2015 Toyota/Save Mart 350

2015 Toyota/Save Mart 350
Race details[1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9]
Race 16 of 36 in the 2015 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season
Date June 28, 2015 (2015-06-28)
Location Sonoma Raceway,
Sonoma, California, U.S.
Course Permanent racing facility
1.99 mi (3.2 km)
Distance 110 laps, 218.9 mi (352 km)
Weather Clear blue skies with a temperature of 75 °F (24 °C); wind out of the west/southwest at 12 mph (19 km/h)
Average speed 74.774 mph (120.337 km/h)
Pole position
Driver JTG Daugherty Racing
Time 1:14.385
Most laps led
Driver Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Motorsports
Laps 45
Winner
No. 18 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing
Television in the United States
Network Fox Sports 1
Announcers Mike Joy, Larry McReynolds, and Darrell Waltrip
Nielsen Ratings 2.4/5 (Overnight)[10]
2.4/5 (Final)[11]
3.7 Million viewers[11]
Radio in the United States
Radio PRN
Booth Announcers Doug Rice, Mark Garrow and Wendy Venturini
Turn Announcers Pat Patterson (2, 3 & 3a), Brad Gillie (4a, 7a & 8) and Rob Albright (9, 10 & 11)

The 2015 Toyota/Save Mart 350 was a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race held on June 28, 2015 at Sonoma Raceway in Sonoma, California. Contested over 110 laps on the 1.99 mile (3.2 km) road course, it was the 16th race of the 2015 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season. Kyle Busch won the race, first of the season and first since the 2014 Auto Club 400. Brother Kurt Busch finished runner-up and Clint Bowyer finished third. Kevin Harvick and Joey Logano rounded out the top five.

A. J. Allmendinger won the pole for the race and led one lap before engine issues took him out of contention and finished 37th. Jimmie Johnson led a race high of 45 laps before getting passed for the lead with a few laps to go and finished sixth. The race had nine lead changes among five different drivers, as well as five caution flag periods for 21 laps. There was one red flag period for ten minutes and 30 seconds.

This was the 30th career victory for Kyle Busch, second at Sonoma Raceway and fourth at the track for Joe Gibbs Racing. This win moved Busch up to 37th in the points standings. Despite being the winning manufacturer, Toyota left Sonoma trailing Chevrolet by 94 points in the manufacturer standings.

The Toyota/Save Mart 350 was carried by Fox Sports on the cable/satellite Fox Sports 1 network for the American television audience. The radio broadcast for the race was carried by the Performance Racing Network and Sirius XM NASCAR Radio.

Report

Background

Sonoma Raceway, the track where the race was held.

Sonoma Raceway, formerly Sears Point Raceway and Infineon Raceway, is a 2.52-mile (4.06 km) road course and drag strip located on the landform known as Sears Point in the southern Sonoma Mountains in Sonoma, California, USA.[12] The road course features 12 turns on a hilly course with 160 feet (49 m) of total elevation change.[13] It is host to one of only two NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races each year that are run on road courses (the other being Watkins Glen International in Watkins Glen, New York), and one of six national series road course races (Xfinity Series racing at Watkins Glen, Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course and Road America; and the Camping World Truck Series at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park). It is also host to the Verizon IndyCar Series and several other auto races and motorcycle races such as the American Federation of Motorcyclists series. Sonoma Raceway continues to host amateur, or club racing events which may or may not be open to the general public. The largest such car club is the Sports Car Club of America.

With the closure of Riverside International Raceway in Riverside, California after the 1988 season, NASCAR, wanting a west coast road course event to replace it, chose the Sears Point facility. Riverside Raceway was razed for a shopping center development.

In 2002, Sears Point Raceway was renamed after a corporate sponsor, Infineon. However, as with many renamings of sports complexes, many people still call it by its original name (it was never affiliated with Sears, Roebuck and Company, having been named for the nearby Sears Point Ranch founded in the 1850s by settler Franklin Sears). On March 7, 2012, it was announced that Infineon would not renew their contract for naming rights when the deal expired in May, and the track management is looking for a new company to take over naming rights.[14] Until it can find a new corporate sponsor, the course is simply identifying itself as "Sonoma".

