An aero package nobody wanted, a late restart and a Joe Gibbs Racing win at the track where Harvick had led the most laps.
Kyle Busch took the 2015 Brickyard 400 on a green-white-checkered restart at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, earning his 33rd career Cup win and fourth of the season. Carl Edwards started from pole, while Kevin Harvick led a race-high 75 laps before finishing third.
The 2015 Brickyard 400 was the 22nd running of the event, a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race held on July 26, 2015, at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Kyle Busch won it on a green-white-checkered restart, his fourth win of the season, and he went on to finish the race ahead of Joey Logano, Kevin Harvick, Martin Truex Jr. and Denny Hamlin. The race ran 164 laps after being extended from 160 for the green-white-checkered finish.
Why did the Brickyard matter in 2015?
This was the 20th event of the 2015 Sprint Cup calendar. Indianapolis Motor Speedway, home of the Indianapolis 500, sits about six miles west of downtown Indianapolis, and Joe Gibbs Racing had already won there several times.
Harvick came in 69 points clear of Logano, while Dale Earnhardt Jr. was 79 points back, Jimmie Johnson 88 back and Martin Truex Jr. 106 back. The championship picture therefore set the tone for the weekend, with the leaders looking to extend their advantage.
A higher-drag package, a single-car qualifying session and a green-white-checkered finish that handed Kyle Busch his first Indianapolis win.
What changed in the aero package?
NASCAR confirmed the higher-drag aero package on July 7. The cars received a nine-inch spoiler, a one-inch wicker bill, a 43-inch radiator pan and a two-inch leading edge on the splitter. The changes were designed to produce closer racing, but they also drew criticism from parts of the media.
Qualifying was also altered. Instead of knockout qualifying, the weekend used the single-car method that Daytona and Talladega employ, which put each driver on track alone to set one timed lap.
How big was the entry list?
Entries were published on Friday, 17 July, at 9:28 a.m. Eastern time. Forty-six cars were entered, and all but one had also raced at New Hampshire the previous week. Chase Elliott was making his fourth career start in the No. 25 Hendrick Chevrolet, and Josh Wise, Brian Scott and Michael McDowell returned to the cars they had driven at the start of the year.
Jeff Gordon's 22nd and last start at the Brickyard came in this race. He was tied with Michael Schumacher for the most wins at the track, which made the start a notable sign-off for the veteran.
How did practice and qualifying go?
Hamlin's first-practice best was 49.394 seconds, averaging 182.208 mph. Dale Earnhardt Jr. topped the second session at 49.596 seconds, although Hamlin's hood snapped up in that session and smashed his windshield. Kurt Busch was fastest in final practice at 49.454 seconds, and Timmy Hill crashed into the barrier before the pit road entrance.
Carl Edwards claimed the pole at 49.056 seconds, which equalled 183.464 mph (295.257 km/h). Joey Logano qualified second and Tony Stewart fourth. Edwards said the team had begun the weekend badly before the crew's work turned the car around.
How did the first half of the race unfold?
Green flag time was 3:42pm, three minutes behind the planned start. Edwards lost the lead to Logano exiting turn 2, but he retook it on lap 12. Kevin Harvick pulled within half a second of the leader several times, but Edwards kept pulling away.
Harvick came in first on lap 28, which began the green-flag stop cycle. Edwards and Kyle Busch pitted on lap 32, and the lead passed to Harvick. Austin Dillon was tagged twice for speeding on pit road and served two penalties.
Lap 44 brought the first yellow, after orange balloons snagged on the backstretch fence. A second caution followed on lap 50, when Clint Bowyer spun and Jeff Gordon overcorrected into the turn 4 wall. Logano gave up the lead on lap 62, and Harvick took it back. Danica Patrick gave up fifth to pit on lap 84, and debris on the front stretch brought the third caution on lap 90.
What happened in the second half?
The race restarted on lap 97, and a fourth caution came on lap 107 when Aric Almirola slid into the inside wall. Brian Scott then hit the wall exiting turn 2 with 40 laps to go, and most of the field pitted under the caution, which gave Brad Keselowski the lead.
David Ragan briefly took the lead from Keselowski and handed it back after a stop. Debris from Justin Allgaier's tyre brought the sixth caution with 20 laps left, and Keselowski pitted under that yellow to give the lead back to Harvick.
The closing laps were eventful. Dale Earnhardt Jr. spun in turn 1 for the seventh caution with 13 laps to go. Kyle Busch passed Harvick in turn 1 with seven laps to run, but debris from Casey Mears's car brought the eighth caution with six laps left. Trevor Bayne was rear-ended into the wall on the restart for the ninth caution.
How did the green-white-checkered finish decide the race?
Two laps remained when the green-white-checkered finish began. Busch moved past Logano and pulled away for his 33rd career victory and his first at the track. It was also his third straight win and the fourth win at the Brickyard for Joe Gibbs Racing.
Logano took second, with Harvick third, Truex fourth and Hamlin fifth. Harvick led a race-high 75 laps and was named the Mobil 1 Driver of the Race with a 135.5 driver rating.
| Position | Driver | Note |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kyle Busch | Fourth win of 2015, first at Indianapolis |
| 2 | Joey Logano | Started second on the grid |
| 3 | Kevin Harvick | Race-high 75 laps led |
| 4 | Martin Truex Jr. | Pit road delay before the final caution |
| 5 | Denny Hamlin | Top five finish |
| 13 | Carl Edwards | Pole sitter who led 20 laps |
What did the result mean for the standings?
Busch's win was his 33rd career Cup victory. It moved him to 32nd in the points, 23 behind Justin Allgaier for the final Chase spot, and 483 points behind Harvick. Toyota left the weekend 80 points behind Chevrolet in the manufacturer standings, despite winning the race.
For the race as a whole there were 16 lead changes among six drivers, and nine cautions for 36 laps. The race took 3 hours, 6 minutes and 51 seconds, at an average speed of 131.656 mph (211.880 km/h). Busch collected $424,191 in winnings. The Xfinity race the day before had also ended with a last-lap pass on Ryan Blaney, who rebounded to twelfth in the Cup event.
How did the drivers and media respond?
Busch said it was a treat to win at Indianapolis and pointed out that Toyota now had a win at every active Cup track. Logano said that at Indianapolis the approach was simple: either win or finish last, and nothing in between mattered much.
Members of the media were divided on the aero package. Pete Pistone described the race as having the same flavour as most Brickyards, Jim Utter said it looked not very different from earlier races, and Jenna Fryer of the Associated Press criticised the higher-downforce approach. NASCAR's Mike Helton said the series would take time to digest the results.
Who covered the race?
On television, NBC Sports used Rick Allen, Jeff Burton and Steve Letarte in its booth for the race. The broadcasts reached fans on both television and radio. The IndyCar Radio Network carried the radio call, simulcast on the Performance Racing Network and Sirius XM NASCAR Radio.
