The 2015 AAA 400 was a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race held on October 4, 2015, at Dover International Speedway in Dover, Delaware. Contested over 400 laps on the 1 mile (1.6 km) concrete speedway, it was the 29th race of the 2015 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season, third race of the Chase and final race of the Challenger Round. Kevin Harvick won the race, his third of the season. Kyle Busch finished second. Dale Earnhardt Jr., Jamie McMurray and Aric Almirola rounded out the top–five.

2015 AAA 400
Race details[1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9]
Race 29 of 36 in the 2015 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series
Kevin Harvick won the race
Kevin Harvick won the race
Date October 4, 2015 (2015-10-04)
Location Dover International Speedway in Dover, Delaware
Course Permanent racing facility
1 mi (1.6 km)
Distance 400 laps, 400 mi (640 km)
Weather Cloudy with a temperature of 62 °F (17 °C); wind out of the northeast at 21 mph (34 km/h)
Average speed 119.870 mph (192.912 km/h)
Pole position
Driver Joe Gibbs Racing
Time Qualifying rained out
Most laps led
Driver Kevin Harvick Stewart-Haas Racing
Laps 355
Winner
No. 4 Kevin Harvick Stewart-Haas Racing
Television in the United States
Network NBCSN
Announcers Rick Allen, Jeff Burton and Steve Letarte
Nielsen Ratings 1.8/3 (Overnight)[10]
2.1/4 (Final)[11]
3.2 Million viewers[11]
Radio in the United States
Radio MRN
Booth Announcers Joe Moore, Jeff Striegle and Rusty Wallace
Turn Announcers Mike Bagley (Backstretch)

With qualifying rained out, Matt Kenseth was awarded the first starting spot. He led 26 laps on his way to a seventh–place finish. Harvick led a race high of 355 laps on his way to winning the race. The race had 14 lead changes amongst three different drivers, as well as eight caution flag periods for 43 laps.

This was the 31st career victory for Harvick, third of the season, first at Dover International Speedway and second at the track for Stewart-Haas Racing. The win secured his place in the Contender Round. Clint Bowyer, Jimmie Johnson, Jamie McMurray and Paul Menard didn't advance out of the Challenger Round. Chevrolet left Dover with a 45–point lead over Toyota in the manufacturer standings.

The AAA 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

 
Dover International Speedway, the track where the race was held.

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 1 mile (1.6 km) 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.

Matt Kenseth entered Dover with a six–point lead over Denny Hamlin.[12] Carl Edwards and Joey Logano entered tied for third 10–points back.[13] Jimmie Johnson entered fifth 16–points back.[14] Ryan Newman entered sixth 25–points.[14] Kurt Busch entered seventh 26–points back.[15] Brad Keselowski entered eighth 27–points back.[16] Martin Truex Jr. entered ninth 28–points back.[17] Jeff Gordon entered 10th 31–points back.[18] Jamie McMurray entered 11th 41–points back.[19] Dale Earnhardt Jr. entered 12th 42–points back.[20] Kyle Busch and Paul Menard entered tied for 13th 43–points back.[21] Kevin Harvick entered 15th 65–points back.[22] Clint Bowyer entered 16th 81–points back.[23]

Hurricane Joaquin edit

In the week leading up to the race, the National Hurricane Center began tracking the development of a storm several hundred miles south-southwest of Bermuda.[24] On September 30, the storm was upgraded to Hurricane Joaquin.[25] The forecast model from the National Weather Service had the storm potentially affecting the race weekend.[26] However, updated models had the storm avoiding landfall on the Eastern U.S. seaboard and moving out into the North Atlantic.[27] Nevertheless, heavy rain was expected to affect the Dover area.[28]

Restart zone edit

At the request of the drivers, on the Thursday before the race, NASCAR announced that the restart zone would be expanded from 70 feet (21 m) to 140 feet (43 m).[29] Denny Hamlin took to Twitter to say NASCAR made a great move "to double the restart zone" and that it would give the leader of the race "more of an opportunity to decide when to start the race."[30] Joey Logano said he was "[g]lad to see @NASCAR expanding the restart zone" and that it was "what a lot of drivers were asking for."[31]

Chase-clinching scenarios edit

The following scenarios were in play for this race.

