2015 Pure Michigan 400

2015 Pure Michigan 400
Race details[1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10]
Race 23 of 36 in the 2015 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season
Date August 16, 2015 (2015-08-16)
Location Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn, Michigan
Course Permanent racing facility
2 mi (3.2 km)
Distance 200 laps, 400 mi (640 km)
Weather Clear blue skies with a temperature of 83 °F (28 °C); wind out of the southwest at 7 mph (11 km/h)
Average speed 143.455 mph (230.868 km/h)
Pole position
Driver Joe Gibbs Racing
Time 36.458
Most laps led
Driver Matt Kenseth Joe Gibbs Racing
Laps 146
Winner
No. 20 Matt Kenseth Joe Gibbs Racing
Television in the United States
Network NBCSN
Announcers Rick Allen, Jeff Burton, and Steve Letarte
Nielsen Ratings 2.4/5 (Overnight)[11]
2.4/5 (Final)[12]
4.3 Million viewers[12]
Radio in the United States
Radio MRN
Booth Announcers Joe Moore, Jeff Striegle and Rusty Wallace
Turn Announcers Dave Moody (1 & 2) and Kurt Becker (3 & 4)

The 2015 Pure Michigan 400 was a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race held on August 16, 2015, at Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn, Michigan. Contested over 200 laps on the 2 mile (3.2 km) D–shaped oval, it was the 23rd race of the 2015 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season. Matt Kenseth won the race, his third of the season. Kevin Harvick finished second. Martin Truex, Jr. finished third. Austin Dillon and Denny Hamlin rounded out the top five.

Kenseth won the pole for the race and led 146 laps on his way to victory lane. There were 16 lead changes among eight different drivers as well as eight caution flag periods for 31 laps.

This was the 34th career victory for Matt Kenseth, third of the season, third at Michigan International Speedway and eighth at the track for Joe Gibbs Racing. Despite being the winning manufacturer, Toyota left Michigan trailing Chevrolet by 70–points in the manufacturer standings. However, they usurped second in the standings from Ford.

The Pure Michigan 400 was carried by NBC Sports on the cable/satellite NBCSN network for the American television audience. The radio broadcast for the race was carried by the Motor Racing Network and Sirius XM NASCAR Radio.

Report

Background

Michigan International Speedway, the track where the race was held.

Michigan International Speedway (MIS) is a two-mile (3.2 km) moderate-banked D-shaped speedway located off U.S. Highway 12 on more than 1,400 acres (5.7 km2)[13] approximately four-mile (6.4 km) south of the village of Brooklyn, in the scenic Irish Hills area of southeastern Michigan. The track is used primarily for NASCAR events. It is sometimes known as a "sister track" to Texas World Speedway, and was used as the basis of Auto Club Speedway. The track is owned by International Speedway Corporation (ISC). Michigan International Speedway is recognized as one of motorsports' premier facilities because of its wide racing surface and high banking (by open-wheel standards; the 18-degree banking is modest by stock car standards).

Kevin Harvick entered Michigan with a 42–point lead over Joey Logano. Dale Earnhardt, Jr. entered 73 back. Jimmie Johnson entered 76 back. Brad Keselowski entered 104 back.

Aero package

For the weekend's race, NASCAR used the same high–drag package that was used at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.[14] One change from the Indy package included an additional air duct mandated on the right–side window of the car.[15] Previously, this was an option left up to the teams.[15] What led NASCAR to mandating this was the excessive heat buildup in the cars caused by the high–downforce package.[15] "I would not be surprised to see a lot of car failures this weekend, specific to heat relation as it pertains to the aero package and its kind of cause and effects," Brad Keselowski said during a teleconference Tuesday. "And inside the car I would not be surprised to see a lot of hot and worn out drivers after the race. We all know we’re in for a handful of the race."[15]

Entry list

The entry list for the Pure Michigan 400 was released on Monday, August 10 at 10:31 a.m. Eastern time. Forty-four cars were entered for the race. All but the No. 21 Wood Brothers Racing Ford were entered in the previous week's race at Watkins Glen. The four driver changes for this race were Josh Wise returning to the No. 32 Go FAS Racing Ford, Travis Kvapil driving the No. 33 Hillman-Circle Sport LLC Chevrolet, Brett Moffitt returning to the No. 34 Front Row Motorsports Ford and Reed Sorenson returning to the No. 62 Premium Motorsports Chevrolet.

