2015 Auto Club 400

2015 Auto Club 400

Race details
Race 5 of 36 in the 2015 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season
Date	March 22, 2015 (2015-03-22)
Location	Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, California
Course	Permanent racing facility 2 mi (3.22 km)
Distance	209 laps, 418 mi (672.98 km)
Scheduled Distance	200 laps, 400 mi (632.737 km)
Weather	Partly cloudy with a temperature of 70 °F (21 °C); wind out of the west/southwest at 8 mph (13 km/h)
Average speed	140.662 mph (226.374 km/h)
Pole position
Driver	Kurt Busch	Stewart-Haas Racing
Time	38.889
Most laps led
Driver	Kurt Busch	Stewart-Haas Racing
Laps	65
Winner
No. 2	Brad Keselowski	Team Penske
Television in the United States
Network	Fox
Announcers	Mike Joy, Larry McReynolds and Darrell Waltrip
Nielsen Ratings	4.0/9 (Overnight) 4.3/10 (Final) 7.3 Million viewers
Radio in the United States
Radio	MRN
Booth Announcers	Joe Moore and Jeff Striegle
Turn Announcers	Dan Hubbard (1 & 2) and Kyle Rickey (3 & 4)

The 2015 Auto Club 400 was a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race held on March 22, 2015, at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, California. Contested over 209 laps – extended from 200 laps, due to a green–white–checker finish – on the 2 miles (3.2 km) D-shaped oval, it was the fifth race of the 2015 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season. Brad Keselowski won the race – his 17th career victory – while Kevin Harvick extended his top two finish streak to eight races with a runner-up finish. Kurt Busch, Paul Menard and Ryan Newman rounded out the top five.

Busch won the pole for the race and led a race high of 65 laps; he lost the lead on the final lap and was passed by Keselowski and Harvick. The race had 19 lead changes among nine different drivers, as well as seven caution flag periods for 31 laps. Recording Team Penske's second NASCAR win at the track, Keselowski moved into fifth place in the points standings, which were led by Harvick; he left Fontana with a 28-point lead over Joey Logano. Chevrolet left with a 16-point lead over Ford in the manufacturers' standings.

The Auto Club 400 was carried by Fox Sports on the broadcast Fox network for the American television audience. The radio broadcast of the race was carried by the Motor Racing Network and Sirius XM NASCAR Radio.

Report

Background

Overhead view of the track

Auto Club Speedway (formerly California Speedway) is a 2 miles (3.2 km), low-banked, D-shaped oval superspeedway in Fontana, California which has hosted NASCAR racing annually since 1997. It is also used for open wheel racing events. The racetrack is located near the former locations of Ontario Motor Speedway and Riverside International Raceway. The track is owned and operated by International Speedway Corporation and is the only track owned by ISC to have naming rights sold. The speedway is served by the nearby Interstate 10 and Interstate 15 freeways as well as a Metrolink station located behind the backstretch.

Kevin Harvick entered Auto Club with a 22-point lead over Joey Logano following his win the week before at Phoenix. Martin Truex, Jr. entered 27 points back in third. Kasey Kahne entered 50 points back in fourth, with A. J. Allmendinger a further 5 points behind, in fifth.

Changes to qualifying

"We're looking at not backing in the cars any more. We did that initially working everybody, with you guys and TV partners in terms of access to the drivers. As we've gone through it we've learned some different things so we won't have the cars backed in. We'll send a memo out to the teams this week where we'll tweak it. As with anything you keep learning if we can make it better and we will and this is just another slight adjustment as we head into California".

NASCAR executive vice-president Steve O'Donnell speaking on Sirius XM NASCAR Radio.

Starting at Auto Club Speedway – and taking effect in all three national touring series – drivers will no longer back out of their pit stalls when qualifying begins. Instead, they will now be parked with the nose of the car facing toward the track.

Entry list

The entry list for the Auto Club 400 was released on Monday, March 16, 2015 at 10:33 a.m. Eastern time. Forty-six cars were entered for the race. All 46, except for Brian Scott and Reed Sorenson were entered the week before. Mike Wallace was on the initial entry list, but was let go from his No. 66 Premium Motorsports Chevrolet the week prior. However, he was rehired by the team and was to drive the No. 66 at Auto Club Speedway, but the team ultimately withdrew from the race, due to sponsorship issues. The team's No. 62 Chevrolet, driven by Brendan Gaughan, was unaffected. On March 20, Michael Waltrip Racing announced that Brett Moffitt would again replace Brian Vickers in the No. 55 Toyota due to further blood clots. This was also the first race that Moffitt officially became a candidate for Sprint Cup Rookie of the Year. Chris Buescher drove the No. 34 Ford in his first Sprint Cup Series start.

