The 2015 Daytona 500, the 57th running of the event, was a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race which was held on February 22, 2015 at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida. Contested over 203 laps – extended from 200 laps due to a green–white–checker finish – on the 2.5 mi (4.0 km) asphalt superspeedway, it was the first race of the 2015 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season. Joey Logano won the race, recording the second Daytona 500 win for Team Penske, and his ninth career Sprint Cup victory. Kevin Harvick finished second while Dale Earnhardt Jr., Denny Hamlin and Jimmie Johnson rounded out the top–five.
Jeff Gordon won the pole for his 23rd and final career start in the Daytona 500. Hendrick Motorsports swept the Budweiser Duel races with Earnhardt Jr. winning the first Duel race and fourth career qualifying race and Johnson winning the second Duel race and second career qualifying race. Gordon led a race-high 87 laps and ran up front for most of the race. He was caught up in the backstretch multi-car wreck on the final lap of the race and finished 33rd. Logano took the lead with 10 laps to go in the scheduled 200 lap distance and was ahead of Kevin Harvick before the last caution flag ended the race in his favor. The race had 27 lead changes among 12 different drivers, as well as 7 caution flag periods for 26 laps. There was also a single red flag period that lasted for 6 minutes and 42 seconds.
Logano left Daytona with a five-point lead over Harvick in the points standings, while Ford left Daytona with a five-point lead over Chevrolet in the manufacturer standings.
The 57th Daytona 500 was carried by Fox Sports on the broadcast Fox network for the American television audience. The radio broadcast for the race was carried by the Motor Racing Network and Sirius XM NASCAR Radio.
Brothers Kurt Busch and Kyle Busch, mainstays in the Cup Series for over a decade, both missed the race for different reasons, making this event the first race without one of the two since the 2001 NAPA 500.[9] Kurt missed the race after being suspended during a trial for domestic violence, while Kyle suffered a broken right leg and a fractured left foot in a violent crash in the Alert Today Florida 300 the day prior.
This marks the final Daytona 500 starts for Sam Hornish Jr., Tony Stewart, Justin Allgaier, and Johnny Sauter.
Daytona International Speedway is a race track in Daytona Beach, Florida, United States. Since opening in 1959, it has been the home of the Daytona 500, the most prestigious race in NASCAR.[10] In addition to NASCAR, the track also hosts races of ARCA, AMA Superbike, USCC, SCCA, and Motocross. The track features multiple layouts including the primary 2.5 mi (4.0 km) high speed tri-oval,[11] a 3.56 mi (5.73 km) sports car course, a 2.95 mi (4.75 km) motorcycle course, and a .25 mi (0.40 km) karting and motorcycle flat-track. The track's 180-acre (73 ha) infield includes the 29-acre (12 ha) Lake Lloyd, which has hosted powerboat racing. The speedway is owned and operated by International Speedway Corporation.
The track was built to host racing that was being held by NASCAR founder Bill France, Sr. at the former Daytona Beach and Road Course and opened with the first Daytona 500 in 1959.[12] The speedway has been renovated three times, with the infield renovated in 2004,[13] and the track repaved in 1978 and 2010.[14]
NASCAR implemented a new camera system to officiate pit road.[15] Forty-five cameras monitor pit road and reduce the number of necessary officials on pit road from 24 to 10.[15] The system was beta tested during the 10 race Chase for the Sprint Cup last season and "allegedly" detected a high number of infractions such as driving through more than three stalls to get into or exit one's pit stall. Eight officials monitor the system from a truck outside the track and have the final say on imposing a penalty.[15] With only 10 officials monitoring pit road now, NASCAR no longer penalizes teams for missing or loose lug nuts. The responsibility for having those lug nuts on the car falls on the teams.[15]
The entry list for the 57th running of the Daytona 500 was released on Thursday, February 12, 2015 at 9:22 a.m. Eastern time. Fifty drivers were entered for the race. Joe Nemechek and his No. 87 team later withdrew before qualifying after the team had problems preparing the car. With the Daytona 500 being the first race of the 2015 season, 13 drivers were entered for the race driving for a different team than they had raced for in the 2014 season. Trevor Bayne made his debut with Roush Fenway Racing after spending the last five seasons driving part-time for Wood Brothers Racing. Alex Bowman, who drove for BK Racing in his 2014 rookie campaign, moved to Tommy Baldwin Racing to drive the No. 7 Chevrolet. Sam Hornish Jr. returned to full time in the Sprint Cup Series – his first since 2010 – to drive in the No. 9 Richard Petty Motorsports Ford. He replaced Marcos Ambrose who returned to his native Australia to race in the V8 Supercar Series. Carl Edwards, who drove the last 11 seasons for Roush Fenway Racing, moved to Joe Gibbs Racing to drive the No. 19 Toyota. Ryan Blaney replaced Trevor Bayne in the No. 21 Wood Brothers Racing Ford on a part-time basis. J. J. Yeley moved to the No. 23 BK Racing Toyota that had been driven by Alex Bowman the previous season. Jeb Burton moved up from the Camping World Truck Series to drive the No. 26 BK Racing Toyota. Justin Marks was entered to make his first Sprint Cup Series start in the No. 29 RAB Racing Toyota. Former Camping World Truck Series champion Ron Hornaday Jr. moved up to attempt to run his first full season in the Sprint Cup Series since 2001 in the No. 30 Chevrolet for The Motorsports Group. The 2000 series champion Bobby Labonte took over the seat of the No. 32 Go FAS Racing Ford for the four restrictor plate races. This was a role previously done by his brother Terry Labonte who made his final career start in October 2014 at Talladega. Cole Whitt, who drove the No. 26 BK Racing Toyota in his 2014 rookie campaign, moved to the No. 35 Front Row Motorsports Ford. Reed Sorenson drove the No. 44 Team XTREME Racing Chevrolet. Michael Annett left Tommy Baldwin Racing after his 2014 rookie campaign and moved to HScott Motorsports to drive the No. 46 Chevrolet. Brian Scott was entered in a one race deal to drive the No. 62 Premium Motorsports Chevrolet.