2015 myAFibRisk.com 400

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2015 myAFibRisk.com 400
Race details[1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10]
Race 27 of 36 in the 2015 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series
Date September 20, 2015 (2015-09-20)
Location Chicagoland Speedway in Joliet, Illinois
Course Permanent racing facility
1.5 mi (2.4 km)
Distance 267 laps, 400.5 mi (640.8 km)
Weather Clear blue, sunny skies with a temperature of 71 °F (22 °C); wind out of the east at 2 mph (3.2 km/h)
Average speed 140.117 mph (225.496 km/h)
Pole position
Driver Stewart-Haas Racing
Time 28.675
Most laps led
Driver Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing
Laps 121
Winner
No. 11 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing
Television in the United States
Network NBCSN
Announcers Rick Allen, Jeff Burton and Steve Letarte
Nielsen Ratings 1.8/3 (Overnight)[11]
2.1/4 (Final)[12]
3.2 Million viewers[12]
Radio in the United States
Radio MRN
Booth Announcers Joe Moore, Jeff Striegle and Rusty Wallace
Turn Announcers Dave Moody (1 & 2) and Mike Bagley (3 & 4)

The 2015 myAFibRisk.com 400 was a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race held on September 20, 2015, at Chicagoland Speedway in Joliet, Illinois. Contested over 267 laps on the 1.5 mile (2.4 km) intermediate speedway, it was the 27th race of the 2015 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season, first race of the Chase and first race of the Challenger Round. Denny Hamlin won the race, his second of the season. Carl Edwards finished second. Kurt Busch, Ryan Newman and Matt Kenseth rounded out the top–five.

Due to qualifying being rained-out, Kevin Harvick was given the first starting spot of the race. He led 10 laps before wrecking out halfway through the race and finished 42nd. Kyle Busch led a race high of 121 laps on his way to a ninth–place finish. There were 17 lead changes among 10 different drivers, as well as six caution flag periods for 28 laps.

This was Denny Hamlin's 26th career win, second of the season, first at Chicagoland Speedway and fifth at the track for Joe Gibbs Racing. The win moved Hamlin up to second in the points trailing teammate Matt Kenseth by two. Despite being the winning manufacturer, Toyota left Chicagoland trailing Chevrolet by 49–points in the manufacturer standings.

The myAFibRisk.com 400 was carried by NBC Sports on the cable/satellite NBCSN 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[edit]

Background[edit]

Chicagoland Speedway, the track where the race was held.

Chicagoland Speedway is a 1.5 miles (2.4 km) tri-oval speedway in Joliet, Illinois, southwest of Chicago. The speedway opened in 2001 and currently hosts NASCAR racing including the opening event in the Chase for the Sprint Cup. Until 2011, the speedway also hosted the IndyCar Series, recording numerous close finishes including the closest finish in IndyCar history. The speedway is owned and operated by International Speedway Corporation and located adjacent to Route 66 Raceway.

Jimmie Johnson entered Chicagoland tied with Kyle Busch and Matt Kenseth for the points lead at 2,012–points. Joey Logano entered three–points back. Kevin Harvick, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Kurt Busch and Carl Edwards entered tied for fifth six–points back. Brad Keselowski, Martin Truex Jr. and Denny Hamlin entered tied for ninth nine–points back. Jamie McMurray, Jeff Gordon, Ryan Newman, Paul Menard and Clint Bowyer entered tied for 12th 12–points back.

Change to restart officiating[edit]

Following complaints of Matt Kenseth jumping the final restart at Richmond, NASCAR decided to add a camera feed and official with the sole purpose of monitoring the restart zone.[13]

NASCAR record[edit]

When the green flag flies on Sunday, Jeff Gordon – who made his first career Sprint Cup Series start in the 1992 Hooters 500 at what was then Atlanta International Raceway (now Atlanta Motor Speedway) – tied Ricky Rudd's record for most consecutive starts at 788.[14] The 23–year veteran of the sport will break the tie next weekend at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.[14] “I’ve got to get through this weekend first,” he said. “That’s one of those things where I feel a little strange talking about it because I do appreciate and respect the safety of this sport. (That) side can be taken away from you at any time. I want to break that record. I think it’s a huge accomplishment because it’s not easy to do. It’s easier today because the sport is safer. I look at Ricky Rudd and what he went through to make it. That is pretty extraordinary. I can’t quite compare that.”[14]

