The 2015 Bojangles' Southern 500, the 66th running of the event, was a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race held on September 6, 2015, at Darlington Raceway in Darlington, South Carolina. Contested over 367 laps on the 1.366 mile (2.198 km) egg-shaped speedway, it was the 25th race of the 2015 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season. Carl Edwards won the race, the 25th of his career. Brad Keselowski finished second. Denny Hamlin, Joey Logano and Kevin Harvick rounded out the top five.
Keselowski won the pole for the race. He led a race high of 196 laps on his way to a runner–up finish. The race had 24 lead changes among 11 different drivers, as well as 18 caution flag periods for 89 laps.
This was the 25th career victory for Carl Edwards, second of the season, first at Darlington Raceway and fifth at the track for Joe Gibbs Racing. The win moved Edwards up to 12th in the drivers points standings 235 behind Kevin Harvick. Despite being the winning manufacturer, Toyota left Darlington trailing Chevrolet by 63–points in the manufacturer standings.
The Bojangles' Southern 500 was carried by NBC Sports on the broadcast NBC 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
Darlington Raceway is a egg-shaped oval track in Darlington, South Carolina. Kevin Harvick entered Darlington with a 43–point lead over Joey Logano. Dale Earnhardt Jr. entered 89 back. Brad Keselowski entered 115 back. Jimmie Johnson entered 116 back.
Return to Labor Day
From 1950 to 2003, the Bojangles' Southern 500 was run on Labor Day weekend in late-August or early-September. For the 2004 season, the race (then known as the Mountain Dew Southern 500) was moved to the penultimate race of the season while a second race at Auto Club Speedway was added into the Labor Day spot. The Southern 500 was discontinued as a result of the Ferko lawsuit. Fontana kept the Labor Day weekend date from 2004 to 2009, when it moved to October. Atlanta Motor Speedway moved to the Labor Day spot and remained there from 2009 to 2014. During that time, the spring race (Rebel) would become a 500-mile race and moved up to Mother's Day weekend in May 2005 (when the lineal Rebel 300 was first run in 1957) and remained there for eight years. It then moved to mid-April for 2014. In August of that year, NASCAR announced Darlington's date, which still is the race that traces its lineage to the 1957 Rebel 300, would be held on Labor Day. It was the first time Darlington hosted on the date since 2003.
Members of the NASCAR media gave their thoughts on the return to Labor Day weekend. Pete Pistone of the Motor Racing Network said that Labor Day weekend in Auto Club "never felt right," Labor Day weekend in Atlanta "was better but still not quite there," that Darlington Raceway "fits like a glove" and is "back to where you belong, Bojangles' Southern 500. Don't ever go away again."
In ESPN.com's weekly Turn 4 series, NASCAR analysts and writers Ricky Craven, Ryan McGhee, John Oreovicz, and Bob Pockrass answered the week's question "Why did it take so long for NASCAR to move the Labor Day race back to Darlington[.]" Craven said that he "wasn't sure" but "[f]ew things are more powerful in sports than the power of tradition. This race is synonymous with Labor Day weekend. Moving it to a spring race felt like inviting Santa Claus to Halloween." McGhee said that going back meant "admitting a mistake. NASCAR doesn't like that. Otherwise, we would have gone back to the 2014 aero package six months ago." Oreovicz said it most likely was because NASCAR "doesn't do anything until [they decide] it's a good idea, no matter how popular the idea might be to the masses. But this is another sign that NASCAR is actually listening to its constituents a bit more these days." Pockrass said that "[s]tubbornness and refusal to admit failure" was his guess and that it was "one of NASCAR's most head-scratching moves in trying to build the sport. NASCAR should have never messed with this tradition in the first place. NASCAR didn't belong in California on Labor Day weekend. It didn't belong in Atlanta. It belongs in Darlington, South Carolina. And it's back. Finally."
