2015 Cheez-It 355 at The Glen

2015 Cheez-It 355 at The Glen
Race details
Race 22 of 36 in the 2015 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series
Date August 9, 2015 (2015-08-09)
Location Watkins Glen International in Watkins Glen, New York
Course Permanent racing facility
2.45 mi (3.94 km)
Distance 90 laps, 220.5 mi (354.6 km)
Weather Clear blue skies with a temperature of 77 °F (25 °C); wind out of the north/northeast at 5 mph (8.0 km/h).
Average speed 91.420 mph (147.126 km/h)
Pole position
Driver JTG Daugherty Racing
Time 1:08.993
Most laps led
Driver Kevin Harvick Stewart-Haas Racing
Laps 29
Winner
No. 22 Joey Logano Team Penske
Television in the United States
Network NBCSN
Announcers Rick Allen, Jeff Burton and Steve Letarte
Nielsen Ratings 2.4/5 (Overnight)
2.5/5 (Final)
4.0 Million viewers
Radio in the United States
Radio MRN
Booth Announcers Joe Moore, Jeff Striegle and Rusty Wallace
Turn Announcers Dave Moody (1 & Esses), Mike Bagley (Backstraight, Inner Loop & 5) and Kurt Becker (10 & 11)

The 2015 Cheez-It 355 at The Glen was a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race held on August 9, 2015 at Watkins Glen International in Watkins Glen, New York. Contested over 90 laps on the 2.45 mile (3.94 km) road course, it was the 22nd race of the 2015 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season. Joey Logano won the race, his second of the season. Kyle Busch finished second. Kevin Harvick finished third. Matt Kenseth and Kurt Busch rounded out the top five.

A. J. Allmendinger won the pole for the race and led 21 laps on his way to a 24th-place finish. Kevin Harvick lead a race high of 29 laps on his way to a third-place finish. The race had eight lead changes among eight different drivers, five cautions for 16 laps and one red flag for nine minutes and three seconds.

This was the tenth career victory for Joey Logano, second of the season, first at Watkins Glen and first at the track for Team Penske. The win brought Logano to within 42–points of Kevin Harvick in the points standings. Despite being the winning manufacturer, Ford left Watkins Glen trailing Chevrolet by 70–points in the manufacturer standings.

The Cheez-It 355 at The Glen 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

Watkins Glen International, the track where the race was held.

Watkins Glen International, nicknamed "The Glen", is an automobile race track located in Watkins Glen, New York, at the southern tip of Seneca Lake. The sports car racing facility is owned by the International Speedway Corporation. It was long known around the world as the home of the United States Grand Prix, which it hosted for 20 consecutive years (1961–1980) but since 1948, it has been home to road racing of nearly every class, such as Formula One, the World Sportscar Championship, Trans-Am, Can-Am, the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, the International Motor Sports Association and the Verizon IndyCar Series. Initially, public roads in the village were used for the race course. In 1956, a permanent circuit for the race was built. In 1968, the race was extended to six hours, earning the nickname "6 Hours of Watkins Glen". The circuit's current layout has more/less been the same since 1971, although a chicane was installed at the uphill esses in 1975 to slow cars through these corners, where there was a fatality during practice at the 1973 United States Grand Prix. The chicane was removed in 1985, but another chicane called the "Inner Loop" was installed in 1992 after a fatal accident during the previous year's NASCAR Winston Cup event. The circuit is known as the Mecca of North American road racing and is a very popular venue among fans and drivers.

Kevin Harvick entered Watkins Glen with a 46–point lead over Joey Logano. Dale Earnhardt Jr. entered 63 back. Jimmie Johnson entered 67 back. Martin Truex Jr. entered 86 back.

Entry list

The entry list for the Cheez-It 355 at The Glen was released on Monday, August 3 at 9:00 a.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 the previous week's race at Pocono. The three driver changes for this race were Chris Buescher, making his sixth Sprint Cup Series start and first since Talladega in May, Boris Said – attempting to start the race in the No. 32 Go FAS Racing Ford – and T. J. Bell – making his first Cup Series start since the 2012 season – driving 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
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 Chris Buescher (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 T. J. Bell (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 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

Practice

First practice

Clint Bowyer was the fastest in the first practice session with a time of 1:09.412 and a speed of 127.067 mph (204.495 km/h).

