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2015 NASCAR RCA Cup Series (Johnsonverse)
Previous: 2014 Next: 2016
Champions | Seasons
Dale Earnhardt, Jr

Dale Earnhardt, Jr., the 2015 champion.

The 2015 NASCAR RCA 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 Sonoma Raceway with the Toyota/Save Mart 350, followed by the Busch Clash, the Gatorade 125's, and the Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway. The season ended with the Los Angeles Times 500 at Ontario Motor Speedway. Dale Earnhardt, Jr. won the championship. Alana Burleson, sister of USAC Gold Crown Series driver Wendy Burleson, was named Rookie of the Year. Chevrolet won the Manufacturers' Championship; Pontiac, in its first season back, finished second, Dodge finished third, Toyota finished fourth, and Ford finished a distant fifth after another dismal year.

2015 also marked the entry of Honda into NASCAR, and the return of Pontiac for the first time since 2003.

On January 22, 2015, four-time champion Jeff 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, while Gordon became an analyst at WBC. Jerry Nadeau also announced that 2015 would be his final full-time season.

Teams, drivers, and manufacturers[]

Manufacturers[]

Marquee Company Model Status
General Motors Chevrolet Camaro Full factory support
Impala Full factory support
SS Full factory support
Ford Motor Company Ford Fusion Full factory support
Taurus Full factory support
Mustang Full factory support
Roush Mustang In-house variant
Shelby Mustang Full factory support
Johnson Motors Dodge Charger Full factory support
Challenger Full factory support
Dart Full factory support
Pontiac Trans-Am NEW, full factory support
G8 NEW, full factory support
Toyota Motor Corporation Toyota Camry Full factory support
Corolla Full factory support
Honda Motor Company Honda Accord Full factory support
Civic Full factory support

Manufacturer notes[]

2015 was a big year for manufacturers. Johnson marquee, Pontiac made its first appearance in NASCAR since 2003. Also, after years of speculation, Honda finally bit the bullet and entered NASCAR.

Pontiac entered two models for its return: the Trans-Am and G8. The Trans-Am, being a pony car, was Pontiac's entry into the Horsepower Wars, while the G8 was part of a smaller Fourth Aero War, competing with the Chevrolet SS, Ford Fusion, Dodge Dart, Toyota Camry, and Honda Accord; this aero war was overshadowed by the Horsepower Wars, as it had been since 2008.

Complete schedule[]

Manufacturer Team No. Race driver Crew chief Model Primary sponsor
Chevrolet Cale Yarborough Motorsports 98 Shane Hmiel 2015 SS RCA
Earnhardt-Childress Racing 1 Martin Truex Jr. Kevin Manion 2015 Camaro Bass Pro Shops
3 Austin Dillon Slugger Labbe Dow Chemicals
8 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Tony Eury Jr. Budweiser
30 Jeffrey Earnhardt Luke Lambert American Ethanol
31 Ty Dillon (R) Gil Martin AT&T
33 Matt Kenseth DeWalt Tools
Furniture Row Racing 78 Kurt Busch Cole Pearn 2015 Impala Furniture Row
Hendrick Motorsports 5 Brad Keselowski Keith Rodden 2015 Camaro Farmers Insurance
24 Jeff Gordon Alan Gustafson Axalta
35 Landon Cassill Castrol GTX
48 Jimmie Johnson Chad Knaus Lowe's
HScott Motorsports 51 Justin Allgaier Steve Addington 2015 SS Brandt
JTG Daugherty Racing 47 A. J. Allmendinger Brian Burns 2015 Impala Clorox
PPI Motorsports 32 Boston Reid 2015 Impala Nickelodeon
Tommy Baldwin Racing 07 Alex Bowman Tommy Baldwin Jr. 2015 SS various
Dodge AK Racing 7 James Kulwicki 2015 Challenger Zerex by Valvoline
Bill Davis Racing 22 Jason Leffler 2015 Charger Caterpillar
23 Scott Wimmer Google
Chip Ganassi Racing 40 Jamie McMurray Matt McCall 2015 Challenger Coors
41 Bryan Clauson Hostess
52 Kyle Larson Chris Heroy Target
Evernham Motorsports 9 Kasey Kahne Kenny Francis 2015 Charger Dodge Dealers
19 Casey Elliott Ernie Elliott Stanley Tools
91 Casey Atwood Chevron
Hillman-Circle Sport LLC 04 Kenny Irwin Jr. Mark Hillman 2015 Dart Cellino & Barnes
36 Alex Kennedy (R) Todd Parrott