Regardless of another driver's finish edit

Carl Edwards would clinch a spot in the Contender Round if he finished 32nd or better with no laps led, 33rd if he led a lap or 34th if he led the most laps.[32] Joey Logano would clinch by finishing at least 31st or better, 32nd with a lap led or 33rd with most laps led.[32] Jimmie Johnson would clinch if he finished 25th or better, 26th if he leads a lap or 27th if he leads the most laps.[32] Ryan Newman would clinch if he finished 16th or better, 17th if he led a lap or 18th if he led the most laps.[32] Kurt Busch would clinches if he finished 15th or better, 16th if he led a lap or 17th if he led the most laps.[32] Brad Keselowski would clinch if he finished 14th or better, 15th if he led a lap or 16th if he led the most laps.[32] Martin Truex Jr. would clinch if he finished 13th or better, 14th if he led a lap or 15th if he led the most laps.[32] Jeff Gordon would clinch if he finished 10th or better, 11th if he led a lap or 12th if he led the most laps.[32]

Must win edit

Jamie McMurray, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Kyle Busch, Paul Menard, Kevin Harvick and Clint Bowyer controlled their destinies only if they won.[32] Otherwise, as would turn out to be the case for Earnhardt and Busch, they were dependent on other non-clinched drivers having bad point days.

Entry list edit

The entry list for the AAA 400 was released on Friday, September 25 at 2:27 p.m. Eastern time. Forty-four cars were entered for the race. The four driver changes for this race were J. J. Yeley returning to the No. 26 BK Racing Toyota, Josh Wise returning to the No. 32 Go FAS Racing Ford, Alex Kennedy returning to the No. 33 Hillman-Circle Sport LLC Chevrolet for the first time since Watkins Glen and Reed Sorenson returning to the No. 98 Premium Motorsports Ford. The threat of rain forced The Motorsports Group to withdraw its No. 30 Chevrolet entry from the race.[33] Because of the withdrawal, all 43 cars remaining entered cars made the race.

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
22 Joey Logano Team Penske Ford
23 Jeb Burton (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
31 Ryan Newman Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet
32 Josh Wise Go FAS Racing Ford
33 Alex Kennedy (R) 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 Timmy Hill (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 Reed Sorenson Premium Motorsports Ford
Official initial entry list
Official final entry list
Key Meaning
(R) Rookie
(i) Ineligible for points
(PC#) Past champions provisional

Qualifying edit

 
Matt Kenseth led the field to the green flag.

Because inclement weather forced NASCAR to cancel qualifying, along with the Friday practice session, the lineup was set by points.[34] As a result, Matt Kenseth was given the first starting spot.[35] He said that everybody "would have liked to get on the track today and get some practice. I know there are some things we wanted to work on and try to improve from the spring for this race. I think everybody wanted to get on the track. I think it’s one of the advantages of leading the points – obviously if it rains you get a good starting spot and pit stall. Glad we’re starting in the front, but still would have liked the track time.”[36]

Starting lineup edit

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

Practice edit

First practice edit

Kasey Kahne was the fastest in the first practice session with a time of 22.429 and a speed of 160.506 mph (258.309 km/h).[39]

Pos No. Driver Team Manufacturer Time Speed
1 5 Kasey Kahne Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 22.429 160.506
2 19 Carl Edwards Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 22.438 160.442
3 11 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 22.460 160.285
Official first practice results

Final practice edit

Kevin Harvick was the fastest in the final practice session with a time of 23.072 and a speed of 156.033 mph (251.111 km/h).[40] The session only lasted 15 minutes before rain cut it short.[41]

Pos No. Driver Team Manufacturer Time Speed
1 4 Kevin Harvick Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet 23.072 156.033
2 19 Carl Edwards Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 23.075 156.013
3 5 Kasey Kahne Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 23.109 155.783
Official final practice results

