Menard and Kahne to lead Sprint Unlimited
Paul Menard |
Paul Menard and Kasey Kahne will be on the front row as was revealed during a lineup drawing Friday afternoon.
The 75-lap race will be split into two segments this season with a competition caution coming at Lap 25 to separate the segments of the non-points event.
Denny Hamlin won the race last season, edging Brad Keselowski by 0.197 seconds for the victory.
This year's field was expanded to 25 drivers with eligible drivers including all 2014 Coors Light Pole Award winners, 2014 Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup drivers as well as former Sprint Unlimited race winners and former Daytona 500 pole winners who competed in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series full-time in 2014. The remaining spots in the field were filled by drivers highest in the 2014 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver standings who are not already eligible.
Four eligible drivers chose not to participate in this year's event: Brian Scott, David Gilliland, Brian Vickers and AJ Allmendinger. Their absences opened up spots for Clint Bowyer, Paul Menard, Casey Mears and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. to make the field via 2014 driver points.
The full lineup of 25 drivers is as follows:
Pos | Car | Driver | Team |
1 | No. 27 | Paul Menard | Richard Childress Racing |
2 | No. 5 | Kasey Kahne | Hendrick Motorsports |
3 | No. 22 | Joey Logano | Team Penske |
4 | No. 2 | Brad Keselowski | Team Penske |
5 | No. 18 | Kyle Busch | Joe Gibbs Racing |
6 | No. 3 | Austin Dillon | Richard Childress Racing |
7 | No. 16 | Greg Biffle | Roush Fenway Racing |
8 | No. 4 | Kevin Harvick | Stewart-Haas Racing |
9 | No. 11 | Denny Hamlin | Joe Gibbs Racing |
10 | No. 78 | Martin Truex Jr. | Furniture Row Racing |
11 | No. 24 | Jeff Gordon | Hendrick Motorsports |
12 | No. 31 | Ryan Newman | Richard Childress Racing |
13 | No. 41 | Kurt Busch | Stewart-Haas Racing |
14 | No. 19 | Carl Edwards | Joe Gibbs Racing |
15 | No. 10 | Danica Patrick | Stewart-Haas Racing |
16 | No. 20 | Matt Kenseth | Joe Gibbs Racing |
17 | No. 48 | Jimmie Johnson | Hendrick Motorsports |
18 | No. 15 | Clint Bowyer | Michael Waltrip Racing |
19 | No. 43 | Aric Almirola | Richard Petty Motorsports |
20 | No. 17 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | Roush Fenway Racing |
21 | No. 1 | Jamie McMurray | Chip Ganassi Racing |
22 | No. 14 | Tony Stewart | Stewart-Haas Racing |
23 | No. 13 | Casey Mears | Germain Racing |
24 | No. 88 | Dale Earnhardt Jr. | Hendrick Motorsports |
25 | No. 42 | Kyle Larson | Chip Ganassi Racing |