2015 SpongeBob SquarePants 400

The 2015 SpongeBob SquarePants 400 was a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race held on May 9, 2015, ending shortly after midnight on May 10, 2015 at Kansas Speedway in Kansas City, Kansas. Contested over 267 laps on the 1.5 mile (2.4 km) asphalt speedway, it was the 11th race of the 2015 NASCAR Sprint Cup season. Jimmie Johnson won the race, his third of the season. Kevin Harvick finished second. Dale Earnhardt Jr. finished third. Jeff Gordon and Joey Logano rounded out the top five.

2015 SpongeBob SquarePants 400
Race details[1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9]
Race 11 of 36 in the 2015 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series
The 2015 SpongeBob SquarePants 400 program cover, featuring SpongeBob SquarePants
The 2015 SpongeBob SquarePants 400 program cover, featuring SpongeBob SquarePants
Date May 9-10, 2015
Location Kansas Speedway in Kansas City, Kansas
Course Permanent racing facility
1.5 mi (2.4 km)
Distance 267 laps, 400.5 mi (644.542 km)
Weather Mostly cloudy with a temperature of 74 °F (23 °C); wind out of the east/southeast at 15 mph (24 km/h)
Average speed 125.265 mph (201.594 km/h)
Pole position
Driver Team Penske
Time 28.067
Most laps led
Driver Martin Truex Jr. Furniture Row Racing
Laps 95
Winner
No. 48 Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Motorsports
Television in the United States
Network Fox Sports 1
Announcers Mike Joy, Larry McReynolds and Darrell Waltrip
Nielsen Ratings 1.5/4 (Overnight)[10]
1.5/4 (Final)[11]
2.458 Million viewers[11]
Radio in the United States
Radio MRN
Booth Announcers Joe Moore, Jeff Striegle and Rusty Wallace
Turn Announcers Dave Moody (1 & 2) and Kurt Becker (3 & 4)

Joey Logano won the pole for the race. He led 29 laps on his way to a fifth-place finish. Martin Truex Jr. led 95 laps in the first of four straight races in which he led the most laps on his way to a ninth-place finish. The race had 16 lead changes among ten different drivers, as well as nine caution flag periods for 49 laps. There was one red flag period for two hours, 16 minutes and 30 seconds for heavy rain.

This was the 73rd career victory for Jimmie Johnson, third at Kansas Speedway and sixth at the track for Hendrick Motorsports. This win moved Johnson up to third in the points standings. Chevrolet left Kansas with a 44-point lead over Ford in the manufacturer standings.

The SpongeBob SquarePants 400 was carried by Fox Sports on the cable/satellite Fox Sports 1 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

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Background

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Kansas Speedway, the track where the race was held.

Kansas Speedway is a 1.5-mile (2.4 km) tri-oval race track in Kansas City, Kansas. It was built in 2001 and it currently hosts two annual NASCAR race weekends. The Verizon IndyCar Series also raced at here until 2011. The speedway is owned and operated by the International Speedway Corporation.

 
An advertisement for the 2015 SpongeBob SquarePants 400.

Kevin Harvick entered Kansas with a 40-point lead over Martin Truex Jr. after a fourth-place finish at Talladega. Jimmie Johnson entered 52 back following a runner-up finish the week before at Talladega. Joey Logano entered 59 back. Dale Earnhardt Jr. entered 75 back after winning the previous week at Talladega.

Entry list

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The entry list for the SpongeBob SquarePants 400 was released on Monday, May 4 at 2:52 p.m. Eastern time. Forty-four cars were entered for the race. Erik Jones, who drove in relief of Denny Hamlin at the 2015 Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway, made his official Sprint Cup Series debut in the No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota. Joey Gase returned to the No. 32 Go FAS Racing Ford after Bobby Labonte drove it the previous race at Talladega Superspeedway. Ty Dillon made his first Cup start since the 2015 Daytona 500 in the No. 33 Hillman-Circle Sport LLC Chevrolet. Brett Moffitt returned to the No. 34 Front Row Motorsports Ford that he drove in Las Vegas and Phoenix. David Ragan moved to the No. 55 Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota after driving the No. 18 Toyota the last nine races.

