The 2015 Alert Today Florida 300 was a NASCAR Xfinity Series race held on February 21, 2015, at Daytona International Speedway Daytona Beach, Florida. The race was the first of the 2015 NASCAR Xfinity Series. It was also the 34th iteration of the event. It also had a couple of firsts. It was the first ever race with the title sponsor Xfinity to sponsor the 2nd of the top 3 series of NASCAR with Xfinity replacing Nationwide. It was also the first race since 2006 that Fox would broadcast the lower series of NASCAR. Austin Dillon won the pole while Kyle Busch led the most laps but the race would feature a surprise winner as Ryan Reed won his first ever NASCAR Xfinity Series race of his career in his 40th Xfinity Series start.[2] But the race was most remembered for a crash that left Kyle Busch with a broken leg and foot.
| Race details[1] | |||
|---|---|---|---|
 Map of Speedway | |||
| Date | February 21, 2015 | ||
| Official name | 2015 Alert Today Florida 300 | ||
| Location | Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida | ||
| Course |
Tri-oval 2.5 mi (4.023 km) | ||
| Distance | 120 laps, 300 mi (400 km) | ||
| Weather | Cloudy/Sunny | ||
| Average speed | 148.781 mph (239.440 km/h) | ||
| Pole position | |||
| Driver | Richard Childress Racing | ||
| Time | 47.306 | ||
| Most laps led | |||
| Driver | Kyle Busch | Joe Gibbs Racing | |
| Laps | 27 | ||
| Winner | |||
| No. 16 | Ryan Reed | Roush Fenway Racing | |
| Television in the United States | |||
| Network | Fox Sports 1 | ||
| Announcers | Adam Alexander, Kevin Harvick, Michael Waltrip. | ||
Background
editDaytona International Speedway is a race track in Daytona Beach, Florida, United States. Since opening in 1959, it has been the home of the Daytona 500, the most prestigious race in NASCAR as well as its season opening event. In addition to NASCAR, the track also hosts races for ARCA, AMA Superbike, IMSA, SCCA, and Motocross. The track features multiple layouts including the primary 2.500 mi (4.023 km) high-speed tri-oval, a 3.560 mi (5.729 km) sports car course, a 2.950 mi (4.748 km) motorcycle course, and a 1,320 ft (402.3 m) karting and motorcycle flat-track. The track's 180-acre (72.8 ha) infield includes the 29-acre (11.7 ha) Lake Lloyd, which has hosted powerboat racing. The speedway is operated by NASCAR pursuant to a lease with the City of Daytona Beach on the property that runs until 2054.[3] Dale Earnhardt is Daytona International Speedway's all-time winningest driver, with a total of 34 career victories (12- Daytona 500 Qualifying Races) (7- NASCAR Xfinity Series Races) (6- Busch Clash Races) (6- IROC Races) (2- Pepsi 400 July Races) (1- The 1998 Daytona 500).