Race edit

First half edit

Start edit

Under cloudy Delaware skies, Matt Kenseth led the field to the green flag at 2:51 p.m. It only took until lap 3 for the first caution of the race to come out.[42] This was when Josh Wise made contact with Jeb Burton in turn 1 and sent him spinning.[43]

The race restarted on lap 7. Just 10 laps later, Kenseth pulled to a one-second lead over his teammate Denny Hamlin. This lead began shrinking over the next six laps to just a quarter of a second over Kevin Harvick, who eventually took over that position on lap 25. As Harvick stayed out in front, he pulled to a two-second lead over Kenseth. The second caution of the race flew on lap 41. This was a scheduled competition caution for all the rain that the state of Delaware had throughout the entire weekend. Harvick swapped the lead with Kenseth on pit road and Hamlin exited with the lead. It was short-lived, as he and Jimmie Johnson were both tagged for speeding on pit road and restarted from the tail-end of the field. This would give the lead back to Harvick.[43]

The race restarted on lap 46. Harvick pulled to a five-second lead over Kyle Busch after 40 laps. After falling to the back on the restart for the speeding penalty, Hamlin was put down a lap by Harvick on lap 90. Jimmie Johnson made an unscheduled stop on lap 103 for an issue with the drive line.[44] They couldn't fix it on pit road and he took the car to the garage.[44] Following the race, he said that it was "tough having a very inexpensive axle seal be the culprit and take your championship hopes away. It's racing. I’ve had mechanicals take me out of championships growing up that led to some success for myself and I’m sure helped me with a championship or two. It’s just part of racing. It just shows how critical everything is on a race team. And how important every component is and you can’t take anything for granted. Heartbreaking for sure, but I don’t know what else we can do about it we just have to go on and try to win races and close out the season strong.”[45] Debris on the front stretch brought out the third caution of the race on lap 111. The debris came from the No. 83 car of Matt DiBenedetto. Harvick swapped the lead with Busch on pit road, but exited with the lead.[43]

Second quarter edit

The race restarted on lap 118. Harvick once again pulled away from the field and began putting cars several of laps down. After 30 laps, he had lapped over half the field at least once. After 60 laps, he lapped everyone up to Brad Keselowski, who sat in 14th place. The fourth caution flew on lap 193 when Jeb Burton suffered a right-front tire blowout and slammed the wall in turn 2.[46] He would go on to finish last.[46] Harvick and Kyle Busch swapped the lead on pit road, but exited with the lead.[47]

Second half edit

Halfway edit

 
Kyle Busch leading the field following a restart

The race restarted on lap 206. Debris on the front stretch brought out the fifth caution on lap 232. Harvick and Busch swapped the lead on pit road. This time, however, Busch took just right-side tires and exited with the lead. Hamlin was tagged for speeding on pit road and restarted from the tail-end of the field.[43]

The race restarted on lap 237. Harvick didn't waste any time passing the third and second–place cars. He drove under Busch in turn 2 to retake the lead on lap 249. The sixth caution flew on lap 312 when A. J. Allmendinger got loose and spun out in turn 4 while trying to get on pit road.[42] Harvick and Busch again swapped the lead on pit road, but Harvick exited with it. With the stop being outside the 85-lap fuel window, most of the cars on the lead lap began shutting off their engines to conserve fuel.[43]

Fourth quarter edit

 
Kevin Harvick, seen here at the 2015 Daytona 500, scored his 31st career victory at Dover.

