The 2015 FedEx 400 benefiting Autism Speaks was a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race held on May 31, 2015, at Dover International Speedway in Dover, Delaware. Contested over 405 laps – extended by five laps due to a green-white-checkered finish – on the concrete speedway, it was the 13th race of the 2015 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season. Jimmie Johnson won the race, his fourth win of the season and tenth at Dover, while Kevin Harvick finished second and Kyle Larson finished third. Kasey Kahne and Aric Almirola rounded out the top five.
Denny Hamlin scored the pole for the race and led 118 laps on his way to a 21st-place finish after being caught up in a late race wreck. Martin Truex Jr. led the most laps for the third consecutive race on his way to a sixth-place finish. The race had 15 lead changes among nine different drivers, as well as seven caution flag periods for 40 laps.
This was the 74th career victory for Jimmie Johnson, tenth at Dover International Speedway – becoming the fifth driver to win ten or more races at one race track – and 18th at the track for Hendrick Motorsports. This win moved Jimmie Johnson up to third in the points standings. Chevrolet left Dover with a 51-point lead over Ford in the manufacturer standings.
The FedEx 400 benefiting Autism Speaks was carried by Fox Sports on the cable/satellite Fox Sports 1 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 Dover International Speedway (formerly Dover Downs International Speedway) is a race track in Dover, Delaware, United States. Since opening in 1969, it has held at least two NASCAR races. In addition to NASCAR, the track also hosted USAC and the Verizon IndyCar Series. The track features one layout, a concrete oval, with 24° banking in the turns and 9° banking on the straights. The speedway is owned and operated by Dover Motorsports.
The track, nicknamed "The Monster Mile", was built in 1969 by Melvin Joseph of Melvin L. Joseph Construction Company, Inc., with an asphalt surface, but was replaced with concrete in 1995. Six years later in 2001, the track's capacity moved to 135,000 seats, making the track have the largest capacity of sports venue in the mid-Atlantic. In 2002, the name changed to Dover International Speedway from Dover Downs International Speedway after Dover Downs Gaming and Entertainment split, making Dover Motorsports. From 2007 to 2009, the speedway worked on an improvement project called "The Monster Makeover", which expanded facilities at the track and beautified the track. After the 2014 season, the track's capacity was reduced to 95,500 seats.
Kevin Harvick entered Dover with a 41-point lead over Martin Truex Jr. Joey Logano entered 66 back, Dale Earnhardt Jr. entered 72 back and Jimmie Johnson entered 80 back.
Tires Goodyear provided teams with a newly constructed left-side tire compound intended to provide more grip. Teams were also given nine sets of tires for the race instead of the normal eleven.
Penalties from Charlotte Following two consecutive weeks of failing to pass qualifying tech inspection on the first attempt, the No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet and the No. 51 HScott Motorsports Chevrolet teams were to be relegated to having the last pit stall selections after the completion of qualifying. The 48 team, however, appealed the penalty and will pick in the order they qualify.
Entry list The entry list for the FedEx 400 was released on Monday, May 25 at 12:41 p.m. Eastern time. Forty-five drivers were entered for the race. The only car with a different driver than the previous week's Coca-Cola 600 is Brian Scott. He returned to the seat of the No. 33 Hillman-Circle Sport LLC Chevrolet.
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 Kyle Busch 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 26 Jeb Burton (R) BK Racing Toyota 27 Paul Menard Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 30 Jeff Green The Motorsports Group Chevrolet 31 Ryan Newman Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 32 Mike Bliss (i) Go FAS Racing Ford 33 Brian Scott (i) Hillman-Circle Sport LLC Chevrolet 34 Brett Moffitt (R) Front Row Motorsports Ford 35 Cole Whitt Front Row Motorsports Ford 38 David Gilliland Front Row Motorsports Ford 39 Travis Kvapil (i) Hillman-Circle Sport LLC Chevrolet 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 David Ragan 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 entry list Key Meaning (R) Rookie (i) Ineligible for points (PC#) Past champions provisional
First practice Jimmie Johnson was the fastest in the first practice session with a time of 21.969 and a speed of .
Pos Driver Team Manufacturer Time 1 48 Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 21.969 163.867 2 11 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 22.014 163.532 3 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 22.022 163.473Official first practice results
Qualifying
Denny Hamlin won the pole with a time 22.483 and a speed of . "It's so special, especially during FedEx 400 weekend," said Hamlin, who drives the FedEx Toyota. I was really more optimistic about our race trim than what I was our qualifying. Very optimistic that hopefully we can put this FedEx Cares Camry in Victory Lane where it belongs on Sunday." "Missed it a little bit, but obviously proud of the continued effort of all of the guys on the Furniture Row team," Martin Truex Jr. said. "Another awesome race car. It felt like we were just OK in practice, it didn't feel like we were a front row car. We made some adjustments and they hit it damn near perfect. We just needed a little bit." “Momentum is kind of on our side,” Greg Biffle said. “We are getting the car to drive better, getting a little better setup under it and working on our chassis back at the shop. We will continue to make these small gains and hopefully going into Pocono, Indy and Michigan we will see if we can get it up in the top-five. We are in the top-10 now, we need the top-five.” Jeff Green and Travis Kvapil failed to qualify for the race.
