2015 Subway Firecracker 250

The 2015 Subway Firecracker 250 was a NASCAR Xfinity Series race held at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida on July 4, 2015. The race was 14th iteration of the event and the 15th race of the 2015 NASCAR Xfinity Series. This would also be the first race since 2006 that NBC would telecast a NASCAR Xfinity Series race. Rookie Daniel Suárez won the pole while Brian Scott led the most laps. But it was Austin Dillon who would win the race in the end.[2]

2015 Subway Firecracker 250
Race details[1]
Map of Speedway
Map of Speedway
Date July 4, 2015 (2015-07-04)
Official name 2015 Subway Firecracker 250
Location Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida
Course Tri-oval
2.5 mi (4.023 km)
Distance 104 laps, 260 mi (418.429 km)
Scheduled Distance 100 laps, 250 mi (400 km)
Weather Cloudy
Average speed 132.804 mph (213.727 km/h)
Pole position
Driver Joe Gibbs Racing
Time 49.929
Most laps led
Driver Brian Scott Richard Childress Racing
Laps 84
Winner
No. 33 Austin Dillon Richard Childress Racing
Television in the United States
Network NBCSN
Announcers Rick Allen, Jeff Burton, Steve Letarte

Background

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Daytona 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

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  • (R) denotes rookie driver
  • (i) denotes driver who is ineligible for series driver points
# Driver Team Make
0 Harrison Rhodes (R) JD Motorsports Chevrolet
01 Landon Cassill JD Motorsports Chevrolet
1 Elliott Sadler Roush Fenway Racing Ford
2 Brian Scott Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet
3 Ty Dillon Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet
4 Ross Chastain (R) JD Motorsports Chevrolet
6 Bubba Wallace (R) Roush Fenway Racing Ford
7 Regan Smith JR Motorsports Chevrolet
8 Blake Koch TriStar Motorsports Toyota
9 Chase Elliott JR Motorsports Chevrolet
13 Mark Thompson MBM Motorsports Dodge
14 Cale Conley (R) TriStar Motorsports Toyota
15 Scott Lagasse Jr. NTS Motorsports Chevrolet
16 Ryan Reed Roush Fenway Racing Ford
18 Daniel Suárez (R) Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
19 Jeff Green TriStar Motorsports Toyota
20 David Ragan (i) Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
22 Joey Logano (i) Team Penske Ford
24 Eric McClure TriStar Motorsports Toyota
25 John Wes Townley (i) Athenian Motorsports Chevrolet
26 Timmy Hill (i) JGL Racing Toyota
28 J. J. Yeley JGL Racing Toyota
33 Austin Dillon (i) Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet
37 Chris Cockrum Chris Cockrum Racing Chevrolet
39 Ryan Sieg RSS Racing Chevrolet
40 Derek White MBM Motorsports Dodge
42 Brennan Poole HScott Motorsports with Chip Ganassi Chevrolet
43 Dakoda Armstrong Richard Petty Motorsports Ford
44 David Starr TriStar Motorsports Toyota
51 Jeremy Clements Jeremy Clements Racing Chevrolet
52 Joey Gase Jimmy Means Racing Chevrolet
54 Erik Jones (i) Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
60 Chris Buescher Roush Fenway Racing Ford
62 Brendan Gaughan Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet
66 Benny Gordon PEG Racing Toyota
70 Derrike Cope Derrike Cope Racing Chevrolet
74 Mike Harmon Mike Harmon Racing Dodge
85 Bobby Gerhart Bobby Gerhart Racing Chevrolet
88 Kasey Kahne (i) JR Motorsports Chevrolet
89 Morgan Shepherd Shepherd Racing Ventures Chevrolet
90 Martin Roy King Autosport Chevrolet
92 Dexter Bean King Autosport Chevrolet
97 Peyton Sellers (R) Obaika Racing Chevrolet
98 Aric Almirola (i) Biagi-DenBeste Racing Ford
Official Entry list