Entry list[edit]

The entry list for the myAFibRisk.com 400 was released on Sunday, September 13 at 11:49 a.m. Eastern time. Forty-six cars were entered for the race. All but Ryan Blaney in the No. 21 Wood Brothers Racing Ford were entered for the previous week's race at Richmond. The two driver changes for this weekend's race were Travis Kvapil returning to the No. 30 Chevrolet for The Motorsports Group and Josh Wise returning to the No. 32 Go FAS Racing Ford.

No. 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
21 Ryan Blaney (i) Wood Brothers Racing Ford
22 Joey Logano Team Penske Ford
23 David Ragan (R) BK Racing Toyota
24 Jeff Gordon (PC7) Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
26 J. J. Yeley (i) BK Racing Toyota
27 Paul Menard Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet
30 Travis Kvapil (i) The Motorsports Group Chevrolet
31 Ryan Newman Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet
32 Josh Wise 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
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 Reed Sorenson 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
95 Michael McDowell Leavine Family Racing Ford
98 Timmy Hill (i) Premium Motorsports Ford
Official initial entry list[permanent dead link]
Official final entry list
Key Meaning
(R) Rookie
(i) Ineligible for points
(PC#) Past champions provisional

First practice[edit]

Kevin Harvick was the fastest in the first practice session with a time of 28.675 and a speed of 188.317 mph (303.067 km/h).[15]

Pos No. Driver Team Manufacturer Time Speed
1 4 Kevin Harvick Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet 28.675 188.317
2 22 Joey Logano Team Penske Ford 28.737 187.911
3 2 Brad Keselowski Team Penske Ford 28.750 187.826
Official first practice results

Qualifying[edit]

Kevin Harvick, seen here at the 2015 Daytona 500, was awarded the first starting spot after qualifying was rained out.

Three rounds of knockout qualifying took place at 6:45 p.m., but heavy rain forced the session to be cancelled and the starting lineup was set by first practice times according to the NASCAR rulebook.[16] As a result, Kevin Harvick was awarded the first starting spot for the race.[16] He was joined on the front row by Joey Logano.[16] "We haven’t been in race trim yet," Logano said. "We stayed in qualifying trim all day today and I felt like it was qualifying during practice. We were really trying to top the charts. We really felt like that was where we would be starting at the end of practice. Obviously this storm is huge and we didn’t have a shot in hell of making qualifying happen.”[16] “It is a lot better than last year when we started 25th," Brad Keselowski – who started third – said. "We will take that and move on. The car has been pretty good so far so I feel good about that."[16] Ryan Blaney, Travis Kvapil and Michael McDowell failed to qualify for the race.[17]

Qualifying results[edit]