No. Driver Team Manufacturer
1 Jamie McMurray Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet
2 Brad Keselowski (PC3) Team Penske Ford
3 Austin Dillon Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet
4 Kevin Harvick (PC1) Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet
5 Kasey Kahne Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
6 Trevor Bayne Roush Fenway Racing Ford
7 Alex Bowman Tommy Baldwin Racing Chevrolet
9 Sam Hornish, Jr. Richard Petty Motorsports Ford
10 Danica Patrick Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet
11 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
13 Casey Mears Germain Racing Chevrolet
14 Tony Stewart (PC4) Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet
15 Clint Bowyer Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota
16 Greg Biffle Roush Fenway Racing Ford
17 Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. Roush Fenway Racing Ford
18 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
19 Carl Edwards Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
20 Matt Kenseth (PC6) Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
21 Ryan Blaney (i) Wood Brothers Racing Ford
22 Joey Logano Team Penske Ford
23 J. J. Yeley (i) BK Racing Toyota
24 Jeff Gordon (PC7) Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
26 Jeb Burton (R) BK Racing Toyota
27 Paul Menard Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet
31 Ryan Newman Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet
32 Josh Wise Go FAS Racing Ford
33 Travis Kvapil (i) Hillman-Circle Sport LLC Chevrolet
34 Brett Moffitt (R) Front Row Motorsports Ford
35 Cole Whitt Front Row Motorsports Ford
38 David Gilliland Front Row Motorsports Ford
40 Landon Cassill (i) Hillman-Circle Sport LLC Chevrolet
41 Kurt Busch (PC5) Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet
42 Kyle Larson Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet
43 Aric Almirola Richard Petty Motorsports Ford
46 Michael Annett HScott Motorsports Chevrolet
47 A. J. Allmendinger JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet
48 Jimmie Johnson (PC2) Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
51 Justin Allgaier HScott Motorsports Chevrolet
55 David Ragan Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota
62 Reed Sorenson Premium Motorsports Chevrolet
78 Martin Truex, Jr. Furniture Row Racing Chevrolet
83 Matt DiBenedetto (R) BK Racing Toyota
88 Dale Earnhardt, Jr. Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
98 Timmy Hill (i) Premium Motorsports Ford
Official initial entry list
Official final entry list
Key Meaning
(R) Rookie
(i) Ineligible for points
(PC#) Past champions provisional

First practice

Carl Edwards was the fastest in the first practice session with a time of 36.726 and a speed of 196.046 mph (315.505 km/h).[16]

Pos No. Driver Team Manufacturer Time Speed
1 19 Carl Edwards Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 36.726 196.046
2 4 Kevin Harvick Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet 36.950 194.858
3 3 Austin Dillon Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 36.984 194.679
Official first practice results

Qualifying

Matt Kenseth won the pole with a time of 36.458 and a speed of 197.488 mph (317.826 km/h).[17] "We’ve had a fast racecar here this weekend," said Kenseth. "Hopefully, we can work on it in practice and get it ready to race. Having the No. 1 starting spot is great."[17] "We aren’t first so we aren’t satisfied," said Joey Logano. "Qualifying here is very interesting. I had my hands full, I can tell you that much. I was sawing away at it but we'll be close enough to the front to get a good pit stall, so the guys have that going for them. We'll go to work on dialing it in some more during practice."[17] "Tomorrow (Saturday), we'll run more around other cars and learn more about what the (aero) package is going to be like for the race," Jeff Gordon said of the new rules package. "We won’t truly know until they drop the green and there are 43 cars going into Turn 1."[17]