Pos No. Driver Team Manufacturer Time Speed
1 15 Clint Bowyer Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota 1:09.412 127.067
2 47 A. J. Allmendinger JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet 1:09.503 126.901
3 48 Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 1:09.923 126.139
Official first practice results

Final practice

Jeff Gordon was the fastest in the final practice session with a time of 1:09.267 and a speed of 127.333 mph (204.923 km/h).

Pos No. Driver Team Manufacturer Time Speed
1 24 Jeff Gordon Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 1:09.267 127.333
2 42 Kyle Larson Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 1:09.422 127.049
3 16 Greg Biffle Roush Fenway Racing Ford 1:09.456 126.987
Official final practice results

Qualifying

A. J. Allmendinger, seen here at Sonoma Raceway, scored the pole for the race.

A. J. Allmendinger won the pole with a time of 1:08.993 and a speed of 127.839 mph (205.737 km/h). "Track position is critical around here," Allmendinger said. "Everybody is so close, it's tough to pass, you start beating and banging on each other, and your fenders get torn up. So this is a good start, and strategy plays a lot in this race - fuel mileage and everything. I don’t know if I’ll sleep any better tonight, but I’ll be ready for Sunday." "That was all I had and I’m content with it," said Tony Stewart after qualifying third for his first race at Watkins Glen since 2012. "Three good weeks of qualifying make me happy, at three different tracks with three different packages. That's an awesome way to start the weekend." "Our laps weren’t great, we were just OK," said Kyle Busch after qualifying eighth. "We were way too loose and didn’t have the balance we needed to get the speed out of it for some of the corners."

Qualifying results

Pos No. Driver Team Manufacturer R1 R2
1 47 A. J. Allmendinger JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet 1:09.110 1:08.993
2 78 Martin Truex Jr. Furniture Row Racing Chevrolet 1:09.358 1:09.139
3 14 Tony Stewart Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet 1:09.390 1:09.187
4 4 Kevin Harvick Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet 1:09.296 1:09.222
5 24 Jeff Gordon Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 1:09.357 1:09.350
6 42 Kyle Larson Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 1:09.494 1:09.477
7 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 1:09.497 1:09.497
8 18 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 1:09.442 1:09.521
9 48 Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 1:09.330 1:09.543
10 3 Austin Dillon Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 1:09.541 1:09.565
11 2 Brad Keselowski Team Penske Ford 1:09.474 1:09.938
12 51 Justin Allgaier HScott Motorsports Chevrolet 1:09.519 1:10.011
13 11 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 1:09.544
14 41 Kurt Busch Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet 1:09.564
15 19 Carl Edwards Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 1:09.626
16 22 Joey Logano Team Penske Ford 1:09.663
17 1 Jamie McMurray Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 1:09.671
18 15 Clint Bowyer Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota 1:09.677
19 55 David Ragan Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota 1:09.705
20 31 Ryan Newman Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 1:09.730
21 43 Aric Almirola Richard Petty Motorsports Ford 1:09.949
22 10 Danica Patrick Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet 1:09.962
23 5 Kasey Kahne Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 1:09.978
24 9 Sam Hornish Jr. Richard Petty Motorsports Ford 1:10.003
25 16 Greg Biffle Roush Fenway Racing Ford 1:10.043
26 20 Matt Kenseth Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 1:10.061
27 83 Matt DiBenedetto (R) BK Racing Toyota 1:10.084
28 27 Paul Menard Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 1:10.122
29 13 Casey Mears Germain Racing Chevrolet 1:10.125
30 17 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Roush Fenway Racing Ford 1:10.214
31 95 Michael McDowell Leavine Family Racing Ford 1:10.238
32 34 Chris Buescher (i) Front Row Motorsports Ford 1:10.306
33 35 Cole Whitt Front Row Motorsports Ford 1:10.438
34 6 Trevor Bayne Roush Fenway Racing Ford 1:10.705
35 33 Alex Kennedy (R) Hillman-Circle Sport LLC Chevrolet 1:10.778
36 40 Landon Cassill (i) Hillman-Circle Sport LLC Chevrolet 1:11.090
37 38 David Gilliland Front Row Motorsports Ford 1:11.114
38 32 Boris Said (i) Go FAS Racing Ford 1:11.157
39 7 Alex Bowman Tommy Baldwin Racing Chevrolet 1:11.167
40 46 Michael Annett HScott Motorsports Chevrolet 1:11.220
41 26 Jeb Burton (R) BK Racing Toyota 1:11.572
42 23 J. J. Yeley (i) BK Racing Toyota 1:11.891
43 98 Timmy Hill (i) Premium Motorsports Ford 1:12.744
Failed to qualify
44 62 T. J. Bell (i) Premium Motorsports Chevrolet 1:11.355
Official qualifying results