Mike Chance

Pat Tryson

Paul Clapprood

Snap Fitness
Derek White
Travis Kvapil
Mike Bliss
B. J. McLeod
Ryan Ellis
McDuffie Racing 70 Crissy Hillsworth 2015 Dart Wendy's
Moroso-Rudd Racing 82 Rob Moroso 2015 Charger Mountain Dew
83 Brendan Gaughan South Point
Petty Enterprises 42 Aric Almirola 2015 Challenger Smithfield
43 Michael Annett Pilot Flying J
44 Chad McCumbee Twisted Tea
45 Adam Petty STP
Team Penske 02 Joey Logano Todd Gordon 2015 Charger Shell-Pennzoil
2 Blaise Alexander Paul Wolfe Miller Lite
12 Paul Menard Menards
Ford Brett Favre Racing 15 Tim Steele 2015 Mustang Nike/Sony
90 Parker Kligerman Tabasco
Front Row Motorsports 34 David Ragan Derrick Finley 2015 Mustang KFC
35 Cole Whitt Randy Cox Rinnai Tankless Water Heaters
38 David Gilliland Donnie Wingo Love's Travel Stops
Go FAS Racing 65 Bobby Labonte Clinton Cram 2015 Fusion various
Mike Bliss
Joey Gase
Travis Kvapil
Boris Said
Will Kimmel
Eddie MacDonald
Josh Wise
Kyle Fowler
Medallion Racing 09 Sam Hornish Jr. 2015 Fusion ICEE
Orr Motorsports 37 Regan Smith 2015 Taurus Craftsman
Roush-Yates Racing 6 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Bob Osborne 2015 Roush Mustang AdvoCare
17 Stephen Leicht Nick Sandler Fastenal
28 Clifford Allison
60 Greg Biffle Matt Puccia Ortho
88 Jeremy Mayfield
99 Trevor Bayne
Wood Brothers Racing 21 Ryan Blaney Jeremy Bullins 2015 Shelby Mustang Motorcraft
Honda Germain Racing 13 Casey Mears Bootie Barker 2015 Accord GEICO
Michael Waltrip Racing 17 Clint Bowyer Brian Pattie 2015 Civic 5-Hour Energy
55 Brian Vickers Billy Scott Aaron's Dream Machine
56 Brett Moffitt (R) Dax Gerringer NAPA Auto Parts
Phil Parsons Racing

Premium Motorsports

89 Josh Wise Gene Nead

Jay Robinson

Scott Eggleston

Zach McGowan

2015 Accord various
Timmy Hill
Reed Sorenson
T. J. Bell
Ryan Preece
Premium Motorsports 49 Brian Scott Zach McGowan

Scott Eggleston

Wayne Carroll

2015 Civic various
Reed Sorenson
Timmy Hill
T. J. Bell
Pontiac Combos Racing 73 Alana Burleson (R) 2015 G8 Facebook
Stewart-Haas Racing 00 Ryan Truex Tony Gibson 2015 Trans-Am Haas Automotive CNC
4 Kevin Harvick Rodney Childers Jimmy John's
10 Danica Patrick Daniel Knost GoDaddy.com
14 Tony Stewart Greg Zipadelli Home Depot
Toyota BK Racing 26 Jeb Burton (R) Joe Williams

Patrick Donahue

2015 Avalon Dr. Pepper
126 Josh Wise Patrick Donahue35

Joe Williams 1

Burger King
185 Matt DiBenedetto (R) Doug Richert

Gene Nead

Snapple
Joe Gibbs Racing 11 Denny Hamlin Dave Rogers 2015 Camry FedEx
18 Kyle Busch Adam Stevens M&M's
20 Elliott Sadler Jason Ratcliff Rheem
54 Carl Edwards Darian Grubb Arris

Limited schedule[]

