2015 NASCAR Cup Series (Simpsonverse)

The 2015 NASCAR Cup Series was the 67th season of professional stock car racing in the United States and the 44th modern-era Cup season. The season began at Daytona International Speedway with the Budweiser Shootout exhibition race, the Gatorade Duels, and the Daytona 500. The season ended with the Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Jeff Gordon won the championship for the fifth and final time in his career. Ryan Blaney was named Rookie of the Year.

On January 22, 2015, Gordon announced that 2015 would be his final season as a full-time driver, but he did not rule out complete retirement. Chase Elliott replaced him in the No. 24 car for Hendrick Motorsports in 2016. This was also the final season for Jerry Nadeau, Jeremy Mayfield, and Kenny Irwin, Jr.

Teams and drivers

Complete schedule

Manufacturer	Team	No.	Race driver	Crew chief	Model
Chevrolet	Dale Earnhardt, Inc.	01	Jeffrey Earnhardt	Dan Stillman	Camaro
		1	Martin Truex, Jr.	Matt McCall
		8	Dale Earnhardt, Jr.	Tony Eury, Jr.
		15	Carl Edwards	Bruce Cook
		81	Matt Kenseth	Kevin Hamlin
	Furniture Row Racing	78	Brendan Gaughan (2)	Cole Pearn	SS
			Kurt Busch (37)
	Germain Racing	13	Casey Mears	Bootie Barker	SS
	Hendrick Motorsports	5	Kasey Kahne	Keith Rodden	Camaro
		24	Jeff Gordon	Alan Gustafson
		25	Brad Keselowski	Greg Ives
		48	Jimmie Johnson	Chad Knaus
		84	Landon Cassill	Lance McGrew
	HScott Motorsports	09	Justin Allgaier	Steve Addington	SS
		52	Michael Annett	Jay Guy
	JTG Daugherty Racing	47	A. J. Allmendinger	Brian Burns	SS
	Richard Childress Racing	3	Austin Dillon	Gil Martin Template:Tooltip Slugger Labbe Template:Tooltip	Camaro
		30	Ryan Newman	Justin Alexander
		31	Paul Menard	Luke Lambert
		33	Brian Scott (R)	Slugger Labbe (15) Gil Martin (21)
	Hillman-Circle Sport LLC	39	Michael Annett Template:TooltipTemplate:Refn	Mike Chance	SS
			Alex Kennedy (R) Template:Tooltip
			Derek White Template:Tooltip
			Travis Kvapil Template:Tooltip
			Mike Bliss Template:Tooltip
			B. J. McLeod Template:Tooltip
			Ryan Ellis Template:Tooltip
	Stewart-Haas Racing	00	Regan Smith	Tony Gibson	Camaro
		4	Kevin Harvick	Rodney Childers
		10	Danica Patrick	Daniel Knost
		14	Tony Stewart	Greg Zipadelli
	Tommy Baldwin Racing	7	Alex Bowman	Tommy Baldwin Jr.	Camaro
Dodge	Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates	40	Bryan Clauson	Jeff Vandermoss	Challenger
		41	Kenny Irwin, Jr.	Mike Shiplett
		42	Kyle Larson (37)	Chris Heroy
			Brennan Poole (2)
	Petty Enterprises	9	Sam Hornish Jr.	Drew Blickensderfer
		43	Aric Almirola	Kevin Manion
		44	Chad McCumbee	Mark Tudor
		45	Adam Petty	Billy Wilburn
		46	Austin Petty	Chris Hussey
Ford	Brett Favre Racing	16	Parker Kligerman	Chad Johnston	Mustang
		61	Jeb Burton (R)	Tim Steele
		90	Johanna Long (R)	Darrell Bryant
	Front Row Motorsports	34	David Ragan Template:Tooltip	Derrick Finley	Fusion
			Joe Nemechek Template:Tooltip
			Brett Moffitt (R) Template:Tooltip
			Chris Buescher Template:Tooltip
			Reed Sorenson Template:Tooltip
			Justin Marks Template:Tooltip
			Josh Wise Template:Tooltip
		35	Cole Whitt	Randy Cox
		38	David Gilliland	Donnie Wingo
	Go FAS Racing	32	Bobby Labonte Template:TooltipTemplate:Refn	Clinton Cram	Fusion
			Mike Bliss Template:Tooltip
			Joey Gase Template:Tooltip
			Travis Kvapil Template:Tooltip
			Boris Said Template:Tooltip
			Will Kimmel Template:Tooltip
			Eddie MacDonald Template:Tooltip
			Josh Wise Template:Tooltip
			Jeffrey Earnhardt Template:Tooltip
			Kyle Fowler Template:Tooltip
	Orr Motorsports	37	Michael McDowell	John Page	Fusion
	Robert Yates Racing	28	Jamie McMurray	Todd Parrott	Fusion
		88	Jeremy Mayfield	Trent Owens
		96	Jason Leffler	Larry Carter
	Roush Fenway Racing	6	Ricky Stenhouse Jr.	Bob Osborne	Roush Mustang
		17	Trevor Bayne	Nick Sandler
		60	Greg Biffle	Matt Puccia
	Team Penske	2	Blaise Alexander	Paul Wolfe	Mustang
		22	Joey Logano	Todd Gordon
	Wood Brothers Racing	21	Ryan Blaney (R)	Jeremy Bullins	Shelby GT500
Toyota	BK Racing	23	J. J. Yeley Template:Tooltip	Joe WilliamsTemplate:Tooltip Patrick DonahueTemplate:Tooltip	Avalon
			David Reutimann
		26	David Reutimann	Patrick DonahueTemplate:Tooltip Joe Williams Template:Tooltip
			J. J. Yeley Template:Tooltip
			Josh Wise Template:Tooltip
		83	Johnny Sauter Template:Tooltip	Doug Richert Template:Tooltip Gene Nead Template:Tooltip
			Matt DiBenedetto (R) Template:Tooltip
	Joe Gibbs Racing	11	Denny Hamlin	Dave Rogers	Camry
		18	Kyle Busch	Adam Stevens
		20	Elliott Sadler	Jason Ratcliff
	Michael Waltrip Racing	51	Clint Bowyer	Brian Pattie Template:Tooltip Billy Scott Template:Tooltip Dax Gerringer Template:Tooltip	Camry
		55	Michael Waltrip Template:Tooltip	Billy Scott Template:Tooltip Brian Pattie Template:Tooltip Dax Gerringer Template:Tooltip
			Brett Moffitt (R) Template:Tooltip
			Brian Vickers Template:Tooltip
			David Ragan Template:Tooltip
		56	Jerry Nadeau	Scott Eggleston
	NEMCO Motorsports	87	John Nemechek	Michael Leoncini	Camry
Chevrolet (Start Your Engines!) Ford	Phil Parsons Racing Template:Tooltip Premium Motorsports Template:Tooltip	98	Josh Wise Template:Tooltip	Gene Nead Template:Tooltip Jay Robinson Template:Tooltip Scott Eggleston Template:Tooltip Zach McGowanTemplate:Tooltip	SS Fusion Camry
			Timmy Hill Template:Tooltip
			Reed Sorenson Template:Tooltip
			T. J. Bell Template:Tooltip
			Ryan Preece Template:Tooltip
Toyota	Michael Waltrip Racing		Michael Waltrip Template:Tooltip	Bobby Kennedy
Chevrolet (Start Your Engines!) Template:Tooltip Ford Template:Tooltip Toyota Template:Tooltip	Premium Motorsports	62	Brendan Gaughan Template:Tooltip	Slugger Labbe Template:Tooltip Zach McGowan Template:Tooltip Scott Eggleston Template:Tooltip Wayne Carroll Template:Tooltip	SS Fusion Avalon
			Reed Sorenson Template:Tooltip
			Timmy Hill Template:Tooltip
			T. J. Bell Template:Tooltip