Kevin Harvick entered Sonoma with a 15-point lead over Martin Truex, Jr. Joey Logano entered 56 back. Dale Earnhardt, Jr. entered 68 back. Jimmie Johnson entered 70 back.

New pit road policy

Following a miscommunication in the Xfinity race at Chicagoland Speedway that resulted in 19 cars pitting before pit road was officially opened, NASCAR announced that the indicator light at the entrance of pit road would be controlled by the officials in race control instead of an official at pit entrance.[15]

Entry list

Jeff Gordon received a commemorative wine bottle celebrating his record holding wins and final race at Sonoma Raceway, 2015

The entry list for the Toyota/Save Mart 350 was released on Friday, June 19 at 2:32 p.m. Eastern time. Forty-four cars were entered for the race. All but the No. 95 Leavine Family Racing Ford driven by Michael McDowell were entered for the previous race at Michigan. Three driver changes took place for this weekend. Boris Said drove the No. 32 Go FAS Racing Ford in place of Mike Bliss. Alex Kennedy drove the No. 33 Hillman-Circle Sport LLC Chevrolet for Ty Dillon. Justin Marks attempted to make his first start of the season in the No. 34 Front Row Motorsports Ford for Brett Moffitt. The No. 98 Phil Parsons Racing entry, driven by Josh Wise, switched from Ford to Chevrolet for this race. Jeff Gordon, the all-time winningest driver at Sonoma Raceway, made his 23rd and final start at the track.

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
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 Boris Said (i) Go FAS Racing Ford
33 Alex Kennedy (R) Hillman-Circle Sport LLC Chevrolet
34 Justin Marks (i) 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 Brendan Gaughan (i) 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
95 Michael McDowell Leavine Family Racing Ford
98 Josh Wise Phil Parsons Racing Chevrolet
Official initial entry list
Official final entry list
Key Meaning
(R) Rookie
(i) Ineligible for points
(PC#) Past champions provisional

Practice

First practice

Clint Bowyer was the fastest in the first practice session with a time of 1:14.979 and a speed of 95.547 mph (153.768 km/h).[16]

Pos No. Driver Team Manufacturer Time Speed
1 15 Clint Bowyer Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota 1:14.979 95.547
2 47 A. J. Allmendinger JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet 1:15.159 95.318
3 9 Sam Hornish, Jr. Richard Petty Motorsports Ford 1:15.338 95.092
Official first practice results

Final practice

Kyle Busch was the fastest in the final practice session with a time of 1:14.489 and a speed of 96.175 mph (154.779 km/h).[17]

Pos No. Driver Team Manufacturer Time Speed
1 18 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 1:14.489 96.175
2 19 Carl Edwards Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 1:14.602 96.030
3 41 Kurt Busch Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet 1:14.631 95.992
Official final practice results

Qualifying

A. J. Allmendinger scored the pole for the race
Kurt Busch took second during qualifications

A. J. Allmendinger won the pole with a time of 1:14.385 and a speed of 96.310 mph (154.996 km/h).[18] "I’ve really got to thank all my guys that are here and especially back at the shop," Allmendinger said. "They’ve worked on this car so much to do everything that we need to get as much speed out of it as possible. So, it’s a good day, but we’ve got to focus on tomorrow.”[18] “It has a nice balance all the way through, the braking and transmission gears, and the overall corner speed," Kurt Busch said after qualifying second. "It’s a nice package that (crew chief) Tony Gibson gave me, and all the guys back at the shop."[18] “Yeah, we kind of overachieved today," Matt Kenseth said after qualifying third. "We were really bad yesterday, we were really bad the first round. I’m pleasantly surprised and kind of confused as far as we’ve been off, but we’ll take that.”[18] "I think the car was capable of being at least first or second," Jeff Gordon said after qualifying fifth. "I missed one corner there on that last run and I don’t know how much that cost me, but overall it was a really solid effort."[18] Brendan Gaughan was the lone driver that failed to make the race.[18]