The race restarted with 84 laps to go. The seventh caution of the race flew with 47 laps to go for a single-car wreck in turn 1. Brett Moffitt suffered a right-front tire blowout and slammed the wall.[42] Matt Kenseth opted not to pit under the caution and assumed the lead.[43]

The race restarted with 42 laps to go. Kenseth was no match for Kevin Harvick on old tires and lost the lead to Kevin. The eighth caution of the race flew with 29 laps to go for fluid on the track.[42] The fluid came from the No. 40 car of Landon Cassill after his engine blew up.[43]

The race restarted with 24 laps to go. Kevin Harvick drove on to score his 31st career victory. While Jamie Mcmurray, Jimmie Johnson, Paul Menard and Clint Bowyer were the 4 drivers eliminated from the chase. J[48]

Post-race edit

Driver comments edit

Harvick said that he was "just so proud of everybody from Stewart-Haas Racing to do everything that we’ve done the last three weeks, really. Obviously we weren’t in a great position coming in to today. That’s what these guys are made of and that’s what teamwork is all about."[49]

Following his runner-up finish, Kyle Busch said that the day was "really good...for us. I can't say enough about this entire Interstate Batteries team. They did a great job today. Adam Stevens gave me a great piece and when you look at the amount of practice time we had, it was pretty hard to figure out what you had. We had a second–place car and we finished second with it; nothing to hang our heads about."[50]

Dale Earnhardt Jr. finished third and advanced to the Contender Round on a tiebreaker.[51] After the race, he said that the closing laps weren't "nerve-wracking at all. You're either going to make it or you ain't. I'm going to try put together the best lap I can put together, and drive the car as hard as you can without over-driving it. You can't really worry about the big picture because you have to concentrate on running the lap. This place is so technical that you just have to concentrate on every corner and the mistake you made on the last one and how you make a better corner the next time through there. That's all you really worry about."[52]

Jamie McMurray failed to make the Contender Round on a tiebreaker with a fourth–place finish.[53] After the race, he said that he was "driving so hard those last few laps, and it’s just hard to make up any ground. And it seemed like our car was maybe better on stickers,” McMurray explained. “We haven’t run this well, honestly. We talked earlier today about that. So, I’m thrilled with our performance today. It’s frustrating that we weren’t able to make it to the next round, but it was a good day for the Nature Made car. We just needed one more point.”[54]

 
Almirola finished fifth, his best position so far this season

After driving under the radar to a fifth–place finish, Aric Almirola said that his team did "a really good job. We just struggled with getting the car in the race track most of the day and right there at the end four tires paid off for us. That was some really good adjustments by Trent and the guys and the pit crew did a good job getting me off pit road and just a really solid day for us.”[55]

Martin Truex Jr. drove from the rear of the field to an 11th–place finish.[56] He said after the race that he didn't have "a great day...It wasn’t a great weekend. We have been struggling trying to get the thing turning. All in all we had good speed when we would get track position. We would lose track position and being in long lines on the restarts when we couldn’t really go anywhere. It was really difficult to pass today. We had good speed out front, top five speed and then just never really could get back there once we got back in traffic.”[56]

A 12th–place finish was enough for Jeff Gordon to advance into the Contender Round.[57] After the race, he said that making it involved "a lot of hard work. I'm proud of these guys. We fought hard and that's what we've been doing all year long. It hasn't been pretty. We've had a lot to overcome and we never give. That was pretty much what he had today, we survived and made it through."[58]

After a 14th–place finish wasn't enough to get Clint Bowyer into the Contender Round, he said after the race that his "5-Hour Energy Toyota was good today, I’d say a top-five car. We just had some bad luck with that loose wheel early on. We got two laps down, but were able to make those up. No one had anything for that 4 car (Harvick), though.”[59]

Following his 25th–place finish that kept him from advancing to the Contender Round, Paul Menard said that it "was not a good day for us at Dover. We fought handling all day and found out there was a mechanical issue there near the end. We gave it our all and I'm proud that we got here. Hate that we don't get to compete further into the Chase, but we will work for a win and to advance our spot from where we are.”[60]