Qualifying

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Rookie Daniel Suárez won the pole for the race with his time being 49.929.[4]

Pos No. Driver Team Manufacturer R1 R2
1 18 Daniel Suárez (R) Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 49.832 49.929
2 2 Brian Scott Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 49.931 50.048
3 20 David Ragan (i) Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 50.123 50.140
4 22 Joey Logano (i) Team Penske Ford 50.112 50.164
5 54 Erik Jones (i) Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 50.058 50.193
6 3 Ty Dillon Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 50.099 50.242
7 33 Austin Dillon (i) Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 50.051 50.243
8 16 Ryan Reed Roush Fenway Racing Ford 50.192 50.351
9 62 Brendan Gaughan Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 50.284 50.381
10 1 Elliott Sadler Roush Fenway Racing Ford 50.105 50.398
11 9 Chase Elliott JR Motorsports Chevrolet 50.216 50.446
12 15 Scott Lagasse Jr. NTS Motorsports Chevrolet 50.214 50.454
13 60 Chris Buescher Roush Fenway Racing Ford 50.286
14 6 Bubba Wallace (R) Roush Fenway Racing Ford 50.302
15 7 Regan Smith JR Motorsports Chevrolet 50.306
16 42 Brennan Poole HScott Motorsports with Chip Ganassi Chevrolet 50.395
17 43 Dakoda Armstrong Richard Petty Motorsports Ford 50.412
18 26 Timmy Hill (i) JGL Racing Toyota 50.497
19 98 Aric Almirola Biagi-DenBeste Racing Ford 50.541
20 66 Benny Gordon PEG Racing Toyota 50.599
21 88 Kasey Kahne (i) JR Motorsports Chevrolet 50.692
22 8 Blake Koch TriStar Motorsports Toyota 50.692
23 25 John Wes Townley (i) Athenian Motorsports Chevrolet 50.699
24 01 Landon Cassill JD Motorsports Chevrolet 50.712
25 44 David Starr TriStar Motorsports Toyota 50.767
26 85 Bobby Gerhart Bobby Gerhart Racing Chevrolet 50.799
27 92 Dexter Bean King Autosport Chevrolet 50.878
28 28 J. J. Yeley JGL Racing Toyota 50.888
29 89 Morgan Shepherd Shepherd Racing Ventures Chevrolet 51.007
30 90 Martin Roy King Autosport Chevrolet 51.038
31 74 Mike Harmon** Mike Harmon Racing Dodge 51.056
32 39 Ryan Sieg RSS Racing Chevrolet 51.135
33 70 Derrike Cope Derrike Cope Racing Chevrolet 51.148
34 4 Ross Chastain (R)* JD Motorsports Chevrolet 51.153
35 0 Harrison Rhodes (R)* JD Motorsports Chevrolet 51.208
36 51 Jeremy Clements* Jeremy Clements Racing Chevrolet 51.215
37 14 Cale Conley (R)* TriStar Motorsports Toyota 51.241
38 52 Joey Gase* ** Jimmy Means Racing Chevrolet 51.401
39 24 Eric McClure* TriStar Motorsports Toyota 51.458
40 97 Peyton Sellers (R)* Obaika Racing Chevrolet 51.945
Failed to Qualify, withdrew, or driver changes
41 40 Derek White MBM Motorsports Dodge 51.286
42 19 Jeff Green TriStar Motorsports Toyota 51.320
43 37 Chris Cockrum Chris Cockrum Racing Chevrolet 51.446
44 13 Mark Thompson MBM Motorsports Dodge 51.120
Official Starting grid

* – Made the field via owners points

** – Mike Harmon and Joey Gase had to go to the rear of the field. Gase had Unapproved adjustments and Harmon missed the drivers intro.