Qualifying results

Pos No. Driver Team Manufacturer R1 R2
1 47 A. J. Allmendinger JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet 1:14.220 1:14.385
2 41 Kurt Busch Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet 1:14.672 1:14.551
3 20 Matt Kenseth Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 1:14.661 1:14.624
4 42 Kyle Larson Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 1:14.186 1:14.678
5 24 Jeff Gordon Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 1:14.501 1:14.699
6 15 Clint Bowyer Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota 1:14.679 1:14.715
7 14 Tony Stewart Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet 1:14.326 1:14.888
8 13 Casey Mears Germain Racing Chevrolet 1:14.624 1:14.966
9 55 David Ragan Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota 1:14.797 1:15.018
10 2 Brad Keselowski Team Penske Ford 1:14.598 1:15.175
11 18 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 1:14.598 1:15.179
12 78 Martin Truex, Jr. Furniture Row Racing Chevrolet 1:14.701 1:15.270
13 48 Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 1:14.815
14 19 Carl Edwards Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 1:14.833
15 11 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 1:14.973
16 31 Ryan Newman Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 1:14.991
17 4 Kevin Harvick Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet 1:15.034
18 1 Jamie McMurray Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 1:15.066
19 22 Joey Logano Team Penske Ford 1:15.081
20 88 Dale Earnhardt, Jr. Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 1:15.102
21 10 Danica Patrick Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet 1:15.121
22 16 Greg Biffle Roush Fenway Racing Ford 1:15.138
23 95 Michael McDowell Leavine Family Racing Ford 1:15.145
24 9 Sam Hornish, Jr. Richard Petty Motorsports Ford 1:15.246
25 43 Aric Almirola Richard Petty Motorsports Ford 1:15.344
26 5 Kasey Kahne Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 1:15.406
27 51 Justin Allgaier HScott Motorsports Chevrolet 1:15.474
28 38 David Gilliland Front Row Motorsports Ford 1:15.537
29 35 Cole Whitt Front Row Motorsports Ford 1:15.566
30 83 Matt DiBenedetto (R) BK Racing Toyota 1:15.638
31 6 Trevor Bayne Roush Fenway Racing Ford 1:15.782
32 27 Paul Menard[N 1] Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 1:15.788
33 32 Boris Said (i) Go FAS Racing Ford 1:15.828
34 23 J. J. Yeley (i) BK Racing Toyota 1:15.857
35 34 Justin Marks (i) Front Row Motorsports Ford 1:15.954
36 33 Alex Kennedy (R) Hillman-Circle Sport LLC Chevrolet 1:16.106
37 3 Austin Dillon Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 1:16.174
38 98 Josh Wise Phil Parsons Racing Chevrolet 1:16.216
39 40 Landon Cassill (i) Hillman-Circle Sport LLC Chevrolet 1:17.057
40 17 Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. Roush Fenway Racing Ford 1:17.067
41 7 Alex Bowman Tommy Baldwin Racing Chevrolet 1:17.128
42 46 Michael Annett[N 2] HScott Motorsports Chevrolet 1:17.551
43 26 Jeb Burton (R) BK Racing Toyota 1:17.658
Failed to qualify
44 62 Brendan Gaughan (i) Premium Motorsports Chevrolet 1:17.931
Official qualifying results

Race

First half

Start

Kurt Busch dominated the early stages of the race.