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 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 26 Jeb Burton (R) BK Racing Toyota 27 Paul Menard Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 29 Reed Sorenson RAB Racing Toyota 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 Chris Buescher (i) 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 44 Travis Kvapil (i) Team XTREME Racing Chevrolet 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 Ford Official initial entry list Official updated entry list

Key Meaning (R) Rookie (i) Ineligible for points (PC#) Past champions provisional

First practice

Kurt Busch was the fastest in the first practice session with a time of 38.556 seconds and a speed of 186.741 mph (300.531 km/h). Greg Biffle scraped the wall exiting turn 4 in the opening minutes of the session, causing cosmetic damage to his car. Carl Edwards, however, went to a backup car for the race after crashing his car on the exit of turn 4. Edwards joked that his car "went from a 12-inch to a six-inch sub real quick", referring to the sponsors of his car for the race, fast food franchise Subway. He also stated that he "tried to save it...that was not the right decision". Since the change took place prior to qualifying, Edwards is not mandated to start from the rear on Sunday, provided he does not change engines.

Pos	No.	Driver	Team	Manufacturer	Time	Speed
1	41	Kurt Busch	Stewart-Haas Racing	Chevrolet	38.556	186.741
2	11	Denny Hamlin	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	38.838	185.385
3	78	Martin Truex, Jr.	Furniture Row Racing	Chevrolet	38.881	185.180
Official first practice results

Qualifying

"This is huge for Gene Haas. That is what I wanted to start the interview with is thank you Gene for believing in me. This is my job. Come to the track, drive the car and put it up on the pole and go for wins. That is what Gene has told me to do from the get go and I'm glad I have this chance to go back out there and live up to why he hired me. It feels good. The guys were just spot on all day with all the adjustments. The car started off so fast and it is all due to the work back at the shop."

Kurt Busch, after taking his first pole position since 2013.

Kurt Busch won the pole with a time of 38.889 seconds and a speed of 185.142 mph (297.957 km/h), taking his first pole position since the 2013 Bojangles' Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway. His teammate Kevin Harvick started next to him on the front row. Harvick stated that "hopefully, [they] can keep it up this week", referring to his ongoing seven-race streak of Top 2 finishes, while also stating that he "didn't get to run where [he] wanted to run there were three cars on the apron down there where [he] wanted to be that had finished their lap". Reed Sorenson and Travis Kvapil both failed to qualify for the race. Brett Moffitt went to a backup car following damage sustained in qualifying and as a result, he started from the rear.