Race

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The race was meant to start at around 7 pm Eastern but got delayed nearly two hours because of rain and started at nearly 9 pm Eastern instead. Outside pole sitter Brian Scott took the lead from pole sitter Daniel Suárez and Scott led the first lap of the race. The first caution did not take long as it flew on lap 3 when Bobby Gerhart spun off of turn 4 after he got turned by Joey Gase. The race would restart on lap 7. On the restart, Joey Logano took the lead from Scott but was immediately passed by Daniel Suárez and Suárez took the lead. On lap 9, the second caution would fly when rookie Cale Conley spun going into turn 3 after he got turned by Scott Lagasse Jr. The race would restart on lap 13. On the restart, Brian Scott took the lead from Suárez. On lap 15, the third caution would fly when Derrike Cope hit the outside wall in the tri-oval after he came across the nose of Austin Dillon. During the caution as the cars made their way to pit road, Jeremy Clements decided to come to pit road at almost the very last minute but Landon Cassill decided not to pit at the very last minute and the two made contact near the entrance and turned Cassill around in the process and gave both cars damage. The race would restart on lap 20. Eventually, the race would finally get its first green flag run of over 5 laps and went green for the next 62 laps. Eventually, green flag pitstops would begin on lap 56. Brian Scott pitted on that lap and gave the lead to Joey Logano. Logano pitted on lap 59 and gave the lead back to Scott after everything cycled through. On lap 59, a weird incident occurred when Scott Lagasse Jr's hood all of a sudden blew up and had to retire from the race.

Final laps

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With 20 laps to go on lap 81, the 4th caution would fly when Cale Conley spun in turns 3 and 4. The race would restart with 15 laps to go with Scott leading. Scott was looking for his first ever Xfinity Series win of his career in his 190th start. But with 10 laps to go, the 5th caution would fly for the first big one of the race that occurred going into turn 1. It started when Ryan Reed got sideways by Ty Dillon and Reed turned down into Brendan Gaughan and Gaughan turned down into Bubba Wallace which caused Wallace to spin up right in front of the pack and take out more cars with him. A scary moment in the wreck also occurred when Brennan Poole went down to avoid a spinning Aric Almirola and Poole ended up sliding on the wet pavement and shot across the track and hit the outside wall head on in turn 1. Poole and everyone else were okay. The wreck collected a total of 14 cars. The wreck collected Bubba Wallace, Brennan Poole, Aric Almirola, Chris Buescher, Blake Koch, Ryan Reed, John Wes Townley, Brendan Gaughan, Daniel Suárez, Ty Dillon, Regan Smith, Joey Gase, Kasey Kahne, and Martin Roy. The race was red flagged for a short bit to clean up the mess. The race would restart with 5 laps to go. With 4 to go, Elliott Sadler went to take the lead from Brian Scott down the backstretch. Scott went up to block but cut across Sadler's nose and hit the outside wall and would cause the 2nd big one bringing out the 6th caution of the race and took out 15 cars. Joey Logano went down to avoid Scott but got turned by David Starr which caused the wreck. The cars involved were Brian Scott, Joey Logano, Harrison Rhodes, David Ragan, Ryan Sieg, David Starr, Dakoda Armstrong, Regan Smith, Erik Jones, Elliott Sadler, Chase Elliott, Joey Gase, Ross Chastain, Benny Gordon, and Martin Roy. The wreck would set up three attempts of a green-white-checkered finish with Austin Dillon as the new leader. On the restart, Dillon would take the lead from Dakoda Armstrong. On the final lap, the 7th and final caution would fly when Daniel Suárez spun down the frontstretch towards the tri-oval and it meant Austin Dillon would win. The race would be Dillon's first win of his Xfinity Series career at Daytona. Elliott Sadler, Chase Elliott, Kasey Kahne, and Benny Gordon rounded out the top 5 while Dakoda Armstrong, David Ragan, Erik Jones, Harrison Rhodes, and Ross Chastain rounded out the top 10. This would be Benny Gordon's first and only top 5 finish of his Xfinity Series career. This would be Harrison Rhodes' first top 10 of his Xfinity Series career.[5]

