Logano's third win of 2015 came after a long duel with Harvick under the Bristol lights, in a race that changed the lead 14 times.
Logano claimed the chequered flag at Bristol on 22 August 2015, edging out Kevin Harvick at the end of a 500-lap contest. It was his third victory of the season and his second at the track, while Denny Hamlin had started from pole.
Joey Logano won the 2015 Irwin Tools Night Race at Bristol Motor Speedway in a finish decided by a late duel with Kevin Harvick. The race was the 24th of the Sprint Cup season and ran over 500 laps on the short track in Tennessee. Denny Hamlin started from pole, but the lead changed hands 14 times before the chequered flag.
Who won the 2015 Irwin Tools Night Race?
Joey Logano won the race on 22 August 2015 at Bristol Motor Speedway, Tennessee. It was his 11th career Sprint Cup victory and his third of the 2015 season. It was also his second win at Bristol and the 12th at the track for Team Penske.
Despite the win, Logano left Bristol trailing Kevin Harvick by 43 points in the drivers' standings. Harvick finished second for the tenth time that season.
Logano and Harvick dueled over the final 50 laps at Bristol, and Harvick closed to within a car length with four to go.
What was the background to the race?
Harvick entered Bristol with a 48-point lead over Logano in the standings. Dale Earnhardt Jr. was 82 points back, Martin Truex Jr. was 111 back and Brad Keselowski was 112 back. Those gaps framed the weekend for the teams chasing the title.
Organisers published the field on the Monday before the race, with forty-six cars listed. Almost the whole field had raced at Michigan the week before, with only two newcomers to the list. Mike Bliss was the only driver change, taking the wheel of the No. 33 Hillman-Circle Sport LLC Chevrolet.
Bristol is a .858 km (.533 mile) concrete oval, and this edition was run at night under the lights, which set it apart from the daytime races on the schedule.
How did practice and qualifying go?
Kyle Larson was fastest in the first practice session at 14.779 seconds, or 129.833 mph (208.946 km/h). Kyle Busch was quickest in the final session at 14.631 seconds, 131.146 mph (211.059 km/h).
Martin Truex Jr. had a difficult session. He blew a right-front tyre and hit the wall at turn 2, damaging the left-front control arm. He switched to his backup car, and because the change happened before qualifying he avoided starting from the rear of the field.
Denny Hamlin won pole with a new track record of 14.602 seconds, or 131.407 mph (211.479 km/h). He said his car had been very fast over the final round and that the crew chief had made the adjustments that gave him the speed. Kevin Harvick qualified seventh and said the first round had been loose, which hurt his chances.
Matt Kenseth qualified 13th and said the team had been close but had not managed to get the setup right for the final round. Jeff Gordon qualified 24th for what was his final start at Bristol, and he described the team as struggling in qualifying trim. Three entrants, Jeb Burton, Travis Kvapil and Reed Sorenson, did not make the field.
How did the first half of the race unfold?
Under a clear evening sky, Denny Hamlin led the field to the green flag at 7:52 p.m. He started on the bottom line, which is not the norm at Bristol. By lap 18, Kyle Busch had run down his teammate, and on lap 28 the No. 18 car used the lapped traffic to get past the No. 11 and take the lead.
The first caution came on lap 52 for debris in turn 3. Busch and Hamlin then swapped the lead on pit road, and Busch left his stop in front. Ryan Blaney and Danica Patrick were both penalised for speeding and restarted from the rear.
Matt Kenseth was running fourth when his engine failed on lap 111. He said the car had been competitive and that the team had been only a couple of adjustments from where it needed to be. Kenseth's retirement removed a driver who had been running well at the front.
The second caution came on lap 126 for a single-car wreck in turn 4. Kyle Larson, who had changed only his right-side tyres under the first caution, cut down his left-front tyre and hit the turn 3 wall. Kevin Harvick was then penalised for his crew being over the wall too soon, and he restarted from the back.
The race restarted on lap 133, and Hamlin went to the bottom line again to take the position from his teammate. The third caution followed on lap 146, when A. J. Allmendinger came down across the nose of Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and slid into the inside wall.
How did the second half of the race unfold?
Kyle Busch drove past his teammate on the top side to retake the lead on lap 156, and he began to pull away from the field. Joey Logano used a lapped car to close in, and he powered underneath Busch after slight contact with the wall to take the lead on lap 226. The fourth caution on lap 250 for debris in turn 3 gave the lead to Carl Edwards on pit road.
Busch retook the lead on lap 282 but was caught in heavy traffic, and Edwards reeled him in to lead on lap 304. Edwards built a one-second lead over Logano, but the lapped cars slowed him enough for Logano to close in. During that stage, Ragan made contact with Kurt Busch and pushed him into the turn 1 wall.
Kyle Busch made an unscheduled stop on lap 344 while running third. Logano used the lapped car of Dale Earnhardt Jr. as a pick on lap 347 to take the lead. Edwards then cut a tyre and handed the lead back to Logano on lap 352, after the lapped traffic had let him regain the front.