The race was scheduled to start at 3:19 p.m. but started three minutes later when A. J. Allmendinger led the field to the green flag. Kurt Busch jumped ahead of Allmendinger in turn 2 and led the first lap. The field settled into a single file rhythm. Jamie McMurray made an unscheduled pit stop on lap 10 for a flat right side tire. Denny Hamlin also made an unscheduled pit stop on that lap for a loose right-rear tire. The first caution of the race flew on lap 22 when David Gilliland slid off the track and slammed into the tire barrier in turn 10 due to a flat left-front tire. “That was a bad deal," Gilliland said. "I just passed Sam Hornish Jr. up in seven and went through the esses and I just told Donnie (crew chief Wingo), ‘I think I’ve got a left-front going down. It’s soft.’ We were gonna come in and pit that lap and I eased up a little bit going through 10, but it never turned and once you get off in the dirt there that’s a bad place to get off. "It was a big hit, but I’m OK. I’m just bummed out for the situation. This is a great race track. We really love racing out here and I’ve had some great finishes here, but we’ll have to wait until next year to try again.”[19] Under caution, Clint Bowyer opted not to pit and assumed the lead.[20]

Second quarter

The race restarted on lap 27. Kyle Busch passed Bowyer in turn 7a to take the lead one lap later. The second caution flew on lap 29 when David Ragan made contact with Martin Truex, Jr. and turned him into the wall in turn 8.[21] “When you’re mid-pack, it’s not a good place to be,” Truex, Jr. told Fox. “It’s just really congested. We were a lot faster than a couple of guys around us and you’re trying not to get run over and you’re trying to make moves. Every time I passed the 55, he would just keep staying on the side of me and not giving me three or four inches to get clear so we could all get going. I guess he turned me on purpose. I ran into the side of him first, so I kind of had it coming. But that was an accident. I thought I gave him enough room there coming out of the esses.”[21] Ragan gave his take on the incident after exiting the race on lap 79.[22] “I didn’t get together with the '78', the '78' ran me off the race track, just body slammed me," said Ragan, who finished 39th. "I was just trying to get back on the race track. That’s a great instance where the '78' just absolutely did me wrong and I’m trying to get back on the race track. That’s unfortunate for him, it’s never good to see anybody tear up their race car. Martin would probably not do that again if he had an opportunity.”[22] The damage to the concrete wall was severe enough that NASCAR red flagged the race on lap 32 for 10 minutes and 30 seconds.[20]

The race restarted on lap 34. Kurt Busch passed brother Kyle Busch in turn 11 to take back the lead on lap 40. Matt Kenseth blew out a left-rear tire in turn 4a and had to make an unscheduled pit stop on lap 45. A number of drivers, including Jeff Gordon, began hitting pit road on lap 52. Kurt Busch gave up the lead on lap 53 to make his pit stop and gave it to Jimmie Johnson.[23]

Second half

Halfway

Jimmie Johnson led the most laps in the race.
Justin Allgaier ran out of fuel halfway through the race.

Allmendinger began reporting fuel pickup issues on lap 57.[24] He made an unscheduled pit stop on lap 60.[24] Justin Allgaier ran out of fuel on lap 65, but coasted the car back to pit road and the race stayed green. Johnson hit pit road on lap 67 and the lead was given back to Kurt Busch. The third caution of the race flew on lap 74 when J. J. Yeley, exiting turn 10, got loose and hit the inside wall. Johnson opted not to pit and reassumed the lead.[20]

The race restarted with 32 laps to go. The fourth caution of the race flew on the same lap when Carl Edwards, entering the esses, hit Ragan and spun down into the wall.[20]

Fourth quarter

The race restarted with 26 laps to go. Kurt Busch went off track in turn 10 with 14 laps to go. The air intake became covered with grass. Debris on the front stretch brought out the fifth caution of the race with twelve laps to go. Exiting turn 11, the left-rear wheel house of Casey Mears's car came off. While Johnson opted to stay out, almost every other driver opted to pit for tires. Coming into his pit box, Matt DiBenedetto got clipped and turned by one of the track's cleanup trucks.[20]

The race restarted with seven laps to go. Kyle Busch passed Johnson climbing up turn 3 to take the lead with five laps to go. Michael McDowell went off track in turn 7a with three to go, but got the car going and the race remained green. Kyle Busch drove away to score his 30th career win.[25] And it is also the first time that the Busch brothers had a 2-1 with Kyle in first and his brother, Kurt, in second.

Post-race

Driver comments

Kyle Busch celebrating winning the 2015 Toyota/Save Mart 350.

