The 2015 Toyota Owners 400 was a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race held at Richmond International Raceway in Richmond, Virginia. It was scheduled to be held on April 25, 2015, but was run on April 26, 2015 due to rain. Contested over 400 laps on the 0.75 mile (1.2 km) D-shaped short track, it was the ninth race of the 2015 NASCAR Sprint Cup season. Kurt Busch won the race, his first of the season, while teammate Kevin Harvick finished runner-up. Jimmie Johnson, Jamie McMurray and Joey Logano rounded out the top five.
Joey Logano won the pole for the race. He led 94 laps on his way to a fifth-place finish. Kurt Busch led a race high of 291 laps. The race had twelve lead changes among five different drivers, as well as eight caution flag periods for 53 laps.
This was the 26th career victory for Kurt Busch, second at Richmond International Raceway and first at the track for Stewart–Haas Racing. The win moved Busch up to 18th in the points standings. Chevrolet left Richmond with a 29-point lead over Ford in the manufacturer standings.
The Toyota Owners 400 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.
Report Background
Richmond International Raceway (RIR) is a 3/4-mile (1.2 km), D-shaped, asphalt race track located just outside Richmond, Virginia in Henrico County. It hosts the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series and Xfinity Series. "America's Premier Short Track" formerly hosted a NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race, a Verizon IndyCar Series race, and two USAC sprint car races.
Kevin Harvick entered Richmond with a 30-point lead over Joey Logano. Martin Truex Jr. entered 33 back. Jimmie Johnson entered 56 back. Brad Keselowski entered 59 back.
Changes to the track Following an incident from last year's Federated Auto Parts 400, Richmond International Raceway has added metal barriers and more security personnel to prevent fans from scaling the catch fence during the race. With 71 laps to go in last September's race, a man identified as James Dennis climbed to the top of the catch fence overhead of turn 4. This forced David Hoots, competition director for the Sprint Cup Series, to put the race under caution. "It's frustrating and unfortunate," Dennis Bickmeier, track president of Richmond, said Friday. "I was very adamant after hearing about it that fans don't do that. A fan doesn't disrupt an event. You respect it."
Entry list The entry list for the Toyota Owners 400 was released on Monday, April 20, 2015 at 11:23 a.m. Eastern time. Forty-five cars were entered for the race. Chase Elliott attempted to make his second career Sprint Cup Series start in the No. 25 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet. Ron Hornaday Jr. was on the initial entry list, but The Motorsports Group decided to replace him in the No. 30 Chevrolet, which was driven by Jeff Green who attempted to make his first start since the 2011 Lenox Industrial Tools 301 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. Reed Sorenson drove the No. 34 Front Row Motorsports Ford that had been driven by Chris Buescher.
Driver Team Manufacturer 1 Jamie McMurray Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 2 Brad Keselowski (PC3) Team Penske Ford 3 Austin Dillon Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 4 Kevin Harvick (PC1) Stewart–Haas Racing Chevrolet 5 Kasey Kahne Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 6 Trevor Bayne Roush Fenway Racing Ford 7 Alex Bowman Tommy Baldwin Racing Chevrolet 9 Sam Hornish Jr. Richard Petty Motorsports Ford 10 Danica Patrick Stewart–Haas Racing Chevrolet 11 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 13 Casey Mears Germain Racing Chevrolet 14 Tony Stewart (PC4) Stewart–Haas Racing Chevrolet 15 Clint