Jeff Gordon won his final career race at Martinsville after Joey Logano's 207-lap lead ended in a Matt Kenseth collision and a red flag.
The Goody's Headache Relief Shot 500 at Martinsville on 1 November 2015 was won by Jeff Gordon in his final career win. It opened the Eliminator Round, and a collision between Matt Kenseth and race leader Joey Logano ended in a red flag.
On 1 November 2015 the Goody's Headache Relief Shot 500 took the green flag at Martinsville Speedway in Virginia as a Sprint Cup event. It was the 33rd race of the season and the opening event of the Eliminator Round, the seventh Chase race. Jeff Gordon won it, his first win of the year and the last of his career, with Jamie McMurray second and Denny Hamlin third.
What was the Goody's 500 at Martinsville?
The race was run over 500 laps on the 0.526 mile short track in Ridgeway, Virginia. Eight drivers entered the race tied for the points lead, so the stakes were high from the first lap. Every result counted toward the title, which made the race a key step in the Chase.
The win was Gordon's 93rd career victory, his ninth at Martinsville and his 23rd at the track for Hendrick Motorsports. It also clinched his place in the championship race at Homestead-Miami Speedway, and it left him with an eight-point lead in the standings.
Jeff Gordon's final career win came after a 207-lap leader lost the race in a collision and a red flag.
Who was in the entry list?
The entry list came out on Monday, 26 October, at 2:56 p.m. Eastern. Forty-three teams had been signed for the event, and each of them had also raced the week before at Talladega. The field was therefore a familiar one, with the same cars that had raced at Talladega lining up again.
Fowler was making his second start, driving the No. 32 Go FAS Racing Ford. Alex Kennedy was back in the No. 33 Hillman-Circle Sport Chevrolet, and Brett Moffitt returned to the No. 34 team at Front Row. Preece, in the No. 98 Premium Motorsports car, was also making his second Cup start, so the list included several newcomers to the level.
What happened in practice and qualifying?
Joey Logano set the fastest time in the first practice session, at 19.161 seconds and a speed of 98.826 mph. Dale Earnhardt Jr. was quickest in the second practice at 19.522 seconds, after Tony Stewart had wrecked his primary car and moved to a backup. Jimmie Johnson led the final practice at 19.500 seconds.
Logano took the pole at 19.215 seconds, or 98.548 mph. He said the team was on a strong run and credited hard work for the result. Martin Truex Jr. qualified second, and his team had not expected to be that quick.
Carl Edwards qualified 14th after a cycle behind the field. Kasey Kahne crashed during the first round of qualifying, switched to a spare car, and lined up at the back.
How did the race begin?
It was the first Sunday of standard time, so the sunset would come at 5:23 pm, and the track had no lights. Rain had fallen earlier in the day, and crews were still drying pit lane when the safety car led the field out at 1:24 p.m.
NASCAR judged the track fit, and Logano led the field to the green flag on lap 8. Truex got around Logano on the exit of turn four and took the lead on lap 10, and Allmendinger began pressuring him for the lead on lap 20.
Logano regained the lead on lap 37 by getting under Truex into turn one. Gordon then took the lead on lap 45 with a move under Logano in the same corner. The second caution came on lap 51, a competition caution for the overnight rain.
Kurt Busch passed Logano for the lead on lap 61, but he could not pull away and lost the lead back to him on lap 83.
How did the cautions shape the middle stages?
The third caution came on lap 102, when a single car spun in turn one. The fourth followed after the lap 113 restart, when a multi-car wreck in turn three caught Aric Almirola, Denny Hamlin and Kyle Larson. Larson was caught up in two of those early incidents.
On lap 127 the fifth caution flew after Ricky Stenhouse Jr. suffered a right-front tire blowout and hit the wall. Ryan Preece then clipped Sam Hornish Jr. on lap 136, which brought out the sixth caution,.
On lap 156 David Gilliland shoved Danica Patrick into the turn three wall. The seventh caution on lap 157 saved her from further damage, and Austin Dillon chose not to pit during that stop and took the lead.
Logano passed Dillon on lap 166 to retake the lead. The eighth caution came out on lap 172 for a two-car wreck in turn two, and on lap 186 a crash involving David Ragan, Kyle Larson and Clint Bowyer brought out the ninth. Bowyer went on to finish 43rd.
How did Harvick and Keselowski take the lead?
Kevin Harvick passed Logano on the outside in turn three to take the lead on lap 200. He spent 25 laps out front before lapped traffic slowed him, and Logano closed in during that stretch. Logano lost second to his teammate Brad Keselowski, who then passed Harvick for the lead as the tenth caution flew on lap 236.
When the race resumed, Keselowski caught the tail of his teammate after ten laps and got past him to lead on lap 256. The eleventh caution followed on lap 280, when Greg Biffle spun out again, and Logano exited pit road with the lead.
Keselowski passed his teammate going into turn three to retake the lead on lap 294. A twelfth caution came out with 122 laps to go, when Fowler's tire failed and he hit the wall.