Qualifying results

Pos	No.	Driver	Team	Manufacturer	R1	R2	R3
1	41	Kurt Busch	Stewart-Haas Racing	Chevrolet	38.979	38.911	38.889
2	4	Kevin Harvick	Stewart-Haas Racing	Chevrolet	38.905	39.080	38.909
3	20	Matt Kenseth	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	38.791	39.104	38.926
4	18	David Ragan	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	39.022	39.029	38.943
5	42	Kyle Larson	Chip Ganassi Racing	Chevrolet	39.033	39.197	39.059
6	11	Denny Hamlin	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	39.048	39.000	39.081
7	24	Jeff Gordon	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	39.374	39.017	39.112
8	2	Brad Keselowski	Team Penske	Ford	39.131	39.084	39.117
9	31	Ryan Newman	Richard Childress Racing	Chevrolet	39.299	39.141	39.189
10	15	Clint Bowyer	Michael Waltrip Racing	Toyota	39.442	39.196	39.257
11	27	Paul Menard	Richard Childress Racing	Chevrolet	39.260	39.251	39.262
12	78	Martin Truex, Jr.	Furniture Row Racing	Chevrolet	39.464	39.235	39.280
13	22	Joey Logano	Team Penske	Ford	39.344	39.275	—
14	48	Jimmie Johnson	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	39.097	39.289	—
15	19	Carl Edwards	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	39.420	39.349	—
16	9	Sam Hornish, Jr.	Richard Petty Motorsports	Ford	39.431	39.365	—
17	88	Dale Earnhardt, Jr.	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	39.211	39.377	—
18	47	A. J. Allmendinger	JTG Daugherty Racing	Chevrolet	39.432	39.395	—
19	5	Kasey Kahne	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	39.375	39.399	—
20	14	Tony Stewart	Stewart-Haas Racing	Chevrolet	39.559	39.464	—
21	3	Austin Dillon	Richard Childress Racing	Chevrolet	39.377	39.486	—
22	10	Danica Patrick	Stewart-Haas Racing	Chevrolet	39.551	39.530	—
23	43	Aric Almirola	Richard Petty Motorsports	Ford	39.576	39.604	—
24	46	Michael Annett	HScott Motorsports	Chevrolet	39.586	39.912	—
25	33	Brian Scott (i)	Hillman-Circle Sport LLC	Chevrolet	39.611	—	—
26	1	Jamie McMurray	Chip Ganassi Racing	Chevrolet	39.642	—	—
27	17	Ricky Stenhouse, Jr.	Roush Fenway Racing	Ford	39.657	—	—
28	7	Alex Bowman	Tommy Baldwin Racing	Chevrolet	39.684	—	—
29	16	Greg Biffle	Roush Fenway Racing	Ford	39.693	—	—
30	55	Brett Moffitt (R)	Michael Waltrip Racing	Toyota	39.731	—	—
31	51	Justin Allgaier	HScott Motorsports	Chevrolet	39.780	—	—
32	35	Cole Whitt	Front Row Motorsports	Ford	39.876	—	—
33	34	Chris Buescher (i)	Front Row Motorsports	Ford	39.888	—	—
34	26	Jeb Burton (R)	BK Racing	Toyota	39.995	—	—
35	98	Josh Wise	Phil Parsons Racing	Ford	40.050	—	—
36	6	Trevor Bayne	Roush Fenway Racing	Ford	40.153	—	—
37	13	Casey Mears	Germain Racing	Chevrolet	40.212	—	—
38	62	Brendan Gaughan (i)	Premium Motorsports	Chevrolet	40.312	—	—
39	32	Mike Bliss (i)	Go FAS Racing	Ford	40.375	—	—
40	40	Landon Cassill (i)	Hillman-Circle Sport LLC	Chevrolet	40.501	—	—
41	23	J. J. Yeley (i)	BK Racing	Toyota	40.798	—	—
42	83	Matt DiBenedetto (R)	BK Racing	Toyota	40.886	—	—
43	38	David Gilliland	Front Row Motorsports	Ford	41.041	—	—
Failed to qualify
44	44	Travis Kvapil (i)	Team XTREME Racing	Chevrolet	40.431	—	—
45	29	Reed Sorenson	RAB Racing	Toyota	40.706	—	—
Official qualifying results

Practice (post-qualifying)

Second practice

Kurt Busch was the fastest in the second practice session with a time of 38.479 and a speed of 187.115 mph (301.132 km/h).

Pos	No.	Driver	Team	Manufacturer	Time	Speed
1	41	Kurt Busch	Stewart-Haas Racing	Chevrolet	38.479	187.115
2	48	Jimmie Johnson	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	39.078	184.247
3	18	David Ragan	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	39.080	184.237
Official second practice results

Final practice

Kurt Busch was the fastest in the final practice session with a time of 38.925 and a speed of 184.971 mph (297.682 km/h), completing a sweep of the weekend's practice sessions and qualifying.

Pos	No.	Driver	Team	Manufacturer	Time	Speed
1	41	Kurt Busch	Stewart-Haas Racing	Chevrolet	38.925	184.971
2	27	Paul Menard	Richard Childress Racing	Chevrolet	39.155	183.885
3	4	Kevin Harvick	Stewart-Haas Racing	Chevrolet	39.297	183.220
Official final practice results

Race

First-half

Start

As the cars were rolling off pit road, Jeff Gordon's crew swapped out something in his car, but rejoined the starting lineup with no issues. The race was scheduled to start at 3:46 p.m., but started six minutes later when Kurt Busch led the field to the green flag. The field spread out to use up about five lanes in the opening laps. Eventually, Kevin Harvick reeled in his teammate to take the lead on lap seven. Early in the race, A. J. Allmendinger began reporting that he was losing the engine of his car, while Martin Truex, Jr. did likewise. Harvick was unable to pull away from Busch who began reeling him in until Busch was slowed down by the lapped car of Jeb Burton. The first caution of the race flew on lap 23 when David Ragan got turned by an aerodynamic push from Gordon's car in turn 4. Gordon had been saying on the radio that he would turn Ragan if he had to, stating over his in-car radio to "let him know it's the bumper". Alex Bowman stayed out to lead a lap before pitting and handed the lead to Matt Kenseth.