No. Driver Team Manufacturer Sponsor
1 Jamie McMurray Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet McDonald's
2 Brad Keselowski (PC3) Team Penske Ford Avaya
3 Austin Dillon Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet DOW Chemical
4 Kevin Harvick (PC1) Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet Jimmy John's Gourmet Sandwiches
5 Kasey Kahne Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet Great Clips
6 Trevor Bayne Roush Fenway Racing Ford AdvoCare
7 Alex Bowman Tommy Baldwin Racing Chevrolet Accell Construction
9 Sam Hornish Jr. Richard Petty Motorsports Ford Medallion Bank
10 Danica Patrick Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet GoDaddy
11 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota FedEx Freight
13 Casey Mears Germain Racing Chevrolet Squidward Tentacles
14 Tony Stewart (PC4) Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet Bass Pro Shops, Mobil 1
15 Clint Bowyer Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota 5-Hour Energy
16 Greg Biffle Roush Fenway Racing Ford Cheez-It, Patrick Star
17 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Roush Fenway Racing Ford Zest
18 Erik Jones (i) Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota M&M's Red Nose Day
19 Carl Edwards Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota Stanley Tools
20 Matt Kenseth (PC6) Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota Dollar General
22 Joey Logano Team Penske Ford AAA Insurance
23 J. J. Yeley (i) BK Racing Toyota Dr. Pepper "I'm a Pepper"
24 Jeff Gordon (PC7) Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet American Red Cross
26 Jeb Burton (R) BK Racing Toyota MAXIM Fantasy Sports App
27 Paul Menard Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet Menards, Pittsburgh Paints
31 Ryan Newman Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet Quicken Loans
32 Joey Gase (i) Go FAS Racing Ford Tri State Tower Inc., reallycheapfloors.com
33 Ty Dillon (i) Hillman-Circle Sport LLC Chevrolet Plankton
34 Brett Moffitt (R) Front Row Motorsports Ford Dockside Logistics
35 Cole Whitt Front Row Motorsports Ford Front Row Motorsports
38 David Gilliland Front Row Motorsports Ford MDS Transport
40 Landon Cassill (i) Hillman-Circle Sport LLC Chevrolet carsforsale.com
41 Kurt Busch (PC5) Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet Haas Automation
42 Kyle Larson Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet Target
43 Aric Almirola Richard Petty Motorsports Ford Farmland
46 Michael Annett HScott Motorsports Chevrolet Allstate Peterbilt Group
47 A. J. Allmendinger JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet Kroger, Scott Products, Dillon's Food Stores
48 Jimmie Johnson (PC2) Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet Lowe's
51 Justin Allgaier HScott Motorsports Chevrolet Fraternal Order of Eagles
55 David Ragan Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota Aaron's Dream Machine "Own it.", SpongeBob SquarePants
62 Brendan Gaughan (i) Premium Motorsports Chevrolet Premium Motorsports
78 Martin Truex Jr. Furniture Row Racing Chevrolet Furniture Row, Visser Precision
83 Matt DiBenedetto (R) BK Racing Toyota Dustless Blasting
88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet Nationwide Insurance
95 Michael McDowell Leavine Family Racing Ford WRL General Contractors, Thrivent Financial, Larry the Lobster
98 Josh Wise Phil Parsons Racing Ford Phil Parsons Racing
Official initial entry list
Official final entry list
Key Meaning
(R) Rookie
(i) Ineligible for points
(PC#) Past champions provisional

Practice

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First practice

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Kevin Harvick was the fastest in the first practice session with a time of 28.306 and a speed of 190.772 mph (307.018 km/h).[12]

Pos No. Driver Team Manufacturer Time Speed
1 4 Kevin Harvick Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet 28.306 190.772
2 22 Joey Logano Team Penske Ford 28.365 190.375
3 19 Carl Edwards Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 28.381 190.268
Official first practice results

Final practice

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Erik Jones, making his official Sprint Cup Series debut, was the fastest in the final practice session with a time of 28.227 and a speed of 191.306 mph (307.877 km/h).[13] “There’s been a lot of people that have been involved over the past few weeks to get me ready for this,” Jones told Fox Sports 1. “I think a lot of it was preparing mentally, watching videos, watching tape, talking to Kyle (Busch) and my teammates and just trying to get the best information I could out of everybody. It’s pretty cool to be fastest in practice. I know it’s only practice, but it’s still pretty cool. … There’s a lot of great race car drivers. It’s just really an honor to be fastest this practice.”[13]

Pos No. Driver Team Manufacturer Time Speed
1 18 Erik Jones (i) Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 28.227 191.306
2 24 Jeff Gordon Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 28.245 191.184
3 22 Joey Logano Team Penske Ford 28.312 190.732
Official final practice results

Qualifying

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Joey Logano, seen here at the 2015 Daytona 500, won the pole for the SpongeBob SquarePants 400.