How did the lead change hands in the final stretch?
The race restarted with 113 laps to go. Logano drove past his teammate to retake the lead with 111 laps to go, and Keselowski went around him in turn one with 105 laps to go. Logano reclaimed the front with 89 laps left, and Keselowski dropped to third almost at once.
A thirteenth caution flew with 83 laps to go, when Danica Patrick spun herself out in turn four while trying to wreck David Gilliland. Denny Hamlin was tagged for speeding on pit road and restarted from the tail of the field.
The fourteenth caution came with 75 laps to go, when Sam Hornish Jr. tried to go under Jeb Burton and clipped him. The fifteenth followed with 66 laps to go, after Keselowski spun Matt Kenseth, who was then hit by Kurt Busch.
Busch's car slammed the inside wall, and the race headed into its most controversial stretch.
What was the Kenseth and Logano collision?
A sixteenth caution followed with 47 laps left, after a two-car crash in turn one. Matt Kenseth, who was still unhappy about an earlier incident involving Logano at Kansas, took out the race leader. Logano called the move a complete coward move after he had been released from the infield care centre.
The collision brought out a red flag to clean up the mess, and the stoppage lasted 12 minutes and 46 seconds. With Logano out, the lead went to Jeff Gordon, and when the race resumed with 45 laps remaining, Hamlin opted not to pit and took the lead.
Kenseth had no comment on Logano's remark, saying that some days you are the bat and some days you are the ball. Logano had led a race-high 207 laps before the collision, and he finished 37th. The collision was the defining moment of the race, and it shaped the rest of the finish.
How did Gordon win the race?
A. J. Allmendinger seized the lead from Hamlin with 39 laps remaining. Hamlin had been the leader after the red flag, so the change at the front came straight from the restart. Dillon's contact with Ragan in turn two brought out a seventeenth caution with 34 laps left.
On the restart with thirty laps to go, Gordon moved past Allmendinger in turn one and took the lead with 21 laps left. That pass was the decisive move of the final stage. Hornish's spin brought out an eighteenth caution with seven laps left, and the race went back to green for the final two laps.
Gordon kept McMurray at bay to take his 93rd career win, just seconds before sunset. The race finished under green, but it was a close call because darkness was approaching.
| Finish | Driver | Detail |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jeff Gordon | Final career win; eight-point lead in the standings |
| 2 | Jamie McMurray | Second after a late restart battle |
| 3 | Denny Hamlin | Third after two pit road penalties |
| 4 | Dale Earnhardt Jr. | Fourth |
| 5 | Kyle Busch | Fifth |
| 37 | Joey Logano | Led 207 laps, then taken out in the Kenseth collision |
What did the drivers say after the race?
Gordon said in victory lane that it was the sweetest, most amazing feeling. He added that he felt proud of the team, and he admitted that when results fell short of what he expected, he felt that he was letting people down.
McMurray said he was somewhat glad that Gordon had given him the outside, but he had struggled on the inside and spun his tires off turn two. Hamlin said his day was eventful, with two pit road penalties and a car that was not very good until the very end.
Kenseth said he was more than a little disappointed by the penalties. He said he had been in the business a long time and would not change how he raced.
What penalties followed the race?
On the Tuesday after the race, NASCAR suspended Kenseth for two races. The decision came quickly, and it set the tone for the appeals that followed. Steve O'Donnell said Kenseth had eliminated the No. 22 car's chance to continue, and that safety and the new Chase format had been factors in the decision.
Joe Gibbs Racing announced that it would appeal, and on the Thursday the National Motorsports Appeals Panel upheld the two-race suspension. The final appeal officer also upheld the suspension, but he amended Danica Patrick's probation to end on 31 December instead of six months later. Kenseth said it was the first time a driver had been suspended over an incident in a Sprint Cup race, and he called the penalty unfair.
Patrick had been fined $50,000 and docked 25 points, and she was placed on probation through 31 December. Erik Jones drove Kenseth's car at Texas and Phoenix while Kenseth was suspended.
What were the race statistics?
The race had 21 lead changes among nine different drivers, 18 cautions for 109 laps and one red flag of 12 minutes and 46 seconds. The race time was 3 hours, 46 minutes, 35 seconds, and the average speed was 69.643 mph (112.080 km/h).
Gordon took home $199,836 in winnings. He also collected the NASCAR Sprint Cup Leader Bonus of $10,000 and was named Mobil 1 Driver of the Race.
Why did the Goody's 500 matter for the title?
Gordon's lead in the standings was eight points after the race. Chevrolet also left Martinsville with a 57-point lead over Toyota in the manufacturers' standings. Both leads gave their teams a clear advantage heading into the final rounds.
The race opened the Eliminator Round, and it showed how a single incident could change a title battle. Logano lost the lead, and Kenseth lost two races to suspension, so both drivers left the track with their Chase hopes changed.
For Gordon, the win was his last in a career that had reached ninety-three victories. It also secured his spot in the finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