“This is awesome – it’s unbelievable," said Busch. "Can’t say enough about my team, everyone at Joe Gibbs Racing. I can’t say enough about my medical team that got me back in shape and ready to go behind the wheel. We have our work cut out for us, we knew we did in the beginning and I knew we put us in the hole in points. It’s unfortunate that we’ve had a couple crashes. I hate it for my guys, they don’t deserve to be in that spot. They have certainly worked hard all year long."[25] "Just a lot of things went wrong. We had probably the fastest car on the racetrack it just took us all day to overcome all the stuff we had going on," said Harvick after finishing fourth. "Just want to thank Budweiser, Outback, Folds of Honor, everybody from Jimmy John's and Chevrolet for everything they do for our team."[26] "I saw there were a bunch of cars between myself and the first guy on (new) tires," Johnson said after finishing sixth. "I felt pretty good about things. And then after about a lap and a half, I wasn't feeling so good about things. They were there quickly. But if we came back tomorrow, we'd still run the same strategy. We played it perfectly."[27] "They dropped the green and we were moving forward," Gordon said after finishing 16th in his final start at Sonoma Raceway. "I was pretty happy with it. I felt that rear starting to go off pretty early on and saw some guys coming from further back. And so we tried to make a couple of adjustments. It just seemed as the track continued to lay rubber, our set-up, which we were taking a little bit of a gamble and risk with, but it looked good in practice; but it just didn’t pay off for us. The car was really, really good there at the end. Nothing’s going to take away from this weekend for me. I know it wasn’t the finish we all wanted, but it was a very memorable weekend. It’s still a little bit more fun to go to hang out with some of my friends and family here. But, I hate that we weren’t a little bit better. And that last thing, I was just taking some risk on that last pit stop. We didn’t have anything to lose at that point.”[28]

Race results

Pos Grid No. Driver Team Manufacturer Laps Points
1 11 18 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 110 47
2 2 41 Kurt Busch Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet 110 43
3 6 15 Clint Bowyer Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota 110 42
4 17 4 Kevin Harvick Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet 110 40
5 19 22 Joey Logano Team Penske Ford 110 39
6 13 48 Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 110 40
7 20 88 Dale Earnhardt, Jr. Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 110 37
8 26 5 Kasey Kahne Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 110 36
9 16 31 Ryan Newman Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 110 35
10 24 9 Sam Hornish, Jr. Richard Petty Motorsports Ford 110 34
11 8 1 Jamie McMurray Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 110 33
12 7 14 Tony Stewart Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet 110 32
13 32 27 Paul Menard Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 110 31
14 25 43 Aric Almirola Richard Petty Motorsports Ford 110 30
15 4 42 Kyle Larson Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 110 29
16 5 24 Jeff Gordon Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 110 28
17 37 3 Austin Dillon Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 110 27
18 15 11 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 110 26
19 10 2 Brad Keselowski Team Penske Ford 110 25
20 40 17 Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. Roush Fenway Racing Ford 110 24
21 3 20 Matt Kenseth Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 110 23
22 29 35 Cole Whitt Front Row Motorsports Ford 110 22
23 31 6 Trevor Bayne Roush Fenway Racing Ford 110 21
24 21 10 Danica Patrick Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet 110 20
25 36 33 Alex Kennedy (R) Hillman-Circle Sport LLC Chevrolet 110 19
26 33 32 Boris Said (i) Go FAS Racing Ford 110 0
27 22 16 Greg Biffle Roush Fenway Racing Ford 110 17
28 38 98 Josh Wise Phil Parsons Racing Chevrolet 109 16
29 30 83 Matt DiBenedetto (R) BK Racing Toyota 109 15
30 35 34 Justin Marks (i) Front Row Motorsports Ford 109 0
31 41 7 Alex Bowman Tommy Baldwin Racing Chevrolet 109 13
32 43 26 Jeb Burton (R) BK Racing Toyota 109 12
33 42 46 Michael Annett HScott Motorsports Chevrolet 109 11
34 23 95 Michael McDowell Leavine Family Racing Ford 109 10
35 27 51 Justin Allgaier HScott Motorsports Chevrolet 107 9
36 39 40 Landon Cassill (i) Hillman-Circle Sport LLC Chevrolet 99 0
37 1 47 A. J. Allmendinger JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet 98 8
38 8 13 Casey Mears Germain Racing Chevrolet 97 6
39 9 55 David Ragan Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota 78 5
40 14 19 Carl Edwards Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 78 4
41 34 23 J. J. Yeley (i) BK Racing Toyota 71 0
42 12 78 Martin Truex, Jr. Furniture Row Racing Chevrolet 31 2
43 28 38 David Gilliland Front Row Motorsports Ford 20 1
Official Toyota/Save Mart 350 results