Manufacturer Team No. Race driver Crew chief Model
Chevrolet Team XTREME Racing 144 Reed Sorenson Peter Sospenzo 2014 SS
Travis Kvapil
Dodge Leavine Family Racing 95 Michael McDowell Wally Rogers

Kevin Walter

2015 Challenger
Premium Motorsports 66 Mike Wallace Scott Eggleston 2014 Dart
Tanner Berryhill
Honda Rahal Letterman Lannigan Racing 115 Graham Rahal 2015 Accord
Pontiac RAB Racing 29 Justin Marks Matthew Lucas 2015 G8
Reed Sorenson

Schedule[]

The final calendar was released on August 26, 2014, comprising 36 races, as well as two exhibition races. The schedule also includes two Gatorade 125's, which are the qualifying races for the Daytona 500.

Key changes from 2014 include:

  • The Auto Club 400 was removed from the schedule entirely. This came following complaints that there were too many races in California (besides Auto Club, NASCAR also raced at Riverside International Raceway, Ontario Motor Speedway, Sonoma Raceway, and San Jose Motorplex). The decision to remove Auto Club Speedway from the schedule came from a study that found it was the least-popular of the California tracks due to its "cookie-cutter" design that mimicked Michigan and Texas World (Ontario is also considered a "cookie-cutter" track due to mimicking Indianapolis Motor Speedway, but the track has seen consistent sellouts since it was added back to the schedule in 1988). Auto Club remained a very popular stop on the USAC schedule.
  • The race at Atlanta Motor Speedway moved from October to March, while the spring race at Bristol Motor Speedway (often plagued by bad weather) moved from March to April. This created a three-race "west coast swing" for the third through fifth races of the season, wherein the events at Las Vegas, Phoenix and Auto Club (Fontana) now happened consecutively (as opposed to being broken up by a trip back east to Bristol).
  • The Coors 400 at Pikes Peak International Raceway was reinstated between the Irwin Tools Night Race and Southern 500.
  • Charlotte and Kansas swap fall race dates.
  • The mandate of standardized start times was quietly abolished, with some races (especially in the second half of the season) occurring later in the afternoon than normal.
No. Race title Track Date TV
1 Honda/Save Mart 350 Sonoma Raceway, Sonoma January 25 WBC
Busch Clash Daytona International Speedway, Daytona Beach February 7 WBC
Gatorade 125's February 12 WBC
2 Daytona 500 by Pontiac February 15 WBC
3 Subway Fresh Fit 400 Rockingham Speedway, Rockingham February 22 WBC
4 San Jose 500 San Jose Motorplex, Gilroy March 1 WBC
5 Kobalt 400 Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Las Vegas March 8 ESPN
6 Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 Atlanta Motor Speedway, Hampton March 15 ESPN
7 TranSouth Financial 400 Darlington Raceway, Darlington March 22 ESPN
8 STP 500 Martinsville Speedway, Ridgeway March 29 TNN
9 Harley-Davidson 250 Road America, Lake Elkhart April 5 WBC
10 Duck Commander 500 Texas Motor Speedway, Fort Worth April 12 WBC
11 Food City 500 Bristol Motor Speedway, Bristol April 19 TNN
12 Pontiac Excitement 400 Richmond International Raceway, Richmond April 26 TNN
13 GEICO 500 Talladega Superspeedway, Lincoln May 3 WBC
14 Wells Fargo 400 North Wilkesboro Speedway, North Wilkesboro May 10 ESPN
RCA Open Orange County Speedway, Rougemont May 15 TNN
RCA All-Star Challenge XXXI May 16 WBC
15 Coca-Cola 600 Charlotte Motor Speedway, Concord May 24 WBC
16 FedEx 400 Dover International Speedway, Dover May 31 TNN
17 Pabst Blue Ribbon 400 The Milwaukee Mile, West Allis June 7 ESPN
18 Motorcraft 400 Nazareth Speedway, Nazareth June 14 WBC
19 Budweiser 400 Riverside International Raceway, Riverside June 21 WBC
20 Music City USA 420 Fairgrounds Speedway, Nashville June 28 TNN
21 Coke Zero 400 Daytona International Speedway, Daytona Beach July 5 WBC
22 Star Wars: The Force Awakens 500 Walt Disney World Speedway, Lake Buena Vista July 11 ESPN
23 5-Hour Energy 400 New Hampshire Motor Speedway, Loudon July 19 WBC
24 Crown Royal Presents the Jeff Kyle 400 Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Speedway July 26 WBC
25 Windows 10 400 Pocono Raceway, Long Pond August 2 ESPN
26 Cheez-It 355 at The Glen Watkins Glen International, Watkins Glen August 9 ESPN
27 Pure Michigan 400 Michigan International Speedway, Brooklyn August 16 TNN
28 Irwin Tools Night Race Bristol Motor Speedway, Bristol August 22 TNN
29 Denver Post 400 Pikes Peak International Raceway, Fountain August 30 TNN
30 Southern 500 Darlington Raceway, Darlington September 6 WBC
31 Federated Auto Parts 400 Richmond International Raceway, Richmond September 12 TNN
32 myAFibRisk.com 400 Chicagoland Speedway, Joliet September 20 ESPN
33 Tyson Holly Farms 400 North Wilkesboro Speedway, North Wilkesboro September 27 WBC
34 AAA 400 Dover International Speedway, Dover October 4 TNN
35 Bank of America 500 Charlotte Motor Speedway, Concord October 11 WBC