Race

First half

Start

The race was scheduled to start at 2:18 p.m., but started at 2:23 p.m. when A. J. Allmendinger led the field to the green flag. On lap 3, Jimmie Johnson overshot the entrance to the inner loop and was forced to come to a complete stop before continuing. As a result, he fell from ninth to 22nd. On lap 10, Aric Almirola got loose and spun out in turn 1. Paul Menard, who took the outside line, made minor contact with him. Both drivers continued on and the race remained green. Outside polesitter Martin Truex Jr. passed Allmendinger in turn 11 to take the lead on lap 22. That same lap, Kevin Harvick climbed his way to second, putting Allmendinger in third-place. Jeff Gordon pitted from eighth on lap 24. Debris on the backstretch brought out the first caution of the race on lap 26. The debris came from Greg Biffle's car. Cole Whitt opted not to pit and assumed the lead Denny Hamlin and Jimmie Johnson were tagged for speeding on pit road and restarted the race from the tail-end of the field.

Second quarter

The race restarted on lap 29. Brad Keselowski passed Whitt in turn 1 to take the lead. On the same lap, the hood of Denny Hamlin's car flew up. He didn't pit that lap and was black flagged for not pitting to put the hood down. As he pulled off pit road, another piece of debris flew off his car and landed in the esses. This brought out the second caution of the race on lap 32.

The race restarted on lap 36. Justin Allgaier got loose and spun out exiting turn 1, but the race remained green. Kyle Larson got loose and made contact with Austin Dillon on lap 42. Both went spinning in turn, but the race remained green. Debris on the backstretch brought out the third caution of the race on lap 46.

Second half

Halfway

The race restarted on lap 50. An accordion wreck on the front stretch brought out the fourth caution of the race. The amount of fluid on the front stretch brought out the red flag. Allmendinger's car lost power and came to a stop past turn 10. After nine minutes and three seconds, the red flag was withdrawn and the race continued under caution.

The race restarted on lap 55. Kyle Busch tapped Keselowski going into turn 10 and took the lead on lap 57. The fifth caution of the race flew on lap 57 when Tony Stewart came to a stop just before reaching the inner loop. He jumped onto the radio and said that something broke in the drive-train. In an unrelated incident, Johnson spun out in turn 5. Matt Kenseth opted not to pit and assumed the lead, dropping Busch back to 21st.

The race restarted on lap 61. Harvick passed Kenseth going up turn 2 to take the lead. Martin Truex Jr. got out of the groove in turn 11 and made an unscheduled stop with 22 laps to go. The culprit was a flat left-front tire.

Final ten laps

Joey Logano, seen here at the 2015 Daytona 500, scored his tenth career victory at Watkins Glen International.

Harvick was still leading with ten laps to go with no guarantee of making the finish on his fuel load. Allmendinger was the first to run out as he pitted from the top ten with seven laps to go. Harvick ran out of fuel on the final lap and was passed by Logano going into turn 11 who took the checkered flag.

Post-race

Driver comments

“I was running down Harvick there for a little bit and once I got close to him he started to pick up his pace a little bit, which was good because I needed him to run out of gas,” Logano said. “I started to catch him a little bit and I drove into one too hard and started to wheel hop. I just about lost it and at that point you just hope he runs out of gas, which he did in the last corner. It makes up for last week. We lost the race last week the same way, so it makes up for it to get it this week.” “I had a chance,” Kyle Busch said after finishing second. “I could’ve went up there, I could’ve raced the 22, I could’ve passed him. I felt like I was better than he was, but my crew chief called in scared on the fuel situation from last week and I don’t blame him. We definitely didn’t want to run out again. We wanted to make sure we could be there at the end.” “We ran pretty good with just the way the fuel strategy worked out, we had to save a lot battling with Kevin (Harvick)," Kenseth said. "I thought (Joey Logano) and (Kyle Busch) were going to go right by me and we actually had a lot of car left."