Pos No. Driver Team Manufacturer Time Speed
1 4 Kevin Harvick Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet 28.675 188.317
2 22 Joey Logano Team Penske Ford 28.737 187.911
3 2 Brad Keselowski Team Penske Ford 28.750 187.826
4 78 Martin Truex Jr. Furniture Row Racing Chevrolet 28.754 187.800
5 3 Austin Dillon Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 28.760 187.761
6 31 Ryan Newman Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 28.813 187.415
7 18 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 28.893 186.896
8 5 Kasey Kahne Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 28.922 186.709
9 41 Kurt Busch Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet 28.958 186.477
10 24 Jeff Gordon Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 28.959 186.471
11 48 Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 28.961 186.458
12 20 Matt Kenseth Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 28.967 186.419
13 1 Jamie McMurray Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 29.017 186.098
14 19 Carl Edwards Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 29.018 186.091
15 47 A. J. Allmendinger JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet 29.027 186.034
16 27 Paul Menard Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 29.028 186.027
17 16 Greg Biffle Roush Fenway Racing Ford 29.033 185.995
18 42 Kyle Larson Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 29.051 185.880
19 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 29.055 185.854
20 43 Aric Almirola Richard Petty Motorsports Ford 29.055 185.854
21 33 Brian Scott (i) Hillman-Circle Sport LLC Chevrolet 29.061 185.816
22 9 Sam Hornish Jr. Richard Petty Motorsports Ford 29.067 185.778
23 14 Tony Stewart Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet 29.085 185.663
24 13 Casey Mears Germain Racing Chevrolet 29.159 185.192
25 10 Danica Patrick Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet 29.160 185.185
26 15 Clint Bowyer Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota 29.183 185.039
27 17 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Roush Fenway Racing Ford 29.227 184.761
28 55 David Ragan Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota 29.246 184.641
29 11 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 29.275 184.458
30 6 Trevor Bayne Roush Fenway Racing Ford 29.457 183.318
31 51 Justin Allgaier HScott Motorsports Chevrolet 29.467 183.256
32 7 Alex Bowman Tommy Baldwin Racing Chevrolet 29.599 182.439
33 35 Cole Whitt Front Row Motorsports Ford 29.645 182.156
34 26 J. J. Yeley (i) BK Racing Toyota 29.644 182.149
35 38 David Gilliland Front Row Motorsports Ford 29.666 182.027
36 40 Landon Cassill (i) Hillman-Circle Sport LLC Chevrolet 29.686 181.904
37 46 Michael Annett HScott Motorsports Chevrolet 29.725 181.665
38 34 Brett Moffitt (R)[N 1] Front Row Motorsports Ford 29.733 181.616
39 83 Matt DiBenedetto (R) BK Racing Toyota 29.747 181.531
40 32 Josh Wise Go FAS Racing Ford 29.770 181.391
41 23 Jeb Burton (R) BK Racing Toyota 29.851 180.898
42 98 Reed Sorenson Premium Motorsports Ford 30.052 179.689
43 62 Timmy Hill (i) Premium Motorsports Chevrolet 30.767 175.513
Failed to qualify
44 21 Ryan Blaney (i) Wood Brothers Racing Ford 28.951 186.522
45 95 Michael McDowell Leavine Family Racing Ford 30.070 179.581
46 30 Travis Kvapil (i) The Motorsports Group Chevrolet 30.223 178.672
Official first practice results
Official starting lineup

Practice (post-qualifying)[edit]

Second practice[edit]

Martin Truex Jr. was the fastest in the second practice session with a time of 29.458 and a speed of 183.312 mph (295.012 km/h).[18]

Pos No. Driver Team Manufacturer Time Speed
1 78 Martin Truex Jr. Furniture Row Racing Chevrolet 29.458 183.312
2 11 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 29.607 182.389
3 24 Jeff Gordon Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 29.698 181.830
Official second practice results

Final practice[edit]

Martin Truex Jr. was the fastest in the final practice session with a time of 29.213 and a speed of 184.849 mph (297.486 km/h).[19]

Pos No. Driver Team Manufacturer Time Speed
1 78 Martin Truex Jr. Furniture Row Racing Chevrolet 29.213 184.849
2 2 Brad Keselowski Team Penske Ford 29.350 183.986
3 20 Matt Kenseth Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 29.356 183.949
Official final practice results

Race[edit]

First half[edit]

Start[edit]

Under clear blue Illinois skies, Kevin Harvick led the field to the green flag at 3:18 p.m. He edged out Joey Logano to lead the first lap. The first caution of the race flew on the second lap when A. J. Allmendinger came down across the nose of Denny Hamlin and went spinning in turn 3. Trying to avoid ramming the No. 47 car, Hamlin got loose on the high-side, spun out and slid down the race track.[20] He didn't suffer any damage and he continued on racing.[21]

