NASCAR: Naming The Most Entertaining Race Of 2015

By Cole Mentzel | Dec 20, 2015

Every year in NASCAR, there is one race that beats out the others and in 2015, it was the Coke Zero 400 at Daytona.

It was the race that had it all. The tension waiting for the start. The wrecks during the race that mixed up the running order. The exhilarating finish to a crazy night. The Coke Zero 400 at Daytona was everything and more and it delivered in a mighty way for fans across the nation who were still up watching the event.

The day began in the worst possible way for a NASCAR fan: a rain delay. The mid-summer Florida showers were in full force and were in the process of ruining the day for some fans who were at NASCAR’s most famous track bright and early.

It seemed to stretch on forever with the air titans coming out just to be greeted by another heavy downfall. That was the main reason why cars didn’t hit the track until roughly 11:30 P.M. Eastern Time on the night of July 5th. Many had already gone to bed because of the late timing but the ones who stayed up were in for some great racing.

Hendrick Motorsports was dominant again and had more solid racing at restrictor plate tracks. At multiple points throughout the race, you could see Dale Earnhart Jr., Jimmie Johnson, Jeff Gordon and Kasey Kahne in the top four, controlling the lines on the track.

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As with any restrictor plate track, especially Daytona, there was tons of wrecks and a few big names taken out of contention.

First, David Gilliland spun out early, taking out Joey Logano, Greg Biffle and Danica Patrick among others. Next, Kyle Busch (Lap 17) and Carl Edwards (Lap 53) had single-car incidents which set them back in the pack. Later on at Lap 105, Logano was involved in another wreck with Matt Kenseth, Kyle Larson, Martin Truex Jr. and Brad Keselowski along with a few more drivers.

Shortly after that, Dale Earnhardt Jr. was able to re-take the lead, one that he would keep for the rest of the race. It wasn’t easy for him though, as he had to hold off big pushes from Jimmie Johnson and Denny Hamlin during the green-white-checker portion of the race.

The real story of this race, however, was not Earnhardt Jr.’s signature win, it was the gut-wrenching wreck that tossed Austin Dillon’s car into the catch fence as the pack crossed the finish line. The wreck happened at roughly 2:30 A.M. Eastern Time and it was one that NASCAR fans will never forget, due to the circumstances and the magnitude of the crash itself. Though the car looked bad, it was a relief to see Dillon climb out of it unharmed while giving a wave to the crowd.

There were good and bad moments late on that Sunday night and early on that Monday morning, but the 2015 Coke Zero 400 provided fans with just about everything you could see in a race: a rain delay, many race-changing cautions, a great finish and “The Big One.”

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It was also happening during the middle of the night which created a crazy atmosphere for fans at the track and viewers at home.

No matter who you were rooting for that night, it’s going to be hard to forget watching such a crazy race with so many turning points. That’s why the 2015 Coke Zero was the best race of the season.

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