Restart from caution 1 and green flag stops

The race restarted on lap 28. Kenseth held the lead for five laps before yielding to teammate Denny Hamlin on lap 33. A cycle of green flag stops began on lap 60. Hamlin pitted on lap 62 and handed the lead to Jeff Gordon. He pitted on lap 63 and the lead cycled back to Hamlin. Ragan and Matt DiBenedetto served drive-through penalties for uncontrolled tires on pit road, while Alex Bowman also served a drive-through for speeding.

By lap 83, more than half the field were at least one lap down, before the second caution of the race flew on lap 86 for debris in turn 3. After the culmination of the next round of stops, Kenseth exited pit road with the lead.

Second-half

Caution at halfway

The race restarted on lap 93. Going beneath Kenseth in turn 4, Busch took back the lead on lap 96. Two laps later, the third caution of the race flew when Sam Hornish, Jr. moved up the track exiting turn 2 and got turned into the wall by Trevor Bayne. Martin Truex, Jr. exited pit road with the lead by taking two tires.

The race restarted on lap 105. Truex did not hold the lead for long as Kurt Busch took the lead back in turn 1. Busch, Harvick and a mess of cars hit pit road on lap 138. Paul Menard briefly took the lead, but did not lead a lap through it while Carl Edwards did and the lead cycled back to Kurt Busch following a brief drag race down the back stretch with teammate Kevin Harvick. Michael Annett served a drive-through penalty for an uncontrolled tire.

Harvick took the lead back with 56 laps to go, putting Busch in 2nd. The fourth caution of the race flew with 47 laps to go for debris on the front stretch. Matt Kenseth exited pit road with the lead. Joey Logano was forced to drop to the tail end of the line for an uncontrolled tire.

Restart from caution 4 and 5th caution

The race restarted with 42 laps to go, with Matt Kenseth still out in front. Debris in turn 1 brought out the fifth caution of the race with 16 laps to go. Kurt Busch took the lead on pit road from Matt Kenseth who was pitted behind the start/finish line and exited with the lead. Kenseth broke an axle exiting his pit stall, while Denny Hamlin was forced to drop to the tail end of the line for an uncontrolled tire.

Fifth restart and 6th caution

The race restarted with eleven laps to go and Harvick lost the lead to Kurt Busch. The two of them fought it out for the last few laps. The sixth caution of the race flew with two laps to go for debris in turn 4. Jeff Gordon stayed out to take the lead.

Green–white–checker finish

Brad Keselowski, seen here at the 2015 Daytona 500, scored his 17th career win at Auto Club.

On the first attempt at a green–white–checker finish, Kyle Larson slid into the wall exiting turn 2 and lost his rear bumper, causing another caution flag, the seventh of the race. On the second attempt, Kurt Busch led the field to the green. As the white flag was waving, Greg Biffle wrecked on the front stretch. Brad Keselowski took the lead in turn 2 and powered to the checkered flag. Keselowski praised the work of his team to beat Kevin Harvick and Kurt Busch, who Keselowski stated "had great cars the whole weekend and probably had the field covered on speed". Harvick, who recorded his eighth consecutive top-two finish, explained that he had "fought through a day of track position" but "that's what this team is made of". Busch, who completed the top three, bemoaned the latter cautions, expressing that his car "just got hung out" and that he "just didn't get the job done". All 43 cars were running at the race's conclusion, for the first time since the 2013 Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Race results

