2015 Duck Commander 500

Race details[1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9]
Race 7 of 36 in the2015 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series
Date	April 11, 2015 (2015-04-11)
Location	Texas Motor Speedway inFort Worth, Texas
Course	Permanent racing facility
Course length	1.5 miles (2.4 km)
Distance	334 laps, 501 mi (801.6 km)
Weather	Mostly cloudy with a temperature of 74 °F (23 °C); wind out of the south/southeast at 11 mph (18 km/h)
Average speed	140.500 mph (226.113 km/h)
Pole position
Driver	Kurt Busch	Stewart–Haas Racing
Time	27.857
Most laps led
Driver	Jimmie Johnson	Hendrick Motorsports
Laps	128
Winner
No. 48	Jimmie Johnson	Hendrick Motorsports
Television in the United States
Network	Fox
Announcers	Mike Joy,Larry McReynolds andDarrell Waltrip
Nielsen ratings	2.9/6 (Overnight)[10] 2.9/6 (Final)[11] 4.8 Million viewers[11]
Radio in the United States
Radio	PRN
Booth announcers	Doug Rice, Mark Garrow andWendy Venturini
Turn announcers	Rob Albright (1 & 2) and Pat Patterson (3 & 4)

The2015 Duck Commander 500 was aNASCARSprint Cup Series race held on April 11, 2015 atTexas Motor Speedway inFort Worth, Texas. Contested over 334 laps on the 1.5 mi (2.4 km) quad-oval track, it was the seventh race of the2015 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series.Jimmie Johnson won the race, his second win of the season and first in the Texas spring race, whileKevin Harvick finished second andDale Earnhardt Jr. finished third.Joey Logano andBrad Keselowski rounded out the top five.

Kurt Busch won the pole and led 45 laps on his way to a 14th-place finish. Johnson led a race high of 128 laps, with 29 lead changes among nine different drivers, as well as eight caution flag periods for 40 laps.

This was the 72nd career victory for Johnson, his fifth at the track and the seventh forHendrick Motorsports. This win moved Johnson up to sixth in the points standings, while Harvick left Texas with a 26-point lead over Logano.Chevrolet increased their lead in the manufacturers' championship to 19 points overFord.

The Duck Commander 500 was byFox Sports on the broadcastFox network for the American television audience. The radio broadcast for the race was carried by thePerformance Racing Network andSirius XMNASCAR Radio.

Texas Motor Speedway is aspeedway located in the northernmost portion of theU.S. city ofFort Worth, Texas – the portion located inDenton County, Texas. The track measures 1.5 miles (2.4 km) around and is banked 24 degrees in the turns, and is of the oval design, where the front straightaway juts outward slightly. The track layout is similar toAtlanta Motor Speedway andCharlotte Motor Speedway, tracks also owned bySpeedway Motorsports.

Kevin Harvick entered Texas with a 24-point lead overJoey Logano, whileMartin Truex Jr. entered 32 points back in third.Brad Keselowski entered 57 points back in fourth, andKasey Kahne entered 70 points back in fifth.

Martin Truex Jr. was the fastest in the first practice session with a time of 28.258 and a speed of 191.096 mph (307.539 km/h).^[12]

Kasey Kahne was the fastest in the final practice session with a time of 28.276 and a speed of 190.975 mph (307.344 km/h).^[13]

Kurt Busch won the pole with a time of 27.857 and a speed of 193.847 mph (311.967 km/h).^[14] After winning the pole, Busch thanked his entire team for the good result, stating that "everyone chipped in". Busch also stated that his second pole of the 2015 season felt good, and that he was looking "to dial it in and get that long-run speed out of the car".^[14] Championship leader and team-mateKevin Harvick joined Busch on the front row, having been out-qualified by 0.018 seconds. Harvick felt that his team "stuck to our plan" and that "everything worked out good".^[14] In third place wasTeam Penske'sBrad Keselowski, who stated that he was "being first in class", behind the cars of Busch and Harvick in the grid order. He also stated that "it never helps to have extra runs on the tires, but we made the most of it".^[14]

Keselowski's Penske team-mateJoey Logano qualified sixth, believing that his car was more suited to the race and that he "kind of finished as expected for qualifying". Logano also mentioned that his crew chief Todd Gordon had told him that he won from 10th last year, so that he was "improving".^[14]Dale Earnhardt Jr. failed to make it out of the first part of the qualifying session, and like Logano, he felt that his car would perform better in the race than in qualifying. In order to improve the car, Earnhardt stated that he and his team "will have to go home and work on it".^[14] With 45 entrants,Jeb Burton andBrendan Gaughan both failed to qualify.^[14]