Qualifying results Pos Driver Team Manufacturer 1 11 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 22.553 22.463 22.483 2 78 Martin Truex Jr. Furniture Row Racing Chevrolet 22.539 22.492 22.539 3 42 Kyle Larson Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 22.506 22.562 22.545 4 20 Matt Kenseth Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 22.711 22.609 22.546 5 22 Joey Logano Team Penske Ford 22.553 22.593 22.557 6 4 Kevin Harvick Stewart–Haas Racing Chevrolet 22.606 22.627 22.571 7 16 Greg Biffle Roush Fenway Racing Ford 22.430 22.537 22.573 8 19 Carl Edwards Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 22.575 22.614 22.609 9 17 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Roush Fenway Racing Ford 22.626 22.601 22.635 10 18 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 22.563 22.553 22.645 11 1 Jamie McMurray Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 22.663 22.623 22.683 12 3 Austin Dillon Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 22.700 22.654 22.743 13 41 Kurt Busch Stewart–Haas Racing Chevrolet 22.670 22.657 — 14 48 Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 22.565 22.668 — 15 55 David Ragan Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota 22.725 22.690 — 16 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 22.729 22.716 — 17 31 Ryan Newman Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 22.629 22.747 — 18 27 Paul Menard Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 22.647 22.760 — 19 2 Brad Keselowski Team Penske Ford 22.741 22.761 — 20 15 Clint Bowyer Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota 22.702 22.764 — 21 13 Casey Mears Germain Racing Chevrolet 22.693 22.771 — 22 24 Jeff Gordon Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 22.718 22.773 — 23 43 Aric Almirola Richard Petty Motorsports Ford 22.700 22.773 — 24 51 Justin Allgaier HScott Motorsports Chevrolet 22.727 22.830 — 25 5 Kasey Kahne Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 22.746 — — 26 14 Tony Stewart Stewart–Haas Racing Chevrolet 22.773 — — 27 33 Brian Scott (i) Hillman-Circle Sport LLC Chevrolet 22.779 — — 28 9 Sam Hornish Jr. Richard Petty Motorsports Ford 22.832 — — 29 47 A. J. Allmendinger JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet 22.834 — — 30 7 Alex Bowman Tommy Baldwin Racing Chevrolet 22.886 — — 31 6 Trevor Bayne Roush Fenway Racing Ford 22.912 — — 32 38 David Gilliland Front Row Motorsports Ford 22.922 — — 33 10 Danica Patrick Stewart–Haas Racing Chevrolet 22.980 — — 34 46 Michael Annett HScott Motorsports Chevrolet 22.983 — — 35 26 Jeb Burton (R) BK Racing Toyota 22.985 — — 36 83 Matt DiBenedetto (R) BK Racing Toyota 23.114 — — 37 35 Cole Whitt Front Row Motorsports Ford 23.205 — — 38 34 Brett Moffitt (R) Front Row Motorsports Ford 23.296 — — 39 98 Josh Wise Phil Parsons Racing Ford 23.310 — — 40 23 J. J. Yeley (i) BK Racing Toyota 23.342 — — 41 62 Brendan Gaughan (i) Premium Motorsports Chevrolet 23.445 — — 42 32 Mike Bliss (i) Go FAS Racing Ford 23.471 — — 43 40 Landon Cassill (i) Hillman-Circle Sport LLC Chevrolet 23.579 — —Failed to qualify 44 39 Travis Kvapil (i) Hillman-Circle Sport LLC Chevrolet 23.189 — — 45 30 Jeff Green (i) The Motorsports Group Chevrolet 23.535 — —Official qualifying results
Practice (post-qualifying) Second practice Denny Hamlin was the fastest in the second practice session with a time of 23.028 and a speed of .
Pos Driver Team Manufacturer Time 1 11 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 23.028 156.331 2 19 Carl Edwards Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 23.029 156.325 3 41 Kurt Busch Chevrolet 23.116 155.736Official second practice results
Final practice
Denny Hamlin was the fastest in the final practice session with a time of 23.064 and a speed of . Dale Earnhardt Jr. had fluid leaking from his car that splashed all over the apron at the exit of pit road. His crew fixed the leak and he returned to the track to finish the session.
Pos Driver Team Manufacturer Time 1 11 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 23.064 156.087 2 19 Carl Edwards Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 23.136 155.602 3 27 Paul Menard Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 23.195 155.206Official final practice results
Race First half Start The race was scheduled to start at 1:15 p.m. but started two minutes later when Denny Hamlin led the field to the green flag. By lap 20, he caught the tail end of the field and saw his lead begin to shrink to Martin Truex Jr. After being held up by Justin Allgaier, Hamlin lost the lead to Truex Jr. on lap 45. By lap 60, Kevin Harvick began reeling in the leader. But Truex Jr. started pulling away again. Debris in turn 1 brought out the first caution on lap 74. This was the longest green flag run to start a race in the 2015 season. Hamlin reclaimed the lead by exiting pit road first.
Green flag run