Entry List
edit- (R) denotes rookie driver
- (i) denotes driver who is ineligible for series driver points
Qualifying
editAustin Dillon won the pole for the race.[4]
| Pos | No. | Driver | Team | Manufacturer | R1 | R2 | R3 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 33 | Austin Dillon (i) | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 48.358 | 48.048 | 47.306 |
| 2 | 29 | Justin Marks | RAB Racing | Toyota | 47.843 | 47.663 | 47.329 |
| 3 | 84 | Chad Boat (i) | Billy Boat Motorsports | Chevrolet | 48.291 | 48.041 | 47.332 |
| 4 | 62 | Brendan Gaughan | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 47.993 | 48.032 | 47.510 |
| 5 | 98 | Aric Almirola (i) | Biagi-DenBeste Racing | Ford | 48.288 | 48.033 | 47.531 |
| 6 | 20 | Erik Jones (i) | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 47.553 | 47.659 | 47.534 |
| 7 | 43 | Dakoda Armstrong | Richard Petty Motorsports | Ford | 48.275 | 48.009 | 47.562 |
| 8 | 16 | Ryan Reed | Roush Fenway Racing | Ford | 47.956 | 47.967 | 47.572 |
| 9 | 28 | J. J. Yeley | JGL Racing | Toyota | 47.599 | 47.640 | 47.577 |
| 10 | 60 | Chris Buescher | Roush Fenway Racing | Ford | 48.127 | 47.908 | 47.589 |
| 11 | 1 | Elliott Sadler | Roush Fenway Racing | Ford | 47.664 | 47.979 | 49.277 |
| 12 | 7 | Regan Smith | JR Motorsports | Chevrolet | 47.568 | 47.990 | 49.306 |
| 13 | 55 | Jeffery Earnhardt | Viva Motorsports | Chevrolet | 48.333 | 48.119 | — |
| 14 | 22 | Brad Keselowski (i) | Team Penske | Ford | 48.277 | 48.237 | — |
| 15 | 2 | Brian Scott | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 48.299 | 48.391 | — |
| 16 | 39 | Ryan Sieg | RSS Racing | Chevrolet | 48.353 | 48.433 | — |
| 17 | 14 | Cale Conley (R) | TriStar Motorsports | Toyota | 48.290 | 48.607 | — |
| 18 | 44 | David Starr*** | TriStar Motorsports | Toyota | 48.239 | 48.907 | — |
| 19 | 74 | Mike Harmon | Mike Harmon Racing | Dodge | 48.388 | 50.125 | — |
| 20 | 13 | Chris Cockrum | MBM Motorsports | Chevrolet | 48.404 | 51.629 | — |
| 21 | 4 | Ross Chastain (R) | JD Motorsports | Chevrolet | 48.156 | — | — |
| 22 | 10 | Scott Lagasse Jr.*** **** | TriStar Motorsports | Toyota | 48.248 | — | — |
| 23 | 51 | Jeremy Clements | Jeremy Clements Racing | Chevrolet | 48.272 | — | — |
| 24 | 97 | Josh Reaume (R) | Obaika Racing | Chevrolet | 48.361 | — | — |
| 25 | 24 | Eric McClure | JGL Racing | Toyota | 48.423 | — | — |
| 26 | 52 | Joey Gase | Jimmy Means Racing | Chevrolet | 48.438 | — | — |
| 27 | 42 | Kyle Larson (i) | HScott Motorsports with Chip Ganassi | Chevrolet | 48.487 | — | — |
| 28 | 6 | Bubba Wallace (R) | Roush Fenway Racing | Ford | 48.571 | — | — |
| 29 | 25 | John Wes Townley (i) | Athenian Motorsports | Chevrolet | 48.599 | — | — |
| 30 | 92 | Dexter Bean | King Autosport | Chevrolet | 48.634 | — | — |
| 31 | 26 | Mike Wallace (i) | JGL Racing | Toyota | 48.652 | — | — |
| 32 | 54 | Kyle Busch (i) | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 48.653 | — | — |
| 33 | 40 | Derek White | MBM Motorsports | Dodge | 48.674 | — | — |
| 34 | 3 | Ty Dillon* | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 48.755 | — | — |
| 35 | 9 | Chase Elliott* | JR Motorsports | Chevrolet | 48.838 | — | — |
| 36 | 18 | Daniel Suárez (R)* *** | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 48.841 | — | — |
| 37 | 90 | Mario Gosselin* | King Autosport | Chevrolet | 49.053 | — | — |
| 38 | 8 | Blake Koch* *** | TriStar Motorsports | Toyota | 51.093 | — | — |
| 39 | 01 | Landon Cassill* *** | JD Motorsports | Chevrolet | 54.757 | — | — |
| 40 | 88 | Dale Earnhardt Jr. (i)** | JR Motorsports | Chevrolet | 50.130 | — | — |
