2015 CampingWorld.com 500

Race details[1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10]
Race 4 of 36 in the2015 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series
Date	March 15, 2015 (2015-03-15)
Location	Phoenix International Raceway inAvondale, Arizona
Course	Permanent racing facility
Course length	1 miles (1.6 km)
Distance	312 laps, 312 mi (502.115 km)
Weather	Clear skies with a temperature of 83 °F (28 °C); wind out of the east at 10 mph (16 km/h)
Average speed	105.753 mph (170.193 km/h)
Pole position
Driver	Kevin Harvick	Stewart–Haas Racing
Time	25.577
Most laps led
Driver	Kevin Harvick	Stewart–Haas Racing
Laps	224
Winner
No. 4	Kevin Harvick	Stewart–Haas Racing
Television in the United States
Network	Fox
Announcers	Mike Joy,Larry McReynolds andDarrell Waltrip
Nielsen ratings	3.8/7 (Overnight)[11] 4.1/8 (Final)[12] 7.0 Million viewers[12]
Radio in the United States
Radio	MRN
Booth announcers	Joe Moore and Jeff Striegle
Turn announcers	Dan Hubbard (1 & 2) and Buddy Long (3 & 4)

The2015 CampingWorld.com 500 was aNASCARSprint Cup Seriesrace that was held on March 15, 2015, atPhoenix International Raceway inAvondale, Arizona. Contested over 312 laps on the 1 mile (1.6 km) asphalt oval, it was the fourth race of the2015 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season.Kevin Harvick won the race, his second of the season, whileJamie McMurray finished second.Ryan Newman,Kasey Kahne andKurt Busch rounded out the top five.

Harvick won the pole for the race and led a race high of 224 laps, en route to a 30th career victory and his seventh at Phoenix. The race had eight lead changes among four different drivers, as well as ten caution flag periods for 53 laps.

Recording the fourth win at the track for Stewart–Haas Racing, Harvick increased his points lead overJoey Logano to 22.Chevrolet increased their lead overFord to 20 points in the manufacturers' standings.

The CampingWorld.com 500 was carried byFox Sports on the broadcastFox network for the American television audience. The radio broadcast of the race was carried by theMotor Racing Network andSirius XMNASCAR Radio.

Phoenix International Raceway, also known as PIR, is a one-mile, low-banked tri-oval race track located inAvondale, Arizona. The motorsport track opened in 1964 and currently hosts twoNASCAR race weekends annually. PIR has also hosted theIndyCar Series,CART,USAC and theRolex Sports Car Series. The raceway is currently owned and operated byInternational Speedway Corporation.

Kevin Harvick entered Phoenix with a nine-point lead overDale Earnhardt Jr. following his win the week before at Las Vegas.Joey Logano entered eleven points back of Harvick in third, withMartin Truex Jr. a further five points back in fourth.A. J. Allmendinger entered 34 points back in fifth.

Following the inspection issues during qualifying atAtlanta Motor Speedway two weeks prior,NASCAR implemented a new technical inspection rule from Phoenix onwards.^[13] Instead of teams rolling through the laser inspection platform multiple times until passing, they will now only get two attempts to pass without consequence.^[13] Should they fail both times, the car will be forced to sit on pit road for 15 minutes in the next practice session before being allowed to go on track.^[13] Also, if a car fails its first attempt, it must wait until all the other cars have gone through the station at least once.^[13]

Joey Logano was the fastest in the first practice session with a time of 25.942 and a speed of 138.771 mph (223.330 km/h).^[14]Kurt Busch making his first start since returning from a three-week suspension, was 17th fastest with a time of 26.222 and a speed 137.289 mph (220.945 km/h).^[14]