Joey Logano won the pole with a time of 28.067 and a speed of 192.397 mph (309.633 km/h).[14] “We just kind of swung for the fence in the last round and the car drove awesome,” said Logano, who won his twelfth career pole. “It’s not very often you get a car that’s just perfect. I came off Turn 4 and I didn’t know how to go faster than that. … It was a great run, our fourth pole of the season. We just need to rack up some more wins.”[14] “We had our best speed in our last run so that was what we were looking for,” said Kasey Kahne, who turned a lap of 191.911 mph (308.851 km/h). “We’ve been getting better every week I think and that improvement will hopefully carry here to Kansas tomorrow night. We have a fast car and I’m excited.”[14] “I just couldn’t quite find the speed in the last round,” Martin Truex Jr. said. “So, the guys did a good job and we have a good starting spot for tomorrow night. This track has been good to me and hopefully we can do better than we’ve been doing. It’s been good.”[14] “We just got a little better speed in our car and this racetrack has been pretty good for us,” said Greg Biffle, who became the first Roush Fenway Racing driver to make a final round of qualifying this season. “We barely made the first round and barely made the second and then I just drove it – over drove it. I just said I was going to go for it.”[14] “It would make our life so much easier starting up front and having a good pit stall pick,” Jimmie Johnson said. “Middle of the pack……we will fire our way through there and grind it out like we always do and try and I am sure get a great finish out of it. But we know we need to get better on Fridays.”[14] Brendan Gaughan failed to qualify for the race.[14]

Qualifying results

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Pos No. Driver Team Manufacturer R1 R2 R3
1 22 Joey Logano Team Penske Ford 28.139 28.251 28.067
2 5 Kasey Kahne Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 28.294 28.262 28.138
3 2 Brad Keselowski Team Penske Ford 28.240 28.198 28.146
4 78 Martin Truex Jr. Furniture Row Racing Chevrolet 28.197 28.127 28.157
5 19 Carl Edwards Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 28.075 28.146 28.187
6 4 Kevin Harvick Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet 28.201 28.234 28.228
7 16 Greg Biffle Roush Fenway Racing Ford 28.356 28.291 28.270
8 41 Kurt Busch Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet 28.262 28.296 28.294
9 1 Jamie McMurray Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 28.149 28.218 28.387
10 42 Kyle Larson Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 28.346 28.264 28.398
11 24 Jeff Gordon Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 28.304 28.229 28.436
12 18 Erik Jones (i) Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 28.218 28.248 28.490
13 11 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 28.269 28.315  —
14 43 Aric Almirola Richard Petty Motorsports Ford 28.281 28.318  —
15 31 Ryan Newman Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 28.359 28.338  —
16 14 Tony Stewart Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet 28.268 28.345  —
17 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 28.176 28.347  —
18 20 Matt Kenseth Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 28.328 28.350  —
19 48 Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 28.296 28.379  —
20 17 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Roush Fenway Racing Ford 28.340 28.387  —
21 15 Clint Bowyer Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota 28.345 28.393  —
22 27 Paul Menard Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 28.439 28.414  —
23 55 David Ragan Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota 28.445 28.457  —
24 13 Casey Mears Germain Racing Chevrolet 28.449 28.545  —
25 51 Justin Allgaier HScott Motorsports Chevrolet 28.480  —  —
26 9 Sam Hornish Jr. Richard Petty Motorsports Ford 28.506  —  —
27 10 Danica Patrick Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet 28.519  —  —
28 3 Austin Dillon Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 28.547  —  —
29 47 A. J. Allmendinger JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet 28.584  —  —
30 6 Trevor Bayne Roush Fenway Racing Ford 28.586  —  —
31 95 Michael McDowell Leavine Family Racing Ford 28.586  —  —
32 33 Ty Dillon (i) Hillman-Circle Sport LLC Chevrolet 28.599  —  —
33 26 Jeb Burton (R) BK Racing Toyota 28.630  —  —
34 35 Cole Whitt Front Row Motorsports Ford 28.762  —  —
35 83 Matt DiBenedetto (R) BK Racing Toyota 28.774  —  —
36 7 Alex Bowman Tommy Baldwin Racing Chevrolet 28.791  —  —
37 23 J. J. Yeley (i) BK Racing Toyota 28.962  —  —
38 38 David Gilliland Front Row Motorsports Ford 28.971  —  —
39 34 Brett Moffitt (R) Front Row Motorsports Ford 28.976  —  —
40 98 Josh Wise Phil Parsons Racing Ford 28.994  —  —
41 40 Landon Cassill (i) Hillman-Circle Sport LLC Chevrolet 29.167  —  —
42 32 Joey Gase (i) Go FAS Racing Ford 29.181  —  —
43 46 Michael Annett HScott Motorsports Chevrolet 29.384  —  —
Failed to qualify
44 62 Brendan Gaughan (i) Premium Motorsports Chevrolet 29.358  —  —
Official qualifying results