| Failed to Qualify, withdrew, or driver changes | |||||||
| 41 | 87 | Joe Nemechek (i) | NEMCO Motorsports | Chevrolet | 48.796 | — | — |
| 42 | 19 | Scott Lagasse Jr. | TriStar Motorsports | Toyota | 48.833 | — | — |
| 43 | 85 | Bobby Gerhart | Bobby Gerhart Racing | Chevrolet | 48.884 | — | — |
| 44 | 17 | Tanner Berryhill | Vision Racing | Toyota | 50.944 | — | — |
| 45 | 0 | Harrison Rhodes (R) | JD Motorsports | Chevrolet | 50.954 | — | — |
| 46 | 70 | Derrike Cope | Derrike Cope Racing | Chevrolet | 52.422 | — | — |
| 47 | 15 | Carlos Contreras | Rick Ware Racing | Chevrolet | 54.532 | — | — |
| DC | 10 | Jeff Green | TriStar Motorsports | Toyota | — | — | — |
| WD | 89 | Morgan Shepherd | Shepherd Racing Ventures | Chevrolet | — | — | — |
| Official Starting Lineup | |||||||
* – Made the field via owners points
** – Made the field via past champion.
*** – Landon Cassill, Blake Koch, Scott Lagasse Jr., Daniel Suárez, and David Starr had to start at the rear of the field. Cassill, Koch, and Suárez had back up cars, Lagasse Jr. had a drivers change, and Starr had unapproved adjustments.
**** – Jeff Green qualified to car before they switched to Scott Lagasse Jr. for the race.
Race
editPole sitter Austin Dillon led the first lap of the race. On lap 2, Ryan Reed attempted to pass Dillon for the lead but Chris Buescher made a three wide pass for the lead and took the lead. On lap 8, Ty Dillon race side by side for the lead with Buescher and led lap 8 and 9 before he got in front of Buescher. On lap 13, Bubba Wallace took the lead. Ty took it back on the next lap. Wallace led lap 15 as he and Dillon raced side by side for the lead. Wallace led lap 15 and 16 before Ty took it back on lap 17. Wallace took it back on lap 19. Ty took it back on lap 22. Wallace would lead on lap 24. But Ty would take it back on lap 27. Wallace led lap 28 before Ty took back full advantage on lap 29. Wallace led lap 30 and 31 before Ty took it back on lap 32. On lap 35, Bubba Wallace took the lead. Soon, green flag pitstops began. Ty Dillon took the lead from Bubba Wallace on lap 41 after they both made their pitstops. On lap 42, Kyle Busch stormed his way from 5th to the lead.
Final laps
editOn lap 69, Regan Smith took the lead. Soon green flag pitstops started up again. With 42 to go, Regan Smith pitted giving Kyle Larson the lead. With 41 to go, the first caution flew after a tire got away from Chris Cockrum's pit stall and sat in the infield grass near the racetrack. Regan Smith got his lead back and led the field to the restart with 35 laps to go. With 33 laps to go, Ryan Reed got side by side with Smith for the lead and led the laps before he got in front with 30 to go. With 28 laps to go, the second caution flew for the first big one out of turn 4 that collected 12 cars. It started when the lapped car of rookie Daniel Suárez was getting pushed by Kyle Larson when Larson got Suárez loose and Suárez spun down and clipped Regan Smith sending Smith into a roll before Smith landed on all fours while other cars crashed with them. The cars involved were Ryan Sieg, Justin Marks, Brendan Gaughan, Daniel Suárez, Regan Smith, Chad Boat, John Wes Townley, Kyle Larson, Chase Elliott, Austin Dillon, Scott Lagasse Jr., and David Starr. A red flag occurred for the incident. But while the cars were coming to a stop, Mike Wallace wasn't paying attention and ran into the rear of Austin Dillon which lifted Dillon's rear wheels off the ground and gave both cars damage. The