Race results edit

Pos Grid No. Driver Team Manufacturer Laps Points
1 15 4 Kevin Harvick Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet 400 48
2 13 18 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 400 43
3 12 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 400 41
4 11 1 Jamie McMurray Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 400 40
5 18 43 Aric Almirola Richard Petty Motorsports Ford 400 39
6 17 5 Kasey Kahne Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 400 38
7 1 20 Matt Kenseth Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 400 38
8 27 17 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Roush Fenway Racing Ford 400 36
9 19 42 Kyle Larson Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 400 35
10 4 22 Joey Logano Team Penske Ford 400 34
11 9 78 Martin Truex Jr. Furniture Row Racing Chevrolet 400 33
12 10 24 Jeff Gordon Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 400 32
13 20 16 Greg Biffle Roush Fenway Racing Ford 400 31
14 16 15 Clint Bowyer Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota 400 30
15 3 19 Carl Edwards Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 400 29
16 8 2 Brad Keselowski Team Penske Ford 400 28
17 7 41 Kurt Busch Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet 400 27
18 2 11 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 400 26
19 6 31 Ryan Newman Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 399 25
20 26 9 Sam Hornish Jr. Richard Petty Motorsports Ford 398 24
21 24 10 Danica Patrick Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet 398 23
22 28 55 David Ragan Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota 398 22
23 21 3 Austin Dillon Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 398 21
24 22 13 Casey Mears Germain Racing Chevrolet 397 20
25 14 27 Paul Menard Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 397 19
26 25 14 Tony Stewart Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet 396 18
27 30 51 Justin Allgaier HScott Motorsports Chevrolet 395 17
28 31 35 Cole Whitt Front Row Motorsports Ford 394 16
29 23 47 A. J. Allmendinger JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet 394 15
30 32 38 David Gilliland Front Row Motorsports Ford 394 14
31 29 6 Trevor Bayne Roush Fenway Racing Ford 393 13
32 35 7 Alex Bowman Tommy Baldwin Racing Chevrolet 393 12
33 40 98 Reed Sorenson Premium Motorsports Ford 391 11
34 37 83 Matt DiBenedetto (R) BK Racing Toyota 391 10
35 42 26 J. J. Yeley (i) BK Racing Toyota 390 9
36 41 32 Josh Wise Go FAS Racing Ford 389 8
37 38 46 Michael Annett HScott Motorsports Chevrolet 387 7
38 36 33 Alex Kennedy (R) Hillman-Circle Sport LLC Chevrolet 386 6
39 43 62 Timmy Hill (i) Premium Motorsports Chevrolet 380 5
40 33 40 Landon Cassill (i) Hillman-Circle Sport LLC Chevrolet 365 4
41 5 48 Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 364 3
42 34 34 Brett Moffitt (R) Front Row Motorsports Ford 346 2
43 39 23 Jeb Burton (R) BK Racing Toyota 186 1
Official AAA 400 results

Race statistics edit

  • 14 lead changes among 3 different drivers
  • 8 cautions for 43 laps
  • Time of race: 3 hours, 20 minutes, 13 seconds
  • Average speed: 119.870 mph (192.912 km/h)
  • Kevin Harvick took home $263,590 in winnings
Lap Leaders
Laps Leader
1-23 Matt Kenseth
24-41 Kevin Harvick
42 Matt Kenseth
43-112 Kevin Harvick
113 Kyle Busch
114-195 Kevin Harvick
196 Kyle Busch
197-232 Kevin Harvick
233-247 Kyle Busch
248-312 Kevin Harvick
313 Kyle Busch
314-354 Kevin Harvick
355 Kyle Busch
356-357 Matt Kenseth
358-400 Kevin Harvick
Total laps led
Leader Laps
Kevin Harvick 355
Matt Kenseth 26
Kyle Busch 19

Race awards edit

Media edit

Television edit

NBCSN covered the race on the television side. Rick Allen, 2006 race winner 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 three–time Dover winner Rusty Wallace called the race from the booth when the field was racing down the front stretch. Mike Bagley called the race from the turn 3 stands when the field was racing down the backstretch. Alex Hayden, Winston Kelley and Steve Post handled pit road on the radio side.

