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11.23.15
Ford 400 Post-Report
Date: Nov. 22, 2015
Event: NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Season Finale (Round 36 of 36)
Series: NASCAR Sprint Cup Series
Location: Homestead-Miami Speedway (1.5-mile oval)
Start/Finish: 35th/24th (Running, completed 266 of 267 laps)
Point Standing: 24th (716 points)
Winner: Kyle Busch of Joe Gibbs Racing (Toyota)
Champion: Kyle Busch of Joe Gibbs Racing (Toyota)
Danica Patrick and the No. 10 GoDaddy Chevrolet SS team for Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR) battled handling issues throughout Sunday’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway but were able to bring home a 24th-place result.
After the race was delayed more than an hour and a half due to rain, Patrick lined up 35th for the start. The No. 10 GoDaddy Chevrolet fired off well, and Patrick was able to gain eight positions before the caution flag waved for the first time at lap 14. Crew chief Daniel Knost called her to pit road for four tires when the pits opened at lap 15, and Patrick lined up 19th for the lap-18 restart.
She remained inside the top-20 until the team pitted at lap 41 for tires, fuel and air pressure adjustments. Some teams elected not to pit, so Patrick restarted in the 28th position at lap 44. Two laps later, impressive maneuvering by Patrick allowed her to avoid a multicar accident that occurred right in front of the No. 10 GoDaddy Chevrolet.
Patrick restarted 17th after that caution, gained three spots once the field went back to green, but then dropped to the 20th position as she struggled with the car’s handling. Knost called for air pressure and wedge adjustments throughout the remainder of the event, but Patrick fell a lap down to the leader at lap 144, and she lost a second lap at lap 218.
When the caution flag waved with just over 10 laps to go, Knost called for Patrick to stay out and take the wave-around, which put her just one lap down to the leader. Patrick took the checkered flag in the 24th position.
“We were able to make up some ground on restarts, and the GoDaddy Chevy seemed to have speed on longer runs, but we seemed to struggle on short and midrange runs,” Patrick said. “Overall, I’m proud of my team for fighting hard all race long to improve the car. I hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving and enjoys the off-season.”
Kevin Harvick, driver of the No. 4 Budweiser/Jimmy John’s Chevrolet SS, led the four-car SHR contingent Sunday by finishing second.
Harvick led once for 46 laps en route to his 13th second-place finish of the season. It was his 23rd top-five of 2015 and his seventh top-five in 15 career Sprint Cup starts at Homestead. The finish was also Harvick’s 28th top-10 of 2015, eclipsing his previous single-season career-best of 26 top-10s in 2010. Harvick finishes the 2015 season with 2,294 laps led, breaking his single-season record of 2,137 laps led in 2014 as he raced to the Sprint Cup championship.
Harvick was one of four drivers contending for the championship at Homestead, with his fellow title contenders being Kyle Busch, Jeff Gordon and Martin Truex Jr. Busch scored the race victory to claim the 2015 Sprint Cup championship.
Kurt Busch, driver of the No. 41 Haas Automation Chevrolet SS for SHR and Kyle’s older brother, finished eighth. It was his third-straight top-10 finish, his 21st of 2015, and his sixth top-10 in 15 career Sprint Cup starts at Homestead.
With Kurt Busch having won the Sprint Cup championship in 2004 and now Kyle Busch a Sprint Cup champion, the Busch brothers join Terry and Bobby Labonte as the only brothers to win Sprint Cup championships. Terry Labonte won titles in 1984 and 1996, and Bobby Labonte earned his championship in 2000.
Tony Stewart, driver of the No. 14 Bass Pro Shops/Mobil 1 Chevrolet SS for SHR, finished 29th after getting caught up in an early race accident.
Kyle Busch’s victory in the season-ending race was his 34th career Sprint Cup victory, his fifth of the season and his first at Homestead.
Harvick finished 1.552 seconds behind Busch in the runner-up spot, while Brad Keselowski, Joey Logano and Kyle Larson rounded out the top-five. Gordon, Matt Kenseth, Kurt Busch, Jimmie Johnson and Denny Hamlin comprised the remainder of the top-10.
There were seven caution periods for 30 laps, with two drivers failing to finish the 267-lap race around the 1.5-mile oval.
The 2016 Sprint Cup season kicks off Feb. 12-21 with the traditional Speedweeks at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway. The 58th Daytona 500, the first points-paying race of the season, is scheduled for Feb. 21 and will be broadcast live on FOX.