red flag was soon lifted and the cars got back going again under caution. Ryan Reed led the field to the restart with 21 laps to go. With 20 to go, Chris Buescher took the lead from his teammate. With 18 to go, the third caution flew for debris that came off of Chase Elliott's car. The race restarted with 14 to go. On the restart, Brad Keselowski took the lead from Chris Buescher. Ty Dillon attempted to take the lead but failed to do so. With 9 laps to go, the fourth and final caution flew for the second and final big one of the race that collected 10 cars and involved a scary crash. Coming out of the tri-oval, Erik Jones got turned by Kyle Busch. Jones overcorrected his car back across the field taking out more cars. Busch went high to avoid Jones but lost control of his car and Busch spun down the racetrack. His car slid across the infield grass before it pounded the inside concrete wall head on at about 90 mph. Busch climbed out of his car but immeadietly laid down in the infield grass and appeared to be hurt. He was carried on a stretcher and was taken to Halifax Medical Center for further evaluation. Busch had a massive compound fracture in the lower right leg, a small fracture in the left foot, and a sprained left finger. Busch would end up missing the first 11 races of the Sprint Cup Series season due to his injury. The cars involved were Kyle Busch, Chase Elliott, J. J. Yeley, Brendan Gaughan, Erik Jones, Brian Scott, Elliott Sadler, Bubba Wallace, Jeffery Earnhardt, and Cale Conley.[5] The race was once again red flagged for the accident. The red flag lifted and the race restarted with 5 laps to go. Keselowski held onto his lead. Kyle Larson took the lead on the restart but was immeadeatly split in between Keselowski and Chris Buescher and Keselowski got the lead back and was racing with Buescher. Larson eventually got side by side with Keselowski again but could not make the pass. On the last lap out of the tri-oval, Larson got loose after contact with Aric Almirola and Larson spun down and collected Ross Chastain. No caution was thrown. In turn 3, Ryan Reed slingshotted Keselowski and Reed took the lead with his teammate Chris Buescher behind him. Reed held off the pack in the last two turns and Reed took home his first career Xfinity Series win in his 40th start with his teammate Buescher finishing 2nd giving owner Jack Roush a one-two finish. Ty Dillon, Austin Dillon, and Brad Keselowski rounded out the top 5 while David Starr, Aric Almirola, Kyle Larson, Ross Chastain, and Dale Earnhardt Jr. rounded out the top 10.[6]
Race results
edit| Pos | Car | Driver | Team | Manufacturer | Laps Run | Laps Led | Status | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 16 | Ryan Reed | Roush Fenway Racing | Ford | 120 | 14 | running | 47 |
| 2 | 60 | Chris Buescher | Roush Fenway Racing | Ford | 120 | 12 | running | 43 |
| 3 | 3 | Ty Dillon | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 120 | 16 | running | 42 |
| 4 | 33 | Austin Dillon (i) | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 120 | 1 | running | 0 |
| 5 | 22 | Brad Keselowski (i) | Team Penske | Ford | 120 | 13 | running | 0 |
| 6 | 44 | David Starr | TriStar Motorsports | Toyota | 120 | 0 | running | 38 |
| 7 | 98 | Aric Almirola (i) | Biagi-DenBeste Racing | Ford | 120 | 0 | running | 0 |
| 8 | 42 | Kyle Larson (i) | HScott Motorsports with Chip Ganassi | Chevrolet | 120 | 4 | running | 0 |
| 9 | 4 | Ross Chastain (R) | JD Motorsports | Chevrolet | 120 | 0 | running | 35 |