Jordan Bianchi of SB Nation said that there are traditions that are "just too important. They are the institutions that shouldn't be tampered with under almost any circumstance, worthy of being shared from one generation to the next." He also added that by returning "Darlington to Labor Day weekend, NASCAR has righted a wrong; even if it was a tradition that should have never been abandoned in the first place."
Mike Hembree of USA Today called the initial decision of moving the race from Labor Day weekend "[s]ports blasphemy of the highest order" and its return to Labor Day weekend as being "back where, as people in this farming section of South Carolina will tell you, God meant it to be."
Change to the track Since its most recent Sprint Cup Series race in April 2014, Darlington Raceway added of additional SAFER barrier to both the front and backstretch walls. This made Darlington the second track on the Sprint Cup schedule, after Bristol, to line the entire circumference of the outside retaining wall with the energy-absorbing barrier.
For this race, NASCAR redesigned the restart zone so that it would be more visible and eliminate driver complaints about "jumped restarts."
Aero package For this race, teams used the low-downforce aero package that was used at Kentucky Speedway. This package included a spoiler (reduced from ), a radiator pan (reduced from ) and a quarter inch (.64 cm) leading edge splitter.
New tire compound For this weekend's race, Goodyear brought a softer tire compound to go with the low-downforce package. These changes included different construction and mold shapes for the left-side tires and the right-side tires would provide more grip.
Throwback paint schemes In celebration of the event, 32 of the 46 teams entered for this weekend's race unveiled throwback and special paint schemes as part of the return of the Bojangles' Southern 500 to Labor Day weekend. Chip Wile, track president of Darlington Raceway and brainchild of the throwback idea, had initially thought maybe eight or 10 teams could be persuaded to take part in this and get more teams to do it next season. He told Jeff Gluck of USA Today that he thought "this is bigger than what people imagined what it would be in [y]ear [one]" and that he thought "the sport needed this. NASCAR has such a rich history, and we need to celebrate that."
Entry list The entry list for the 66th annual Bojangles' Southern 500 was released on Sunday, August 28 at 3:12 p.m. Eastern time. Forty-six drivers were entered for the race. All but the No. 25 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet were entered for the previous race at Bristol. Jeb Burton and J. J. Yeley swapped rides at BK Racing with Burton driving the No. 23 Toyota and Yeley driving the No. 26 Toyota. Travis Kvapil drove the No. 30 Chevrolet for The Motorsports Group. Timmy Hill drove the No. 62 Chevrolet for Premium Motorsports. T. J. Bell drove the No. 98 Ford for Premium Motorsports.
Driver Team Manufacturer Throwback 1 Jamie McMurray Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 12 2nd 2 Brad Keselowski (PC3) Team Penske Ford Miller High Life Five-time Darlington winner Bobby Allison's Miller High Life car 6 3rd 3 Austin Dillon Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet American Ethanol Team owner and grandfather Richard Childress' paint scheme during his driving years 1 11th 4 Kevin Harvick (PC1) Stewart–Haas Racing Chevrolet Budweiser cans in the 1930s 14 1st 5 Kasey Kahne Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet HendrickRideAlong.com Geoff Bodine's 1984 scheme, when HMS was known as All-Star Racing 11 3rd 6 Trevor Bayne Roush Fenway Racing Ford AdvoCare Mark Martin's 1998 car 0 – 7 Alex Bowman Tommy Baldwin Racing Chevrolet Owner Tommy Baldwin Jr.'s father Tom Baldwin's Modified car 1 29th 9 Sam Hornish Jr. Richard Petty Motorsports Ford Winn-Dixie Mark Martin's Winn-Dixie Busch Series car 3 30th 10 Danica Patrick Stewart–Haas Racing Chevrolet GoDaddy A black-themed