MRN
Booth announcers Turn announcers Pit reporters
Lead announcer: Joe Moore
Announcer: Jeff Striegle
Announcer: Rusty Wallace
Backstretch: Mike Bagley Alex Hayden
Winston Kelley
Steve Post

Standings after the race edit

Note edit

  1. ^ Martin Truex Jr. started the race from the rear of the field for unapproved adjustments.[37][38]

References edit

  1. ^ "2015 NASCAR Schedule" (PDF). NASCAR.com. NASCAR Media Group, LLC. August 26, 2014. Archived from the original (PDF) on April 4, 2015. Retrieved September 28, 2015.
  2. ^ "Dover International Speedway". NASCAR.com. NASCAR Media Group, LLC. January 3, 2013. Retrieved September 28, 2015.
  3. ^ "Entry List". MRN.com. Motor Racing Network. September 28, 2015. Archived from the original on September 29, 2015. Retrieved September 28, 2015.
  4. ^ "Starting Lineup". MRN.com. Motor Racing Network. October 2, 2015. Archived from the original on October 3, 2015. Retrieved October 2, 2015.
  5. ^ "First Practice Results". MRN.com. Motor Racing Network. October 3, 2015. Archived from the original on October 4, 2015. Retrieved October 3, 2015.
  6. ^ "Final Practice Results". MRN.com. Motor Racing Network. October 3, 2015. Archived from the original on October 6, 2015. Retrieved October 3, 2015.
  7. ^ "AAA 400 Results". MRN.com. Motor Racing Network. October 4, 2015. Archived from the original on October 5, 2015. Retrieved October 4, 2015.
  8. ^ "Points standings" (PDF). Jayski.com. NASCAR Statistics. October 4, 2015. Archived from the original (PDF) on October 5, 2015. Retrieved October 4, 2015.
  9. ^ "Manufacturer standings" (PDF). Jayski.com. NASCAR Integrated Marketing Communications. October 5, 2015. Archived from the original (PDF) on October 7, 2015. Retrieved October 5, 2015.
  10. ^ Paulsen (October 5, 2015). "NASCAR Overnights Dip Below 2.0 Again, This Time at Dover". SportsMediaWatch.com. Sports Media Watch. Retrieved October 6, 2015.
  11. ^ a b Paulsen (October 7, 2015). "NASCAR's Downward Trend Continues at Dover". SportsMediaWatch.com. Sports Media Watch. Retrieved October 9, 2015.
  12. ^ Thompson, Rich (September 28, 2015). "Kenseth leads Chase after win at Loudon". Boston Herald. Herald Media. Retrieved September 29, 2015.
  13. ^ Coble, Don (September 30, 2015). "Joe Gibbs has mixed emotions after latest win by his team". The Augusta Chronicle. Morris Communications Company, LLC. Morris News Service. Retrieved October 1, 2015.
  14. ^ a b Fleischman, Bill (October 1, 2015). "Tony Stewart: 'Right time' to retire after 2016 season". Philadelphia Daily News. Philadelphia Media Network (Digital), LLC. Retrieved October 1, 2015.
  15. ^ Palmer, Tod (September 30, 2015). "Kurt Busch believes Kansas Speedway race is pivotal in Sprint Cup chase". The Kansas City Star. Kansas City, Missouri: The Kansas City Star. Retrieved October 1, 2015.
  16. ^ Scott, David (September 27, 2015). "Brad Keselowski is the first to fall on restart issue". The Charlotte Observer. Loudon, New Hampshire: The Charlotte Observer. Retrieved October 1, 2015.
  17. ^ Long, Dustin (September 30, 2015). "Truex on Chase: 'You're just nervous and scared'". nascartalk.nbcsports.com. NBC Sports. Retrieved September 30, 2015.
  18. ^ Thompson, Rich (September 28, 2015). "NASCAR Notes: Gordon remains in Chase". Boston Herald. Herald Media. Retrieved September 29, 2015.
  19. ^ Turner, Jared (September 29, 2015). "In danger of missing next Chase round, is Dale Jr. done for?". FoxSports.com. Fox Sports Interactive Media, LLC. Retrieved September 30, 2015.
  20. ^ Gregory, Allen (September 28, 2015). "5 Things from New Hampshire and NASCAR". Bristol Herald Courier. BH Media Group Holdings, Inc. Retrieved September 29, 2015.
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