- Source: 2015 Subway Firecracker 250
The 2015 Subway Firecracker 250 was a NASCAR Xfinity Series race held at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida on July 4, 2015. The race was 14th iteration of the event and the 15th race of the 2015 NASCAR Xfinity Series. This would also be the first race since 2006 that NBC would telecast a NASCAR Xfinity Series race. Rookie Daniel Suárez won the pole while Brian Scott led the most laps. But it was Austin Dillon who would win the race in the end.
Background
Daytona International Speedway is a race track in Daytona Beach, Florida, United States. Since opening in 1959, it has been the home of the Daytona 500, the most prestigious race in NASCAR as well as its season opening event. In addition to NASCAR, the track also hosts races for ARCA, AMA Superbike, IMSA, SCCA, and Motocross. The track features multiple layouts including the primary 2.500 mi (4.023 km) high-speed tri-oval, a 3.560 mi (5.729 km) sports car course, a 2.950 mi (4.748 km) motorcycle course, and a 1,320 ft (402.3 m) karting and motorcycle flat-track. The track's 180-acre (72.8 ha) infield includes the 29-acre (11.7 ha) Lake Lloyd, which has hosted powerboat racing. The speedway is operated by NASCAR pursuant to a lease with the City of Daytona Beach on the property that runs until 2054. Dale Earnhardt is Daytona International Speedway's all-time winningest driver, with a total of 34 career victories (12- Daytona 500 Qualifying Races) (7- NASCAR Xfinity Series Races) (6- Busch Clash Races) (6- IROC Races) (2- Pepsi 400 July Races) (1- The 1998 Daytona 500).
= Entry List
=(R) denotes rookie driver
(i) denotes driver who is ineligible for series driver points
Qualifying
Rookie Daniel Suárez won the pole for the race with his time being 49.929.
* – Made the field via owners points
** – Mike Harmon and Joey Gase had to go to the rear of the field. Gase had Unapproved adjustments and Harmon missed the drivers intro.
Race
The race was meant to start at around 7 pm Eastern but got delayed nearly two hours because of rain and started at nearly 9 pm Eastern instead. Outside pole sitter Brian Scott took the lead from pole sitter Daniel Suárez and Scott led the first lap of the race. The first caution did not take long as it flew on lap 3 when Bobby Gerhart spun off of turn 4 after he got turned by Joey Gase. The race would restart on lap 7. On the restart, Joey Logano took the lead from Scott but was immediately passed by Daniel Suárez and Suárez took the lead. On lap 9, the second caution would fly when rookie Cale Conley spun going into turn 3 after he got turned by Scott Lagasse Jr. The race would restart on lap 13. On the restart, Brian Scott took the lead from Suárez. On lap 15, the third caution would fly when Derrike Cope hit the outside wall in the tri-oval after he came across the nose of Austin Dillon. During the caution as the cars made their way to pit road, Jeremy Clements decided to come to pit road at almost the very last minute but Landon Cassill decided not to pit at the very last minute and the two made contact near the entrance and turned Cassill around in the process and gave both cars damage. The race would restart on lap 20. Eventually, the race would finally get its first green flag run of over 5 laps and went green for the next 62 laps. Eventually, green flag pitstops would begin on lap 56. Brian Scott pitted on that lap and gave the lead to Joey Logano. Logano pitted on lap 59 and gave the lead back to Scott after everything cycled through. On lap 59, a weird incident occurred when Scott Lagasse Jr's hood all of a sudden blew up and had to retire from the race.
= Final laps
=With 20 laps to go on lap 81, the 4th caution would fly when Cale Conley spun in turns 3 and 4. The race would restart with 15 laps to go with Scott leading. Scott was looking for his first ever Xfinity Series win of his career in his 190th start. But with 10 laps to go, the 5th caution would fly for the first big one of the race that occurred going into turn 1. It started when Ryan Reed got sideways by Ty Dillon and Reed turned down into Brendan Gaughan and Gaughan turned down into Bubba Wallace which caused Wallace to spin up right in front of the pack and take out more cars with him. A scary moment in the wreck also occurred when Brennan Poole went down to avoid a spinning Aric Almirola and Poole ended up sliding on the wet pavement and shot across the track and hit the outside wall head on in turn 1. Poole and everyone else were okay. The wreck collected a total of 14 cars. The wreck collected Bubba Wallace, Brennan Poole, Aric Almirola, Chris Buescher, Blake Koch, Ryan Reed, John Wes Townley, Brendan Gaughan, Daniel Suárez, Ty Dillon, Regan Smith, Joey Gase, Kasey Kahne, and Martin Roy. The race was red flagged for a short bit to clean up the mess. The race would restart with 5 laps to go. With 4 to go, Elliott Sadler went to take the lead from Brian Scott down the backstretch. Scott went up to block but cut across Sadler's nose and hit the outside wall and would cause the 2nd big one bringing out the 6th caution of the race and took out 15 cars. Joey Logano went down to avoid Scott but got turned by David Starr which caused the wreck. The cars involved were Brian Scott, Joey Logano, Harrison Rhodes, David Ragan, Ryan Sieg, David Starr, Dakoda Armstrong, Regan Smith, Erik Jones, Elliott Sadler, Chase Elliott, Joey Gase, Ross Chastain, Benny Gordon, and Martin Roy. The wreck would set up three attempts of a green-white-checkered finish with Austin Dillon as the new leader. On the restart, Dillon would take the lead from Dakoda Armstrong. On the final lap, the 7th and final caution would fly when Daniel Suárez spun down the frontstretch towards the tri-oval and it meant Austin Dillon would win. The race would be Dillon's first win of his Xfinity Series career at Daytona. Elliott Sadler, Chase Elliott, Kasey Kahne, and Benny Gordon rounded out the top 5 while Dakoda Armstrong, David Ragan, Erik Jones, Harrison Rhodes, and Ross Chastain rounded out the top 10. This would be Benny Gordon's first and only top 5 finish of his Xfinity Series career. This would be Harrison Rhodes' first top 10 of his Xfinity Series career.