2015 NASCAR Xfinity Series
34th season of second-tier NASCAR Xfinity Series
Chris Buescher , the 2015 Xfinity Series champion.
Defending series champion Chase Elliott finished second behind Buescher in the championship by just 15 points.
Ty Dillon finished third in the championship, 18 points behind Buescher.
Regan Smith finished fourth in the championship, 22 points behind.
Daniel Suarez finished fifth in the championship, 112 points behind, and also won the Rookie of the Year title .
The No. 22 car of Team Penske won the Owners' championship.
Chevrolet won the Manufacturer's championship with 11 wins and 1434 points.
The 2015 NASCAR Xfinity Series was the 34th season of the NASCAR Xfinity Series , the second-tier professional stock car racing series sanctioned by NASCAR in the United States. It began with the Alert Today Florida 300 at Daytona International Speedway on February 21, and ended with the Ford EcoBoost 300 at Homestead-Miami Speedway on November 21. Chase Elliott entered the 2015 season as the defending series champion. Chris Buescher won the championship.
The 2015 season marked two major changes; Comcast 's cable brand Xfinity replaced Nationwide Insurance as title sponsor of the series,[ 1] while Fox , Fox Sports 1 , NBC and NBCSN broadcast the series' races, replacing the ESPN networks and ABC .
Teams and drivers
Complete schedule
Limited schedule
Notes
^ Morgan Shepherd drove in the Zippo 200 at The Glen with car number 40. T. J. Bell blew the engine in Qualifying and his team didn't have a backup car for the race. Shepherd, who did not qualify for the race, took over the number 40 and was able to start with his (previously 89) own's car entered Chevrolet .
Driver and team changes
Kevin Harvick , Kasey Kahne , and 2014 K&N Pro Series East champion Ben Rhodes moved to the No. 88 with Dale Earnhardt Jr. for JR Motorsports . Kahne also drove a single race in the No. 5.
Austin Dillon ran the majority of the Xfinity races for RCR in the No. 33. Brandon Jones ran part-time.
With Turner Scott Motorsports disbanding, Kyle Larson and ARCA Racing Series driver Brennan Poole shared the No. 42 Camaro under the Chip Ganassi Racing banner, while Dylan Kwasniewski left the team.
Daniel Suárez began running a full schedule in 2015 for Joe Gibbs Racing in the No. 18 Toyota Camry .
Elliott Sadler ran the full 2015 schedule with Roush Fenway Racing in the No. 1 Ford Mustang .
Bubba Wallace moved up from the Camping World Truck Series to run the full 2015 schedule with Roush Fenway Racing in No. 6 Ford Mustang, replacing Trevor Bayne .
Athenian Motorsports 's Xfinity program switched to Chevrolet and moved up full-time, with John Wes Townley running at least 18 races. Dylan Lupton , runner up in the 2014 NASCAR K&N Pro Series West , drove the No. 25 Chevrolet in 7 races.
Eric McClure departed TriStar Motorsports for a full-time seat with JGL Racing . McClure used the number 24, which he previously used with Front Row Motorsports and Team Rensi Motorsports , while the team switched to Toyota . McClure would return to TriStar after 9 races with JGL, bringing the No. 24 with him, at which time Mike Bliss departed the team; McClure inherited his owner points (JGL retained the owner points McClure scored in the first nine races and reassigned them to the No. 26) while the No. 19 was reassigned to the start-and-park team and Jeff Green .
Cale Conley ran the full season for TriStar Motorsports after running part-time with Richard Childress Racing in 2014. Conley replaced McClure in the No. 14 Camry. However, Conley failed to complete the season after sponsorship dried up.[ 77]
Blake Koch started running full-time for TriStar in the No. 8 Camry after running the team's 10, 44, and 91 cars in 2014.
David Starr ran full-time for TriStar Motorsports in the No. 44 Toyota after running 13 races for the team in 2014.
Ross Chastain started racing full-time JD Motorsports in the No. 4 Chevrolet, replacing Jeffrey Earnhardt . Earnhardt would move to Viva Motorsports , splitting the ride with Jamie Dick .
Harrison Rhodes competed for Rookie of the Year honors with JD Motorsports , driving the No. 0 Chevrolet.
Schedule
The Buckle Up 200 at Dover International Speedway in May
The Road America 180 at Road America in August
The Hisense 200 at Dover International Speedway in October
The 2015 schedule was announced on August 26, 2014.
No.