Qualifying results

Pos No. Driver Team Manufacturer R1 R2
1 20 Matt Kenseth Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 36.737 36.458
2 11 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 36.822 36.550
3 19 Carl Edwards Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 36.757 36.683
4 3 Austin Dillon[N 1] Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 36.995 36.750
5 14 Tony Stewart Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet 36.900 36.833
6 18 Kyle Busch[N 2] Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 36.804 36.838
7 4 Kevin Harvick Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet 36.976 36.876
8 48 Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 37.083 36.880
9 88 Dale Earnhardt, Jr. Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 37.159 36.945
10 22 Joey Logano Team Penske Ford 37.011 37.036
11 5 Kasey Kahne Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 37.159 37.088
12 15 Clint Bowyer Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota 37.176 37.189
13 55 David Ragan Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota 37.184
14 2 Brad Keselowski Team Penske Ford 37.199
15 9 Sam Hornish, Jr. Richard Petty Motorsports Ford 37.214
16 41 Kurt Busch Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet 37.246
17 31 Ryan Newman Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 37.246
18 1 Jamie McMurray Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 37.277
19 21 Ryan Blaney (i) Wood Brothers Racing Ford 37.281
20 16 Greg Biffle Roush Fenway Racing Ford 37.300
21 24 Jeff Gordon Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 37.304
22 78 Martin Truex, Jr. Furniture Row Racing Chevrolet 37.321
23 10 Danica Patrick Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet 37.350
24 27 Paul Menard Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 37.379
25 6 Trevor Bayne Roush Fenway Racing Ford 37.499
26 47 A. J. Allmendinger JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet 37.534
27 17 Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. Roush Fenway Racing Ford 37.581
28 51 Justin Allgaier HScott Motorsports Chevrolet 37.624
29 26 Jeb Burton (R) BK Racing Toyota 37.753
30 43 Aric Almirola Richard Petty Motorsports Ford 37.790
31 40 Landon Cassill (i) Hillman-Circle Sport LLC Chevrolet 37.885
32 83 Matt DiBenedetto (R) BK Racing Toyota 37.885
33 7 Alex Bowman Tommy Baldwin Racing Chevrolet 38.018
34 42 Kyle Larson Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 38.049
35 35 Cole Whitt Front Row Motorsports Ford 38.077
36 38 David Gilliland Front Row Motorsports Ford 38.110
37 23 J. J. Yeley (i) BK Racing Toyota 38.145
38 34 Brett Moffitt (R) Front Row Motorsports Ford 38.193
39 46 Michael Annett HScott Motorsports Chevrolet 38.302
40 13 Casey Mears Germain Racing Chevrolet 38.599
41 32 Josh Wise Go FAS Racing Ford 38.705
42 33 Travis Kvapil (i)[N 3] Hillman-Circle Sport LLC Chevrolet 39.200
43 98 Timmy Hill (i) Premium Motorsports Ford 39.335
Failed to qualify
44 62 Reed Sorenson Premium Motorsports Chevrolet 38.631
Official qualifying results

Practice (post-qualifying)

Second practice

Kevin Harvick was the fastest in the second practice session with a time of 36.964 and a speed of 194.784 mph (313.474 km/h).[18]

Pos No. Driver Team Manufacturer Time Speed
1 4 Kevin Harvick Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet 36.964 194.784
2 20 Matt Kenseth Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 37.035 194.411
3 42 Kyle Larson Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 37.111 194.013
Official second practice results

Final practice

Martin Truex, Jr. was the fastest in the final practice session with a time of 37.553 and a speed of 191.729 mph (308.558 km/h).[19] In the first five minutes of the session, Kyle Busch's car got loose exiting turn 4, slid down through the grass and destroyed the splitter.[20] This forced the No. 18 team to roll out his backup car.[20] As a result, he started the race from the rear of the field.[20] “I was just running along, everything was fine and I was actually feeling pretty good about it,” Busch said. “Just started to get a little free up off of (turn) four. It started stepping out like it did here in the spring. I over-corrected and hit the wall so this time around I just kind of made it keep rotating and head down towards the infield. I think we need more grass at these race tracks, I think the apron should be full of grass.”[20] In the final few minutes of the session, Austin Dillon reported that his engine had "No RPM's" and was forced to change engines.[20] As a result, he too started the race from the rear of the field.[20]

Pos No. Driver Team Manufacturer Time Speed
1 78 Martin Truex, Jr. Furniture Row Racing Chevrolet 37.553 191.729
2 22 Joey Logano Team Penske Ford 37.654 191.215
3 19 Carl Edwards Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 37.659 191.189
Official final practice results

Race

First half

Start

Just as the field began rolling off pit road, Timmy Hill blew his engine and went to the garage before the green flag flew.[21]