Pos	Grid	No.	Driver	Team	Manufacturer	Laps	Points
1	8	2	Brad Keselowski	Team Penske	Ford	209	47
2	2	4	Kevin Harvick	Stewart-Haas Racing	Chevrolet	209	43
3	1	41	Kurt Busch	Stewart-Haas Racing	Chevrolet	209	43
4	11	27	Paul Menard	Richard Childress Racing	Chevrolet	209	40
5	9	31	Ryan Newman	Richard Childress Racing	Chevrolet	209	(−36)
6	17	88	Dale Earnhardt, Jr.	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	209	38
7	13	22	Joey Logano	Team Penske	Ford	209	37
8	12	78	Martin Truex, Jr.	Furniture Row Racing	Chevrolet	209	37
9	14	48	Jimmie Johnson	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	209	35
10	7	24	Jeff Gordon	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	209	35
11	23	43	Aric Almirola	Richard Petty Motorsports	Ford	209	33
12	31	51	Justin Allgaier	HScott Motorsports	Chevrolet	209	32
13	15	19	Carl Edwards	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	209	32
14	20	14	Tony Stewart	Stewart-Haas Racing	Chevrolet	209	30
15	27	17	Ricky Stenhouse, Jr.	Roush Fenway Racing	Ford	209	29
16	21	3	Austin Dillon	Richard Childress Racing	Chevrolet	209	28
17	19	5	Kasey Kahne	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	209	27
18	4	18	David Ragan	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	209	26
19	22	10	Danica Patrick	Stewart-Haas Racing	Chevrolet	209	25
20	33	34	Chris Buescher (i)	Front Row Motorsports	Ford	209	0
21	26	1	Jamie McMurray	Chip Ganassi Racing	Chevrolet	209	23
22	30	55	Brett Moffitt (R)	Michael Waltrip Racing	Toyota	209	22
23	37	13	Casey Mears	Germain Racing	Chevrolet	209	21
24	32	35	Cole Whitt	Front Row Motorsports	Ford	209	20
25	40	40	Landon Cassill (i)	Hillman-Circle Sport LLC	Chevrolet	209	0
26	5	42	Kyle Larson	Chip Ganassi Racing	Chevrolet	209	18
27	26	33	Brian Scott (i)	Hillman-Circle Sport LLC	Chevrolet	209	0
28	6	11	Denny Hamlin	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	209	17
29	36	6	Trevor Bayne	Roush Fenway Racing	Ford	209	15
30	10	15	Clint Bowyer	Michael Waltrip Racing	Toyota	209	14
31	3	20	Matt Kenseth	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	209	14
32	29	16	Greg Biffle	Roush Fenway Racing	Ford	209	12
33	28	7	Alex Bowman	Tommy Baldwin Racing	Chevrolet	208	12
34	18	47	A. J. Allmendinger	JTG Daugherty Racing	Chevrolet	208	10
35	43	38	David Gilliland	Front Row Motorsports	Ford	208	9
36	35	98	Josh Wise	Phil Parsons Racing	Ford	207	8
37	41	23	J. J. Yeley (i)	BK Racing	Toyota	206	0
38	24	46	Michael Annett	HScott Motorsports	Chevrolet	206	6
39	34	26	Jeb Burton (R)	BK Racing	Toyota	205	5
40	39	32	Mike Bliss (i)	Go FAS Racing	Ford	205	0
41	38	62	Brendan Gaughan (i)	Premium Motorsports	Chevrolet	205	0
42	42	83	Matt DiBenedetto (R)	BK Racing	Toyota	203	2
43	16	9	Sam Hornish, Jr.	Richard Petty Motorsports	Ford	155	1
Official Auto Club 400 results

Race statistics

• 19 lead changes among 9 different drivers
• 7 cautions for 31 laps
• Time of race: 2 hours, 58 minutes, 18 seconds
• Average speed: 140.662 mph (226.374 km/h)
• Brad Keselowski took home $357,871 in winnings

Lap Leaders Laps Leader 1–5 Kurt Busch 6–24 Kevin Harvick 25 Alex Bowman 26–31 Matt Kenseth 32–61 Denny Hamlin 62 Jeff Gordon 63–88 Denny Hamlin 89–94 Matt Kenseth 95–99 Kurt Busch 100–104 Martin Truex, Jr. 105–137 Kurt Busch 138 Carl Edwards 139–143 Kurt Busch 144–154 Kevin Harvick 155–185 Matt Kenseth 186–189 Kevin Harvick 190–200 Kurt Busch 201–202 Jeff Gordon 203–208 Kurt Busch 209 Brad Keselowski