Race

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First half

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Start

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The race was scheduled to start at 7:46 p.m., but the threat of weather moved the start time up to 7:36. The race started at 7:39 when Joey Logano led the field to the green flag. Going into turn 3, Jimmie Johnson got loose and about took out teammate Dale Earnhardt Jr. He was saved by the first caution of the race flew on lap eight for a two car wreck on the backstretch and turn 4. Exiting turn 2, Jeb Burton had a left-front flat and spun out on the backstretch, however at that point the race stayed green. Teammate J. J. Yeley spun and made contact with the wall in turn 4, which caused the caution.[15]

The race restarted on lap 13. Alex Bowman dropped to the apron on the front stretch for electrical issues that dropped him to 42nd. The second caution of the race flew on lap 26. This was a scheduled competition caution. Most of the leaders took just two tires on this stop.[15]

Threat of rain

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The race restarted on lap 30. Kurt Busch went ahead of Logano in turn 3 and took the lead on lap 31. Teammate Kevin Harvick passed him in turn 1 to take the lead on lap 51. Martin Truex Jr. took the lead on lap 58. He hit pit road on lap 79 to pit. This handed the lead to Brad Keselowski. He just about missed pit road trying to enter and handed the lead to Matt Kenseth. He ducked onto pit road on lap 82 and handed the lead to rookie teammate Erik Jones. The lead cycled back to Martin Truex Jr. on lap 84. Michael McDowell was tagged for speeding and served a drive-through penalty.[15]

The third caution of the race flew on lap 95 for a one car spin on the front stretch.[16] Exiting turn 4, Jeb Burton got loose and spun down through the grass.[16] Dale Earnhardt Jr. got back on the lead lap being the first car a lap down.[17] Despite having just been on pit road, all of the lead lap cars pitted. Most took just two tires. Joey Logano was tagged for his crew being over the wall too soon. He was forced to restart from the tail-end of the field. Just before the race was to restart, rain started pouring and the race was red flagged on lap 99.[18] Lightning in the area forced the spotters, camera people and fans to get to cover. The red flag lasted for two hours, 15 minutes and 30 seconds.[19]

Restart

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The drivers were called back to their cars at 10:30 p.m. The engines were re-fired at 10:58. The red flag was lifted and the cars rolled off pit road at 11:00. The race restarted on lap 108. The fourth caution of the race flew on lap 118 for a one car spin on the front stretch. Exiting turn 4, David Ragan got loose and spun through the grass. He came to a rest on the race logo in the middle of the front stretch. Brad Keselowski opted not to pit and took the lead.[15]

The race restarted on lap 128. The fifth caution of the race flew on lap 131 for a multi-car wreck exiting turn 2. Matt Kenseth got sideways after suffering a flat left-front tire exiting 2 and was able to save it. Tony Stewart, trying to avoid Kenseth, got turned by Brett Moffitt into the wall.[20]

Second half

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Halfway

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The race restarted on lap 135. Brad Keselowski surrendered the lead on lap 164 to pit and handed it to Martin Truex Jr. He ducked onto pit road on lap 176. This handed the lead to Carl Edwards. The sixth caution of the race flew on lap 184 for a single car wreck in turn 3. Going through turn 3, Clint Bowyer came down on Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and spun out. He was tagged again by Stenhouse who was trying to avoid hitting him further and spun around even more.[15]

The race restarted with 77 laps to go. The seventh caution of the race flew for Erik Jones hitting the wall in the tri-oval.[21] Exiting turn 4, his car got loose.[21] He overcorrected and turned head first into the wall.[21] Jones took the car to the garage. “I learned a lot about racing upfront and racing these guys,” Jones said later on Fox Sports 1. “I just got loose off 4 and lost it. It’s my fault. I’m ready to do another one. I hope we get a shot at it.”[21]