Race statistics

Lap Leaders
Laps Leader
1-22 Kurt Busch
23 A. J. Allmendinger
24-27 Clint Bowyer
28-39 Kyle Busch
40-52 Kurt Busch
53-66 Jimmie Johnson
67-74 Kurt Busch
75-105 Jimmie Johnson
106-110 Kyle Busch
Total laps led
Leader Laps
Jimmie Johnson 45
Kurt Busch 43
Kyle Busch 17
Kyle Larson 7
Kurt Busch 6
Clint Bowyer 4
A. J. Allmendinger 1

Race awards

Media

Television

Fox Sports covered their seventh race at Sonoma Raceway and their first since 2006. Mike Joy, Larry McReynolds and Darrell Waltrip had the call in the booth for the race. Jamie Little, Chris Neville, Vince Welch and Matt Yocum handled the pit road duties for the television side.

Fox Sports 1
Booth announcersPit reporters
Lap-by-lap: Mike Joy
Color-commentator: Larry McReynolds
Color-commentator: Darrell Waltrip
Jamie Little
Chris Neville
Vince Welch
Matt Yocum

Radio

PRN had the radio call for the race, which was simulcast on Sirius XM NASCAR Radio. Doug Rice and Mark Garrow called the race in the booth when the field was racing past the pit straight. Pat Patterson called the race from atop turn 3a when the field was racing up turns 2, 3 and 3a. Brad Gillie called the race from a platform outside turn 7a when the field was racing through turns 4a, 7a and 8. Rob Albright called the race from a billboard outside turn 10 when the field was racing down turns 8a, 9 and 10. Heather DuBoise, Brett McMillan, Jim Noble and Steve Richards worked pit road for PRN.

PRN
Booth announcersTurn announcersPit reporters
Lead announcer: Doug Rice
Announcer: Mark Garrow
Announcer: Wendy Venturini
Turns 2, 3 & 3a: Pat Patterson
Turns 4a, 7a & 8: Brad Gillie[29]
Turns 8a, 9 & 10: Rob Albright
Heather DuBoise
Brett McMillan
Jim Noble
Steve Richards

Standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings
Pos Driver Points
1 Kevin Harvick 616
2 Martin Truex, Jr. 563 (–53)
3 Joey Logano 559 (–57)
1 4 Jimmie Johnson 546 (–70)
1 5 Dale Earnhardt, Jr. 545 (–71)
6 Brad Keselowski 505 (–111)
7 Jamie McMurray 497 (–119)
1 8 Kasey Kahne 483 (–133)
1 9 Matt Kenseth 479 (–137)
1 10 Kurt Busch 469 (–147)
1 11 Jeff Gordon 462 (–154)
12 Paul Menard 452 (–164)
13 Denny Hamlin 438 (–178)
2 14 Ryan Newman 435 (–181)
15 Aric Almirola 431 (–185)
1 16 Clint Bowyer 430 (–186)

Kevin Harvick left Sonoma with 53 point lead over Martin Truex, Jr.
Manufacturers' Championship standings
Pos Manufacturer Points
1 Chevrolet 726
2 Ford 656 (–70)
3 Toyota 632 (–94)
  • Note: Only the first sixteen positions are included for the driver standings.

Notes

  1. Paul Menard started from the rear of the field for an engine change.
  2. Michael Annett also started from the rear of the field for an engine change.