Kevin Harvick won the pole with a time of 25.577 and a speed of 140.751 mph (226.517 km/h).^[15] He commented that he felt Phoenix International Raceway "is a pretty special place [...] for the fact that [he and his family] used to bring [their] Southwest Tour cars here and [their] Winston West cars" and that it was "pretty special to be a part of a group of guys like this".^[15] Third place qualifierJamie McMurray felt that he did "everything perfect, but ended up 0.060 seconds behind Harvick".^[15] In his first race coming off a three-week suspension,Kurt Busch qualified eighth with a time of 25.776 and a speed of 139.665 mph (224.769 km/h).^[16] He was delighted to "get back in the seat and shake hands with all the guys" and that "the car seems fast".^[17]

Kurt Busch was the fastest in the second practice session with a time of 26.322 and a speed of 136.768 mph (220.107 km/h).^[19]

Kevin Harvick was the fastest in the final practice session with a time of 26.363 and a speed of 136.555 mph (219.764 km/h).^[20]A. J. Allmendinger changed engines during this session and was forced to start from the rear.^[18] Allmendinger commented that hisJTG Daugherty Racing team "saw something they didn't like" and that they "have just got to make the Kingsford Chevy better".^[18] Allmendinger's crew chief, Brian Burns, stated that the team "didn't qualify as well as we wanted to anyway, so we decided to take the opportunity to change it now and eliminate any doubts" and that they were "just taking some precautionary measures to make sure we are good to go to the end".^[18]

The race was scheduled to start at 3:45 p.m. but started three minutes later andKevin Harvick led the field to the green. However, he did not lead the first lap asJoey Logano, on the inside line, passed him to lead the first lap. Coming to the line,Brian Vickers was turned into the wall byJimmie Johnson, destroying the wheel axle of Vickers' car and he hit the wall in turn 1, bringing out the race's first caution period. Upon exiting his car in the garage, Vickers stated that it was "a shame" to hit the wall, and pointed out that, in his opinion, it was "kind of early to be using the bumper".^[21] The race restarted on lap six with Logano leading the way. It ran green for another ten laps before the second caution of the race flew forAlex Kennedy cutting down a tire and spinning in turn 4.^[22]

The race restarted on lap 20, with Logano and Harvick battling for the lead. Logano held the lead until lap 25, when Harvick re-assumed first place. Harvick led the next segment of the race, and on lap 49, he led his one-thousandth lap in races atPhoenix International Raceway, the most of any driver. Debris in turn 1 brought out the third caution on lap 67.Denny Hamlin was forced to drop to the tail end of the field for his crew being over the wall too soon. The race restarted on lap 72, and over the course of the following 30 laps, Harvick pulled out to a 2.5-second lead over Logano. The fourth caution of the race flew on lap 117 afterSam Hornish Jr. had a right-rear tire blowout and spun out on the backstretch.Brad Keselowski took just two tires and exited pit road with the lead, whileDale Earnhardt Jr. dropped to the tail end of the field, after he was caught speeding on pit road. The race restarted on lap 126. Kevin Harvick restarted the race eighth and drove his way back to second by lap 157.^[23]

Harvick finally caught Keselowski and passed him for the lead on lap 172. The fifth caution of the race flew on lap 181 when Earnhardt Jr. blew his right-rear tire and backed into the wall in turn 2.^[24] Earnhardt stated that his car was "really, really loose today and just wore the right rear tire out, and blew the tire".^[24] He drove his car to his pit stall while leaving a trail of fuel along the way, keeping pit road closed for six laps for clean up. Logano exited pit road with the lead thanks to taking two tires, whileMatt Kenseth dropped to the rear of the field, after he was caught speeding. The race restarted on lap 192, and once again, Logano and Harvick duked it out for the race lead. Logano maintained the lead until lap 199, when Harvick's four-tire pit strategy allowed him to take the lead, just before the sixth caution of the race flew for debris on the front stretch. The race restarted on lap 205, before debris in the dogleg brought out the seventh caution of the race with 86 laps to go.^[22]

The race restarted with 79 laps to go, but just as the field headed into turn 4,Tony Stewart spun out and hit the wall, bringing out the eighth caution. The race restarted with 71 laps to go, andKurt Busch tried to keep withStewart–Haas Racing teammate Harvick, but Harvick maintained station at the head of the race. The ninth caution of the race flew with 24 laps to go when Stewart had a right-front tire blowout and hit the wall exiting turn 4, and collected Hornish. Nine drivers – including Harvick – opted not to pit while Busch andJeff Gordon did. The race restarted with 17 laps to go, but the yellow flag flew – for the tenth time – before a lap could be completed, whenDanica Patrick came down onDavid Ragan and got turned in turn 4.^[22]