Limited schedule

Manufacturer	Team	No.	Race driver	Crew chief	Round(s)	Model
Chevrolet (Start Your Engines!)	Hendrick Motorsports (Start Your Engines!)	05	Chase Elliott	Kenny Francis	5	Camaro
	Hillman-Circle Sport LLC	93	Travis Kvapil	Mike Chance	1	SS
	Richard Childress Racing	37	Ty Dillon	Slugger Labbe	5	Camaro
	Team XTREME Racing	04	Reed Sorenson	Peter Sospenzo	Template:Tooltip	2012 Impala
			Travis Kvapil		Template:Tooltip
	The Motorsports Group	03	Ron Hornaday Jr.	Pat Tryson Template:Tooltip Dave Fuge Template:Tooltip	Template:Tooltip	2013 SS
			Jeff Green		Template:Tooltip
			Travis Kvapil		Template:Tooltip
			Josh Wise		Template:Tooltip
Ford	Leavine Family Racing	95	Scott Speed	Wally Rogers Template:Tooltip Kevin Walter Template:Tooltip	Template:Tooltip	Fusion
Toyota
	RAB Racing	29	Justin Marks	Matthew Lucas	Template:Tooltip	2013 Camry
			Reed Sorenson		Template:Tooltip
	Premium Motorsports	66	Mike Wallace	Scott Eggleston	Template:Tooltip
Chevrolet (Start Your Engines!)					Template:Tooltip	2013 SS
			Tanner Berryhill		Template:Tooltip