The race was scheduled to start at 2:46 p.m.,[22] but started nine minutes later when Matt Kenseth led the field to the green flag. The first caution of the race flew the same lap when David Ragan got sideways and spun through the infield grass while heading into turn 1.[21]

The race restarted on lap 6. The second caution of the race flew on lap 10 for debris in turn 3. The debris was an oil pan that came off Hill's car, which recently returned to the race.[21]

The race restarted on lap 14. The third caution of the race flew on lap 21 as a scheduled competition caution. Austin Dillon opted not to pit and assumed the lead. Kasey Kahne was tagged for speeding on pit road and restarted from the tail-end of the field.[21]

The race restarted on lap 25. Dillon surrendered the lead to pit on lap 41 and handed it back to Kenseth. Jimmie Johnson made an unscheduled stop on lap 49 for a flat right-rear tire. He rejoined the race in 42nd two laps down. Casey Mears hit pit road on lap 54 after his engine gave way. Kenseth ducked onto pit road on lap 59 and handed the lead to Kyle Larson, who pitted the next lap and handed the lead to Jeff Gordon. He hit pit road the next time by and gave the lead to Kyle Busch. Busch pitted the next lap and gave the lead back to Kenseth. Michael Annett was tagged for having his pit crew over the wall too soon and was forced to serve a drive-through penalty.[21]

Second quarter

The fourth caution of the race came out on lap 72 for debris in turn 2.[21]

The race restarted on lap 77. Matt Kenseth hit pit road on lap 99 and handed the lead to Kevin Harvick.[23]

Second half

Halfway

Harvick ran out of gas on lap 114 on his way to pit road. Carl Edwards assumed the lead. He pitted on lap 116 and handed the lead to Kenseth. Debris in turn 1 brought out the fifth caution of the race on lap 121. Edwards opted not to pit and assumed the lead.[21]

The race restarted on lap 126. Edwards botched the restart and teammate Kenseth shot past Austin Dillon to retake the lead. The sixth caution of the race flew when Clint Bowyer got turned into the wall while exiting turn 2, came down across the nose of Ryan Newman, slid down the track and rear-ended the inside wall on the backstretch.[24] "Man, I'm sorry guys," Bowyer radioed to his team. "I couldn't save it. Good track for us."[25]

The race restarted on lap 131. The seventh caution of the race flew on lap 136 when Tony Stewart got loose and spun down onto pit road and Ryan Blaney, trying to avoid hitting him, made contact with the wall. Edwards had an engine misfire under the caution and fell from second to 12th.[21]

Fourth quarter

Matt Kenseth, seen here at the 2015 Daytona 500, scored the 34th victory of his career at Michigan.

The race restarted with 59 laps to go. A number of cars began hitting pit road to make their final stop with 38 laps to go. Kenseth gave up the lead to pit with 36 laps to go and handed it to Busch. He pitted with 28 laps to go and handed the lead to Aric Almirola. He pitted with 25 laps to go and the lead cycled back to Kenseth.[21]

The eighth caution of the race flew with 17 laps to go when Johnson got loose in turn 3 and damaged his car's splitter.[21]

The race restarted with 13 laps to go and Matt Kenseth drove off to score his 34th career victory.[26]

Post-race

Driver comments

"We've had a great couple months," said Kenseth. "We definitely have momentum. The guys gave us a rocket today. We're going to work hard to keep it rolling."[27]

“We just fought a lot of things today,” Harvick said. “Just really proud of everybody on our Jimmy John’s/Budweiser Chevrolet for fighting back today. We had some handling issues at the beginning of the race and then they were able to really make the car handle a lot better and then we overcame the running out of gas there and we were able to put ourselves back in position up in the front. The No. 20 (Kenseth) was the class of the field today, but everybody on our Jimmy John’s team did a great job.”[28]

“Yeah, we had some circumstances where we had to start at the back and had to figure out a way to get our track position back, and just got to thank my guys,” said Austin Dillon after scoring his best career finish of fourth. "(Crew chief) Slugger Labbe and the engineers did a good job coming up with a plan. That first 20 laps was no fun for us because we had to ride around and try and stay in front of the leader, but we saved gas and decided to not come down on that first competition caution for fuel, and it worked out. It showed that our car was fast enough to stay up there, pitted, drove back up to where we needed to be, and man, it was a fun day for us, the Dow car was fast, and I felt like I passed a lot of cars, also, getting into fourth.”[29]

