2015 Ford EcoBoost 400: Kyle Busch Wins the Race and His First Title at Homestead

The 2015 Ford EcoBoost 400 closed out the Sprint Cup calendar as its 36th event. Kyle Busch won it at Homestead-Miami Speedway, claiming his first Cup championship, while Jeff Gordon finished sixth in his final scheduled full-time start.

When and where was the 2015 Ford EcoBoost 400 held?

The race was held on 22 November 2015 at Homestead-Miami Speedway in Homestead, Florida. It ran for 267 laps on the 1.5-mile (2.4 km) oval, and it was the final event of the Sprint Cup season. Four drivers went into the race with a chance of the title.

Homestead is an intermediate oval of 1.5 miles. The race was the last to run with a 43-car field, because NASCAR's team charter programme was due to begin the following year.

Four drivers entered the finale with the title in reach, and only one of them left Homestead as champion.

Why was the Homestead finale decided by four drivers?

The Chase for the Sprint Cup ended with a championship four, and the four drivers were Jeff Gordon, Kevin Harvick, Kyle Busch and Martin Truex Jr. Each of them had qualified for the final race by a different route, and each had a different story to tell going into Homestead.

The race was also the final event for Michael Waltrip Racing, which announced in August that it would close at the end of the season. That news added another emotional layer to a race that already carried a lot of weight.

What was the position of each championship contender?

Jeff Gordon was the first of the four to clinch a place, when he won the first race of the Eliminator Round at Martinsville. Gordon was running his final full-time season and was seeking a fifth championship and his first since 2001. He had six straight top-ten finishes entering the race, and 20 top-tens across 2015.

Kevin Harvick was the defending champion, and he had dominated the regular season by leading the points for 23 straight races. He crashed at Chicago and ran out of fuel while leading at Loudon, and he had to win to advance. He did that at Dover, and at Talladega he was involved in a controversial restart crash with Trevor Bayne.

Kyle Busch had broken his right leg and left foot in a crash in an Xfinity Series race at Daytona, and he missed the first 11 races of the Cup season. He returned at the All-Star Race and then won at Sonoma, followed by three straight victories. He won the pole at Pocono and then climbed into the top 30 in the standings.

Martin Truex Jr. was the last driver to secure his place, beating Carl Edwards by five points with a 14th-place finish at Phoenix. He had a strong regular season under crew chief Cole Pearn and led 239 laps between Kansas and Dover without winning. His first victory came at Pocono, his third career win.

Which drivers made their final starts with their teams?

Several drivers were leaving their teams at the end of 2015. Richard Petty Motorsports did not expect Sam Hornish Jr. to return to his car in 2016, and David Ragan was without a ride going into the offseason. Michael Waltrip Racing announced in August that it would shut down, which removed the team from the grid.

Gordon's 797th and final full-time start was the most significant of these farewells. It closed a career that had produced ninety-three wins, including his victory at Martinsville earlier in the Chase.

How did qualifying set the grid?

Forty-five drivers were entered, and all but Ryan Blaney and Michael McDowell had raced at Phoenix the week before. Matt Kenseth returned to the No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota after serving a two-race suspension, and Ty Dillon came back to the No. 33 Chevrolet.

Denny Hamlin claimed the pole with a lap of 30.568 seconds, a speed of 176.655 mph (284.299 km/h). Joey Logano qualified second, Kyle Busch third and Jeff Gordon fifth. Hamlin said afterwards that his team had been unable to take part in the championship battle because of mechanical problems earlier in the Chase.

What happened in practice?

Carl Edwards set the fastest time in the first practice session at 30.832 seconds, or 175.143 mph (281.865 km/h). The session was red-flagged 39 minutes in when Ryan Preece's car began leaking power steering fluid.

Kyle Larson was quickest in the second session at 30.680 seconds, or 176.010 mph (283.261 km/h), and Joey Logano closed the programme with a best of 30.786 seconds in the final session. The times showed that the cars were evenly matched across the front of the field.

How did the race start?

The race was due to begin at 3:15 p.m., but rain delayed it. The track dried under sunny Florida skies, and Denny Hamlin led the field to the green flag at 5:15 p.m. Joey Logano took the first lap, and Hamlin followed closely to avoid losing ground.

Fluid in turn one brought the first caution on lap 13, leaking from car No. 11. Logano stayed out while most of the field went to the pits. The race restarted on lap 19, and Kyle Busch passed Logano for the lead on lap 21 on four new tyres.