Race title
Track
Date
1
Alert Today Florida 300
Daytona International Speedway , Daytona Beach
February 21
2
Hisense 250
Atlanta Motor Speedway , Hampton
February 28
3
Boyd Gaming 300
Las Vegas Motor Speedway , Las Vegas
March 7
4
Axalta Faster. Tougher. Brighter. 200
Phoenix International Raceway , Avondale
March 14
5
Drive4Clots.com 300
Auto Club Speedway , Fontana
March 21
6
O'Reilly Auto Parts 300
Texas Motor Speedway , Fort Worth
April 10
7
Drive to Stop Diabetes 300
Bristol Motor Speedway , Tennessee
April 18
8
ToyotaCare 250
Richmond International Raceway , Richmond
April 24
9
Winn-Dixie 300
Talladega Superspeedway , Lincoln
May 2
10
3M 250
Iowa Speedway , Newton
May 17
11
Hisense 300
Charlotte Motor Speedway , Concord
May 23
12
Buckle Up 200
Dover International Speedway , Dover
May 30
13
Great Clips 250
Michigan International Speedway , Brooklyn
June 13
14
Owens Corning AttiCat 300
Chicagoland Speedway , Joliet
June 21†
15
Subway Firecracker 250
Daytona International Speedway , Daytona Beach
July 4
16
Kentucky 300
Kentucky Speedway , Sparta
July 10
17
Lakes Region 200
New Hampshire Motor Speedway , Loudon
July 18
18
Lilly Diabetes 250
Indianapolis Motor Speedway , Speedway
July 25
19
U.S. Cellular 250
Iowa Speedway , Newton
August 1
20
Zippo 200 at The Glen
Watkins Glen International , Watkins Glen
August 8
21
Nationwide Children's Hospital 200
Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course , Lexington
August 15
22
Food City 300
Bristol Motor Speedway , Bristol
August 21
23
Road America 180 fired up by Johnsonville
Road America , Elkhart Lake
August 29
24
VFW Sport Clips Help a Hero 200
Darlington Raceway , Darlington
September 5
25
Virginia 529 College Savings 250
Richmond International Raceway , Richmond
September 11
26
Furious 7 300
Chicagoland Speedway , Joliet
September 19
27
VisitMyrtleBeach.com 300
Kentucky Speedway , Sparta
September 26
28
Hisense 200
Dover International Speedway , Dover
October 3
29
Drive for the Cure 300
Charlotte Motor Speedway , Concord
October 9
30
Kansas Lottery 300
Kansas Speedway , Kansas City
October 17
31
O'Reilly Auto Parts Challenge
Texas Motor Speedway , Fort Worth
November 7
32
DAV 200 Presented by Great Clips
Phoenix International Raceway , Avondale
November 14
33
Ford EcoBoost 300
Homestead-Miami Speedway , Homestead
November 21
†: The Owens Corning AttiCat 300 was postponed a day because of persistent rain.[ 78]
Results and standings
Races
Drivers' championship
(key ) Bold - Pole position awarded by time. Italics - Pole position set by final practice results or rainout. * – Most laps led. 1 – Post entry, driver and owner did not score points.
Owners' championship (Top 15)
(key ) Bold - Pole position awarded by time. Italics - Pole position set by final practice results or rainout. * – Most laps led.
Manufacturers' championship
See also
References
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^ a b Spencer, Lee (December 15, 2014). "Kerr takes reins of No. 43 XFINITY team" . Motorsport.com . Retrieved December 15, 2014 .
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^ a b Bruce, Kenny (December 18, 2014). "Darrell Wallace Jr. heads to Roush Fenway Racing" . NASCAR.com . NASCAR Media Group, LLC. Retrieved December 18, 2014 .
^ "Lilly Diabetes/American Diabetes Association Announce Multi-Year Renewal of Drive to Stop Diabetes Program with Roush Fenway and Ryan Reed" . Roush Fenway Racing . October 8, 2014. Retrieved October 23, 2014 .
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^ a b Pennell, Jay (January 5, 2015). "Eric McClure joins JGL Racing for 2015 NASCAR Xfinity Series season" . Fox Sports . Fox Broadcasting Company . Retrieved January 5, 2015 .
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^ "David Ragan Will Fill in For Kyle Busch in NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Behind Wheel of No. 18 M&Ms Crispy Toyota Starting in Atlanta" . Joe Gibbs Racing . February 24, 2015. Archived from the original on February 28, 2015. Retrieved February 28, 2015 . In addition, JGR announces that Erik Jones will pilot the No. 54 Monster Energy Toyota in the NASCAR XFINITY Series this weekend in Atlanta.
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^ "Season Debut for Dick in Vegas" . Viva Motorsports . March 4, 2015. Retrieved March 4, 2015 .
^ "Brandon Gdovic to Make Xfinity Debut" . Viva Motorsports . April 6, 2015. Retrieved April 13, 2015 .
^ O'Brien, Marty (June 29, 2015). "Gloucester's Rick Gdovic purchases team in NASCAR's Xfinity Series" . Daily Press . Retrieved June 29, 2015 .
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^ a b "Richard Petty Motorsports Drivers Aric Almirola and Sam Hornish Jr. to Drive Biagi-DenBeste No. 98 Ford Mustang in 10 XFINITY Series Races" . Richard Petty Motorsports . April 7, 2015. Retrieved April 13, 2015 .
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^ Bonkowski, Jerry (October 28, 2015). "Lack of funding brings premature end to Xfinity season for Cale Conley" . NBC Sports . Retrieved October 28, 2015 .
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^ McFadin, Daniel (November 21, 2015). "Kyle Larson wins Xfinity finale as Chris Buescher claims series title" . NBC Sports . Retrieved December 4, 2015 .