“The white zone is for immediate loading and unloading…” and I need to unload my picks for the best races.
Welcome back to this special edition of The White Zone. We’re nearing the end of the countdown as today’s edition will unveil picks four, three and two for the 10 best races of the 2015 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season.
As a reminder, this is not a collaborative effort among the Speedway Media staff. This list is entirely my opinion. This countdown is likely to stir more debate than my countdown of the most disappointing races of the 2015 season because we all have different standards for each race.
Today’s countdown is very interesting because I had each of these three races in the number one spot in one draft or another of this list. I could have made an argument for any of these three for the number one spot. But I’ve settled on this order.
Without further ado, let’s get this countdown back under green.
#4 Goody’s Headache Relief Shot 500 at Martinsville Speedway
Taking us to green at number four is the Goody’s Headache Relief Shot 500 at Martinsville Speedway.
Races at NASCAR’s last remaining charter track rarely, if ever, disappoint. I always have high expectations when NASCAR heads to the Virginia paperclip and this race delivered in every way.
It was full of carnage, racing for the lead and more carnage. Tempers boiled over for a number of drivers at Martinsville. Danica Patrick had a few run-ins with David Gilliland that resulted in her getting herself spun out trying to retaliate against the driver of the No. 38 Front Row Motorsports Ford. The big one of course was Matt Kenseth intentionally taking out race leader Joey Logano with 47 laps to go. Before anyone tries to use that down right-front tire excuse Kenseth gave for the incident after the race, he later admitted in a phone interview with  Jenna Fryer of the Associated Press that he did in fact intentionally take out Logano and that he didn’t regret it.
This race will be remembered by everyone from now until the end of time because it was the 93rd and final career victory for one Jeffrey Michael Gordon. The worst driver when it comes to restarts had to hold off Jamie McMurray on the final restart to take the checkered flag. It was great to see the now former driver of the No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet go out on top. While he didn’t win the title, he rode into the Florida sunset at the top of his game. Very few of the great professional athletes get to go out at the top of their game. NASCAR is no exception.
Richard Petty – one of the greatest drivers in the history of auto racing – finished no better than 15th in his farewell season in 1992, Bobby Allison – 1983 Sprint Cup Series tied for fourth on NASCAR’s all-time wins list – had his career cut short by a wreck at Pocono Raceway in 1988, Cale Yarborough – three-time series champion and fifth on NASCAR’s all-time wins list – had just three top-10 finishes in the 1988 season and Darrell Waltrip – three-time series champion and tied for fourth on NASCAR’s all-time wins list – failed to make the field for seven races in his farewell season in 2000. Gordon was a winner at the start of his career, and he went out as a winner at the end of the journey.
As I said earlier, I, at one point, had this race at number one. However, I decided that the three races ahead had more going for them. With all that said, I feel it’s right to put the Goody’s Headache Relief Shot 500 at Martinsville Speedway in fourth-place.
#3 Quaker State 400 at Kentucky Speedway
Taking the bottom step of the podium on the countdown is the Quaker State 400 at Kentucky Speedway.
There were so many unknowns going into this event because this was NASCAR’s first race with the low-downforce package. If it had failed at Kentucky, I don’t think we’d be talking about it being used in the 2016 season. It was also a race at a track that was still searching for that one race to justify its existence on the Sprint Cup schedule.
The result of the first trial was a grand success. The racing was far and away better than any previous race I’d seen in the bluegrass state. Cars could pass each other with a little more ease, cars were getting sideways a lot and cars were spinning out by themselves because they were so loose.
What we got with this package at Kentucky was the best intermediate race I’ve ever seen. It might have been better had Goodyear been able to bring a softer compound of tires like they did for Darlington Raceway, but it was still so much fun to watch. We had an idea of what we were going to get at Darlington with the low-downforce package. We didn’t at Kentucky. Either way, Kentucky and Darlington gave the NASCAR the justification they needed to use the low-downforce aero package for 2016.
Because there so much on the line with Kentucky, I’m giving the number three spot on my list to the Quaker State 400 at Kentucky Speedway.
#2 Coke Zero 400 at Daytona International Speedway
Taking the second podium step is the Coke Zero 400 at Daytona International Speedway.
This was hands down the best restrictor plate race of the 2015 season and after we spent the past two weeks talking about the Confederate Flag, going to the World Center of Racing felt like the greatest weekend getaway ever. There was a lot of side-by-side-by-side racing, carnage and the favorite son scored the victory. Granted, the race for the lead wasn’t as competitive as some other plate races, but it was still overall a great race.
Daytona in July also marked the return of NBC Sports to the NASCAR fold after a nine-year absence. I think Rick Allen, Jeff Burton, Steve Letarte and all of the NBC crew did spectacular work in their debut. Their debut race is one we’ll remember for quite a long time.
Leading up to the race, NBC went all out with their promoting. I think next to the Daytona 500, there was so much buildup and hype surrounding NBC’s return. They ran promo’s left and right on every medium known to man, and some known only to monkeys. They ran ads during race weekends, on Sirius XM, on YouTube and even on the silver screen. I remember seeing a full-length promo for the race when I went to see Jurassic World on opening night.
NBC also went a step further by having NASCAR move the race from Saturday night to Sunday night. This was done for two reasons: some of their affiliates would’ve opted to air local fireworks shows on Independence Day over the Sprint Cup Series race and Sunday night has the biggest TV audience of any day of the week. The race was building up to be a ratings success. Unfortunately, Mother Nature had other plans.
The day of the race came and it started out as a clear blue Sunday. But as everyone knows, the weather in Florida changes faster than NFL teams change coaches. Eventually, the rain came and it stayed. The race was put on hold and we all sat around waiting for what was going to happen.
Finally, we got the race underway just 18 minutes before midnight on the East Coast. It only took three laps for a multi-car wreck to break out in Turn 4. The race proceeded with the lead changing 22 times among 12 different drivers and nine cautions for 43 laps.
One thing that amazed me was just how many fans stuck around to watch the race go to its conclusion. I’m sure there were some empty seats since the race was delayed, but you wouldn’t have been able to tell on this night. Alas, we all know that this race will be remembered for this wreck in particular.
I’ve seen some scary wrecks at Daytona over the years, but this might’ve been the scariest of them. When I first saw this, and I was watching this when it happened, I honestly thought someone had died. Incredibly, Austin Dillon walked away from the wreck with just a bruised forearm and tailbone. I remember when Geoff Bodine had a similar wreck during the first ever Truck Series race at Daytona in 2000. He was carried out via stretcher. This incident truly showcased how far we’ve come in the safety department.
It’s not just driver safety that should be commended. The catch fence did its job protecting the fans.
That catch fence did its job in keeping the car from going into the stands and prevented debris from flying into the crowd. I actually got to meet the guy who shot this video at the tweetup in Talladega. He told the people gathered there that the only injuries sustained by five people in the crowd were actually from hot oil and not shrapnel. Of course, one of them was taken to nearby Halifax Medical Center and released the next day. The other four were treated at the infield care center.
I had this race at number one in a few drafts of this list, but I opted to leave it in this spot. I didn’t put it at the top for the final lap incident. I did so because the race was largely dominated by Dale Earnhardt Jr. If I had seen some more fighting for the lead, this would have been number one. In the context of the 2015 season, I believe the Coke Zero 400 at Daytona International Speedway warrants the runner-up position.
Do you agree with my list? If not, what should the order have been? The white flag is out on the countdown. Tomorrow, I’ll give you my honorable mentions and reveal what I considered the best race of the 2015 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season.