The race restarted on lap 7. Martin Truex Jr. forced Harvick up the track to take the lead the next lap. By lap 15, Austin Dillon was pressuring him for the top spot, but got loose in turn 3 and lost the second position to Harvick. By lap 23, Harvick pulled up next to Truex and edged out front but the No. 78 car beat him back to the line. By lap 36, Kyle Busch, now in second place, began to pressure Truex for the lead. Finally, Busch slid up in front of him to take the lead on lap 47. A number of cars began hitting pit road on lap 52 and Busch hit pit road from the lead on lap 54. In a rare circumstance, the lead didn't change at all through the cycle. Alex Bowman and Carl Edwards were both tagged for speeding on pit road and they had to serve drive-through penalties.[21]

Second quarter[edit]

When the pit cycle was over, Busch began driving away from the field. 20 laps later, Harvick began to run him down. However, lapped traffic prevented him from getting close to the leader. On lap 87, Kurt Busch, running fifth at the time, made an unscheduled stop after slamming the wall in turn 3. Despite this, the race continued under green. Another round of green flag pit stops began on lap 100 and Ky. Busch surrendered the lead to make his stop on lap 106 and handed it to Dale Earnhardt Jr. He pitted the next lap to give the lead back to Busch. Debris on the backstretch brought out the second caution of the race on lap 123.[21]

The race restarted on lap 129. Harvick edged out Busch on the backstretch and took the lead. The third caution of the race flew on lap 130 when Dillon blew his right-front tire out and slammed the wall in turn 2.[22] He would go on to finish 43rd 69–laps down.[22]

Second half[edit]

Halfway[edit]

The race restarted on lap 135. Harvick spun the tires on the restart and lost the lead to Kyle Busch. Joey Logano hit the rear of Jimmie Johnson's car and forced him onto the apron.[23] Johnson then made contact with Harvick and damaged his left-rear fender.[23] His left-rear tire blew out and sent his car backwards into the turn 3 wall, bringing out the fourth caution on lap 137.[24] “I got a pretty good restart and obviously (Joey Logano) and (Johnson) got a run. I just held my line and (Johnson) just slammed into the side of my door,” Harvick explained. "That was pretty much it.”[25] “He didn’t leave me any space,” Johnson explained after the race. “He was pinning me down, and I had to get back up on the track. I wouldn’t say that what he did was any different than other situations I’ve been in like that. When you are in his position, you want to get the inside car in a bad angle so they have to lift. I was fine with lifting, but I had to get back on the race track, so I worked my way back up on the track.”[26]

The race restarted on lap 145. Busch spun the tires on the start and lost the lead to Jeff Gordon. It was the first restart that prompted a review by NASCAR and they found that it was a clean restart.[27] He was the first to hit pit road on lap 184 and handed the lead to Kurt Busch. Kurt pitted the next lap and give the lead to brother Kyle Busch. Kyle pitted the next lap and handed the lead to Kyle Larson. Larson pitted two laps later and handed the lead to Carl Edwards. Debris in turn 4 brought out the fifth caution of the race on lap 191. Kyle Busch opted not to pit and assumed the lead.[21]

Fourth quarter[edit]

Denny Hamlin, seen here at the 2015 Daytona 500, scored his 26th career victory at Chicagoland Speedway.

The race restarted with 71 laps to go. After drag racing through the front stretch, Kurt Busch passed his brother for the lead with 46 laps to go. Edwards began the final cycle of pit stops with 29 laps to go. Kurt Busch pitted with 28 laps to go and handed the lead to Hamlin. Hamlin pitted with 24 laps to go and handed the lead to teammate Matt Kenseth. Kenseth hit pit road with 23 laps to go and the lead cycled back to Kurt Busch. Allmendinger was tagged for speeding on pit road and was forced to serve a drive-through penalty. Debris in turn 2 brought out the sixth caution of the race with 10 laps to go. The debris were pieces of a brake rotor that came from the No. 83 car of Matt DiBenedetto. "Did the yellow even need to come out? I don't even know," Kurt Busch said after the race.[28] He, Gordon and Hamlin opted to stay out while the rest of the lead lap cars opted to pit.[21]

The race restarted with five laps to go. Gordon got a good start on Kurt, but he was passed underneath by Hamlin, forced up the track and ultimately finished 14th.[29] Denny drove on to score his 26th career victory.[30]