“We passed a lot of cars, we just couldn’t ever get that track position to fight for the win,” Martin Truex, Jr. told NBCSN after the race. “We felt like we were maybe as good as the No. 20 (winner, Matt Kenseth), close at least, and it would have been nice to see if we could have fought it out with him.”[30]

Media comments

“I continue to applaud NASCAR for trying rule packages in an effort to improve the competition. But after two tries it’s apparent the high drag package used at Indianapolis and Michigan is not the right direction. Drivers were skeptical all weekend about being able to pass thanks to the impact of the higher spoiler and other aero changes made to how cars handled. It played out in Sunday’s race with passes for the lead minimal and most of the day spent calculating strategies on pit road. While the lower downforce package received rave reviews and will be used again at Darlington on Labor Day weekend, it’s safe to say the days of the high drag aero rules are endangered to say the least.’’

Motor Racing Network lead writer and co-host of The Morning Drive on Sirius XM NASCAR Radio Pete Pistone giving his thoughts on the new aero package.[31]

Members of the NASCAR media gave their thoughts on the high-downforce package used for this race. Pete Pistone, lead writer for MRN.com and co-host of The Morning Drive on Sirius XM NASCAR Radio, said that he continued "to applaud NASCAR for trying rule packages in an effort to improve the competition" but that "it’s apparent the high drag package used at Indianapolis and Michigan is not the right direction."[31]

Jerry Jordan of Frontstretch.com said that "it didn’t seem to produce the desired results at Michigan International Speedway" but that he did "applaud NASCAR for trying something new and wanting to make the racing better – and safer – on the track."[32]

Jim Utter of Motorsport.com was less kind in his opinion of the rules package in saying that it "was a complete failure at its debut at Indianapolis Motor Speedway last month and again in Sunday’s Pure Michigan 400 at Michigan International Speedway" and that "restarts were the only thing that created any drama in either race."[33]

Monte Dutton of Bleacher Report stated that "NASCAR’s rules geniuses botched the package used in the Pure Michigan 400."[34]

Race results

Pos Grid No. Driver Team Manufacturer Laps Points
1 1 20 Matt Kenseth Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 200 48
2 7 4 Kevin Harvick Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet 200 43
3 22 78 Martin Truex, Jr. Furniture Row Racing Chevrolet 200 41
4 4 3 Austin Dillon Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 200 41
5 2 11 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 200 39
6 3 19 Carl Edwards Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 200 39
7 10 22 Joey Logano Team Penske Ford 200 37
8 17 31 Ryan Newman Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 200 36
9 14 2 Brad Keselowski Team Penske Ford 200 35
10 9 88 Dale Earnhardt, Jr. Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 200 34
11 6 18 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 200 34
12 24 27 Paul Menard Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 200 32
13 34 42 Kyle Larson Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 200 31
14 30 43 Aric Almirola Richard Petty Motorsports Ford 200 31
15 11 5 Kasey Kahne Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 200 29
16 18 1 Jamie McMurray Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 200 28
17 21 24 Jeff Gordon Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 200 28
18 13 55 David Ragan Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota 200 26
19 15 9 Sam Hornish, Jr. Richard Petty Motorsports Ford 200 25
20 16 41 Kurt Busch Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet 199 24
21 5 14 Tony Stewart Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet 199 23
22 25 6 Trevor Bayne Roush Fenway Racing Ford 198 22
23 20 16 Greg Biffle Roush Fenway Racing Ford 198 21
24 19 21 Ryan Blaney (i) Wood Brothers Racing Ford 198 0
25 23 10 Danica Patrick Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet 198 19
26 27 17 Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. Roush Fenway Racing Ford 198 18
27 35 35 Cole Whitt Front Row Motorsports Ford 198 17
28 26 47 A. J. Allmendinger JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet 198 16
29 28 51 Justin Allgaier HScott Motorsports Chevrolet 197 15
30 32 83 Matt DiBenedetto (R) BK Racing Toyota 197 14
31 33 7 Alex Bowman Tommy Baldwin Racing Chevrolet 197 13
32 36 38 David Gilliland Front Row Motorsports Ford 197 12
33 29 26 Jeb Burton (R) BK Racing Toyota 197 11
34 38 34 Brett Moffitt (R) Front Row Motorsports Ford 197 10
35 39 46 Michael Annett HScott Motorsports Chevrolet 197 9
36 31 40 Landon Cassill (i) Hillman-Circle Sport LLC Chevrolet 196 0
37 41 32 Josh Wise Go FAS Racing Ford 196 7
38 37 23 J. J. Yeley (i) BK Racing Toyota 194 0
39 8 48 Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 190 5
40 42 33 Travis Kvapil (i) Hillman-Circle Sport LLC Chevrolet 190 0
41 12 15 Clint Bowyer Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota 164 4
42 40 13 Casey Mears Germain Racing Chevrolet 51 2
43 43 98 Timmy Hill (i) Premium Motorsports Ford 9 0
Official Pure Michigan 400 results

