NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race 2015-05-16

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Event
NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race

Date
Sat 16th May 2015 (UTC)

Timestamp

Time

00:00:00 UTC

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League
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series

Season
2015

Round
0

Status

Location
Charlotte Motor Speedway

Video Highlights

Description

The 2015 NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race (XXXI) was a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series stock car race held on May 16, 2015 at Charlotte Motor Speedway in Concord, North Carolina. Contested over 110 laps, it was the second exhibition race of the 2015 Sprint Cup Series season.

Segment 1

The Sprint All-Star Race was scheduled to start at 9:16 p.m., but started at 9:42 p.m. when Denny Hamlin led the field to the green flag. He jumped to a lead of two seconds over Kasey Kahne in five laps. But by lap 10, Kahne has cut the gap to half a second. He finally passed Hamlin on the outside in turn 2 to take the lead on lap 16. Exiting turn 4, Greg Biffle slapped the wall with five laps to go in segment 1. He slammed the wall a second time in the final lap of the first segment. The first caution of the race flew on lap 26 to complete the first segment. While pitting in the first four segments is optional, all the cars opted to pit at the end of the first segment. Brad Keselowski exited pit road with the lead. To add to Biffle's woes, he was tagged for speeding on pit road and restarted the race from the tail-end of the field. The effect, however, was moot because he was already last in the running order.

Segment 2

The race restarted on lap 26. Dale Earnhardt Jr. spun the tires on the restart and just dropped like a rock down the running order. Kurt Busch got underneath Keselowski to briefly take the lead on lap 34. Keselowski would take back the lead the next lap. Busch attempted to go by him the next lap, but got loose exiting turn 2 and lost ground to him. While Kurt reeled in Brad down to three tenths of a second, Keselowski would cross the line first in the second segment. The second caution of the race flew to end segment 2. Once again, all the cars opted to pit under the caution. This time, Jamie McMurray left with the lead. Greg Biffle, Kyle Busch and Denny Hamlin were all tagged for speeding on pit road and restarted the race from the tail-end of the field.

Segment 3

The race restarted on lap 51. McMurray didn't get a good start and was about spun out by Joey Logano. This allowed teammate Brad Keselowski to retake the lead. Danica Patrick took her car to the garage on lap 60 after the left-front hub of her car burned out. Kyle Busch made an unscheduled stop for a tire vibration on lap 63. The culprit was a loose left-rear wheel. Kevin Harvick made a charge at the lead, but Brad Keselowski was able to lead the entire third segment as the third caution of the race flew to conclude segment 3. Everybody pitted under this caution. Matt Kenseth exited with the lead. Greg Biffle and Tony Stewart were tagged for speeding on pit road and Dale Earnhardt Jr. was tagged for his crew being over the wall too soon. All three restarted the race from the tail-end of the field.

Segment 4

The race restarted on lap 76. Denny Hamlin beat his teammate to take the lead on lap 77. He, however, was no match on two tires to Kurt Busch on four who took the lead on lap 78. He would hold the lead to the conclusion of the fourth segment as the fourth caution of the race flew. Brad Keselowski led the field down pit road for the mandatory four tire pit stop. Denny Hamlin exited with the lead. Carl Edwards and Brad Keselowski were tagged for speeding on pit road and restarted the race from the tail-end of the field.

10 laps to go

The race restarted with 10 laps to go. While Hamlin was unable to pull away from the field as had been the norm in the last few years, he was able to hold off a hard charging Kevin Harvick to score the victory in the Sprint All-Star Race. It was the fifth straight year that the winner of the race restarted either first or second in the final 10 laps. "In the middle part of the race, I thought we were out to lunch," Hamlin said. "With 50 (laps) to go, I didn’t see this coming. But the pit crew knocked it out of the park – a primetime, under-pressure performance that won us the race. Then, we had to hold off the "4" (Harvick), which we haven’t been able to do the last two years. Everything came together perfectly for that last 10 laps." Jeff Gordon finished fourth in his 22nd and final All-Star Race. Kyle Busch finished sixth in his first Sprint Cup Series race since Homestead last November. "I felt like I got of the car after 100 laps and I'm fine," Busch said. "Am I going to die out after 200 or 300? I don't know, but the plan is to the full distance." After restarting the race from the tail-end of the field, Brad Keselowski worked his way to a ninth-place finish.

Reports

Result List

Result Description
Pos Grid No. Driver Team Manufacturer Segment12345 Laps
1 1 11 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 2 8 13 3 1 110
2 20 4 Kevin Harvick Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet 10 6 2 2 2 110
3 16 41 Kurt Busch Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet 5 2 3 1 3 110
4 9 24 Jeff Gordon Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 6 3 6 7 4 110
5 17 20 Matt Kenseth Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 13 9 7 10 5 110
6 19 18 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 14 7 19 9 6 110
7 5 5 Kasey Kahne Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 1 5 5 5 7 110
8 11 22 Joey Logano Team Penske Ford 7 4 4 16 8 110
9 3 2 Brad Keselowski Team Penske Ford 4 1 1 4 9 110
10 7 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 3 12 16 14 10 110
11 13 47 A. J. Allmendinger JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet 16 10 12 8 11 110
12 4 15 Clint Bowyer Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota 11 11 10 19 12 110
13 2 16 Greg Biffle Roush Fenway Racing Ford 8 20 17 17 13 110
14 8 43 Aric Almirola Richard Petty Motorsports Ford 18 19 18 18 14 110
15 12 48 Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 9 13 9 12 15 110
16 14 1 Jamie McMurray Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 12 14 11 15 16 110
17 10 19 Carl Edwards Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 15 17 8 6 17 110
18 18 31 Ryan Newman Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 19 18 17 11 18 110
19 15 14 Tony Stewart Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet 20 15 14 13 19 110
20 6 10 Danica Patrick Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet 17 16 20 20 20 78

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