2015 Quicken Loans 400: Kurt Busch Wins a Rain-Hit Race at Michigan

The 15th race of the 2015 NASCAR season took place on June 14 at Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn, Michigan. Rain and darkness ended it after 138 of its 200 scheduled laps, and Kurt Busch took the win. It was his second victory of the year and the 27th of his career.

What happened in the 2015 Quicken Loans 400?

Rain stopped and started the race on the two-mile oval, which produced 17 lead changes among eleven drivers. Three red flags lasted a combined one hour and 33 minutes, and NASCAR called the race as darkness closed in. Five cautions for 38 laps added to the stop-start pattern.

Kevin Harvick led the most laps, 63 in all, but a flat tire and rain sent him to a 29th-place finish. Busch was the winner, and Dale Earnhardt Jr. finished second with Martin Truex Jr. third.

A rain-hit Michigan race that ended with darkness coming in and Kurt Busch holding the lead.

How did qualifying and practice shape the weekend?

Kasey Kahne claimed the pole at 35.645 seconds, which was 201.992 mph (325.075 km/h). Harvick qualified second and Brad Keselowski third, while Ryan Blaney started fifth. Brendan Gaughan was the only driver left out of qualifying.

Practice had its own problems. Harvick was fastest in the first session at 35.557 seconds, or 202.492 mph (325.879 km/h), but Busch hit the wall exiting Turn Two with 30 minutes left and switched to a backup car. Because the change came before qualifying, he was not sent to the back of the field. The first session was also shortened by rain. In the final session Denny Hamlin spun and damaged his front splitter, but his team repaired the primary car rather than start from the rear.

Harvick was quickest again in the second practice, at 35.806 seconds, and Jeff Gordon was fastest in the last session at 36.253 seconds. Those times were slower than the pole lap, which suggested the track would change as the race went on.

How did the rain shape the start?

Storms prompted NASCAR to bring the start forward by ten minutes from its 1:16 p.m. slot. The green flag finally came eight minutes after one. Kahne led the field away, but Carl Edwards passed him on the first lap and held the lead for the early laps.

Rain brought the first caution on lap 11. A red flag followed on lap 13 and lasted 59 minutes. When the field came back out, rain fell again within two laps, and a second red flag on lap 19 lasted 34 minutes. The restart planned for lap 25 was called off after Alex Bowman left debris on the backstretch, and racing finally resumed on lap 29.

The field barely settled before the next problem. A scheduled competition caution came on lap 41 to deal with overnight rain, and rain returned as the cars lined up to restart on lap 44. A third red flag lasted 36 minutes. Once green flag racing returned, Kyle Busch snapped loose exiting Turn Four on lap 53 and hit the wall, damaging a SAFER barrier that had to be repaired.

Who led the race and for how long?

Harvick led a race-high 63 laps before problems ended his lead. He gave up the front on lap 121 for a pit stop, and a flat right-front tire forced another stop. His car also caused the fourth caution on lap 125.

Several drivers traded the lead through the pit cycles. Joey Logano ran dry on lap 95 while heading to pit road, which handed the lead to Danica Patrick. Patrick pitted two laps later and the lead went back to Harvick. Edwards had also chosen not to pit as the rain approached, and that gamble failed, so he had to stop before the restart.

Kyle Larson took the restart on lap 130 and then pitted for gas three laps later, which gave the lead to Kurt Busch. Larson said afterwards that he had been playing for the rain to arrive late enough to keep him in front, and that the timing did not quite work.

How did the finish unfold?

The fifth caution came out with 64 laps to go, when rain fell again. The cars were sent down pit road under the caution, and a fourth red flag came with 62 laps remaining. The rain did not stop, and the race never went back to green.

NASCAR called the race because darkness was close and the rain had not eased. Busch was declared the winner, and the result came with a race time of 2 hours, 21 minutes and 55 seconds. The average speed was 116.688 mph (187.791 km/h).

Busch's crew had worked through the stoppages. Crew chief Tony Gibson worked the team through the change to a backup car after the practice crash, and the pit crew kept that car ready throughout. Busch said he had paced the team well and found the lead late, only for the rain to arrive.

What did the win mean for the standings?

The win was Kurt Busch's 27th career victory and his third at Michigan. It was also the first win at the track for Stewart-Haas Racing, and it moved Busch up to 11th in the points standings. Chevrolet finished the day 66 points clear of Ford in the manufacturer standings.

Earnhardt's second-place finish was a strong run for his team, and Truex finished third. Kenseth came fourth and Logano fifth. Trevor Bayne earned his season-best finish of ninth, which he said built confidence and momentum for the team.

Who called the race on television and radio?

Fox Sports 1 televised the race in the United States, with Mike Joy, Larry McReynolds and Darrell Waltrip in the booth. It was the network's seventh race at Michigan and its first since 2006. Pit road coverage was handled by Jamie Little, Chris Neville and Matt Yocum.

The Motor Racing Network carried the race on radio, and Sirius XM NASCAR Radio simulcast it. Joe Moore, Jeff Striegle and Rusty Wallace called the action from the booth, while Dave Moody worked from a billboard outside Turn Two and reported on the early laps.

What kind of track is Michigan International Speedway?

Michigan International Speedway is a two-mile, D-shaped oval in the Irish Hills area of southeastern Michigan, and it is used mainly for NASCAR events. Its 18-degree banking is gentle when compared with other stock car tracks, but the wide racing surface and long straightaways have made it the fastest track in NASCAR.

The venue covers more than 1,400 acres, about four miles south of the village of Brooklyn. International Speedway Corporation owns the track, which is sometimes called a sister track to Texas World Speedway. Auto Club Speedway was built using Michigan as its basis.

Qualifying laps are run at more than 200 mph (320 km/h), and cars enter the corners between 215 and 220 mph (346-354 km/h) since the 2012 repaving. Drivers have to manage those speeds through wide, sweeping corners.

Race statistics at a glance