The second caution came on lap 31 as a scheduled stop for overnight and pre-race rain. Jeff Gordon moved under Busch and Carl Edwards to take the lead the lap after the restart on lap 36. The third caution flew on lap 40 after Kasey Kahne blew a right-rear tyre and hit the wall.

How did the middle laps unfold?

Kevin Harvick took the lead from Gordon the following lap, and the fourth caution came on lap 47 for a multi-car wreck on the backstretch. Clint Bowyer's car got loose exiting turn two and collected Ty Dillon, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Aric Almirola, Casey Mears and David Ragan. Bowyer went on to finish 43rd in his final race for Michael Waltrip Racing.

Jimmie Johnson had to serve a drive-through penalty after his jackman accidentally pushed in the right-side skirt during a wedge adjustment. Truex began a round of green-flag stops on lap 89, and Harvick came in on lap 91 and gave the lead to Kyle Larson.

A fire started in Truex's pit stall on lap 138, forcing his gas man to stop fuelling before the job was finished. Logano stopped on lap 139, passing the lead to Busch, who lost it to Carl Edwards when he made his own stop the next lap.

What happened in the second half of the race?

Debris from the back of Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s car brought the fifth caution on lap 148, and Busch left pit road with the lead. The sixth caution followed on lap 167 when Josh Wise suffered a right-front tyre blowout and hit the wall. Truex took only right-side tyres and left pit road in front.

With 96 laps to run, Brad Keselowski passed Truex easily on the backstretch and took the lead with 95 to go. Truex began the final round of green-flag stops with 54 laps left. Keselowski pitted with 53 to go and handed the lead to Busch, who pitted the next lap, and the lead cycled back to Keselowski.

How did Kyle Busch take the title?

After the final stops Busch ran second until Kyle Larson passed him with 14 laps to go. Larson began to reel in Keselowski, and then debris on the front stretch brought out the seventh caution with 12 laps to go. The caution was for a piece of metal under the flag stand, although NBC had shown what looked like a plastic bottle on the apron.

Keselowski's crew chief Paul Wolfe said afterwards that he could not see what the debris was, and he had expected to cruise to victory lane. The race restarted with seven laps left, and Busch powered past Keselowski exiting turn two with six to go. He went on to win the race and claim his first NASCAR Sprint Cup championship.

What did the drivers say afterwards?

Busch called the title a dream come true, and he dedicated it to his wife, his family and everyone who had helped him through a difficult year. He said the season had brought a great deal of turmoil for him, his wife and his family, which made the result all the more meaningful. Harvick's 13th runner-up finish of 2015 broke a tie with Bobby Allison for the most second-place finishes in one season, and he joked that second place had been the theme of his year.

Keselowski, who finished third, said he had led many laps and that his team had been strong in three of the last four races. Logano, fourth, said the team had made an adjustment that took the car off the racing line. Larson, fifth, said he did not need the last caution, which had probably cost him or Keselowski a win.

Gordon finished sixth and missed out on a fifth title, but he said he was proud of the way he had driven and of the team's effort over the last ten races of his career. He said he had wanted at least to win a race in his final season, to show that he still had what it took, and he felt the Chase had done exactly that. Truex finished 12th and said that the team had not come to Homestead expecting fourth place.

What were the key race statistics?

The race had 18 lead changes among eight drivers, along with seven cautions for 30 laps. Its total time was 3 hours, 2 minutes and 23 seconds, and the average speed was 131.755 mph (212.039 km/h).

Kyle Busch took home $346,506 in winnings and a $30,000 leader bonus. It was his fifth win of 2015 and his first at Homestead-Miami Speedway, and it was the sixth victory at that track for Joe Gibbs Racing. Toyota finished the manufacturers' season 68 points behind Chevrolet, which had clinched the title the week before at Phoenix.

How was the race broadcast?

NBC carried the race on television, with Rick Allen, Jeff Burton and Steve Letarte in the booth. NBCSN ran a simultaneous NASCAR Hot Pass feed for each of the Chase drivers, with commentary from Leigh Diffey and Dale Jarrett.

The Motor Racing Network called the race on radio and it was simulcast on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio. Joe Moore, Jeff Striegle and Rusty Wallace worked the booth, while Dave Moody called the first two turns from a billboard outside turn two.