Post-race[edit]

Driver comments[edit]

“This team doesn’t give up, that’s a perfect example today,” Hamlin said. “Fast race cars are what we have and that was why we were able to come back and win today from that early trouble.”[31]

"I'll tell you what, my guys just do a great job on pit road, they really do," Edwards said. "Darian never loses his cool ever. He played the game perfectly with pit strategy. Then at the end, truly, once we got into Turn 1 on the final restart, I was like, I got this thing. I got better tires than all these guys. Kurt (Busch) was unbelievable on old tires. Then I thought, Denny is mine, he's a sitting duck. He drove the wheels off of that thing. He really hung on with those tires that he had."[32]

“...overall, I’m really proud of this team and everybody at Haas Automation and Stewart Haas Racing,” Kurt Busch said. “This Chevy was fast. It was fast enough to win. When the caution came out there at the end, I thought we had the right strategy, but we didn’t. But this is a point’s day. This is a long journey through these next 10 weeks. We weren’t given a hall pass now, through Loudon and through Dover. We’ve just got to work hard as a team and saddle-up. This isn’t just a win and take a couple of weeks off, but we had a winning car today. It’s kind of a shame. We had a good run at Fontana earlier this year and it kind of ended up the same way.”[33]

“We had a really good car. We were good most of the race and then that one caution came out after we pitted we went a lap down,” Ryan Newman said after a fourth-place finish. “The next restart we had a bad restart and it looked like we were done and that was it.”[34]

“I didn’t choose the right direction to go,” Dale Earnhardt Jr. said after a 12th-place finish. “I thought we would all jump to the top and go around those guys, and we’d be good. But Jeff slid up in front of us and we all had to stop and everybody was going by us on the bottom. Those late restarts with those guys up there on used tires are just going to be bad. You just have to get lucky and we didn’t get lucky. Not anything there about skill, it is all luck. … We had a good day going and … cautions throw all that work out the window.”[35]

"I knew we were going to have a tough time not spinning the tires," Gordon said about the final restart after a 14th-place finish in his record-tying 788th consecutive career start.[36] "Especially when you're on the front row. So, I was just trying to hold pace with Kurt. I knew that Denny was behind me on older tires as well, so I was somewhat encouraged by that."[37]

"I'm just really proud of everybody on our...team for not giving up and doing all the things they had to do to get the car back on the track," Harvick said after a disappointing 42nd-place finish. "...we've just got to go win one of these [next two] races."[38]

Confrontation[edit]

“That is emotion coming out when the stakes are really high in the Chase. We’ve got a reigning champion who finds himself in a tough spot … really needing to win (to advance), so you understand the frustration. You don’t like to see what happened, but from our standpoint that’s just pure emotion when the stakes are high and knowing how important it is to go out and win a championship.”

Steve O'Donnell, NASCAR executive vice–president and chief racing development officer, speaking on The Morning Drive on Sirius XM NASCAR Radio.[39]

Following the race, Jimmie Johnson went to Kevin Harvick's motorhome in the driver's lot to talk the incident over with the driver of the No. 4 Chevrolet.[40] But when he got to Harvick's motorhome, he was greeted with a punch to the chest.[40] The situation had to be diffused by Harvick's business manager Josh Jones and wife DeLana.[40] They escorted him to a waiting white SUV and drove off from the race track.[40]

Afterwards, Johnson said that he "assume[d] he would try to find it [as] my fault. I just simply needed the lane to get back on the racetrack. By no means was I trying to do anything different. I've seen him on the flat working his way back up looking for a racing lane. That is what I was doing. I was on the bottom trying to get back up on the racing surface, and he was trying to pin me down and I had to get back up or else it would have been a hell of a mess."[41]

Joey Logano, who appeared to make contact with No. 48 Chevrolet, said that he never touched him or forced him down onto the apron going into turn 1. "I don't know. I was a little behind it," said Logano, who finished sixth in the Chase opener. "I just saw the 48 go three-wide bottom, and I was just trying to protect my position and figure out what lane I wanted to go in from there."[42]