Total laps led Leader Laps Kurt Busch 65 Denny Hamlin 56 Matt Kenseth 43 Kevin Harvick 34 Martin Truex, Jr. 5 Jeff Gordon 3 Brad Keselowski 1 Carl Edwards 1 Alex Bowman 1

Race awards

• Coors Light Pole Award: Kurt Busch (38.889, 186.741 mph (300.531 km/h))
• 3M Lap Leader: Kurt Busch (65 laps)
• American Ethanol Green Flag Restart Award: Kurt Busch (40.426, 178.902 mph (287.915 km/h))
• Duralast Brakes "Bake In The Race" Award: Kevin Harvick
• Freescale "Wide Open": Kurt Busch
• Ingersoll Rand Power Move: Justin Allgaier, 5 positions
• MAHLE Clevite Engine Builder of the Race: Hendrick Engines, #41
• Mobil 1 Driver of the Race: Kurt Busch (135.4 driver rating)
• Moog Steering and Suspension Problem Solver of The Race: Paul Menard (crew chief Justin Alexander 0.092 seconds)
• NASCAR Sprint Cup Leader Bonus: No winner: rolls over to $20,000 at next event
• Sherwin-Williams Fastest Lap: David Ragan (Lap 2: 39.231, 183.528 mph (295.360 km/h))
• Sunoco Rookie of The Race: Brett Moffitt

Post-race

Confrontation between Stewart and Truex

Following the race, Tony Stewart confronted Martin Truex Jr. on pit road. The issue stemmed from Truex trying to get down after Aric Almirola on the bottom of the track and almost collected Stewart in the process. Stewart told reporters that after the issue between Truex and Almirola, Truex "drove across the race track into us" and that the move was "just stupid".

Tire confiscation

Following the race, NASCAR took tires from the teams of Kevin Harvick, Kurt Busch, Paul Menard and Ryan Newman – all of whom finished in the top five – and were sent to an unnamed third party for further evaluation, instead of NASCAR's R&D Center in Charlotte, North Carolina.

NASCAR explanation

"The process of calling any caution involves multiple people. We'll obviously scan the drivers and spotters, and if we hear anything, we've got corner workers, we've got folks on the flag stand. We'll survey all of those folks once we hear that there may be something on the track. If it's not moving, we'll confirm that that piece is not moving and we'll assume, candidly, that it's metal. If it's in the groove, obviously, that becomes a safety issue, we're going to throw the caution each and every time when that happens. If someone would have run over that and it affected a tire and that driver had an incident, we'd be hearing it on the other end as well. That's something we've got to deal with it. That's our job to make the call. We will always err on the side of safety if we see something out there and can't confirm that it's moving or not. When it's not moving, in most cases, it is a piece of metal or something heavy that is going to affect the race car."

NASCAR executive vice-president Steve O'Donnell speaking on Sirius XM NASCAR Radio.

Following the race, Richard Buck, director of competition for the Sprint Cup Series, met with the media to address a few of the late race calls. The calls included a debris call with two laps to go, multiple reports of debris before the scheduled finish, and not calling a caution for Greg Biffle's spin on the final lap.

NASCAR executive vice-president Steve O'Donnell joined Mike Bagley and Pete Pistone on Sirius XM NASCAR Radio programme The Morning Drive the next day to further address the calls made late in the race. O'Donnell discussed how the previous day's situation was different from a similar situation with the previous month's Daytona 500, and concluded the interview with a reiteration of what Richard Buck had told the media after the race.

Penalties

On the Wednesday following the race, NASCAR penalized the No. 33 team of Brian Scott for a rules infraction discovered during opening day inspection on Friday. The infraction was a P4 level penalty and violated the following sections in the 2015 NASCAR rule book:

• 12.1: Actions detrimental to stock car racing;
• 20.14.2: Rear Suspension: Truck Trailing Arm

• E. The left and right side truck trailing arms must be mounted to the truck trailing arm mounting brackets using a one-piece, minimum ¾ inch diameter magnetic steel bolt.

• F. The horizontal centerline of the highest truck trailing arm mounting bolt must not be higher than the top surface of the truck trailing arm crossmember, at the respective truck trailing arm mounting bracket, when the vehicle is at inspection orientation.

INFRACTION: The ¾ inch diameter magnetic steel truck trailing arm mounting bolt was not installed horizontally.

