By Zane Miller

First round

(8) #11 Denny Hamlin v. (1) #22 Joey Logano

(7) #78 Martin Truex Jr. v. (2) #4 Kevin Harvick

(6) #20 Matt Kenseth v. (3) #88 Dale Earnhardt Jr.

(5) #48 Jimmie Johnson v. (4) #2 Brad Keselowski

Joe Gibbs Racing made a statement early at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, as Matt Kenseth took the race victory with Denny Hamlin coming in second. Kenseth’s playoff competitor in Dale Earnhardt Jr. got off to a rough start by finishing a lap down in 26th. Hamlin’s counterpart Joey Logano put up a far stronger fight in third, but was ultimately unable to get around the #11 car. Despite leading over half of the event’s laps, Kevin Harvick was forced to pit for fuel late in the race. This relegated him to 21st in the final results, as Martin Truex Jr. grabbed the series lead with a solid eighth-place finish. Jimmie Johnson also got the early jump on Brad Keselowski, scoring a sixth-place finish with Keselowski in 12th.

Harvick bounced back from his misfortune at Dover in a big way, leading all but 45 of the race’s 400 circuits to score the race win in convincing fashion. Truex Jr. was unable to keep up, ending the afternoon in 11th. Despite not being nearly as dominant as Harvick, Logano still claimed the 10th spot to continue his series against Hamlin, who was the last car on the lead lap in 18th. Likewise, Kenseth was unable to eliminate Earnhardt Jr., as the latter picked up a third-place finish with Kenseth taking the checkered flag in seventh. Keselowski struggled throughout the race on the way to a 16th-place finish, yet this was still good enough to survive as Johnson lost several laps in the garage due to a faulty axle seal.

All eight competitors were still in contention at Charlotte, with Hamlin and Logano both starting and finishing inside the top-five. In the end, though, Logano was just a little too fast for his former teammate, grabbing the race victory with 227 laps led as Hamlin’s strong run came to an end in fourth. Meanwhile, Harvick just barely held off Truex Jr. with a runner-up finish behind Logano, as Truex watched on from his windshield in third. Despite starting from the pole, Kenseth’s race did not live up to the promising start. He became entangled in a couple of on-track incidents, eventually falling out of the race due to the damage and finishing 42nd. Earnhardt Jr.’s afternoon was also a treacherous one as he finished a disappointing 28th, but was ultimately successful due to Kenseth’s issues. Keselowski went through the race without major incident, ultimately taking home the ninth spot, which worked out well enough as Johnson was bit by mechanical gremlins yet again, this time being done in by a blown engine just after the race’s three-quarter mark.

Semifinal

(4) #2 Brad Keselowski v. (1) #22 Joey Logano

(3) #88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. v. (2) #4 Kevin Harvick

The cream rose to the top at Kansas Speedway with the semifinals being made up entirely of the four highest-seeded drivers. Logano backed up his dominant effort from Charlotte, capturing his second straight race win with 42 laps led. His teammate turned playoff rival Keselowski also led a handful of laps, but lost touch with the top-five and finished ninth. Harvick also became lost in the shuffle and wound up in 16th, but still outdid Earnhardt Jr. who ended the day 21st.

The 2015 fall Talladega race would be remembered for its controversial finish, but this did little to rain on the parade of Joey Logano, as he extended his winning streak to three races after surviving a pair of late-race restarts. Keselowski put up a noble fight, but ultimately would be knocked out of the playoffs in fourth. Harvick found himself in hot water after the race as he appeared to intentionally spin out Trevor Bayne during the race’s final restart, prompting the caution that gave Logano the win with Earnhardt Jr. in second place and looking to make the race-winning pass. Regardless, Earnhardt was able to remain alive in the title hunt with his runner-up finish, as Harvick was credited with 15th in spite of his antics.

Early on in the semifinal round finale at Martinsville, it seemed that Harvick had the better car over Earnhardt Jr. as he led the way for many laps near the midway point of the race. However, despite a modest 22nd-place starting spot, Earnhardt began fighting his way to the front in the second half. Harvick was unable to hold onto the lead for long, starting to fade as Earnhardt found himself in the top-five. After the dust settled from a wild on-track altercation between Logano and Kenseth stemming from earlier in the playoffs, Earnhardt crossed the start-finish line in fourth with Harvick in eighth. Earnhardt Jr. had the chance to collect his first career Cup championship, while Logano was looking to go back-to-back.

Final

(3) #88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. v. (1) #22 Joey Logano

Logano came into the finals’ opening race at Texas looking to move on from the distraction of the Kenseth incident and regain his momentum from the superb semifinal round. Instead, he was met with a major problem almost immediately as he cut down a tire and crashed just 11 laps into the race. He would get back on track but the damage was done, both figuratively and literally, and finished 40th. Earnhardt Jr. remained a solid fixture at the front and grabbed the sixth spot in a relatively pressure-free race. However, this mood would change at Phoenix.

In a surprising turn of events, the proceedings at Phoenix International Raceway (temporarily known as ‘Jeff Gordon Raceway’ due to his impending retirement) were plagued by heavy rain showers. Despite being far from the typical desert atmosphere, the race eventually got underway later that night. Logano seemed to work well with the different conditions, making his way inside the top-five by lap 40. Earnhardt Jr. was doing respectable enough, but did not appear to have race-winning speed. With what would have been 115 laps to go, the caution came out for a two-car crash. With most of the leaders coming down pit road, Earnhardt Jr. stayed out for better track position. Despite the accident only being a minor one, the caution stayed out for the next half hour until rain eventually returned to the speedway. The race was deemed official and Earnhardt Jr. had his first career Cup Series title, despite the protesting of Logano’s team.

Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s stats for 2015 included three wins, 16 top-fives and 22 top-10s, finishing 12th in the standings to real-life champion Kyle Busch.

2015 Cup Series standings in real life: https://scorum.com/en-us/nascar/@zmiller82/2015-nascar-cup-series-season-recap

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