Speed

36 Hollywood Casino 400 Kansas Speedway, Kansas City October 18 TNN
37 CampingWorld.com 500 Talladega Superspeedway, Lincoln October 25 WBC
38 Iowa Corn 400 Iowa Speedway, Newton November 1 TNN
39 ACDelco 400 Rockingham Speedway, Rockingham November 8 TNN
40 Quicken Loans Race for Heroes 500 "Jeff Gordon Raceway", Avondale November 15 TNN
41 Ford EcoBoost 400 Homestead-Miami Speedway, Homestead November 22 ESPN
42 Apple Watch 500 San Jose Motorplex, Gilroy November 29 WBC
43 Sprite 500 Denver International Speedway, Denver December 6 WBC
44 Los Angeles Times 500 Ontario Motor Speedway, Ontario December 13 WBC

Media coverage[]

In the United States, coverage was divided between WBC Sports, TNN Motor Sports, and ESPN; much of the season was aired by WBC, including all of the restrictor-plate races (this includes the Daytona 500 and all Speedweeks coverage, including the Busch Series, Craftsman Truck Series, and ARCA races), most road courses, both Charlotte races, the races at Pocono, the Southern 500, the Brickyard 400, and the season-ending race at Ontario. Fifteen events were aired on TNN, while ESPN aired nine races. The Bank of America 500 was aired on WBC, but due to a rain interruption, the rest of the event was broadcast on Speed.

Season summary[]

Results[]