The race was scheduled to start at 7:46 p.m., but started a couple of minutes later whenKurt Busch led the field to the green flag. He would not maintain the lead, however, as his teammateKevin Harvick passed him exiting turn 4 on the opening lap. Engine issues were prevalent in the opening stages of the race, asJ. J. Yeley took his car to the garage on lap 13 because of engine issues,^[15] andRyan Blaney also reported that his engine was sputtering. The first caution of the race flew on lap 32 whenAlex Kennedy spun out in turn 4 after he got loose in turn 3. Kurt Busch exited pit road ahead of Harvick to take the lead, whileJustin Allgaier was forced to restart from the tail end for a commitment line violation.Dale Earnhardt Jr. made a second stop under the caution to add lug nuts to the left-rear of his car – instead of the normal five, the tire had only two.^[16]

The race restarted on lap 37 with Busch out front. Harvick took the lead by the end of the lap, before Busch was able to get back to the front.Brad Keselowski, running fourth at the time, made an unscheduled stop on lap 67 and dropped to 30th. Blaney retired from the race on lap 71, as his engine issues continued.^[15]Kyle Larson kicked off a wave of green flag pit stops on lap 79. Busch surrendered the lead on lap 81 to make his stop andJeff Gordon assumed the lead. Gordon pitted the next lap and the lead cycled to Keselowski, following his unscheduled pit stop.Ricky Stenhouse Jr. was forced to serve a drive-through penalty for speeding on pit road.Jimmie Johnson took the lead on lap 109, just as debris in turn 3 brought out the second caution of the race. Johnson and Harvick swapped the lead on pit road with Johnson maintaining the lead on exit.Denny Hamlin was forced to drop to the tail end of the field for driving through too many pit boxes exiting pit road.^[16]

The race restarted on lap 114 with Johnson in the lead. Kevin Harvick took back the lead on lap 125, and led the next portion of the race before Johnson took back the lead on lap 156, just as cars began hitting pit road for green flag pit stops. Johnson and Harvick swapped the lead over the next few laps, before Harvick ceded his position for a stop andKasey Kahne assumed the position. Kahne spent two laps at the front of the race, before Johnson cycled back to the head of the field on lap 160.Landon Cassill made an unscheduled stop on lap 167 for a flat tire, almost hitting the wall in turn 4.^[16]

Debris in turn 3 brought out the third caution of the race on lap 169. Johnson and Harvick swapped the lead on pit road being pitted on opposite ends, but it was Johnson that exited with the lead. The race restarted on lap 177. Kahne, running eighth, made an unscheduled stop for a loose wheel on lap 198, and rejoined the race in 22nd position. Johnson gave up the lead on lap 220 to make his stop, handing the lead toPaul Menard. He led a lap before the lead went to Kahne, after his unscheduled pit stop. Johnson passed him on fresher tires on lap 226, and held the lead to the fourth caution of the race, which flew on lap 227 whenMatt Kenseth just about spun out in turn 4. Johnson and Harvick again swapped the lead on pit road with Johnson again leaving with the lead for the restart, with 100 laps to go.^[16]

The fifth caution of the race flew with 86 laps to go whenMichael Annett hit the wall in turn 2. Just as in the previous pit stop cycle, Johnson and Harvick swapped the lead on pit road with Johnson exiting with the lead.Trevor Bayne was forced to restart at the tail end for driving through too many pit boxes exiting pit road. The race restarted with 79 laps to go, but was soon back under yellow flag conditions – for the sixth time, with 75 laps to go – after Allgaier hit the wall in turn 2. After an extensive clean up of oil on pit road, a number of drivers stayed out – led byJoey Logano – while Johnson pitted. Keselowski was forced to drop to the tail end of the field for a commitment violation, while Stenhouse was forced to drop to the tail end of the field for his crew being over the wall too soon.^[16]

The race restarted with 65 laps to go with Logano in the lead. Kevin Harvick retook the lead with 49 laps to go, before debris in turn 3 brought out the seventh caution of the race as Kenseth hit the wall with 41 laps to go. The race restarted with 35 laps to go, before more debris brought out the eighth caution of the race asA. J. Allmendinger hit the wall with 25 laps to go.Jamie McMurray exited pit road with the lead by taking just two tires, while Kyle Larson andCasey Mears were forced to drop to the tail end of the field for driving through too many pit boxes.^[16]