The race restarted with twelve laps to go and Harvick drove away from the field to score his seventh victory at the track.^[25]

Harvick stated that Phoenix "is a really special place of all these West Coast races for us to win" while stating that his car was "incredible and really fun to drive".^[25] Kurt Busch scored a top five finish in his first start of the season,^[26] stating he has "a strong team, and personally, it's great to get back to them", while also expressing that "the way we raced today was with heart".^[26]

• 8 lead changes among 4 different drivers
• 10 cautions for 53 laps
• Time of race: 2 hours, 57 minutes, 1 second
• Average speed: 105.753 mph (170.193 km/h)
• Kevin Harvick took home $263,090 in winnings

• Coors Light Pole Award:Kevin Harvick (25.577, 140.751 mph (226.517 km/h))
• 3M Lap Leader: Kevin Harvick (224 laps)
• American Ethanol Green Flag Restart Award: Kevin Harvick (27.854 130.510 mph (210.035 km/h))
• Duralast Brakes "Brake in The Race" Award:Joey Logano
• Freescale "Wide Open":Kurt Busch
• Ingersoll Rand Power Move:Paul Menard, 4 positions
• MAHLE Clevite Engine Builder of the Race: Hendrick Engines, #4
• Mobil 1 Driver of the Race: Kevin Harvick (150.0 driver rating (perfect driver rating))
• Moog Steering and Suspension Problem Solver of The Race:Kurt Busch (crew chiefTony Gibson, 0.087 seconds)
• NASCARSprint Cup Leader Bonus: Kevin Harvick ($10,000)
• Sherwin-Williams Fastest Lap:Matt Kenseth (Lap 12, 26.618, 135.246 mph (217.657 km/h))
• Sunoco Rookie of The Race:Jeb Burton

Fox Sports covered their eleventh race at thePhoenix International Raceway.Mike Joy,Larry McReynolds, andDarrell Waltrip had the call in the booth for the race.Jamie Little,Chris Neville, andMatt Yocum handled the pit road duties for the television side.

MRN had the radio call for the race which was also simulcast onSirius XM NASCAR Radio. Joe Moore, Jeff Striegle, and 1998 race winnerRusty Wallace called the race in the booth when the field was racing down the front stretch. Dan Hubbard called the race from atop the suites that line the turn 1 grandstands when the field was racing through turns 1 and 2. Buddy Long called the race from a scaffold outside turn 4 when the field was racing through turns 3 and 4. Woody Cain, Alex Hayden,Glenn Jarrett, and Kyle Rickey worked pit road for MRN.

Drivers' Championship standings Pos Driver Points 1 Kevin Harvick 182 1 2 Joey Logano 160 (−22) 1 3 Martin Truex Jr. 155 (−27) 2 4 Kasey Kahne 132 (−50) 5 A. J. Allmendinger 127 (−55) 4 6 Dale Earnhardt Jr. 126 (−56) 7 Jimmie Johnson 124 (−58) 4 8 Ryan Newman 123 (−59) 7 9 Brad Keselowski 116 (−66) 10 Matt Kenseth 113 (−69) 2 11 Paul Menard 112 (−70) 3 12 Casey Mears 111 (−71) 5 13 Denny Hamlin 108 (−74) 1 14 Aric Almirola 105 (−77) 1 15 Clint Bowyer 101 (−81) 5 16 Greg Biffle 101 (−81)

Manufacturers' Championship standings Pos Manufacturer Points 1 Chevrolet 185 2 Ford 165 (−20) 3 Toyota 151 (−34) Note: Only the first sixteen positions are included for the driver standings.

• 2015 in sports in Arizona
• 2015 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series
• NASCAR races at Phoenix Raceway

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