Race statistics

Lap Leaders
Laps Leader
1-22 Matt Kenseth
23-40 Austin Dillon
41-59 Matt Kenseth
60 Jeff Gordon
61-62 Kyle Busch
63-75 Matt Kenseth
76 Clint Bowyer
77-98 Matt Kenseth
99-113 Kevin Harvick
114-116 Carl Edwards
117-122 Matt Kenseth
123-124 Carl Edwards
125 Austin Dillon
126-164 Matt Kenseth
165-172 Kyle Busch
173-175 Aric Almirola
176-200 Matt Kenseth
Total laps led
Leader Laps
Matt Kenseth 146
Austin Dillon 19
Kevin Harvick 15
Kyle Busch 10
Carl Edwards 5
Aric Almirola 3
Jeff Gordon 1
Clint Bowyer 1

Race awards

Media

Television

NBC Sports covered the race on the television side. Rick Allen, Jeff Burton and Steve Letarte had the call in the booth for the race. Dave Burns, Mike Massaro, Marty Snider and Kelli Stavast handled pit road on the television side.

NBCSN
Booth announcersPit reporters
Lap-by-lap: Rick Allen
Color-commentator: Jeff Burton
Color-commentator: Steve Letarte
Dave Burns
Mike Massaro
Marty Snider
Kelli Stavast

Radio

MRN had the radio call for the race, which was simulcast on Sirius XM NASCAR Radio. Joe Moore, Jeff Striegle and five–time Michigan winner Rusty Wallace called the race from the booth when the field was racing down the front stretch. Dave Moody called the race from a billboard outside of turn 2 when the field was racing through turns 1 and 2. Kurt Becker called the race from a platform outside of turn 3 when the field was racing through turns 3 and 4. Alex Hayden, Winston Kelley and Pete Pistone worked pit road for MRN.

MRN
Booth announcersTurn announcersPit reporters
Lead announcer: Joe Moore
Announcer: Jeff Striegle
Announcer: Rusty Wallace
Turns 1 & 2: Dave Moody
Turns 3 & 4: Kurt Becker
Alex Hayden
Winston Kelley
Pete Pistone

Standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings
Pos Driver Points
1 Kevin Harvick 866
2 Joey Logano 818 (–48)
3 Dale Earnhardt, Jr. 784 (–82)
2 4 Martin Truex, Jr. 755 (–111)
5 Brad Keselowski 754 (–112)
2 6 Jimmie Johnson 752 (–114)
7 Matt Kenseth 751 (–115)
8 Kurt Busch 683 (–183)
1 9 Denny Hamlin 670 (–196)
1 10 Jamie McMurray 663 (–203)
11 Paul Menard 654 (–212)
1 12 Ryan Newman 649 (–217)
1 13 Jeff Gordon 648 (–218)
1 14 Carl Edwards 628 (–238)
1 15 Clint Bowyer 616 (–250)
16 Aric Almirola 593 (–273)

Kevin Harvick left Michigan with a 48–point lead over Joey Logano.
Manufacturers' Championship standings
Pos Manufacturer Points
1 Chevrolet 1,024
1 2 Toyota 954 (–70)
1 3 Ford 948 (–76)
  • Note: Only the first sixteen positions are included for the driver standings.