Bowyer Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota 16 Greg Biffle Roush Fenway Racing Ford 17 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Roush Fenway Racing Ford 18 David Ragan Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 19 Carl Edwards Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 20 Matt Kenseth (PC6) Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 22 Joey Logano Team Penske Ford 23 J. J. Yeley (i) BK Racing Toyota 24 Jeff Gordon (PC7) Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 25 Chase Elliott (i) Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 26 Jeb Burton (R) BK Racing Toyota 27 Paul Menard Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 30 Jeff Green (i) The Motorsports Group Chevrolet 31 Ryan Newman Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 32 Joey Gase (i) Go FAS Racing Ford 33 Alex Kennedy (R) Hillman-Circle Sport LLC Chevrolet 34 Reed Sorenson Front Row Motorsports Ford 35 Cole Whitt Front Row Motorsports Ford 38 David Gilliland Front Row Motorsports Ford 40 Landon Cassill (i) Hillman-Circle Sport LLC Chevrolet 41 Kurt Busch (PC5) Stewart–Haas Racing Chevrolet 42 Kyle Larson Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 43 Aric Almirola Richard Petty Motorsports Ford 46 Michael Annett HScott Motorsports Chevrolet 47 A. J. Allmendinger JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet 48 Jimmie Johnson (PC2) Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 51 Justin Allgaier HScott Motorsports Chevrolet 55 Brett Moffitt (R) Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota 62 Brendan Gaughan (i) Premium Motorsports Chevrolet 78 Martin Truex Jr. Furniture Row Racing Chevrolet 83 Matt DiBenedetto (R) BK Racing Toyota 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 98 Josh Wise Phil Parsons Racing FordOfficial initial entry listOfficial updated entry list Key Meaning (R) Rookie (i) Ineligible for points (PC#) Past champions provisional
Practice First practice Brad Keselowski was the fastest in the first practice session with a time of 21.414 and a speed of .
Pos Driver Team Manufacturer Time 1 2 Brad Keselowski Team Penske Ford 21.414 126.086 2 88 Chevrolet 21.498 125.593 3 4 Kevin Harvick Stewart–Haas Racing Chevrolet 21.511 125.517Official first practice results
Final practice Kasey Kahne was the fastest in the final practice session with a time of 21.368 and a speed of .
Pos Driver Team Manufacturer Time 1 5 Kasey Kahne Chevrolet 21.368 126.357 2 16 Greg Biffle Roush Fenway Racing Ford 21.401 126.162 3 19 Carl Edwards Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 21.424 126.027Official final practice results
Qualifying
Joey Logano won the pole with a time of 21.248 and a speed of . “The guys did a great job getting us faster today,” Logano said. “It is fun because you go out and run all these laps and that lap didn’t even actually feel that good because you have seven or eight laps on your tires and the car is sliding around a lot so it is funny that the pole sitting car is sliding all over the place but everyone is on old tires out there.” Denny Hamlin, who got out of the car last week at Bristol because of neck spasms, qualified second. “I’m 100 percent fore sure,” the Joe Gibbs Racing driver said. “I would have liked the pole but I am definitely happy for Joey to see him get it,” Brad Keselowski said of his teammate being on the pole. “It is nice for Team Penske and great for Ford. If you can’t get a pole you want it to be your teammate so I am happy that he was able to get it done.” Jeb Burton and Brendan Gaughan failed to qualify for the race. Just before the race, BK Racing announced that Burton will drive the No. 23 car in place of teammate J. J. Yeley. Because of the driver change, Jeb Burton started the race from the rear of the field.