Local Leasing entries

Manufacturer	Team	No.	Race Driver	Crew Chief	Round(s)	Model and year

Schedule

The final calendar was released on August 26, 2014, comprising 39 races, as well as two exhibition races. The schedule also includes two Gatorade Duels, which are the qualifying races for the Daytona 500.

Race	Race title	Track	Date	TV	Time
	Budweiser Shootout	Daytona International Speedway, Daytona Beach	February 14	CBS	8:30 p.m.
	Gatorade Duels		February 19	CBS	7:15 p.m. (Duel 1) 9:15 p.m. (Duel 2)
1	Daytona 500		February 22	CBS	1:30 p.m.
2	SpongeBob SquarePants 400 by Subway	Rockingham Speedway, Rockingham	March 1	Fox	2:00 p.m.
3	Kobalt 400	Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Las Vegas	March 8	Fox	3:45 p.m.
4	Axalta 300	Road America, Elkhart Lake	March 15	Fox	3:45 p.m.
5	Budweiser 400	Riverside Speedway, Moreno Valley	March 22	Fox	3:45 p.m.
6	STP 500	Martinsville Speedway, Ridgeway	March 29	FS1	1:15 p.m.
7	Jacob's Grand Prix	Brands Hatch, West Kingsdown, Kent, England	March 5	Fox	1:15pm
8	Duck Commander 500	Texas Motor Speedway, Fort Worth	April 11	Fox	7:45 p.m.
9	Old Spice 400	Gateway Motorsports Park, Madison	April 19	FoxFS1	2:30 p.m. (Fox) 7:00 p.m. (FS1)
10	Harvey Beaks 400	Nazareth Speedway, Nazareth	April 26†	Fox Nickelodeon	1:15 p.m.
11	GEICO 500	Talladega Superspeedway, Lincoln	May 3	Fox	1:15 p.m.
12	5-hour Energy 400	Kansas Speedway, Kansas City	May 9	FS1FNC	7:30 p.m.
	NASCAR Open	Charlotte Motor Speedway, Concord	May 15	FS1	7:15 p.m.
	NASCAR All-Star Race		May 16	FS1	9:30 p.m.
13	Coca-Cola 600		May 24	Fox	6:15 p.m.
14	McDonald's 400	Chicago Motor Speedway, Cicero	May 31	FS1	1:15 p.m.
15	MyAFibStory.com 400	Chicagoland Speedway, Joliet	June 7	FS1	1:15 p.m.
16	Howard Johnson's 400	Pikes Peak International Raceway, Fountain	June 14	FS1	1:00 p.m.
17	U.S. Cellular 400	Iowa Speedway, Newton	June 28	FS1	3:15 p.m.
18	Coke Zero 400	Daytona International Speedway, Daytona Beach	July 5	MGM	11:30 p.m.
19	Quaker State 400	Kentucky Speedway, Sparta	July 11	MGM	7:45 p.m.
20	5-hour Energy 301	New Hampshire Motor Speedway, Loudon	July 19	NBCSN	1:30 p.m.
21	Crown Royal Presents the Jeff Kyle 400	Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Speedway	July 26	MGM	3:30 p.m.
22	Windows 10 400	Pocono Raceway, Long Pond	August 2	NBCSN	1:45 p.m.
23	Cheez-It 355 at The Glen	Watkins Glen International, Watkins Glen	August 9	MGM	2:15 p.m.
24	Pure Michigan 400	Michigan International Speedway, Brooklyn	August 16	TBS	2:45 p.m.
25	Irwin Tools Night Race	Bristol Motor Speedway, Bristol	August 22	TBS	7:45 p.m.
26	Southern 500	Darlington Raceway, Darlington	September 6	MGM	7:15 p.m.
27	Federated Auto Parts 400	Richmond International Raceway, Richmond	September 12	MGM	7:45 p.m.
28	TNN 420	Fairgrounds Speedway, Nashville	September 20	TNN	3:15 p.m.
29	Tyson Holly Farms 400	North Wilkesboro Speedway, North Wilkesboro	September 27	NBCSN	2:15 p.m.
30	AAA 400	Dover International Speedway, Dover	October 4	MGM	2:45 p.m.
31	Auto Club 400	Auto Club Speedway, Fontana	October 11†	NBCSN	12:30 p.m.
32	Bank of America Roval 500	Charlotte Motor Speedway, Concord (Roval)	October 18	NBC	12:30 p.m.
33	Keystone Light 400	Milwaukee Mile, West Allis	October 25	MGM	2:30 p.m.
34	CampingWorld.com 500	Talladega Superspeedway, Lincoln	November 1	NBCSN	2:30 p.m.
35	Toyota/Save Mart 350	Sonoma Raceway, Sonoma	November 8	MGM	2:30 p.m.
36	Ford EcoBoost 400	Homestead-Miami Speedway, Homestead	November 15	NBCSN	1:15 p.m.
37	Quicken Loans Race for Heroes 500	Phoenix International Raceway, Avondale	November 22	NBC	2:15 p.m.
38	Sega 350	Suzuka Circuit, Suzuka, Japan	November 29	TBS	9:15 p.m.
39	Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500	Atlanta Motor Speedway, Hampton	December 6	MGM	5:15 p.m.
Template:Center