The race restarted with 21 laps to go. Joey Logano was bumped out of the way by Kevin Harvick in turn 1 and managed to avoid hitting the wall,^[17] but fell back to eighth in the running order. Harvick stated post-race that the incident was "the chance you take when you block" and that a driver would "just have to kind of knock them out of the way".^[17] Logano felt that the move was "understandable" and that he expected "to get raced the way I race people, and I would do the same thing".^[17] Johnson took the lead from McMurray with 14 laps to go, and was able to hold off Harvick – who had been closing in after the Logano incident – to score the victory.^[18]

In Victory Lane, Johnson reflected upon his 72nd win in the series, describing his Chevrolet as "a great, great racecar", and that it was the perfect result after the Easter break, stating that it "was good for us, gave us a chance to reboot, relax and get back in the swing of things".^[18] After his second-place finish, Harvick stated that he was "not disappointed at all", adding that "racing for wins is what we're here to do".^[18] Gordon, who gambled on the final pit stop by changing just two tires, restarted second and scored a seventh-place finish – his best of the season.^[19] Gordon felt that he "struggled" during the race, but also praised his crew chiefAlan Gustafson for a "great gamble".^[19] Truex, who had only five top ten finishes in 2014, scored his seventh top ten finish of 2015 with a ninth-place finish.^[20] Truex described the evening as "a hard-fought night, for sure" but also stated the result was "still a top 10, so all in all, it was a good night for us".^[20]

• 29 lead changes among 9 different drivers
• 8 cautions for 40 laps
• Time of race: 3 hours, 33 minutes, 57 seconds
• Average speed: 140.500 mph (226.113 km/h)
• Jimmie Johnson took home $523,501 in winnings

• Coors Light Pole Award:Kurt Busch (27.857, 193.847 mph (311.967 km/h))
• 3M Lap Leader:Jimmie Johnson (128 laps)
• American Ethanol Green Flag Restart Award:Kevin Harvick (29.877, 180.744 mph (290.879 km/h))
• Duralast Brakes "Bake In The Race" Award: Kevin Harvick
• Freescale "Wide Open": Kevin Harvick
• Ingersoll Rand Power Move:Ryan Newman, 10 positions
• MAHLE Clevite Engine Builder of the Race: Hendrick Engines, #48
• Mobil 1 Driver of the Race: Jimmie Johnson (137.5 driver rating)
• Moog Steering and Suspension Problem Solver of The Race:Dale Earnhardt Jr. (crew chiefGreg Ives (0.431 seconds))
• NASCARSprint Cup Leader Bonus: No winner: rolls over to $40,000 at next event
• Sherwin-Williams Fastest Lap:Jamie McMurray (Lap 315, 28.889, 186.924 mph (300.825 km/h))
• Sunoco Rookie of The Race:Brett Moffitt

Fox Sports covered their 15th race atTexas Motor Speedway.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.

PRN had the radio call for the race, which was simulcast onSirius XMNASCAR Radio. Doug Rice, Mark Garrow andWendy Venturini called the race in the booth when the field was racing down the front stretch. Rob Albright called the race from atop the condo outside turn 2 when the field was racing through turns 1 and 2. Pat Patterson called the race from a billboard outside turn 3 when the field was racing through turns 3 and 4. Brad Gillie, Brett McMillan, Jim Noble and Steve Richards worked pit road for PRN.

Drivers' Championship standings Pos Driver Points 1 Kevin Harvick 306 2 Joey Logano 280 (−26) 3 Martin Truex Jr. 266 (−40) 4 Brad Keselowski 246 (−60) 5 Kasey Kahne 230 (−76) 4 6 Jimmie Johnson 216 (−90) 1 7 Dale Earnhardt Jr. 213 (−93) 1 8 Denny Hamlin 205 (−101) 9 Aric Almirola 195 (−111) 2 10 David Ragan 194 (−112) 3 11 Jamie McMurray 193 (−113) 1 12 Matt Kenseth 189 (−117) 3 13 Jeff Gordon 186 (−120) 3 14 Carl Edwards 182 (−124) 2 15 Casey Mears 178 (−128) 10 16 Paul Menard 177 (−129)

Manufacturers' Championship standings Pos Manufacturer Points 1 Chevrolet 315 2 Ford 296 (−19) 3 Toyota 264 (−51) Note: Only the first sixteen positions are included for the driver standings.

• 2015 in sports in Texas
• 2015 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series
• NASCAR races at Texas Motor Speedway

• Use mdy dates from February 2025
• Articles with short description
• Short description is different from Wikidata