In his weekly appearance on the Sirius XM NASCAR Radio program The Morning Drive, NASCAR Executive Vice–President and Chief Racing Development Officer Steve O'Donnell told Mike Bagley and Pete Pistone that “there won’t be any penalties ” issued for the confrontation and explained the sanctioning body's reason behind the decision.[39]

Penalties[edit]

On the Wednesday following the race, NASCAR issued penalties to the No. 10 Stewart-Haas Racing team and No. 15 Michael Waltrip Racing team.[43]

  • The No. 10 team was penalized for an infraction that occurred during pre-qualifying inspection on September 18. This is a P2 level penalty (Sections 12.1 and 20.4b and 20.4.2a of the NASCAR rule book). The right side quarter panel behind the rear wheel/tire was modified during pre-qualifying inspection. Crew chief Daniel Knost was placed on NASCAR probation through December 31, 2015. Car chief Pete White was placed on NASCAR probation through December 31.[43]
  • The No. 15 team was penalized for an infraction that occurred on opening day inspection September 18. This is a P4 level penalty (Section 12.1, 20. 14.c, 20.14.2.1.k, 12.5.3.4.d, 12.5.3.4.1.d & f, 12.5.3.4.2 of the NASCAR rule book). Crew chief Billy Scott was fined 75–thousand dollars, suspended for the next three NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Championship events and placed on NASCAR probation for six months following the issue of suspension. Driver Clint Bowyer has been penalized 25–points. Car owner Rob Kauffman has been penalized 25 owner points.[43]

Michael Waltrip Racing released a statement saying that it "respectfully disagrees" with the penalties and would immediately appeal.[44] "MWR has made mistakes in the past, but we feel we are correct in this instance," the team said. "We look forward to the opportunity to present our case to the appeals committee and have no further public comment until the process is completed."[44]

NASCAR requested to the Appeals Administrator of the National Motorsports Appeals Panel that the appeals process described in the rule book be expedited.[44]

On Wednesday, September 30, the National Motorsports Appeal Panel upheld the penalty levied against the team.[45] The team decided not to make a final appeal and released a statement that said they were "disappointed with the outcome of today’s ruling and still feel our interpretation is within the guidelines. Rather than continue the appeals process, MWR is ready to focus 100 percent of our company’s resources on winning at Dover and trying to advance to the Contender Round of the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup."[46]

Race results[edit]

Pos Grid No. Driver Team Manufacturer Laps Points
1 29 11 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 267 47
2 14 19 Carl Edwards Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 267 43
3 9 41 Kurt Busch Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet 267 42
4 6 31 Ryan Newman Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 267 40
5 12 20 Matt Kenseth Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 267 40
6 2 22 Joey Logano Team Penske Ford 267 39
7 18 42 Kyle Larson Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 267 38
8 3 2 Brad Keselowski Team Penske Ford 267 36
9 7 18 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 267 37
10 20 43 Aric Almirola Richard Petty Motorsports Ford 267 34
11 11 48 Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 267 33
12 19 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 267 32
13 4 78 Martin Truex Jr. Furniture Row Racing Chevrolet 267 32
14 10 24 Jeff Gordon Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 267 31
15 28 55 David Ragan Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota 267 29
16 13 1 Jamie McMurray Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 266 28
17 16 27 Paul Menard Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 266 27
18 27 17 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Roush Fenway Racing Ford 265 26
19 26 15 Clint Bowyer Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota 265 0[N 2]
20 24 13 Casey Mears Germain Racing Chevrolet 265 24
21 17 16 Greg Biffle Roush Fenway Racing Ford 265 23
22 21 33 Brian Scott (i) Hillman-Circle Sport LLC Chevrolet 265 0
23 31 51 Justin Allgaier HScott Motorsports Chevrolet 265 21
24 8 5 Kasey Kahne Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 264 20
25 23 14 Tony Stewart Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet 264 19
26 25 10 Danica Patrick Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet 264 18
27 36 40 Landon Cassill (i) Hillman-Circle Sport LLC Chevrolet 263 0
28 30 6 Trevor Bayne Roush Fenway Racing Ford 263 16
29 33 35 Cole Whitt Front Row Motorsports Ford 263 15
30 22 9 Sam Hornish Jr. Richard Petty Motorsports Ford 262 14
31 38 34 Brett Moffitt (R) Front Row Motorsports Ford 262 13
32 35 38 David Gilliland Front Row Motorsports Ford 262 12
33 40 32 Josh Wise Go FAS Racing Ford 261 11
34 37 46 Michael Annett HScott Motorsports Chevrolet 261 10
35 34 26 J. J. Yeley (i) BK Racing Toyota 261 0
36 15 47 A. J. Allmendinger JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet 260 8
37 32 7 Alex Bowman Tommy Baldwin Racing Chevrolet 259 7
38 41 23 Jeb Burton (R) BK Racing Toyota 259 6
39 39 83 Matt DiBenedetto (R) BK Racing Toyota 258 5
40 42 98 Reed Sorenson Premium Motorsports Ford 258 4
41 43 62 Timmy Hill (i) Premium Motorsports Chevrolet 255 0
42 1 4 Kevin Harvick Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet 209 3
43 5 3 Austin Dillon Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 198 1
Unofficial race results