Rule changes

Pre-season

• At road courses, it is now permissible to run qualifying and race sessions under wet-weather conditions. Goodyear will supply wet-weather tires for use in Cup competition and teams will be required to bring cars with windshield wipers, defoggers, and wet-weather racing capabilities.
• Teams will have the option of installing a driver adjustable track bar.
• Teams are not allowed to alter the side skirts of their cars during the race. At tracks where aerodynamics were important in 2014, many teams would pull the side bodywork of the car during early pit stops. The practice, officially known as vertical rocker panel extensions, was used to limit airflow underneath the vehicle to bypass the coil-binding ban.
• An automated electronic pit road officiating system will be implemented after extensive testing during the final few races of 2014, eliminating the need for human officials to stand in the pit lane.
• If a vehicle has to pit outside its assigned pit box and the crew starts removing tire(s), the team can reinstall the tire(s) before moving the car back into its assigned pit stall to avoid penalties.
• Additional crew member(s) assisting from an adjacent pit box may be counted towards the limit of seven over the wall.
• Crew member interference with other teams' pit stops may lead to a penalty.
• Rules with refueling have been clarified. Refueling can begin once the car comes to a complete stop and can continue when it starts leaving provided equipment and/or the fueler does not leave the pit box. Further, no equipment may be tossed or thrown over the wall at any time.
• NASCAR will use an electronic data log and capture system to increase efficiency of pre-race inspections.

In-season changes

• Starting at the fall Richmond race, NASCAR began to closely review restarts due to drivers jumping the restart.

Results and standings

Races

No.	Race	Pole position	Most laps led	Winning driver	Model	Report
	Budweiser Shootout					Report
	Gatorade Duel #1					Report
	Gatorade Duel #2
1	Daytona 500			Jeff Gordon	Chevrolet Camaro
2	SpongeBob SquarePants 400 by Subway					Report
3	Kobalt 400					Report
4	Axalta 300					Report
5	Budweiser 400					Report
6	STP 500					Report
7	Jacob's Grand Prix					Report
8	Duck Commander 500					Report
9	Old Spice 400					Report
10	Harvey Beaks 400			Austin Dillon		Report
11	GEICO 500					Report
12	5-hour Energy 400					Report
	NASCAR Open					Report
	NASCAR All-Star Race					Report
13	Coca-Cola 600					Report
14	McDonald's 400					Report
15	MyAFibStory.com 400					Report
16	Howard Johnson's 400					Report
17	U.S. Cellular 400					Report
18	Coke Zero 400					Report
19	Quaker State 400					Report
19	5-hour Energy 301					Report
20	Crown Royal Presents the Jeff Kyle 400					Report
21	Windows 10 400					Report
22	Cheez-It 355 at The Glen					Report
23	Pure Michigan 400					Report
24	Irwin Tools Night Race					Report
25	Southern 500					Report
26	Federated Auto Parts 400
27	TNN 420					Report
28	Tyson Holly Farms 400			Tony Stewart		Report
29	AAA 400					Report
30	Auto Club 400
31	Bank of America Roval 500					Report
32	Keystone Light 400					Report
33	CampingWorld.com 500					Report
34	Toyota/Save Mart 350
35	Ford EcoBoost 400					Report
36	Quicken Loans Race for Heroes 500					Report
37	Sega 350					Report
38	Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500