car to symbolize racing at "The Lady in Black" 3 22nd 11 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota Sport Clips Cale Yarborough's car in the 1970s 9 1st 13 Casey Mears Germain Racing Chevrolet 11 11th 14 Tony Stewart (PC4) Stewart–Haas Racing Chevrolet Bass Pro Shops / Mobil 1 Bass Pro Shops' first boat motor and trailer set, the Bass Tracker 16 3rd 15 Clint Bowyer Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota 5-hour Energy / Peak Buddy Baker tribute scheme 9 9th 16 Greg Biffle Roush Fenway Racing Ford Ortho Pharmaceutical's first delivery vehicles 12 1st 17 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Roush Fenway Racing Ford Cargill David Pearson's scheme 2 18th 18 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 10 1st 19 Carl Edwards Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 11 2nd 20 Matt Kenseth (PC6) Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 16 1st 21 Ryan Blaney (i) Wood Brothers Racing Ford Snap-on A photo compilation of the team's history since 1950 0 – 22 Joey Logano Team Penske Ford Shell / Pennzoil Mario Andretti's 1988 24 Hours of Le Mans factory Porsche 962C car 6 2nd 23 Jeb Burton (R) BK Racing Toyota Estes Father Ward Burton's 2001 Southern 500-winning car 0 – 24 Jeff Gordon (PC7) Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 22 1st 25 Chase Elliott (i) Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet NAPA Auto Parts Father Bill Elliott's 1985 Winston Million-winning car 0 – 26 J. J. Yeley (i) BK Racing Toyota Sam Bass-designed retro Beds for Kids scheme 7 18th 27 Paul Menard Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet Moen / Menards Inspired by Menards' marketing in the 1970s 8 13th 30 Travis Kvapil (i) The Motorsports Group Chevrolet 8 8th 31 Ryan Newman Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet Caterpillar Inc.'s heavy equipment in the 1970s 13 2nd 32 Josh Wise Go FAS Racing Ford Ricky Craven's Tide-sponsored car from 2003 3 21st 33 Mike Bliss (i) Hillman-Circle Sport LLC Chevrolet Harry Gant-inspired car 4 20th 34 Brett Moffitt (R) Front Row Motorsports Ford 0 – 35 Cole Whitt Front Row Motorsports Ford 2 38th 38 David Gilliland Front Row Motorsports Ford 8 20th 40 Landon Cassill (i) Hillman-Circle Sport LLC Chevrolet Snap Fitness / Proud to be an American Sterling Marlin's U.S. flag scheme from 2001 4 25th 41 Kurt Busch (PC5) Stewart–Haas Racing Chevrolet Haas CNC Racing's original car, then driven by Jack Sprague 14 3rd 42 Kyle Larson Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet Kyle Petty's 1991–1994 and Days of Thunder protagonist Cole Trickle's Mello Yello paint schemes 1 8th 43 Aric Almirola Richard Petty Motorsports Ford Richard Petty's STP car from 1972 3 19th 46 Michael Annett HScott Motorsports Chevrolet Pilot Corporation's logo from the 1970s 1 42nd 47 A. J. Allmendinger JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet 7 15th 48 Jimmie Johnson (PC2) Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet Lowe's 1940s logo 13 1st 51 Justin Allgaier HScott Motorsports Chevrolet Brandt A. J. Foyt-inspired scheme 1 23rd 55 David Ragan Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota Aaron's Father Ken Ragan's 1987 car 8 5th 62 Timmy Hill (i) Premium Motorsports Chevrolet 7 11th 78 Martin Truex Jr. Furniture Row Racing Chevrolet Furniture Row A teal scheme to promote National Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month 9 5th 83 Matt DiBenedetto (R) BK Racing Toyota 0 – 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet Valvoline Cale Yarborough-inspired car 15 2nd 98 T. J. Bell Premium Motorsports Ford 1 33rdOfficial initial entry listOfficial final entry list Key Meaning (R) Rookie (i) Ineligible for points (PC#) Past champions provisional
Practice
First practice Greg Biffle was the fastest in the first practice with a time of 27.909 and a speed of . This practice session was the first for any car to use a digital dashboard that all cars will be required to use in 2016.