| 10 | 88 | Dale Earnhardt Jr. (i) | JR Motorsports | Chevrolet | 119 | 0 | running | 0 |
| 11 | 43 | Dakoda Armstrong | Richard Petty Motorsports | Ford | 119 | 0 | running | 33 |
| 12 | 6 | Bubba Wallace (R) | Roush Fenway Racing | Ford | 119 | 18 | running | 33 |
| 13 | 26 | Mike Wallace (i) | JGL Racing | Toyota | 119 | 0 | running | 0 |
| 14 | 51 | Jeremy Clements | Jeremy Clements Racing | Chevrolet | 118 | 0 | running | 30 |
| 15 | 90 | Mario Gosselin | King Autosport | Chevrolet | 118 | 0 | running | 29 |
| 16 | 55 | Jeffery Earnhardt | Viva Motorsports | Chevrolet | 118 | 0 | running | 28 |
| 17 | 24 | Eric McClure | JGL Racing | Toyota | 116 | 0 | running | 27 |
| 18 | 20 | Erik Jones (i) | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 116 | 0 | running | 0 |
| 19 | 1 | Elliott Sadler | Roush Fenway Racing | Ford | 116 | 0 | running | 25 |
| 20 | 8 | Blake Koch | TriStar Motorsports | Toyota | 115 | 0 | running | 24 |
| 21 | 13 | Chris Cockrum | MBM Motorsports | Chevrolet | 115 | 0 | running | 23 |
| 22 | 40 | Derek White | MBM Motorsports | Dodge | 115 | 0 | running | 22 |
| 23 | 97 | Josh Reaume (R) | Obaika Racing | Chevrolet | 115 | 0 | running | 21 |
| 24 | 74 | Mike Harmon | Mike Harmon Racing | Dodge | 114 | 0 | running | 20 |
| 25 | 2 | Brian Scott | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 112 | 0 | crash | 19 |
| 26 | 54 | Kyle Busch (i) | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 111 | 27 | crash | 0 |
| 27 | 28 | J. J. Yeley | JGL Racing | Toyota | 111 | 0 | crash | 17 |
| 28 | 9 | Chase Elliott | JR Motorsports | Chevrolet | 111 | 0 | crash | 16 |
| 29 | 62 | Brendan Gaughan | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 110 | 0 | crash | 15 |
| 30 | 14 | Cale Conley (R) | TriStar Motorsports | Toyota | 110 | 0 | crash | 14 |
| 31 | 01 | Landon Cassill | JD Motorsports | Chevrolet | 108 | 0 | running | 13 |
| 32 | 52 | Joey Gase | Jimmy Means Racing | Chevrolet | 107 | 0 | running | 12 |
| 33 | 25 | John Wes Townley (i) | Athenian Motorsports | Chevrolet | 106 | 0 | running | 0 |
| 34 | 29 | Justin Marks | RAB Racing | Toyota | 93 | 0 | crash | 10 |
| 35 | 7 | Regan Smith | JR Motorsports | Chevrolet | 93 | 15 | crash | 10 |
| 36 | 84 | Chad Boat (i) | Billy Boat Motorsports | Chevrolet | 92 | 0 | crash | 0 |
| 37 | 10 | Scott Lagasse Jr. | TriStar Motorsports | Toyota | 92 | 0 | crash | 7 |
| 38 | 39 | Ryan Sieg | RSS Racing | Chevrolet | 92 | 0 | crash | 6 |
| 39 | 18 | Daniel Suárez (R) | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 91 | 0 | crash | 5 |
| 40 | 92 | Dexter Bean | King Autosport | Chevrolet | 5 | 0 | fuel pump | 4 |
| Official Race results | ||||||||
References
edit- ^ "2015 Alert Today Florida 300". Retrieved February 21, 2015.
- ^ "CP MOTORSPORTS - REED WINS ALERT TODAY FLORIDA 300". Retrieved February 22, 2015.
- ^ Lane, Mark (5 August 2018). "Little-known special district leases land under the Daytona International Speedway". Times Herald-Record. Archived from the original on October 21, 2020. Retrieved 11 June 2020.
- ^ "Austin Dillon wins pole for today's Xfinity Series season opener at Daytona". Retrieved February 21, 2015.
- ^ "Kyle Busch breaks a right leg, left foot, out indefinitely". USA Today. McLean, VA. February 22, 2015. Archived from the original on November 27, 2015. Retrieved December 18, 2015.
- ^ "Ryan Reed won the exciting NASCAR XFINITY Series Alert Today Florida 300 at Daytona". Retrieved February 23, 2015.