Credit: 308326Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images. Kurt Busch, driver of the #41 Haas Automation Chevrolet, celebrates in Victory Lane after winning the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Toyota Owners 400 at Richmond International Raceway on April 26, 2015 in Richmond, Virginia.
Starting from 3rd place Car 41 Kurt Busch Haas Automation Chevrolet won the 61st Annual Toyota Owners 400, his 26th victory in 513 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races. This is Busch’s 1st win & 3rd Top 10 finish in 2015. This is his 2nd win & 11th Top 10 finish in 29 races at Richmond International Raceway. 2nd Place Car 4 Kevin Harvick Jimmy John’s/Budweiser Chevrolet started from 5th place posted his 18th top-10 finish in 29 races at Richmond International Raceway. It is his 8th Top 10 finish in 2015. 3rd Place Car 48 Jimmie Johnson Lowe’s Pro Services Chevrolet started from 36th place posted his 10th Top 10 finish in 27 races at Richmond International
Raceway.
Credit: 308328Daniel Shirey/NASCAR via Getty Images. Kurt Busch, driver of the #41 Haas Automation Chevrolet, takes the checkered flag to win the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Toyota Owners 400 at Richmond International Raceway on April 26, 2015 in Richmond, Virginia.
4th Place Car 1 Jamie McMurray Energizer Chevrolet started from 9th place followed by 5th place Car 22 Joey Logano Shell Pennzoil Ford started from pole. 6th Place Car 5 Kasey Kahne Great Clips Chevrolet started from 40th place followed by 7th place Car 20 Matt Kenseth Dollar General Toyota started from 8th place. 8th Place Car 24 Jeff Gordon Drive to End Hunger Chevrolet started from 11th place followed by 9th place Car 15 Clint Bowyer AAA Insurance Toyota started from 17th place. Lastly in the Top 10 was Car 78 Martin Truex Jr. Furniture Row/Visser Precision Chevrolet in 10th place, who started from 6th place.
Credit: 308318Daniel Shirey/NASCAR via Getty Images. Joey Logano, driver of the #22 Shell-Pennzoil Ford, Denny Hamlin, driver of the #11 FedEx Ground Toyota, and Kurt Busch, driver of the #41 Haas Automation Chevrolet, lead the field to start the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Toyota Owners 400 at Richmond International Raceway on April 26, 2015 in Richmond, Virginia.
Kevin Harvick leads the point standings by 33 points over Joey Logano.
Credit: 308319Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images. Cars race during the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Toyota Owners 400 at Richmond International Raceway on April 26, 2015 in Richmond, Virginia.
The race had 8 Cautions for 53 Laps:1st Caution on lap 52 for Competition caution. 2nd Caution on lap 129 for Debris on the backstretch. 3rd Caution on lap 139 for Car 98 Josh Wise Phil Parsons Racing Ford Spin in Turn 1. 4th Caution on lap 164 for Fluid on the frontstretch. 5th Caution on lap 271 for Debris in Turn 4. 6th Caution on lap 352 for Debris on the backstretch. 7th Caution on lap 361 for Car 14 Tony Stewart Mobil 1/Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet and Car 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Nationwide Chevrolet crash in Turn 1. 8th Caution on lap 369 for Car 9 Sam Hornish Jr. Gwaltney Ford and Car 23 Jeb Burton # Estes Express Lines Toyota crash on the backstretch.
Credit: 308324Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images. Jamie McMurray, driver of the #1 Energizer Chevrolet, and Kurt Busch, driver of the #41 Haas Automation Chevrolet, race during the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Toyota Owners 400 at Richmond International Raceway on April 26, 2015 in Richmond, Virginia.
The race had 12 Lead Changes among 5 drivers: J. Logano 1-94; K. Busch 95-129; K. Harvick 130; K. Busch 131-164; K. Harvick 165; K. Busch 166-258; J. McMurray 259; K. Busch 260-261; J. McMurray 262-264; B. Keselowski 265-272; K. Busch 273-352; B. Keselowski 353; K. Busch 354-400.