Notes

  1. Austin Dillon started from the rear of the field for changing engines.
  2. Kyle Busch started from the rear of the field for switching to a backup car post-qualifying.
  3. Travis Kvapil started from the rear of the field for changing engines.

References

  1. "2015 NASCAR Schedule" (PDF). NASCAR.com. NASCAR Media Group, LLC. August 26, 2014. Retrieved August 10, 2015.
  2. "Michigan International Speedway". NASCAR.com. NASCAR Media Group, LLC. January 3, 2013. Retrieved August 10, 2015.
  3. "Entry List". MRN.com. Motor Racing Network. August 10, 2015. Retrieved August 10, 2015.
  4. "First Practice Results". MRN.com. Motor Racing Network. August 14, 2015. Retrieved August 14, 2015.
  5. "Starting Lineup". MRN.com. Motor Racing Network. August 14, 2015. Retrieved August 14, 2015.
  6. "Second Practice Results". MRN.com. Motor Racing Network. August 15, 2015. Retrieved August 15, 2015.
  7. "Final Practice Results". MRN.com. Motor Racing Network. August 15, 2015. Retrieved August 15, 2015.
  8. "Pure Michigan 400 Results". MRN.com. Motor Racing Network. August 16, 2015. Retrieved August 16, 2015.
  9. "Points standings" (PDF). Jayski.com. NASCAR Statistics. August 16, 2015. Retrieved August 16, 2015.
  10. "Manufacturer standings" (PDF). Jayski.com. NASCAR Integrated Marketing Communications. August 17, 2015. Retrieved August 17, 2015.
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  13. "About MIS". Michigan International Speedway. Retrieved August 10, 2015.
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  15. 1 2 3 4 Bruce, Kenny (August 12, 2015). "NASCAR adds cooling measure for Michigan cars". NASCAR.com. NASCAR Media Group, LLC. Retrieved August 13, 2015.
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  17. 1 2 3 4 Pistone, Pete (August 14, 2015). "Kenseth Claims Michigan Pole". MRN.com. Brooklyn, Michigan: Motor Racing Network. Retrieved August 14, 2015.
  18. Long, Dustin (August 15, 2015). "Kevin Harvick paces practice as drivers run in groups at Michigan to test package". nascartalk.nbcsports.com. Brooklyn, Michigan: NBC Sports. Retrieved August 15, 2015.
  19. Long, Dustin (August 15, 2015). "Martin Truex Jr. leads final Sprint Cup practice at Michigan". nascartalk.nbcsports.com. Brooklyn, Michigan: NBC Sports. Retrieved August 15, 2015.
  20. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Spencer, Lee (August 15, 2015). "Truex looking to build on speed found in Happy Hour". Motorsport.com. Motorsport.com, Inc. Retrieved August 15, 2015.
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  22. Long, Dustin (August 16, 2015). "Today's NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Michigan: Start time, TV info and more". nascartalk.nbcsports.com. NBC Sports. Retrieved August 16, 2015.
  23. Bonkowski, Jerry (August 16, 2015). "Matt Kenseth dominates first half of Pure Michigan 400, but Kevin Harvick in lead at midpoint". nascartalk.nbcsports.com. NBC Sports. Retrieved August 16, 2015.
  24. Pennell, Jay (August 16, 2015). "Clint Bowyer's Chase hopes take a hit in Pure Michigan 400 wreck". FoxSports.com. Fox Sports Interactive Media, LLC. Retrieved August 16, 2015.
  25. Sheldon, Kathy (August 16, 2015). "Wreck ruins Bowyer's race, impacts Chase standings". NASCAR.com. Brooklyn, Michigan: NASCAR Media Group, LLC. Retrieved August 17, 2015.
  26. Trister, Noah (August 16, 2015). "Kenseth in control at Michigan, wins 3rd Cup race of season". AP Sports. Brooklyn, Michigan: Associated Press. Associated Press. Archived from the original on August 18, 2015. Retrieved August 16, 2015.
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  28. Spencer, Lee (August 16, 2015). "Matt Kenseth conquers Michigan". Motorsport.com. Motorsport.com, Inc. Retrieved August 16, 2015.
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2015 Cheez-It 355 at The Glen
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2015 season
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