The fifth caution came on lap 359, when Kyle Larson cut his right-front tyre and hit the turn 4 wall hard. Kevin Harvick was caught speeding on pit road and had to restart from the rear. The race went green again on lap 368, but the sixth caution followed with 130 laps to go after a single spin on the backstretch.
On that same restart, Jimmie Johnson got loose exiting turn 2, came down onto David Ragan and was turned by Clint Bowyer, which sent the cars spinning down the track into the inside wall. Bowyer said his team had needed a solid run and that coming up short hurt, while Ragan said the Aaron's car had been really fast and had a real chance to win.
The seventh caution came with 117 laps to go, after Ricky Stenhouse Jr. lost the car, struck Martin Truex Jr. and then hit the outside wall. Jeff Gordon made an unscheduled stop for a loose wheel with 93 laps to go, and the eighth caution followed with 71 laps to go for debris on the backstretch.
Brad Keselowski chose not to pit under that eighth caution and took the lead. Kyle Busch was penalised for speeding on pit road and restarted from the back. Crew chief Adam Stevens said the team had been penalised for speeding on its last stop, and he disputed that the car could have been speeding in the section where its pit box was located.
How did Logano hold off Harvick at the end?
Logano retook the lead with 63 laps to go. For the final 50 laps he and Harvick duelled for the top spot, with Logano running the bottom line and Harvick riding the top lane to reel him in. Logano pulled away with 25 laps remaining, but lapped traffic again slowed him in the final 20 laps, and Harvick closed to within a car length with four laps to go.
Logano said he watched Harvick in his mirror and aimed to stay several car lengths ahead through the traffic. Harvick said that Logano had been one step ahead in traffic, that he could not get his car to rotate across the centre of the corner, and that the cars were probably quicker in clean air.
Harvick could not complete the pass on the final lap, and Logano crossed the line first. The victory was his 11th career win.
What were the final results?
Joey Logano won, Kevin Harvick was second and Denny Hamlin finished third after leading 54 laps. Jimmie Johnson took fourth and Clint Bowyer completed the top five. Kyle Busch led the most laps of the race, 192 in total, but finished eighth after a speeding penalty on pit road.
| Position | Driver | Note |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Joey Logano | 11th career win; third of 2015; second at Bristol |
| 2 | Kevin Harvick | Tenth runner-up finish of the season |
| 3 | Denny Hamlin | Pole sitter; led 54 laps |
| 4 | Jimmie Johnson | Fourth place, despite a spin on the lap 368 restart |
| 5 | Clint Bowyer | Fifth after a difficult weekend at Michigan |
| 8 | Kyle Busch | Led a race-high 192 laps |
How did the drivers and crews react after the race?
Logano described watching Harvick in the mirror as the closing laps unfolded, and he said the important thing was to stay ahead of the traffic that was making the final stint so difficult. Harvick spoke candidly about the difference in handling he felt, and he accepted that Logano had the better run through the corners.
Bowyer said the result was important for his team after a hard weekend at Michigan, and that it helped rebuild confidence heading into the Chase. Stevens said the team had been penalised on its last stop, which he found frustrating after putting a car on track that was capable of winning.
The race also reminded the field of how quickly positions could be lost in traffic. Several drivers who ran well early were caught in lapped cars, which slowed the leaders and changed the outcome more than once in the closing laps.
How was the race covered and rewarded?
NBC Sports carried the race on the NBCSN network. Rick Allen called the action in the booth alongside Steve Letarte, with Jeff Burton adding insight as a one-time winner at Bristol. Dave Burns, Mike Massaro, Marty Snider and Kelli Stavast handled the pit reports for the television side.
The Performance Racing Network handled the radio commentary, and the feed was also heard on Sirius XM NASCAR Radio. Doug Rice, Mark Garrow and Wendy Venturini worked the booth as the field ran down the front stretch, and Rob Albright reported from the suites in turn 3 during the backstretch laps.
Awards went to several drivers. Denny Hamlin took the Coors Light pole award, and Kyle Busch earned the 3M Lap Leader prize for his 192 laps as well as the Duralast brakes award. Joey Logano won the American Ethanol green flag restart award and the Mobil 1 Driver of the Race honour with a rating of 137.8.
Aric Almirola gained two positions for the Ingersoll Rand Power Move, and Dale Earnhardt Jr. received the Moog Steering and Suspension award, with crew chief Greg Ives credited for a margin of 0.123 seconds. Kyle Busch also set the fastest lap of the race at 15.293 seconds, or 125.469 mph (201.923 km/h), on lap 59. Brett Moffitt was the Sunoco Rookie of the Race, and the leader bonus rolled over to $210,000.
What did the race mean for the championship?
Logano's win moved him up the order, but he still left Bristol 43 points behind Harvick in the drivers' standings. The result also gave Team Penske its 12th victory at the track, a strong showing for a team that had already built a reputation at Bristol.
Ford left Bristol one point behind Toyota for second in the manufacturers' standings, while Chevrolet led the table by 71 points.
The race's total of 14 lead changes among five different drivers was a reminder of how much movement there was over the 500 laps. Logano collected $365,198 in winnings for the victory, and the overall race time was 2 hours, 45 minutes and 2 seconds.
