2015 Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500: Johnson Holds Off Harvick

Jimmie Johnson won the 2015 Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway in Hampton, Georgia, on 1 March 2015. It was his first win of the season and his 71st career victory, and Kevin Harvick took second after a race that carried a red flag late on. Dale Earnhardt Jr. was third, followed by Joey Logano and Matt Kenseth in the top five.

Who won the 2015 Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500?

Johnson crossed the line ahead of Harvick, who had led a race-high 116 laps and had been the car to beat for much of the afternoon. Earnhardt Jr. finished third, Logano fourth and Kenseth fifth. The win was Johnson's fourth at Atlanta Motor Speedway and the 13th victory for Hendrick Motorsports at the track.

Logano had come into the weekend as the points leader for the first time in his career, after his Daytona 500 win. Johnson's result left him one point behind Logano in the standings, while Chevrolet moved one point clear of Ford in the manufacturers' table. Logano's fourth place kept him near the top of a tight early-season table.

A late red flag and a 14-lap restart gave Jimmie Johnson his 71st win at a track he knew well.

What was the race's sponsorship and purpose?

The race was sponsored by QuikTrip and by the nonprofit Folds of Honor, which helps fund education for the families of U.S. service members who have been killed or disabled in the line of duty. The partnership gave the event a charitable purpose alongside the racing.

It was the second race of the 2015 Sprint Cup season and ran over 325 laps on the 1.54-mile (2 km) asphalt quad-oval. Fox Sports carried the race on the Fox network, while the Performance Racing Network and Sirius XM NASCAR Radio covered it on radio.

What is Atlanta Motor Speedway like?

Atlanta Motor Speedway, formerly Atlanta International Raceway, sits in Hampton, Georgia, 25 miles (40 km) south of the city. The track is a 1.54-mile (2.48 km) quad-oval with a seating capacity of 86,000. It opened in 1960 as a standard oval of 1.5 miles (2.4 km).

In 1994, 46 condominiums were built over the north-eastern side of the track. In 1997 the circuit was almost completely rebuilt, with the frontstretch and backstretch swapped and the layout changed to a quad-oval. That made it one of the fastest tracks on the NASCAR calendar.

Kevin Harvick had dominated the previous year's race, leading 195 of the 325 laps before a late crash. Logano arrived as the points leader after his Daytona 500 win, with Harvick and Earnhardt Jr. both five points back in the standings.

Which teams and drivers were in the field?

Forty-eight drivers were entered, and each of them had also raced in the previous week's Daytona 500. Mike Bliss ran the No. 32 Ford for Go FAS Racing, Travis Kvapil took the No. 44 Chevrolet for Team XTREME Racing in place of Reed Sorenson, and Brendan Gaughan drove the No. 62 Chevrolet for Premium Motorsports.

Several substitutes filled seats during the weekend. Brett Moffitt took the No. 55 Toyota in the place of Brian Vickers, who was due back at the next race, and Regan Smith drove the No. 41 Chevrolet while Kurt Busch was suspended. David Ragan was selected to run the No. 18 Toyota for Joe Gibbs Racing after Kyle Busch was injured, and Joe Nemechek later took over the No. 34 Ford.

What happened to the Team XTREME car?

On the Friday morning of the race weekend, a black Ford dually and a white trailer carrying the No. 44 Chevrolet were stolen from the team's hotel in Morrow, Georgia. Without a backup car, the team had no choice but to withdraw from the race. The car was found the next morning in Loganville, roughly 40 miles (64 km) away.

The car had been brought down separately, so more work could be done on it at the shop. Jason Terry pleaded guilty to the theft of the truck and trailer on 3 August 2015. The team said publicly how badly the theft had affected its race effort, and it became a talking point for the weekend.

How did the test sessions and practice go?

The first of the weekend's open test sessions was led by Jamie McMurray, whose 28.943 seconds equated to 191.549 mph (308.268 km/h). In the second session Jeff Gordon was quickest at 29.423 seconds, a speed of 188.424 mph (303.239 km/h).

In first practice Kyle Larson's best was 28.727 seconds, which equated to 192.989 mph (310.586 km/h). Kevin Harvick set the pace in final practice at 29.018 seconds, but his engine failed, and he had to start from the back of the field as a result.

How was the pole decided?

