page_title: 2015 Kobalt 400
section_title: Background
hierarchical_section_title: 2015 Kobalt 400 / Report / Background
caption_attribution_description: A Maverick helicopter soars high above the Las Vegas Motor Speedway during NASCAR Weekend 2011. Photo Credits: Tom Donoghue
context_page_description: The 2015 Kobalt 400 was a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race held on March 8, 2015, at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in Las Vegas. Contested over 267 laps on the 1.5 mi asphalt tri-oval, it was the third race of the 2015 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season. Kevin Harvick won the race, his first of the season, while Martin Truex, Jr. finished second. Ryan Newman, Dale Earnhardt, Jr. and Denny Hamlin rounded out the top five.
  Jeff Gordon set a new track record time on his way to winning the pole for the race. Unfortunately, he started the race from the rear of the field after an incident in practice and never led a single lap in his final race at the track. The race had 18 lead changes among nine different drivers, as well as six caution flag periods for 28 laps.
  Harvick's 29th career victory was his first at Las Vegas Motor Speedway and the second at the track for Stewart-Haas Racing. With the win, he leapfrogged Joey Logano for the points lead and left the track with a nine-point lead over Earnhardt. Chevrolet increased their lead over Ford to eleven points in the manufacturers' standings.
  The race was carried by Fox Sports on the broadcast Fox network for the American television audience.
context_section_description: Las Vegas Motor Speedway, located in Clark County, Nevada about 15 miles (24 km) northeast of the Las Vegas Strip, is a 1,200-acre (490 ha) complex of multiple tracks for motorsports racing. The complex is owned by Speedway Motorsports, Inc., which is headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina.
  Joey Logano entered Las Vegas with a one-point lead over Jimmie Johnson who scored his 71st career win the previous week at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Kevin Harvick came into Vegas third in the points two back of Logano, having led 116 of the 325 laps at Atlanta. Dale Earnhardt, Jr. entered fourth in the points four back, while Martin Truex, Jr. entered fifth in the points 13 back.
caption: Overhead view of the track
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