Credit: 308327Daniel Shirey/NASCAR via Getty Images. Kurt Busch, driver of the #41 Haas Automation Chevrolet, celebrates with a burnout after winning the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Toyota Owners 400 at Richmond International Raceway on April 26, 2015 in Richmond, Virginia.
Kurt Busch dominated the race at Richmond International Raceway leading 6 times for 291 laps out of 400. This race gave Busch some redemption after the suspension at the beginning of the year & a seat in the Chase for the Cup.
“It’s an incredible feeling,” said Busch, who was reinstated March 11 and granted a waiver into the Chase. “It’s a total team effort. And the way that everything came together, it just seemed like we were building, building and building towards a great finish like this.
“I have this opportunity because of Gene Haas and everybody that’s a part of our family at Stewart-Haas. It’s an unbelievable feeling when you pull deep from within, you go through troubles and you know when you’re accused of something and things go sideways. Your personal life doesn’t need to affect your business life and I’m here in Victory Lane. It feels great to do it at Richmond.”
“Tony Gibson is an amazing crew chief and I’m glad I’ve got the chance to work with him,” Busch said. “We got it done today.”
Credit: 308320Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images. Joey Logano, driver of the #22 Shell-Pennzoil Ford, pits during the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Toyota Owners 400 at Richmond International Raceway on April 26, 2015 in Richmond, Virginia.
Great effort by 3rd place Car 48 Jimmie Johnson Lowe’s Pro Services Chevrolet who started in 36th place & worked his way to the front. Car 10 Danica Patrick GoDaddy Chevrolet finished in 25th place, but also had a good effort as she had nice saves with contact.
Credit: 308329Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images. Danica Patrick, driver of the #10 GoDaddy.com Chevrolet, and Ryan Newman, driver of the #31 Quicken Loans Chevrolet, race during the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Toyota Owners 400 at Richmond International Raceway on April 26, 2015 in Richmond, Virginia.
Chase Grid Outlook: 1.K. Harvick 357 (2 wins);2.J. Johnson 299 (2);3.J. Logano 324 (1);4.B. Keselowski 283 (1);5.M. Kenseth 273 (1);6.D. Hamlin 245 (1);7.M. Truex Jr. 315 (0);8.K. Kahne 275 (0);9.D. Earnhardt Jr. 271 (0);10.J. Mcmurray 264 (0);11.J. Gordon 263 (0);12.A. Almirola 250 (0);13.P. Menard 239 (0);14.C. Bowyer 235 (0);15.R. Newman 234 (0);16.D. Patrick 230 (0).
Credit: 308283Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images. Miss Sprint Cup Madison Martin poses during practice for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Toyota Owners 400 at Richmond International Raceway on April 24, 2015 in Richmond, Virginia.
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Race Number 9
Unofficial Race Results for the 61St Annual Toyota Owners 400 – Sunday, April 26, 2015
Richmond International Raceway – Richmond, VA – .75 Mile Paved
Total Race Length – 400 Laps – 300 Miles – Purse: $5,171,635
Finishing Position Starting Position Car # Driver Team Laps Status
1. 3. Car 41 Kurt Busch Haas Automation Chevrolet 400 Running
2. 5. Car 4 Kevin Harvick Jimmy John’s/Budweiser Chevrolet 400 Running
3. 36. Car 48 Jimmie Johnson Lowe’s Pro Services Chevrolet 400 Running
4. 9. Car 1 Jamie McMurray Energizer Chevrolet 400 Running
5. 1. Car 22 Joey Logano Shell Pennzoil Ford 400 Running