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to 2015 Toyota/Save Mart 350.
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  5. "Final Practice Results". MRN.com. Motor Racing Network. June 26, 2015. Retrieved June 26, 2015.
  6. "Qualifying Results". MRN.com. Motor Racing Network. June 27, 2015. Retrieved June 27, 2015.
  7. "Toyota/Save Mart 350 Results". MRN.com. Motor Racing Network. June 28, 2015. Retrieved June 29, 2015.
  8. "Points standings" (PDF). Jayski.com. NASCAR Statistics. June 28, 2015. Retrieved June 30, 2015.
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  12. "Contact us". Archived from the original on 2014-02-13. Retrieved 2015-06-23.
  13. "Raceway Track Facts". Sonoma Raceway website. Speedway Motorsports. Retrieved January 15, 2013.
  14. "Sonoma Raceway to lose Infineon name". San Francisco Chronicle. Hearst Communications Inc. March 8, 2012. p. B-2. Retrieved March 8, 2012.
  15. Bruce, Kenny (June 28, 2015). "NASCAR tower to operate pit-road entrance light". NASCAR.com. NASCAR Media Group, LLC. Retrieved June 28, 2015.
  16. Bonkowski, Jerry (June 26, 2015). "Bowyer fastest, Danica 4th-fastest in first Sprint Cup practice at Sonoma". nascartalk.nbcsports.com. NBC Sports. Retrieved June 26, 2015.
  17. Bonkowski, Jerry (June 26, 2015). "Eight of last 10 Sonoma winners fastest in Friday's final practice". nascartalk.nbcsports.com. NBC Sports. Retrieved June 26, 2015.
  18. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Wackerlin, Jeff (June 27, 2015). "Allmendinger Scores Sonoma Pole". MRN.com. Sonoma, California: Motor Racing Network. Retrieved June 27, 2015.
  19. Spencer, Lee (June 28, 2015). "Two big hits early at Sonoma - video". Motorsport.com. Motorsport.com, Inc. Retrieved June 28, 2015.
  20. 1 2 3 4 5 "2015 Toyota/Save Mart 350". Sprint Cup Series. Season 67. Sonoma, California. June 28, 2015. Event occurs at 3:22 p.m. Fox Sports. Fox Sports 1. Retrieved July 21, 2015.
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  23. McFadin, Daniel (June 28, 2015). "Jimmie Johnson leads midway through the Toyota / Save Mart 350 at Sonoma". nascartalk.nbcsports.com. NBC Sports. Retrieved June 28, 2015.
  24. 1 2 McFadin, Daniel (June 28, 2015). "Pole-sitter AJ Allmendinger's bid for Sonoma win ends with mechanical issue". nascartalk.nbcsports.com. NBC Sports. Retrieved June 28, 2015.
  25. 1 2 Wackerlin, Jeff (June 28, 2015). "Kyle Busch Shines at Sonoma". MRN.com. Sonoma, California: Motor Racing Network. Retrieved June 29, 2015.
  26. Pennell, Jay (June 28, 2015). "Kevin Harvick overcomes struggles to earn top-five Sonoma finish". FoxSports.com. Fox Sports Interactive Media, LLC. Retrieved June 30, 2015.
  27. Turner, Jared (June 28, 2015). "Jimmie Johnson's chance at Sonoma win dashed by final caution". FoxSports.com. Fox Sports Interactive Media, LLC. Retrieved June 30, 2015.
  28. Spencer, Lee (June 29, 2015). "One last time: Jeff Gordon finishes 16th at Sonoma". Motorsport.com. Motorsport.com, Inc. Retrieved June 30, 2015.
  29. Brad Gillie [BradGillie] (June 28, 2015). "My view from Turn 7 for the @PRNlive broadcast at @RaceSonoma. @SiriusXMNASCAR" (Tweet). Retrieved June 28, 2015 via Twitter.
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2015 Quicken Loans 400
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series
2015 season
Next race:
2015 Coke Zero 400
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