Fourth quarter

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The race restarted with 67 laps to go. Denny Hamlin suffered damage on the restart and pitted to repair it. He crashed in turn 1 and brought out the eighth caution with 60 laps to go. “I think we blew a left-front tire,” Hamlin told FOX Sports 1. He was unhappy with how long it took for NASCAR to throw a caution. “I blew it off of Turn 4, spun out, hit the wall at the start-finish line. I keep spinning, keep hitting the wall and I can’t figure out why everyone is still coming at 200 (mph). I look and the green light is on. They didn’t throw a caution until seven seconds after I wrecked. Luckily no one hit us in the door.”[22] Kyle Larson exited pit road with the lead.[15]

The race restarted with 55 laps to go. Kevin Harvick took back the lead with 54 laps to go. The ninth caution of the race flew with twelve laps to go when Stenhouse Jr. slammed the wall in turn 2. Jimmie Johnson opted not to pit when Harvick did under caution and assumed the lead. Paul Menard was tagged for an uncontrolled tire and forced to drop to the tail-end of the field for the restart.[15]

 
Jimmie Johnson, seen here at the 2015 Daytona 500, scored his 73rd career victory at Kansas.
Final laps
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After waiving the restart with seven to go, the race restarted with six laps to go. Jimmie Johnson held off a hard charging Kevin Harvick for his 73rd career victory.[23]

Post-race

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Driver comments

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“It was a long hard night of racing and fighting for track position,” Johnson said. “Once we got up front, we were able to hang on for the final eight or nine laps, whatever it was.”[23] Martin Truex Jr. finished ninth after leading a race high 95 laps.[24] “Yeah, definitely not the finish we wanted, obviously, but proud of the guys for the weekend we had, just had good speed all weekend, brought a brand new car here and just proud of that,” Truex Jr. said. “It's kind of disappointing, but at the same time proud of the way we ran, and I think it's something we can build off of. We should have either stayed out or took new tires. We probably did the worst thing you could have done there with just staying out and getting gas only, because we ended up being the last guy with no tires. Everybody else behind us had two and they ate us up on the restart. If we'd have taken two, we probably would have come out sixth, been in a pretty good position.”[24]

Race results

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Pos Grid No. Driver Team Manufacturer Laps Points
1 19 48 Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 267 47
2 6 4 Kevin Harvick Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet 267 43
3 17 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 267 41
4 11 24 Jeff Gordon Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 267 40
5 1 22 Joey Logano Team Penske Ford 267 40
6 18 20 Matt Kenseth Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 267 39
7 3 2 Brad Keselowski Team Penske Ford 267 38
8 8 41 Kurt Busch Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet 267 37
9 4 78 Martin Truex Jr. Furniture Row Racing Chevrolet 267 37
10 15 31 Ryan Newman Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 267 34
11 14 43 Aric Almirola Richard Petty Motorsports Ford 267 33
12 7 16 Greg Biffle Roush Fenway Racing Ford 267 32
13 9 1 Jamie McMurray Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 267 31
14 29 47 A. J. Allmendinger JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet 267 30
15 10 42 Kyle Larson Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 267 30
16 26 9 Sam Hornish Jr. Richard Petty Motorsports Ford 267 28
17 2 5 Kasey Kahne Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 267 27
18 22 27 Paul Menard Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 267 26
19 24 13 Casey Mears Germain Racing Chevrolet 266 25
20 5 19 Carl Edwards Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 266 25
21 21 15 Clint Bowyer Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota 266 23
22 28 3 Austin Dillon Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 266 22
23 43 46 Michael Annett HScott Motorsports Chevrolet 266 21
24 20 17 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Roush Fenway Racing Ford 266 20
25 35 83 Matt DiBenedetto (R) BK Racing Toyota 266 19
26 32 33 Ty Dillon (i) Hillman-Circle Sport LLC Chevrolet 266 0
27 27 10 Danica Patrick Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet 265 17
28 40 98 Josh Wise Phil Parsons Racing Chevrolet 265 16
29 41 40 Landon Cassill (i) Hillman-Circle Sport LLC Chevrolet 265 0
30 25 51 Justin Allgaier HScott Motorsports Chevrolet 265 14
31 30 6 Trevor Bayne Roush Fenway Racing Ford 265 13
32 38 38 David Gilliland Front Row Motorsports Ford 263 12
33 23 55 David Ragan Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota 263 11
34 39 34 Brett Moffitt (R) Front Row Motorsports Ford 263 10
35 34 35 Cole Whitt Front Row Motorsports Ford 263 9
36 31 95 Michael McDowell Leavine Family Racing Ford 262 8
37 37 23 J. J. Yeley (i) BK Racing Toyota 262 0
38 42 32 Joey Gase (i) Go FAS Racing Ford 262 0
39 16 14 Tony Stewart Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet 262 5
40 12 18 Erik Jones (i) Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 258 0
41 13 11 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 242 3
42 33 26 Jeb Burton (R) BK Racing Toyota 205 2
43 36 7 Alex Bowman Tommy Baldwin Racing Chevrolet 153 1
Official SpongeBob SquarePants 400 results