Race results

Pos Grid No. Driver Team Manufacturer Laps Points
1 16 22 Joey Logano Team Penske Ford 90 47
2 8 18 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 90 43
3 4 4 Kevin Harvick Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet 90 43
4 26 20 Matt Kenseth Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 90 40
5 14 41 Kurt Busch Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet 90 39
6 18 15 Clint Bowyer Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota 90 38
7 11 2 Brad Keselowski Team Penske Ford 90 38
8 15 19 Carl Edwards Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 90 36
9 24 9 Sam Hornish Jr. Richard Petty Motorsports Ford 90 35
10 9 48 Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 90 34
11 7 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 90 33
12 6 42 Kyle Larson Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 90 32
13 28 27 Paul Menard Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 90 31
14 25 16 Greg Biffle Roush Fenway Racing Ford 90 30
15 20 31 Ryan Newman Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 90 29
16 21 43 Aric Almirola Richard Petty Motorsports Ford 90 28
17 22 10 Danica Patrick Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet 90 27
18 29 13 Casey Mears Germain Racing Chevrolet 90 26
19 12 51 Justin Allgaier HScott Motorsports Chevrolet 90 25
20 31 95 Michael McDowell Leavine Family Racing Ford 90 24
21 33 35 Cole Whitt Front Row Motorsports Ford 90 24
22 34 6 Trevor Bayne Roush Fenway Racing Ford 90 22
23 19 55 David Ragan Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota 90 21
24 1 47 A. J. Allmendinger JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet 90 21
25 2 78 Martin Truex Jr. Furniture Row Racing Chevrolet 90 20
26 27 83 Matt DiBenedetto (R) BK Racing Toyota 90 18
27 13 11 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 90 17
28 35 33 Alex Kennedy (R) Hillman-Circle Sport LLC Chevrolet 90 16
29 39 7 Alex Bowman Tommy Baldwin Racing Chevrolet 90 15
30 42 23 J. J. Yeley (i) BK Racing Toyota 90 0
31 40 46 Michael Annett HScott Motorsports Chevrolet 90 13
32 38 32 Boris Said (i) Go FAS Racing Ford 89 0
33 37 38 David Gilliland Front Row Motorsports Ford 89 11
34 30 17 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Roush Fenway Racing Ford 89 10
35 36 40 Landon Cassill (i) Hillman-Circle Sport LLC Chevrolet 89 0
36 10 3 Austin Dillon Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 89 8
37 32 34 Chris Buescher (i) Front Row Motorsports Ford 88 0
38 43 98 Timmy Hill (i) Premium Motorsports Ford 88 0
39 41 26 Jeb Burton (R) BK Racing Toyota 88 5
40 17 1 Jamie McMurray Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 86 4
41 5 24 Jeff Gordon Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 86 3
42 23 5 Kasey Kahne Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 78 2
43 3 14 Tony Stewart Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet 56 1
Official Cheez-It 355 at The Glen results

Race statistics

  • 8 lead changes among 8 different drivers
  • 5 cautions for 16 laps; 1 red flag for 9 minutes, 3 seconds
  • Time of race: 2 hours, 24 minute, 43 seconds
  • Average speed: 91.420 mph (147.126 km/h)
  • Joey Logano took home $263,723 in winnings
Lap Leaders
Laps Leader
1-20 A. J. Allmendinger
21-25 Martin Truex Jr.
26 A. J. Allmendinger
27-28 Cole Whitt
29-55 Brad Keselowski
56-58 Kyle Busch
59-60 Matt Kenseth
61-89 Kevin Harvick
90 Joey Logano
Total laps led
Leader Laps
Kevin Harvick 29
Brad Keselowski 27
A. J. Allmendinger 21
Martin Truex Jr. 5
Kyle Busch 3
Matt Kenseth 2
Cole Whitt 2
Joey Logano 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 announcers Pit 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 two–time Watkins Glen 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 scaffold outside of the esses when the field was racing through turn 1 and up the esses of turns 2, 3 and 4. Mike Bagley called the race from a scaffold outside of the outer loop when the field was racing up the back straight, through the inner loop and down turn 5. Kurt Becker called the race from a spotter stand outside of the short chute when the field was racing down the short chute and rounding turns 10 and 11. Winston Kelley, Alex Hayden and Steve Post worked pit road for MRN.

MRN
Booth announcers Turn announcers Pit reporters
Lead announcer: Joe Moore
Announcer: Jeff Striegle
Announcer: Rusty Wallace
Turn 1, Esses: Dave Moody
Back Straight, Inner Loop, Turn 5: Mike Bagley
Short Chute, Turns 10 & 11: Kurt Becker
Winston Kelley
Alex Hayden
Steve Post

Standings after the race


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