Joey Logano took the pole at 28.477 seconds, which was 194.683 mph (313.312 km/h). He said the result was a great way to follow the Daytona race and that his team had momentum it wanted to keep going. Qualifying began 20 minutes late because many cars had to pass technical inspection more than once.

When the first round finally got under way, 13 of the 47 cars never had a chance to post a lap before the session ended. NASCAR chose to start the session regardless, and the decision angered several drivers and team managers.

Michael Annett was not in the field after qualifying, but he took over the No. 33 Chevrolet for Hillman-Circle Sport from Brian Scott, who gave up his spot so that Annett could chase driver points. Annett's HScott Motorsports team ran the car on race day, and Circle Sport owner Joe Falk was credited with the owner's points. This was the first of five race weekends in 2015 with open tests for any team, and McMurray and Gordon, both quick in testing, were among the regulars in the field.

How did the race start and open?

The race was due to start at 1:16 pm but was delayed by overnight showers and the time needed to dry the track. Logano led the green flag at 2:12 pm and quickly built a four-second lead. The first caution then flew on lap 26 because of the showers.

Before the restart the field had spent a long stretch at caution speed. That caution helped Ricky Stenhouse Jr., who had a right-rear tyre going down. Joe Nemechek led a lap before pitting and handing the front back to Logano. Sam Hornish Jr. made an unscheduled stop on lap 42 to remove a windshield tear-off that was blocking his air intake.

Austin Dillon cut a right-rear tyre on lap 46, and a piece of debris on the backstretch brought out the second caution. The third came on lap 60, when Dillon cut another right-rear tyre and spun in turn one, ending up in the mud.

How did the lead change through the middle laps?

Harvick closed on Logano and narrowed the gap to half a second before taking the lead on lap 87, after Logano got loose exiting turn four. The fourth caution came on lap 94, when Landon Cassill blew an engine in turn three.

The field went into a rush of green-flag stops from lap 138, and Harvick gave up the lead to pit before regaining it on lap 150. Matt Kenseth made an unscheduled stop on lap 168 for a possible vibration, and he returned a lap down before the fifth caution on lap 175 for debris on the front stretch.

Harvick's form was the story of the day. The runner-up finish was one of several strong results in a run of eight consecutive races, all of them top-two finishes in the first or second place.

Harvick led a race-high 116 laps. Johnson briefly led for the first time in the race, and the lead then changed hands during the pit cycles before the battle at the front resumed in the closing laps.

What decided the finish?

With about 110 laps to go Harvick began running down Johnson, who held the lead at that point. The seventh caution came with 74 laps to go for debris on the backstretch, and Johnson beat Harvick off pit road to retake the lead.

A multi-car wreck on the backstretch brought out the eighth caution with 69 laps left. Hamlin slid loose out of turn two, Newman was pushed into McMurray, and McMurray clipped Gordon, who hit the inside wall head-on. The race was restarted with 63 laps to go.

The ninth caution came with 28 laps to go when Cole Whitt lost an engine in turn one. Johnson surrendered the lead during the final pit cycle, but he got it back when Kenseth stayed out on track.

With 21 laps left, a major wreck in turn three brought out the tenth caution. Biffle moved to the inside of Nemechek, and the two cars made contact and slid up the track. Bowyer, Hornish, Larson, Stewart, Regan Smith and Stenhouse were also involved, and the race was red-flagged for nine minutes and one second to clear the debris.

The race restarted with 14 laps to go, and Johnson held off Harvick to score his 71st career victory.

What were the race statistics?

The race had 28 lead changes among 12 different drivers and 10 caution periods covering 54 laps. It also had one red flag lasting nine minutes and one second. The race time was 3 hours, 49 minutes and 6 seconds, and the average speed was 131.078 mph (210.950 km/h). Those figures covered all 325 laps of the race.

Harvick's 116 laps were the most of any driver, which made him the pacesetter for much of the afternoon. Johnson took home 335,901 dollars in winnings. The NASCAR Sprint Cup leader bonus rolled over to 30,000 dollars for the next event, because no driver had won it.

What were the race awards?

• Pole: Joey Logano, 28.477 seconds
• Most laps led: Kevin Harvick, 116 laps
• Fastest lap: Denny Hamlin on lap 2, 29.238 seconds
• Problem solver: Jimmie Johnson, with crew chief Chad Knaus, at 0.340 seconds
• Driver of the race: Kevin Harvick, rating 131.2