Race statistics

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  • 16 lead changes among 10 different drivers
  • 9 cautions for 49 laps; 1 red flag for 2 hours, 15 minutes and 30 seconds
  • Time of race: 3 hours, 11 minutes, 50 seconds
  • Average speed: 125.265 mph (201.594 km/h)
  • Jimmie Johnson took home $243,726 in winnings
Lap Leaders
Laps Leader
1-29 Joey Logano
30-49 Kurt Busch
50-56 Kevin Harvick
57-78 Martin Truex Jr.
79-80 Brad Keselowski
81 Matt Kenseth
82 Erik Jones (i)
83-121 Martin Truex Jr.
122–162 Brad Keselowski
163–175 Martin Truex Jr.
176–187 Carl Edwards
188–199 Martin Truex Jr.
200 Kyle Larson
201–209 Martin Truex Jr.
210–211 Kyle Larson
212–257 Kevin Harvick
258–267 Jimmie Johnson
Total laps led
Leader Laps
Martin Truex Jr. 95
Kevin Harvick 53
Brad Keselowski 29
Kurt Busch 20
Carl Edwards 12
Jimmie Johnson 10
Kyle Larson 3
Matt Kenseth 1
Erik Jones (i) 1

Race awards

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Media

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Television

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Fox Sports covered their fifth race at Kansas Speedway. Mike Joy, Larry McReynolds and Darrell Waltrip had the call in the booth for the race. Jamie Little, Chris Neville and Matt Yocum handled the pit road duties for the television side. Due to a Major League Baseball game running long on Fox Sports 1, the first 22 minutes of the broadcast was shown on Fox News Channel. The race switched back over to Fox Sports 1 as intended when the ballgame was over.

Fox Sports 1
Booth announcers Pit reporters
Lap-by-lap: Mike Joy
Color-commentator: Larry McReynolds
Color commentator: Darrell Waltrip
Jamie Little
Chris Neville
Matt Yocum

Radio

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MRN had the radio call for the race, which was simulcast on Sirius XM NASCAR Radio. Joe Moore, Jeff Striegle and Rusty Wallace called the race in the booth when the field was racing through the tri-oval. Dave Moody called the race from a billboard outside of turn 2 when the field was racing through turns 1 and 2. Kurt Becker called the race from a billboard outside of turn 3 when the field was racing through turns 3 and 4. Alex Hayden, Winston Kelley 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
Turns 1 & 2: Dave Moody
Turns 3 & 4: Kurt Becker
Alex Hayden
Winston Kelley
Steve Post