6. 40. Car 5 Kasey Kahne Great Clips Chevrolet 400 Running
7. 8. Car 20 Matt Kenseth Dollar General Toyota 400 Running
8. 11. Car 24 Jeff Gordon Drive to End Hunger Chevrolet 400 Running
9. 17. Car 15 Clint Bowyer AAA Insurance Toyota 400 Running
10. 6. Car 78 Martin Truex Jr. Furniture Row/Visser Precision Chevrolet 400 Running
11. 23. Car 31 Ryan Newman Quicken Loans Chevrolet 400 Running
12. 12. Car 42 Kyle Larson Target Chevrolet 400 Running
13. 4. Car 47 AJ Allmendinger Scott Products Chevrolet 400 Running
14. 26. Car 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Nationwide Chevrolet 400 Running
15. 15. Car 27 Paul Menard CertainTeed/Menards Chevrolet 400 Running
16. 16. Car 25 Chase Elliott(i) NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet 400 Running
17. 7. Car 2 Brad Keselowski Alliance Truck Parts Ford 400 Running
18. 22. Car 51 Justin Allgaier Brandt Chevrolet 400 Running
19. 18. Car 19 Carl Edwards ARRIS Toyota 400 Running
20. 27. Car 43 Aric Almirola Smithfield Ford 399 Running
21. 32. Car 16 Greg Biffle Ortho Ford 398 Running
22. 2. Car 11 Denny Hamlin FedEx Ground Toyota 398 Running
23. 10. Car 18 David Ragan M&M’s Crispy Toyota 398 Running
24. 34. Car 6 Trevor Bayne AdvoCare Ford 398 Running
25. 21. Car 10 Danica Patrick GoDaddy Chevrolet 398 Running
26. 19. Car 40 Landon Cassill(i) Newtown Building Supplies Chevrolet 398 Running
27. 20. Car 3 Austin Dillon American Ethanol Chevrolet 398 Running
28. 24. Car 17 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Fifth Third Bank Ford 398 Running
29. 14. Car 55 Brett Moffitt # Aaron’s Dream Machine Toyota 396 Running
30. 25. Car 13 Casey Mears GEICO Chevrolet 396 Running
31. 30. Car 38 David Gilliland The Pete Store Ford 396 Running
32. 41. Car 7 Alex Bowman DOC 360 Chevrolet 396 Running
33. 38. Car 46 Michael Annett Pilot/Flying J Chevrolet 395 Running
34. 43. Car 34 Reed Sorenson Dockside Logistics Ford 395 Running
35. 29. Car 9 Sam Hornish Jr. Gwaltney Ford 394 Running
36. 31. Car 35 Cole Whitt Front Row Motorsports Ford 394 Running
37. 37. Car 83 Matt DiBenedetto Dan Bilzerian Toyota 394 Running
38. 39. Car 23 Jeb Burton # Estes Express Lines Toyota 393 Running
39. 42. Car 33 Alex Kennedy # HonorandRemember.org Chevrolet 392 Running
40. 33. Car 30 Jeff Green(i) Curtis Key Plumbing Chevrolet 386 Running
41. 13. Car 14 Tony Stewart Mobil 1/Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet 359 Accident
42. 28. Car 98 Josh Wise Phil Parsons Racing Ford 137 Engine
43. 35. Car 32 Joey Gase(i) Keen Parts/Donate Life Ford 124 Accident
Race Comments: Prior to the start of the race, the following cars dropped to the rear of the field for the reasons indicated: #23 (driver change), #35 (transmission change), #30 (engine change). Failed to Qualify: N/A Time of Race: 3 Hrs, 05 Mins, 16 Secs. Average Speed: 97.157 MPH Margin of Victory: 0.754 Seconds.
3M Lap Leader: Kurt Busch, #41 291 Laps Coors Light Pole Award: Joey Logano, #22 127.071 mph Duralast Brakes “Brake in the Race”: Joey Logano, #22 Ingersoll Rand Power Move: Ryan Newman, #31 5 positions Mahle Clevite Engine Builder of the Race: Hendrick Engines, #41 Mobil 1 Driver of the Race: Kurt Busch, #41 Moog Chassis Parts Problem Solver of the Race: Jamie McMurray, #1 crew chief Matt McCall, -0.069 seconds Sherwin-Williams Fastest Lap: AJ Allmendinger, #47 Sunoco Rookie of the Race: Brett Moffitt, #55.
(i) Ineligible for driver points in this series
Next Race: May. 3, 2015 – Talladega Superspeedway
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