The 2015 GEICO 500 was a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race held on May 3, 2015 at Talladega Superspeedway in Lincoln, Alabama. Contested over 188 laps on the 2.66 mile (4.28 km) asphalt superspeedway, it was the tenth race of the 2015 NASCAR Sprint Cup season. Dale Earnhardt Jr. won the race, his first win of the season and his sixth at Talladega Superspeedway and first at the racetrack since 2004. His teammate Jimmie Johnson finished second, while Paul Menard, Ryan Blaney and Martin Truex Jr. rounded out the Top five.
Jeff Gordon won the pole for the race, the 80th of his career and fourth at the track. He led 47 laps before getting caught in a last lap wreck on his way to a 31st-place finish. Teammate Dale Earnhardt Jr. led a race high of 67 laps. The race had 27 lead changes among 15 different drivers, as well as six cautions for 23 laps. There was one red flag period for eleven minutes and 32 seconds.
This was the 24th career victory for Dale Earnhardt Jr., sixth at Talladega Superspeedway and twelfth at the track for Hendrick Motorsports. The win moved Junior up to fifth in the points standings. Chevrolet left Talladega with a 37-point lead over Ford in the manufacturer standings.
The GEICO 500 was carried by Fox Sports on the broadcast Fox 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
Talladega Superspeedway, originally known as Alabama International Motor Superspeedway (AIMS), is a motorsports complex located north of Talladega, Alabama. It is located on the former Anniston Air Force Base in the small city of Lincoln. The track is a Tri-oval and was constructed by International Speedway Corporation, a business controlled by the France Family, in the 1960s. Talladega is most known for its steep banking and the unique location of the start/finish line - located just past the exit to pit road. The track currently hosts the NASCAR series such as the Sprint Cup Series, Xfinity Series, and the Camping World Truck Series. Talladega Superspeedway is the longest NASCAR oval with a length of , and the track at its peak had a seating capacity of 175,000 spectators, although the current capacity is 80,000 seats.
Kevin Harvick entered Talladega with a 33-point lead over Joey Logano following his runner-up finish the week before at Richmond. Martin Truex Jr. entered 42 back. Jimmie Johnson entered 58 back. Brad Keselowski entered 74 back.
Changes to qualifying
On March 30, 2015, in response to a series of accidents that happened during pole qualifying at the Daytona 500, NASCAR made changes to the qualifying format for all three national series at the restrictor plate tracks. Qualifying for both the spring and fall Talladega races, as well as the July events at Daytona International Speedway, will consist of the following:
* Two rounds of qualifying, with the top twelve posted lap speeds advancing to the second round * Race vehicles taking one, timed lap in each round of qualifying * Each race vehicle will be released in a predetermined timed interval as determined by NASCAR, with the sanctioning body reserving the right to have more than one vehicle engaging in qualifying runs at the same time * Qualifying order for the first round will be determined by a random draw; final round qualifying order is determined by slowest to fastest speeds from the first round * A ten-minute break will occur between the first qualifying round and the final round * Upon completion of the first qualifying round, the field will be set with positions 13 and beyond determined from first round qualifying speed * The twelve fastest vehicles from the first round will have their speeds reset for the final round with starting positions 1-12 determined by the fastest laps in the final round * NASCAR will impound race vehicles following each qualifying lap; vehicles advancing to the final round will be allowed to adjust tape and utilize a cool-down unit during the ten minute break only
While no official announcement was made on how many cars would be on track at once, Steve O'Donnell, NASCAR's executive vice president and chief racing development officer, said they would likely do two cars at a time to Mike Bagley and Pete Pistone in his weekly Monday appearance on the Sirius XM NASCAR Radio program "The Morning Drive." He also discussed with the show's hosts why NASCAR made the change.