Standings after the race

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References

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  1. ^ "2015 NASCAR Schedule" (PDF). NASCAR.com. NASCAR Media Group, LLC. August 26, 2014. Archived from the original (PDF) on April 4, 2015. Retrieved May 4, 2015.
  2. ^ "Kansas Speedway". NASCAR.com. NASCAR Media Group, LLC. January 3, 2013. Archived from the original on May 4, 2015. Retrieved May 4, 2015.
  3. ^ "Entry List". MRN.com. Motor Racing Network. May 4, 2015. Archived from the original on May 5, 2015. Retrieved May 4, 2015.
  4. ^ "First Practice Results". MRN.com. Motor Racing Network. May 8, 2015. Archived from the original on May 10, 2015. Retrieved May 8, 2015.
  5. ^ "Final Practice Results". MRN.com. Motor Racing Network. May 8, 2015. Archived from the original on May 10, 2015. Retrieved May 8, 2015.
  6. ^ "Qualifying Results". MRN.com. Motor Racing Network. May 8, 2015. Archived from the original on May 18, 2015. Retrieved May 8, 2015.
  7. ^ "SpongeBob SquarePants 400 Results". MRN.com. Motor Racing Network. May 10, 2015. Archived from the original on May 18, 2015. Retrieved May 10, 2015.
  8. ^ "Points standings" (PDF). Jayski.com. NASCAR Statistics. May 10, 2015. Archived from the original (PDF) on May 13, 2015. Retrieved May 10, 2015.
  9. ^ "Manufacturer standings" (PDF). Jayski.com. NASCAR Integrated Marketing Communications. May 11, 2015. Archived from the original (PDF) on May 22, 2015. Retrieved May 11, 2015.
  10. ^ Paulsen (May 11, 2015). "Rainy NASCAR From Kansas Low on Fox Sports 1". SportsMediaWatch.com. Sports Media Watch. Retrieved May 11, 2015.
  11. ^ a b Paulsen (May 12, 2015). "Just 2.4 Million For Rain-Delayed NASCAR From Kansas". SportsMediaWatch.com. Sports Media Watch. Retrieved May 13, 2015.
  12. ^ Long, Dustin (May 8, 2015). "Kevin Harvick leads NASCAR Sprint Cup field in first practice session at Kansas". nascartalk.nbcsports.com. NBC Sports. Retrieved May 8, 2015.
  13. ^ a b Bonkowski, Jerry (May 8, 2015). "Erik Jones, 18, is fastest in final Sprint Cup practice at Kansas". nascartalk.nbcsports.com. NBC Sports. Retrieved May 8, 2015.
  14. ^ a b c d e f g Pistone, Pete (May 8, 2015). "Logano Earns Kansas Pole". MRN.com. Kansas City, Kansas: Motor Racing Network. Archived from the original on May 11, 2015. Retrieved May 8, 2015.
  15. ^ a b c d e f g "2015 SpongeBob SquarePants 400". Sprint Cup Series. Season 67. Kansas City, Kansas. May 9, 2015. Event occurs at 7:39 p.m. Fox Sports. Fox Sports 1. Retrieved July 18, 2015.
  16. ^ a b Jensen, Tom (May 9, 2015). "Rain halts SpongeBob SquarePants 400 at Kansas Speedway". FoxSports.com. Fox Sports Interactive Media, LLC. Retrieved May 9, 2015.
  17. ^ Boyd, Jason O. (May 9, 2015). "SpongeBob SquarePants 400 Sprint Cup race in rain delay". SportingNews.com. Sporting News Media. Archived from the original on May 11, 2015. Retrieved May 9, 2015.
  18. ^ McFadin, Daniel (May 9, 2015). "SpongeBob Squarepants 400 delayed for weather on Lap 98". nascartalk.nbcsports.com. NBC Sports. Retrieved May 9, 2015.
  19. ^ McFadin, Daniel (May 9, 2015). "Brad Keselowski leads at halfway in the SpongeBob SquarePants 400 at Kansas Speedway". nascartalk.nbcsports.com. NBC Sports. Retrieved May 9, 2015.
  20. ^ Pennell, Jay (May 9, 2015). "Tony Stewart angry with Brett Moffitt after accordion-effect collision". FoxSports.com. Fox Sports Interactive Media, LLC. Retrieved May 10, 2015.
  21. ^ a b c d Bonkwoski, Jerry (May 10, 2015). "Erik Jones' Sprint Cup debut ends prematurely in single-car wreck at Kansas". nascartalk.nbcsports.com. NBC Sports. Retrieved May 10, 2015.
  22. ^ McFadin, Daniel (May 10, 2015). "Three of four Joe Gibbs Racing cars find trouble in SpongeBob SquarePants 400". nascartalk.nbcsports.com. NBC Sports. Retrieved May 10, 2015.
  23. ^ a b Pistone, Pete (May 10, 2015). "Kansas Belongs to Johnson". MRN.com. Kansas City, Kansas: Motor Racing Network. Archived from the original on May 12, 2015. Retrieved May 10, 2015.
  24. ^ a b Pistone, Pete (May 10, 2015). "Truex Jr. Disappointed in Finish". MRN.com. Kansas City, Kansas: Motor Racing Network. Archived from the original on May 12, 2015. Retrieved May 10, 2015.


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