Qualifying results Pos Driver Team Manufacturer 1 22 Joey Logano Team Penske Ford 21.089 21.303 21.248 2 11 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 21.121 21.080 21.294 3 41 Kurt Busch Stewart–Haas Racing Chevrolet 20.987 21.297 21.326 4 47 A. J. Allmendinger JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet 21.136 21.294 21.332 5 4 Kevin Harvick Stewart–Haas Racing Chevrolet 20.840 21.152 21.356 6 78 Martin Truex Jr. Furniture Row Racing Chevrolet 21.043 21.236 21.409 7 2 Brad Keselowski Team Penske Ford 20.894 21.220 21.424 8 20 Matt Kenseth Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 21.099 21.211 21.459 9 1 Jamie McMurray Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 21.179 21.262 21.499 10 18 David Ragan Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 21.012 21.303 21.519 11 24 Jeff Gordon Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 21.043 21.278 21.540 12 42 Kyle Larson Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 21.047 21.313 21.604 13 14 Tony Stewart Stewart–Haas Racing Chevrolet 21.197 21.358 — 14 55 Brett Moffitt (R) Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota 21.066 21.359 — 15 27 Paul Menard Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 21.096 21.368 — 16 25 Chase Elliott (i) Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 21.115 21.373 — 17 15 Clint Bowyer Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota 21.199 21.376 — 18 19 Carl Edwards Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 21.071 21.390 — 19 40 Landon Cassill (i) Hillman-Circle Sport LLC Chevrolet 21.109 21.398 — 20 3 Austin Dillon Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 21.138 21.400 — 21 10 Danica Patrick Stewart–Haas Racing Chevrolet 21.197 21.470 — 22 51 Justin Allgaier HScott Motorsports Chevrolet 21.137 21.487 — 23 31 Ryan Newman Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 21.096 21.512 — 24 17 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Roush Fenway Racing Ford 21.195 21.607 — 25 13 Casey Mears Germain Racing Chevrolet 21.208 — — 26 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 21.216 — — 27 43 Aric Almirola Richard Petty Motorsports Ford 21.248 — — 28 98 Josh Wise Phil Parsons Racing Ford 21.251 — — 29 9 Sam Hornish Jr. Richard Petty Motorsports Ford 21.278 — — 30 38 David Gilliland Front Row Motorsports Ford 21.289 — — 31 35 Cole Whitt Front Row Motorsports Ford 21.293 — — 32 16 Greg Biffle Roush Fenway Racing Ford 21.311 — — 33 30 Jeff Green (i) The Motorsports Group Chevrolet 21.318 — — 34 6 Trevor Bayne Roush Fenway Racing Ford 21.334 — — 35 32 Joey Gase (i) Go FAS Racing Ford 21.337 — — 36 48 Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 21.341 — — 37 83 Matt DiBenedetto (R) BK Racing Toyota 21.341 — — 38 46 Michael Annett HScott Motorsports Chevrolet 21.352 — — 39 23 J. J. Yeley (i) BK Racing Toyota 21.418 — — 40 5 Kasey Kahne Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 21.444 — — 41 7 Alex Bowman Tommy Baldwin Racing Chevrolet 21.535 — — 42 33 Alex Kennedy (R) Hillman-Circle Sport LLC Chevrolet 21.539 — — 43 34 Reed Sorenson Front Row Motorsports Ford 21.912 — —Failed to qualify 44 26 Jeb Burton (R) BK Racing Toyota 21.511 — — 45 62 Brendan Gaughan Premium Motorsports Chevrolet 21.644 — —Official qualifying results
Race The race was scheduled to start at 7:14 p.m. Eastern time, but the threat of bad weather moved the start up to 7:05 p.m. It was all for naught, however. NASCAR made the decision to postpone the race to Sunday at 1:16 p.m.
First half Start The race started at 1:19 p.m. with Joey Logano leading the field to the green flag. With all the rubber being washed away by the rain, the cars were primarily running the bottom groove. Coming out of turn 4 on lap 4, Danica Patrick got hit by Casey Mears and about spun out. She saved the car and the race remained green. Logano caught the end of the field ten laps into the race. By lap 21, Kurt Busch began reeling in the leader. By lap 42, Busch, his teammate Kevin Harvick, and Martin Truex Jr. pulled within a second of Logano. The first caution of the day flew on lap 51. This was a planned competition caution for overnight rain. The top ten in the running order entering pit road would've remained the same exiting, but Jamie McMurray, who was running eighth, had to make another pit stop for loose lug nuts. He restarted the race in 30th position.
The race restarted on lap 57. After 40 laps, Busch pulled up to the leader. Using the lapped car of Josh Wise as a pick, Busch passed to the inside of Logano to take the lead on lap 96. The second caution flew on lap 124 when Joey Gase, coming off turn 2, got turned by Aric Almirola and hit inside backstretch wall head-on. Busch swapped the lead with Harvick on pit road with his teammate pitting before the start/finish line. Busch, however, exited pit road with the lead.
Trouble for Josh Wise The race restarted on lap 137. The third caution flew the next lap for Wise's car had stalled at the exit of pit road.