt was named Rookie of the Year.
  The season also marked the first season of a new television contract. During the season, races were televised in the United States on Fox, Fox Sports 1, NBC, and NBCSN. ESPN and Turner Sports, who televised races from 2007 to 2014, did not seek to renew their contracts with NASCAR following the completion of the 2014 season; this marked the end of a 31-year relationship between NASCAR and Turner's primary stations, TBS and TNT. In addition, it was the first season on the newly rebranded Fox Sports Racing in Canada and the Caribbean.
context_section_description: Speedweeks 2015
  Speedweeks 2015 started with the Sprint Unlimited. Matt Kenseth won the Sprint Unlimited ahead of Martin Truex Jr. and Carl Edwards in a crash-filled race that saw only 12 of 25 cars finish the race. Following the race, tension arose between Kevin Harvick and Joey Logano over how Logano was racing Harvick in the later part of the race.
  Qualifying for the front row of the Daytona 500 took place the following day. Jeff Gordon won the pole for his 23rd and final Daytona 500. His teammate Jimmie Johnson joined him on the front row by qualifying second. Group qualifying was used for the first time, and a multicar crash occurred from Reed Sorenson and Clint Bowyer making contact, which also involved Bobby Labonte, J.J. Yeley, and Denny Hamlin.
  The following Thursday, the Budweiser Duels took place to set the remainder of the starting lineup for the Daytona 500. The first duel race was won by Dale Earnhardt Jr., who held off pole-sitter Gordon to take the win. The second duel race was won by Johnson from the pole. During the race, an incident occurred between Hamlin and Danica Patrick which resulted in a confrontation between the two following the race.
  The Friday before the Daytona 500, Kurt Busch was indefinitely suspended by NASCAR following possible charges of domestic violence against his former girlfriend Patricia Driscoll. Regan Smith would replace Kurt Busch in the Daytona 500. The day before the race, Kurt's younger brother Kyle Busch broke his right leg and fractured his left foot in an accident in the Alert Today Florida 300 Xfinity Series race where he hit a wall without a SAFER barrier. Matt Crafton replaced Kyle Busch for the Daytona 500, making his Cup debut.
  Round 1: Daytona 500
  Jeff Gordon started on the pole and led the most laps, but was involved in a late wreck. Another wreck occurred on lap 41 involving Tony Stewart and Matt Kenseth. Brad Keselowski lost an engine with 40 laps to go and caused Jamie McMurray and Ryan Newman to collide with each other. Joey Logano would score his first Daytona 500 win on a two lap dash to the finish.
  Round 2: Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500
  After a delayed start due to rain, Joey Logano led the field to green. Kevin Harvick dominated the first half of the race but would end up finishing second. Jeff Gordon was involved in a multicar accident with Denny Hamlin, Jamie McMurray, and Ryan Newman. Gordon had hit a wall without a SAFER barrier and pointed the issue out to NASCAR. Jimmie Johnson would go on to win the race.
  Round 3: Kobalt 400
  Jeff Gordon won the pole but started from the rear in a backup car. Gordon drove to the front but was collected in a wreck with Jeb Burton after Jimmie Johnson got into the wall. Late in the race, Dale Earnhardt Jr. took 2 tires on pit road while Kevin Harvick would take 4 tires. Harvick was able to get around Earnhardt Jr. and score the win.
  Round 4: CampingWorld.com 500
  Kevin Harvick started on the pole and dominated the race to score his second straight victory and his fourth straight win at Phoenix. Harvick was followed by Jamie McMurray, Ryan Newman, Kasey Kahne, and Kurt Busch. Kurt Busch made his return to NASCAR following a three-race suspension.
  Round 5: Auto Club 400
  Kurt Busch was on the pole and dominated the race. During a green-white-checker finish, Brad Keselowski was able to get around Kurt Busch on the last lap and score the win. Kurt Busch finished third, having been passed by Kevin Harvick for second. Harvick brought his streak of finishing first or second up to eight races dating back to the previous season.
  Round 6: STP 500
  Joey Logano started from the pole. Denny Hamlin would come back from a pit road penalty for an uncontrolled tire and score his fifth win at Martinsville, finishing ahead of Brad Keselowski, Logano, Matt Kenseth, and David Ragan. Kevin Harvick finished eighth, ending his streak of top-two finishes. Chase Elliott made his Cup debut, finishing 38th after being involved in a wreck. Kyle Larson missed the race after fainting during an autograph signing the day prior and was replaced by Regan Smi
caption: Joey Logano celebrates winning the CampingWorld.com 500 at Talladega
exif: {"Image ImageDescription": "", "Image Make": "NIKON", "Image Model": "COOLPIX L830", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image XResolution": "72", "Image YResolution": "72", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "Photos 1.0.1", "Image DateTime": "2015:10:25 16:43:06", "Image ExifOffset": "238", "EXIF ExposureTime": "1/250", "EXIF FNumber": "51/10", "EXIF ExposureProgram": "Program Normal", "EXIF ISOSpeedRatings": "400", "EXIF SensitivityType": "Standard Output Sensitivity", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0230", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2015:10:25 16:43:06", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2015:10:25 16:43:06", "EXIF ComponentsConfiguration": "YCbCr", "EXIF CompressedBitsPerPixel": "2", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "0", "EXIF MaxApertureValue": "16/5", "EXIF MeteringMode": "Pattern", "EXIF LightSource": "Unknown", "EXIF Flash": "Flash did not fire, compulsory flash mode", "EXIF FocalLength": "287/10", "EXIF FlashPixVersion": "0100", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "4608", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "3456", "EXIF FileSource": "Digital Camera", "EXIF SceneType": "Directly Photographed", "EXIF CustomRendered": "Normal", "EXIF ExposureMode": "Auto Exposure", "EXIF WhiteBalance": "Auto", "EXIF DigitalZoomRatio": "0", "EXIF FocalLengthIn35mmFilm": "160", "EXIF SceneCaptureType": "Standard", "EXIF GainControl": "None", "EXIF Contrast": "Normal", "EXIF Saturation": "Normal", "EXIF Sharpness": "Normal", "EXIF SubjectDistanceRange": "0"}