2015 Duck Commander 500: Jimmie Johnson Holds Off Harvick at Texas

The 2015 Duck Commander 500 was a Sprint Cup event staged on 11 April 2015 at Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth, and it was the seventh stop on the 2015 calendar, and Jimmie Johnson won it, his second win of the year and his first in the Texas spring race. Kevin Harvick finished second and Dale Earnhardt Jr. third, with Joey Logano and Brad Keselowski completing the top five.

What was the 2015 Duck Commander 500?

The race was contested over 334 laps on the 1.5 mile (2.4 km) quad-oval at Texas Motor Speedway. It was broadcast by Fox Sports on the Fox network, while the Performance Racing Network and Sirius XM NASCAR Radio carried the radio coverage. The start was scheduled for 7:46 p.m., and the green flag fell a couple of minutes later.

For Johnson the victory was his 72nd in the series, his fifth at the Texas track and the seventh for Hendrick Motorsports. It moved him up to sixth in the championship standings, while Harvick left Texas with a 26-point lead over Logano.

Johnson's 128 laps at the front and a late bump from Harvick decided a 29-lead-change race at Texas.

What is Texas Motor Speedway like?

Texas Motor Speedway sits in the northern part of Fort Worth, in the portion that lies in Denton County. The track measures 1.5 miles around and is banked 24 degrees in the turns. Its oval layout is similar to Atlanta and Charlotte, which are also owned by Speedway Motorsports.

Who led the championship before the race?

Harvick entered Texas with a 24-point lead over Logano. Martin Truex Jr. was 32 points back in third, Brad Keselowski was 57 points behind in fourth, and Kasey Kahne was 70 points back in fifth. Those gaps defined the top of the standings going into the spring race.

How fast were the cars in practice?

In the first practice session Martin Truex Jr. was quickest at 28.258 seconds, a speed of 191.096 mph (307.539 km/h). In the final practice Kasey Kahne was fastest with 28.276 seconds, or 190.975 mph (307.344 km/h). The two sessions produced almost identical times, separated by only a few hundredths of a second.

Who won the pole at Texas?

Kurt Busch took the pole with a time of 27.857 seconds, a speed of 193.847 mph (311.967 km/h). It was his second pole of the 2015 season. After the session he credited his whole team, saying that everyone had contributed to the result.

Harvick, Busch's teammate and the championship leader, qualified second, only 0.018 seconds behind. Brad Keselowski was third, and Joey Logano was sixth. Dale Earnhardt Jr. did not make it out of the first round of qualifying. Forty-five cars entered, and Jeb Burton and Brendan Gaughan both failed to qualify.

How did the race start?

Busch led the field to the green flag, but Harvick passed him exiting turn four on the first lap. Engine problems were common early on. J. J. Yeley took his car to the garage on lap 13, and Ryan Blaney also reported that his engine was sputtering.

The first caution came on lap 32, when Alex Kennedy spun in turn four. Earnhardt Jr. made a second stop under that caution because his left-rear tyre had only two lug nuts instead of the usual five. Brad Keselowski made an unscheduled stop on lap 67 and dropped to 30th, and Blaney retired on lap 71 with his engine problems still unresolved.

How did the lead change through the middle laps?

Johnson took the lead on lap 109, just as debris in turn three brought out the second caution. The two leaders, Johnson and Harvick, swapped the lead several times on pit road. Denny Hamlin was sent to the back of the field for driving through too many pit boxes on his exit.

Kahne spent two laps at the front, and Johnson regained the lead on lap 160. A flat tyre later forced Landon Cassill into an unscheduled stop. Debris in turn three caused the third caution on lap 169, and Johnson exited the pit cycle with the lead again. He held it until a fourth caution on lap 227, when Matt Kenseth nearly spun in turn four.

What happened in the final 100 miles?

The field went through a run of cautions near the end. Michael Annett hit the wall in turn two with 86 laps to go, and Allgaier followed with a crash in the same corner. After a clean-up of oil on pit road, Johnson pitted while Joey Logano and others stayed out.

Kenseth hit the wall with 41 laps left after debris in turn three had brought out the seventh caution. A. J. Allmendinger then crashed with 25 laps to go, bringing out the eighth yellow. Jamie McMurray left pit road with the lead after taking only two tyres, and Kyle Larson and Casey Mears were penalised for driving through too many pit boxes.

With 21 laps left Harvick bumped Logano in turn one, and Logano dropped back to eighth. Harvick later said that blocking carries a risk and that drivers have to knock others out of the way at times. Logano said he expected to be treated the way he treats others. Johnson took the lead from McMurray with 14 laps to go and held off Harvick to win.

How did Johnson win the race?

Johnson led a race-high 128 laps and took the win in a Chevrolet he later described as a great race car. He said the result was just what the team needed after the Easter break. Harvick finished second and said he was not disappointed, adding that racing for wins is what the team was there to do.

Gordon gambled on the final pit stop by changing only two tyres and restarted second. He finished seventh, his best result of the season. Truex finished ninth, his seventh top-ten of 2015, and he called it a hard-fought night that was still a top ten.

Busch led 45 laps before finishing 14th. The race had 29 lead changes among nine different drivers, eight cautions for 40 laps and a total time of 3 hours, 33 minutes and 57 seconds. The average speed was 140.500 mph (226.113 km/h).

How did the race affect the standings?

The win moved Johnson up to sixth in the points, and Harvick kept a 26-point cushion over Logano. Chevrolet extended its manufacturers' lead over Ford to 19 points. Johnson's 72nd career win, and his fifth at Texas, was the headline result of the night.

What awards were handed out?

Johnson took home $523,501 in winnings and was named Mobil 1 Driver of the Race with a 137.5 driver rating. Harvick won the American Ethanol Green Flag restart award and the Duralast Brakes and Freescale awards. Ryan Newman was the Ingersoll Rand Power Move winner after gaining ten positions, and Brett Moffitt was the Sunoco Rookie of the Race.

The fastest lap went to Jamie McMurray on lap 315 at 28.889 seconds. Hendrick Engines, car number 48, was named the MAHLE Clevite Engine Builder of the Race, and Dale Earnhardt Jr. was honoured as the Moog Steering and Suspension Problem Solver, with crew chief Greg Ives credited with 0.431 seconds. The NASCAR Sprint Cup Leader Bonus was not won, so it rolled over to $40,000 at the next event.

Career summary by result