• J. Truck trailing arm must conform to the following drawing as specified in the NASCAR rule book: Rear Suspension-Truck Trailing Arm: A-008-00183-14 Rev.C

INFRACTION: Truck trailing arm monoball sleeve does not meet the drawing specifications. Sleeve is required to be minimum .125 inch minimum thick x two inches wide sleeve machined for press fit of .750 I.D. or .875 I.D. monoball assembly.

• 20.3.3.2.1: Truck Trailing Arm Crossmember Assembly:Truck Trailing Arm Mounting Brackets

• B. Truck trailing arm mounting brackets must be constructed of magnetic steel flat plate with a minimum thickness of 0.169 inch.

INFRACTION: Truck trailing arm mounting bracket adapter was machined from Aluminum solid.

• 20.20: Assembled Vehicle Overall Rules
• A. Except in cases explicitly permitted in the NASCAR rules, installation of additional components and/or modifications of existing components to affect the aerodynamic properties of the vehicle will not be permitted, including but not limited to, safety systems, chassis and roll cage, suspension, steering systems, brake systems, heat shields, body fillers, body sealers, filler panels, drivetrain components and exhaust components.

The options for a P4 penalty are outlined the following sections of the NASCAR rule book:

• 12.5.3.4: P4 Penalty Options:

• A. Violations leading to P4 penalties, in general, are very serious. They include, but are not limited to, a broad range of infractions such as:

• B. Parts which do not meet specifications

• F. Measurement failures of significance

• G. These often involve primary component or system infractions not otherwise to the magnitude of P5 infractions, but could also include secondary component or system infractions, particularly if of a nature suggesting some of the characteristics described in P5 ... and/or involving safety implications.

• 12.5.3.4.2: Minimum P4 Penalty Options (includes all three points below):

• A. Loss of 25 championship driver and owner points, regardless of whether the violation occurred during a Championship race or not.

• B. $40,000–$75,000 fine

• C. Suspension for the next three series Championship Races, plus any non-championship races or special events which might occur during that time period, for the crew chief, plus probation through the end of the calendar year, or probation for a six month period following the issuance of the penalty notice if that period spans across two consecutive seasons.

As a result of this violation, crew chief Slugger Labbe was fined $50,000 and suspended for the next three NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Championship races, plus any non-championship races or special events which might occur during that time period. Labbe has also been placed on NASCAR probation through Dec. 31. In addition, car owner Joe Falk was docked 25 championship car owner points.

Appeal

On Tuesday, April 14, the penalties were reduced to a P2 level. The suspension of Slugger Labbe was upheld, but the fine was reduced to $20,000. The 25 point penalty handed to the team was reduced to a ten-point penalty. "The process was very fair," Falk said in a statement. "We agree the part should have been presented (beforehand) to the R&D Center. We're satisfied with the outcome and we won't appeal further."

Further penalties

"NASCAR takes very seriously its responsibility to govern and regulate the rules of the sport in order to ensure competitive balance. We've been very clear that any modifications to race vehicle tires is an unacceptable practice and will not be tolerated."

Steve O'Donnell, NASCAR executive vice president, after the penalties were announced.

Later on, Ryan Newman's team was penalized for rules infractions discovered as a result of NASCAR's post-event tire audit conducted following the race. The infractions amounted to a P5 level penalty and violated numerous sections in the 2015 NASCAR rule book:

• 12.1: Actions detrimental to stock car racing
• 20.16: Wheels and tires

• A. Any device, modification, or procedure to the tire or wheel, including the valve stem hardware, that is used to release pressure, beyond normal pressure adjustments, from the tire and/or inner shield, will not be permitted.

• 20.16.2: Tires

• F. Modifications to the tires, by treatment or any other means, will not be permitted.

• Section 12.5.3.5.1 lists P5 Penalty Violation examples that could include but are not limited to:

• A. Effecting, modifying and/or altering the standard tires in any way, other than through authorized means such as tire pressure adjustments within the recommended range, permitted tire cooling when mounted on the race vehicle; or heat-cycling on the race vehicle on the race track earlier in the event.

