2015 Alert Today Florida 300

The 2015 Alert Today Florida 300 was a NASCAR Xfinity Series race held on February 21, 2015, at Daytona International Speedway Daytona Beach, Florida. The race was the first of the 2015 NASCAR Xfinity Series. It was also the 34th iteration of the event. It also had a couple of firsts. It was the first ever race with the title sponsor Xfinity to sponsor the 2nd of the top 3 series of NASCAR with Xfinity replacing Nationwide. It was also the first race since 2006 that Fox would broadcast the lower series of NASCAR. Austin Dillon won the pole while Kyle Busch led the most laps but the race would feature a surprise winner as Ryan Reed won his first ever NASCAR Xfinity Series race of his career in his 40th Xfinity Series start. But the race was most remembered for a crash that left Kyle Busch with a broken leg and foot.

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 high-speed tri-oval, a 3.560 mi sports car course, a 2.950 mi motorcycle course, and a 1320 ft karting and motorcycle flat-track. The track's 180 acre infield includes the 29 acre 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
Austin Dillon won the pole for the race.

* – Made the field via owners points

** – Made the field via past champion.

*** – Landon Cassill, Blake Koch, Scott Lagasse Jr., Daniel Suárez, and David Starr had to start at the rear of the field. Cassill, Koch, and Suárez had back up cars, Lagasse Jr. had a drivers change, and Starr had unapproved adjustments.

**** – Jeff Green qualified to car before they switched to Scott Lagasse Jr. for the race.

Race
Pole sitter Austin Dillon led the first lap of the race. On lap 2, Ryan Reed attempted to pass Dillon for the lead but Chris Buescher made a three wide pass for the lead and took the lead. On lap 8, Ty Dillon race side by side for the lead with Buescher and led lap 8 and 9 before he got in front of Buescher. On lap 13, Bubba Wallace took the lead. Ty took it back on the next lap. Wallace led lap 15 as he and Dillon raced side by side for the lead. Wallace led lap 15 and 16 before Ty took it back on lap 17. Wallace took it back on lap 19. Ty took it back on lap 22. Wallace would lead on lap 24. But Ty would take it back on lap 27. Wallace led lap 28 before Ty took back full advantage on lap 29. Wallace led lap 30 and 31 before Ty took it back on lap 32. On lap 35, Bubba Wallace took the lead. Soon, green flag pitstops began. Ty Dillon took the lead from Bubba Wallace on lap 41 after they both made their pitstops. On lap 42, Kyle Busch stormed his way from 5th to the lead.

Final laps
On lap 69, Regan Smith took the lead. Soon green flag pitstops started up again. With 42 to go, Regan Smith pitted giving Kyle Larson the lead. With 41 to go, the first caution flew after a tire got away from Chris Cockrum's pit stall and sat in the infield grass near the racetrack. Regan Smith got his lead back and led the field to the restart with 35 laps to go. With 33 laps to go, Ryan Reed got side by side with Smith for the lead and led the laps before he got in front with 30 to go. With 28 laps to go, the second caution flew for the first big one out of turn 4 that collected 12 cars. It started when the lapped car of rookie Daniel Suárez was getting pushed by Kyle Larson when Larson got Suárez loose and Suárez spun down and clipped Regan Smith sending Smith into a roll before Smith landed on all fours while other cars crashed with them. The cars involved were Ryan Sieg, Justin Marks, Brendan Gaughan, Daniel Suárez, Regan Smith, Chad Boat, John Wes Townley, Kyle Larson, Chase Elliott, Austin Dillon, Scott Lagasse Jr., and David Starr. A red flag occurred for the incident. But while the cars were coming to a stop, Mike Wallace wasn't paying attention and ran into the rear of Austin Dillon which lifted Dillon's rear wheels off the ground and gave both cars damage. The red flag was soon lifted and the cars got back going again under caution. Ryan Reed led the field to the restart with 21 laps to go. With 20 to go, Chris Buescher took the lead from his teammate. With 18 to go, the third caution flew for debris that came off of Chase Elliott's car. The race restarted with 14 to go. On the restart, Brad Keselowski took the lead from Chris Buescher. Ty Dillon attempted to take the lead but failed to do so. With 9 laps to go, the fourth and final caution flew for the second and final big one of the race that collected 10 cars and involved a scary crash. Coming out of the tri-oval, Erik Jones got turned by Kyle Busch. Jones overcorrected his car back across the field taking out more cars. Busch went high to avoid Jones but lost control of his car and Busch spun down the racetrack. His car slid across the infield grass before it pounded the inside concrete wall head on at about 90 mph. Busch climbed out of his car but immeadietly laid down in the infield grass and appeared to be hurt. He was carried on a stretcher and was taken to Halifax Medical Center for further evaluation. Busch had a massive compound fracture in the lower right leg, a small fracture in the left foot, and a sprained left finger. Busch would end up missing the first 11 races of the Sprint Cup Series season due to his injury. The cars involved were Kyle Busch, Chase Elliott, J. J. Yeley, Brendan Gaughan, Erik Jones, Brian Scott, Elliott Sadler, Bubba Wallace, Jeffery Earnhardt, and Cale Conley. The race was once again red flagged for the accident. The red flag lifted and the race restarted with 5 laps to go. Keselowski held onto his lead. Kyle Larson took the lead on the restart but was immeadeatly split in between Keselowski and Chris Buescher and Keselowski got the lead back and was racing with Buescher. Larson eventually got side by side with Keselowski again but could not make the pass. On the last lap out of the tri-oval, Larson got loose after contact with Aric Almirola and Larson spun down and collected Ross Chastain. No caution was thrown. In turn 3, Ryan Reed slingshotted Keselowski and Reed took the lead with his teammate Chris Buescher behind him. Reed held off the pack in the last two turns and Reed took home his first career Xfinity Series win in his 40th start with his teammate Buescher finishing 2nd giving owner Jack Roush a one-two finish. Ty Dillon, Austin Dillon, and Brad Keselowski rounded out the top 5 while David Starr, Aric Almirola, Kyle Larson, Ross Chastain, and Dale Earnhardt Jr. rounded out the top 10.