Race results

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Pos Car Driver Team Manufacturer Laps Run Laps Led Status Points
1 33 Austin Dillon (i) Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 104 9 running 0
2 1 Elliott Sadler Roush Fenway Racing Ford 104 0 running 42
3 9 Chase Elliott JR Motorsports Chevrolet 104 0 running 41
4 88 Kasey Kahne (i) JR Motorsports Chevrolet 104 0 running 0
5 66 Benny Gordon PED Racing Toyota 104 0 running 39
6 43 Dakoda Armstrong Richard Petty Motorsports Ford 104 0 running 38
7 20 David Ragan (i) Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 104 0 running 0
8 54 Erik Jones (i) Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 104 0 running 0
9 0 Harrison Rhodes (R) JD Motorsports Chevrolet 104 0 running 35
10 4 Ross Chastain (R) JD Motorsports Chevrolet 103 1 running 35
11 26 Timmy Hill (i) JGL Racing Toyota 103 0 running 0
12 60 Chris Buescher Roush Fenway Racing Ford 103 0 running 32
13 16 Ryan Reed Roush Fenway Racing Ford 103 0 running 31
14 22 Joey Logano (i) Team Penske Ford 103 4 running 0
15 18 Daniel Suárez (R) Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 103 6 running 30
16 97 Peyton Sellers (R) Obaika Racing Chevrolet 102 0 running 28
17 7 Regan Smith JR Motorsports Chevrolet 102 0 running 27
18 8 Blake Koch TriStar Motorsports Toyota 102 0 running 26
19 25 John Wes Townley (i) Athenian Motorsports Chevrolet 101 0 running 0
20 28 J. J. Yeley JGL Racing Toyota 101 0 running 24
21 90 Martin Roy King Autosport Chevrolet 101 0 running 23
22 85 Bobby Gerhart Bobby Gerhart Racing Chevrolet 101 0 running 22
23 2 Brian Scott Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 101 84 running 23
24 24 Eric McClure TriStar Motorsports Toyota 100 0 running 20
25 62 Brendan Gaughan Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 100 0 running 19
26 3 Ty Dillon Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 100 0 running 18
27 39 Ryan Sieg RSS Racing Chevrolet 97 0 crash 17
28 51 Jeremy Clements Jeremy Clements Racing Chevrolet 97 0 running 16
29 44 David Starr TriStar Motorsports Toyota 96 0 crash 15
30 52 Joey Gase Jimmy Means Racing Chevrolet 95 0 crash 14
31 01 Landon Cassill JD Motorsports Chevrolet 95 0 running 13
32 14 Cale Conley (R) TriStar Motorsports Toyota 95 0 running 12
33 74 Mike Harmon Mike Harmon Racing Dodge 95 0 running 11
34 6 Bubba Wallace (R) Roush Fenway Racing Ford 90 0 crash 10
35 98 Aric Almirola (i) Biagi-DenBeste Racing Ford 90 0 crash 0
36 42 Brennan Poole HScott Motorsports with Chip Ganassi Chevrolet 90 0 crash 8
37 15 Scott Lagasse Jr. NTS Motorsports Chevrolet 58 0 crash 7
38 70 Derrike Cope Derrike Cope Racing Chevrolet 15 0 crash 6
39 89 Morgan Shepherd Shepherd Racing Ventures Chevrolet 10 0 overheating 5
40 92 Dexter Bean King Autosport Chevrolet 6 0 vibration 4
Official Race results

References

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  1. ^ "2015 Subway Firecracker 250". Retrieved July 4, 2015.
  2. ^ "Austin Dillon Wins NASCAR XFINITY Series Subway Firecracker 250". Retrieved July 4, 2015.
  3. ^ 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.
  4. ^ "Daniel Suarez Wins Pole for the 2015 Subway Firecracker 250 at Daytona". 4 July 2015. Retrieved July 4, 2015.
  5. ^ "Austin Dillon wins crash-marred Firecracker 250". Retrieved July 4, 2015.
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