Race statistics[edit]

  • 17 lead changes among 10 different drivers
  • 6 cautions for 28 laps
  • Time of race: 2 hours, 51 minute, 30 seconds
  • Average speed: 140.117 mph (225.496 km/h)
  • Denny Hamlin took home $306,315 in winnings
Lap Leaders
Laps Leader
1-5 Kevin Harvick
6 Joey Logano
7-45 Martin Truex Jr.
46-128 Kyle Busch
129-133 Kevin Harvick
134-143 Kyle Busch
144-183 Jeff Gordon
184 Kurt Busch
185 Kyle Busch
186-187 Kyle Larson
188-193 Carl Edwards
194-220 Kyle Busch
221-239 Kurt Busch
240-243 Denny Hamlin
244 Matt Kenseth
245-261 Kurt Busch
262 Jeff Gordon
263-267 Denny Hamlin
Total laps led
Leader Laps
Kyle Busch 121
Jeff Gordon 41
Martin Truex Jr. 39
Kurt Busch 37
Kevin Harvick 10
Denny Hamlin 9
Carl Edwards 6
Kyle Larson 2
Matt Kenseth 1
Joey Logano 1

Race awards[edit]

Media[edit]

Television[edit]

NBCSN covered the race on the television side. Rick Allen, Jeff Burton and Steve Letarte had the call in the booth for the race. Dave Burns, Mike Massaro, Marty Snider and Kelli Stavast handled pit road on the television side.

NBCSN
Booth announcers Pit reporters
Lap-by-lap: Rick Allen
Color-commentator: Jeff Burton
Color-commentator: Steve Letarte
Dave Burns
Mike Massaro
Marty Snider
Kelli Stavast

Radio[edit]

MRN had the radio call for the race, which was simulcast on Sirius XM NASCAR Radio. Joe Moore, Jeff Striegle and Rusty Wallace called the race from the booth when the field was racing down the front stretch. Dave Moody called the race from a billboard outside of turn 2 when the field was racing through turns 1 and 2. Mike Bagley called the race from a billboard outside of turn 3 when the field was racing through turns 3 and 4. Alex Hayden, Winston Kelley and Steve Post worked pit road on the radio side.

MRN
Booth announcers Turn announcers Pit reporters
Lead announcer: Joe Moore
Announcer: Jeff Striegle
Announcer: Rusty Wallace
Turns 1 & 2: Dave Moody
Turns 3 & 4: Mike Bagley
Alex Hayden
Winston Kelley
Steve Post

Standings after the race[edit]

Note[edit]

  1. ^ Brett Moffitt started from the rear of the field for changing transmissions.
  2. ^ Clint Bowyer was handed a 25–point penalty for a P4 level penalty.

References[edit]

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