• 12.5.3.5.2: Minimum P5 Penalty Options (includes all four points below):

• A. Loss of 50 championship driver and owner points, regardless of whether the violation occurred during a Championship race or not
• B. US$75,000–$125,000 fine
• C. Suspension for the next six series Championship Races, plus any non-championship races or special events which might occur during that time period, for the crew chief and any other team members as determined by NASCAR
• D. Probation through the end of the calendar year for all suspended members, or for a six-month period following the issuance of the penalty notice if that period spans across two consecutive seasons

• 12.5.3.5.3: P5 Level infractions detected during post-race inspection:

If the infraction is detected during post-race inspection, then the following penalty elements will be added to those listed previously in this section:

• A. Loss of an additional 25 Championship driver and owner points; regardless of whether it was a Championship Race or not
• B. Loss of an additional $50,000

As a result of the violations, crew chief Luke Lambert was fined $125,000, suspended from the next six Sprint Cup events, including any non-championship races or special events, and placed on NASCAR probation through December 31. James Bender, team tire technician, and Philip Surgen, team engineer, were also suspended for the same amount of time. Newman was penalized 75 driver and owner points.

Appeal

"I'm thankful for our opportunity to present our facts to the appeals panel and I appreciate their consideration of those facts and making the decision to reduce the fine and points penalty. However, I am disappointed in the decision not to completely overturn the penalty based on the facts that we presented today. At this point in time we are going to consider our options and discuss as a group what we are going to do moving forward."

Luke Lambert's statement to the appeal's outcome.

On Thursday, April 16, the P5 penalty was upheld, but the fines and points loss were reduced. Instead of the 75 point maximum, Newman only lost the 50 point minimum and Luke Lambert's fine was reduced. Lambert's six race suspension was upheld. The three member National Motorsports Appeal Panel ruled that while the team had manipulated the tires (thus keeping it a P5 penalty), they amended the points and fines because "there is no written explanation of what constitutes post race inspection". This stemmed from the team's argument that the tires were not inspected post-race because they were confiscated during the race.

Media

Television

Fox Sports covered their fifteenth race at Auto Club Speedway. Mike Joy, Larry McReynolds, and Darrell Waltrip had the call in the booth for the race. Jamie Little, Chris Neville, and Matt Yocum handled the pit road duties for the television side.

Fox
Booth announcers	Pit reporters
Lap-by-lap: Mike Joy Color-commentator: Larry McReynolds Color commentator: Darrell Waltrip	Jamie Little Chris Neville Matt Yocum

Radio

MRN had the radio call for the race which was also simulcast on Sirius XM NASCAR Radio. Joe Moore, Jeff Striegle and 2001 race winner Rusty Wallace called the race in the booth when the field was racing down the front stretch. Dan Hubbard called the race from atop a billboard outside turn 2 when the field was racing through turns 1 and 2. Kyle Rickey called the race from billboard outside turn 4 when the field was racing through turns 3 and 4. Alex Hayden, Glenn Jarrett and Winston Kelley worked pit road for MRN.

MRN
Booth announcers	Turn announcers	Pit reporters
Lead announcer: Joe Moore Announcer: Jeff Striegle Announcer: Rusty Wallace	Turns 1 & 2: Dan Hubbard Turns 3 & 4: Kyle Rickey	Alex Hayden Glenn Jarrett Winston Kelley

Standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings

	Pos	Driver	Points
	1	Kevin Harvick	225
	2	Joey Logano	197 (−28)
	3	Martin Truex, Jr.	192 (−33)
2	4	Dale Earnhardt, Jr.	164 (−61)
4	5	Brad Keselowski	163 (−62)
1	6	Jimmie Johnson	159 (−66)
3	7	Kasey Kahne	159 (−66)
3	8	Paul Menard	152 (−73)
5	9	Aric Almirola	138 (−87)
5	10	A. J. Allmendinger	137 (−88)
1	11	Casey Mears	132 (−93)
2	12	Matt Kenseth	127 (−98)
	13	Denny Hamlin	125 (−100)
4	14	David Ragan	124 (−101)
4	15	Jamie McMurray	120 (−105)
5	16	Carl Edwards	120 (−105)

Kevin Harvick left Auto Club with a 28-point lead over Joey Logano.

Manufacturers' Championship standings

	Pos	Manufacturer	Points
	1	Chevrolet	228
	2	Ford	212 (−16)
	3	Toyota	183 (−45)

• Note: Only the first sixteen positions are included for the driver standings.

References

Previous race: 2015 CampingWorld.com 500

NASCAR Sprint Cup Series 2015 season

Next race: 2015 STP 500