No. Race title Pole position Most laps led Winner Make/Model
1 Honda/Save Mart 350 Denny Hamlin Danica Patrick Danica Patrick Pontiac Trans-Am
Busch Clash Paul Menard Martin Truex Jr. Matt Kenseth Chevrolet Camaro
Gatorade 125's Jeff Gordon Matt Kenseth Dale Earnhardt Jr. Chevrolet Camaro
Jimmie Johnson Jimmie Johnson James Kulwicki Dodge Challenger
2 Daytona 500 by Pontiac Jeff Gordon Jeff Gordon Jeff Gordon Chevrolet Camaro
3 Subway Fresh Fit 400 Joey Logano Kevin Harvick Jimmie Johnson Chevrolet Camaro
4 San Jose 500 Kasey Kahne Brad Keselowski Tony Stewart Pontiac Trans-Am
5 Kobalt 400 Jeff Gordon Kevin Harvick Adam Petty Dodge Challenger
6 Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 Kevin Harvick Kevin Harvick Kevin Harvick Pontiac Trans-Am
7 TranSouth Financial 400 Kurt Busch Kurt Busch Brad Keselowski Dodge Charger
8 STP 500 Joey Logano Kevin Harvick Denny Hamlin Toyota Camry
9 Harley-Davidson 2500 Jeff Gordon Dale Earnhardt Jr. Michael Annett Dodge Challenger
10 Duck Commander 500 Tony Stewart Tony Stewart Tony Stewart Pontiac Trans-Am
11 Food City 500 Matt Kenseth Kevin Harvick Tony Stewart Pontiac Trans-Am
12 Pontiac Excitement 400 Joey Logano Kurt Busch Kurt Busch Chevrolet Impala
13 GEICO 500 Joey Logano Dale Earnhardt Jr. Dale Earnhardt Jr. Chevrolet Camaro
14 Wells Fargo 400 Joey Logano Martin Truex Jr. Alana Burleson Pontiac G6
RCA All-Star Challenge XXXI Denny Hamlin Brad Keselowski Danica Patrick Pontiac Trans-Am
15 Coca-Cola 600 Matt Kenseth Martin Truex Jr. Carl Edwards Toyota Camry
16 FedEx 400 Denny Hamlin Martin Truex Jr. Austin Dillon Chevrolet Camaro
17 Pabst Blue Ribbon 400 Kurt Busch Martin Truex Jr. Martin Truex Jr. Chevrolet Camaro
18 Motorcraft 400 Kasey Kahne Kevin Harvick Dale Earnhardt Jr. Chevrolet Camaro
19 Budweiser 400 A.J. Allmendinger Jimmie Johnson Mark Martin 1994 Ford Probe
20 Music City USA 420 Jamie McMurray Adam Petty Adam Petty Dodge Challenger
21 Coke Zero 400 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Dale Earnhardt Jr. Dale Earnhardt Jr. Chevrolet Camaro
22 Star Wars: The Force Awakens 500 Kyle Larson Kyle Busch Kyle Busch Toyota Camry
23 5-hour Energy 301 Carl Edwards Brad Keselowski Tony Stewart Pontiac Trans-Am
24 Crown Royal Presents the Jeff Kyle 400 Carl Edwards Kevin Harvick Alana Burleson Pontiac G6
25 Windows 10 400 Kyle Busch Joey Logano Matt Kenseth Chevrolet Camaro
26 Cheez-It 355 at The Glen A.J. Allmendinger Kevin Harvick Tony Stewart Pontiac Grand Prix
27 Pure Michigan 400 Matt Kenseth Matt Kenseth Matt Kenseth Chevrolet Camaro
28 Irwin Tools Night Race Denny Hamlin Kyle Busch Danica Patrick Pontiac Trans-Am
29 Denver Post 400 Tony Stewart James Kulwicki James Kulwicki Dodge Challenger
30 Southern 500 Brad Keselowski Brad Keselowski Tony Stewart Pontiac Trans-Am
31 Federated Auto Parts 400 Joey Logano Matt Kenseth Matt Kenseth Chevrolet Camaro
32 myAFibRisk.com 400 Kevin Harvick Kyle Busch Denny Hamlin Toyota Camry
33 Tyson Holly Farms 400 Carl Edwards Kevin Harvick James Kulwicki Dodge Challenger
34 AAA 400 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Kevin Harvick Kyle Larson Dodge Challenger
35 Bank of America 500 Matt Kenseth Dale Earnhardt Jr. Dale Earnhardt Jr. Chevrolet Camaro
36 Hollywood Casino 400 Brad Keselowski Matt Kenseth Danica Patrick Pontiac Trans-Am
37 CampingWorld.com 500 Jeff Gordon Dale Earnhardt Jr. Dale Earnhardt Jr. Chevrolet Camaro
38 Iowa Corn 400 Joey Logano Jeff Gordon Alana Burleson Pontiac G6
39 ACDelco 400 Jeff Gordon Dale Earnhardt Jr. Dale Earnhardt Jr. Chevrolet Camaro
40 Quicken Loans Race for Heroes 500 Jimmie Johnson Kevin Harvick Dale Earnhardt Jr. Chevrolet Camaro
41 Ford EcoBoost 400 Denny Hamlin Brad Keselowski Tim Steele Ford Mustang
42 Apple Watch 500 Adam Petty Adam Petty Tony Stewart Pontiac Trans-Am
43 Sprite 500 Ryan Truex Tony Stewart Dale Earnhardt Jr. Chevrolet Camaro
44 Los Angeles Times 500 Kasey Kahne Kevin Harvick Jeff Gordon Chevrolet Camaro

Cars Used in 2015 (incomplete)[]

Event Logos[]

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